The Start of Outreach- by Sarah

April 09 (Sarah)

The Students began their outreach right here in Rustenburg. Our local church was hosting a conference called the Zeal Conference for the broken and hurting. I understand that it was a great conference with wonderful speakers. Our students provided the children’s ministry so that the parents could participate in the sessions. There were about 25 children ranging from ages 3 to 13. The students assisted on Friday night and Sunday Morning but they planned, organized, and handled the program on Saturday. The four students planned well but also had to improvise depending on what they found when they arrived. As with most ministries, flexibility is the key. And the students did an excellent job. The children really enjoyed them and the games and crafts they did with them. I was very proud of the students for adapting to a different culture than what they are used to at home. There were a few children who did not speak English and that was a challenge but our students, Joyce, from the Netherlands was able to pick up some words since Afrikaans is similar to Dutch. Two of the staff helped with parking as well. The students were exhausted but did very well for their first assignment on Outreach.













After those three days, the students packed up and deep cleaned the base apartment and got ready to leave for the rest of outreach in Botswana. The trip was delayed by two days because our ministry vehicle is older and it is sometimes difficult to find parts to repair it. We are grateful for the vehicle but believe for a new vehicle for the next school. The Students and two staff left on Friday the 24th of April and arrived 10 hours later at the home of Pastor Peter who is hosting them for the first week and a half while the team and staff assist with a conference there.

We are praying for God’s mighty power to be shown to the people of Botswana and that they will receive all that God has for them. Please keep the team, staff, and people of Botswana in your prayers.

Blankets and Milk in Phokeng - by Sarah H

21 April 2009 (Sarah)

April in South Africa is the time that you know it is fall weather for sure. It is getting very chilly after the sun goes down and the wind is picking up bring with it a promise of winter. It is during these times that we are very aware of the fact there is there is NO central heating in most homes. Not all homes are put together well and the wind just seems to rip right through them. And South African are also very effected by the global economic crisis. No one feels this more than the orphans in our area. We have feeding schemes in Phokeng, where Martha and Agnes spend much of their time, caring and feeding many children who do not have parents and the families they are staying with don’t have enough. This April, we were able to help provide for some of those needs. Grace Christian School, in Cary, North Carolina, collected five large boxes of powdered milk to help the children of Phokeng. Reaching a Generation partners with us to help provide for them in many ways and they had these boxes sent to us and we handed out the powdered milk which is a special treat for them. We were glad to give them the milk along with donated warm blankets.













A Rustenburg local citizen together with a company here in South Africa, Aranda, gave us 100 large thick blankets for our ministry in Phokeng. Derek and Rebecca are extremely grateful to both of these contributors for making this possible! The YWAM Rustenburg Staff and DTS students all piled in cars and headed out to Phokeng. The children were arriving at Agnes’ and Martha’s places from school and we handed out milk and blankets to all the children in the program. The look on each kid’s face was priceless. Some little girls even had trouble carrying their blanket because the blankets were so big. Some children would wrap themselves in their blankets and walk around clutching their powdered milk. They were so exited. Many would fold and refold their blankets with pride. It was so great to be a part of blessing these children and it is good to know that thanks to many people who care, these children will be warm and will have milk this winter. Thanks to Grace School and to Aranda and to our local supporters for this blessing. Please continue to pray for the children in the Phokeng feeding scheme that they will continually be safe and provided for this winter.

Girls’ Pajama Jam’me Jam -by Sarah H

OUR BEAUTIFUL TABLE!

7 April 09 (Sarah)

It was a Tuesday night. Our small groups this school are usually during the afternoons on Tuesdays but this week, we decided on something special for the Girls’ Small group. We try to have many different things and go to a coffee shop or bake something, but this time, Angela had a Pajama Party at her house. We all got into comfortable wear and headed to her place. We had tea, sparkling juice and s’mores at the beautifully decorated table.

ENJOYING OUR TEA, SPARKLING GRAPE JUICE,
AND S'MORES AND LAUGHTER!!!!

It seems that S’mores are more of an American tradition than in other countries because our friend from the Netherlands did not know what in the world we were talking about. Her friend had explained it before but really, you just have to experience s’mores. And this is Africa so we had to improvise a bit as well. So for anyone not familiar with S’mores, they are traditionally made of Graham crackers, Hersey’s chocolate bars, and white marshmallows roasted over an open flame, stacked together and smooshed down to bite height. The warm Hersey bar melts under the toasted marshmallow and the crackers provide a sweet crunch. So S’mores, the African way- First there are no graham crackers here so we used Marie Biscuits (a sweet crunchy type cookie) it does have holes in it that the chocolate oozed out of. There are no heresy bars so we decided on chocolate sauce from Woolworths, and excellent if not better choice! Then there are the marshmallows. Now in America marshmallow are sold where you can get all white marshmallows in a pack, but here in South Africa they are only sold in assorted colors. So we had white and pink marshmallows to roast. I do believe that one American girl, tried the pink one but was not fond of the flavor. Since we didn’t really have a fireplace to roast the marshmallows, we used candles and laughed a lot. Some of the games we played while roasting marshmallows, were if you caught your marshmallow on fire, you had to sing a song. Then we went around and told our most embarrassing stories. Then a few of us did get a little too excited about just catching the marshmallows on fire instead of eating them:-)

ROASTING MARSHMELLOWS!

Later, after we had almost made ourselves sick with too many s’mores, we got out the spa treatments. We pampered ourselves with a hand treatment of scrubs and lotions. And for those who wanted, we soaked our feet in wonderful South African special foot wash and sealed it with the special lotion. Many painted fingernails and toenails all while watching a sweet romantic girly movie. It was very relaxing and fun to have all the student and staff girls getting together, no children, no boys, no books, no husbands, just a night for girls!

MARSHMELLOW AFLAME!

Servanthood Teaching Week - by Lyndah

30 March – 3 April (by Lyndah)

For the week of 30 March through 3 April, we had a teaching on Servanthood. Our teachers were 2 of our DTS Staff, Mitch and Sarah, a married couple. The first part of the week we had two classroom sessions. We covered things ranging from how service is truly “not about me” and the differences between self-righteous service and true service. We also learned about living from the Kingdom of God not just for the Kingdom. This, as students, gave us new knowledge and wisdoms to apply on the latter three days of the week, which were scheduled opportunities to demonstrate practical service.

On Wednesday we went to a community called Luka which lies on the outer skirts of Rustenburg. There we met up with a woman named Sebongile who is a part of YWAM Rustenburg and facilitates a kresh, (kindergarden/ preschool) in the Luka Community. We were able to serve them through completing yard work- cutting grass, sweeping the side walks, raking leaves and picking up trash. We also cleaned the inside and outside of the large windows. We did other indoor cleaning, especially the bathrooms! I (Lyndah, a student with YWAM) even got to experience the joys of scrubbing the communal urinal! (Which I don’t think was something done often!) For us as students and staff, it was a time of laughter and service not just to the school, but to each other.








On Thursday, we went to an Afrikaans retirement home. We were each given biscuits (cookies in South Africa) and the opportunity to go within the campus and visit with any of the residents. I was able to visit with two elderly women there sitting together in the common room. It was wonderful to hear their stories of their lives and travels in South Africa and to have them in return ask me questions of why I’m in South Africa, where my home is, etc. At the end of our stay there, two people in our group had met one woman who acted a lot like a tour guide and she insisted that we stay long enough for tea – which we did and thoroughly enjoyed all that she had to talk about. The conversation especially became interesting when she told us of her world travels. She talked about going to a museum in Canada and seeing a real half mermaid half boy and she went into deep description of it. Oh the unexpected things we encounter in ministry. We all left that afternoon feeling joy at the relationships and conversations had.

On Friday morning we prepared food for the staff (about 10 people) at a nearby Hospice. Our time at the hospice was two fold, one to visit with the patients and the other to bless the staff with a picnic lunch. First, we walked around to visit the patients. The girls went into the women’s side and the boys went into the men’s side. We handed out juice and newspapers to them. They enjoyed getting something from us as visitors. Then we served a lunch of chicken pot pie and beetroot and a loaf of bread to each staff that cares for the patients. They were so grateful for the gift of a hot lunch and to be thought of when most people don’t see how hard a job it is to care for the dying.






But our time there was so much more than that. The patients really touched my heart the most. I wrote an email to a friend and here is a portion that I think explains it best.

"It’s what people envision when they think of the horrors of AIDS in Africa. Its true and real, and lives are shaking and feverishly sweating in deathbeds. The women I met with today make my heart yearn so widely to be with them. Almost all of the women were skin and bones. The first woman I spent time with could only mumble in Tswana, and I struggled to get her to speak even in that. Just to see this woman shaking feverishly trying to say a single word. Watching her trying unsuccessfully nibble at a marshmallow, that was already marked in red, probably blood from cracked sores in and around her mouth. Her pointing at the ceiling. Her sunken, scared eyes. Her inability to communicate that she needed to be turned over because her back was in pain. Having to slowly pour water into her mouth when she was thirsty, watching her tremble, and trying to pour so carefully, as its not unlikely she could die just from choking on too much. Trying to read a newspaper to her. Seeing her half clothed, with her bedpan next to her, unsure what to do if she would actually need it. This was just my first woman. I think her name was Martha, but it was hard to tell, because her whispers weren’t really English. Words don’t explain it. It was powerful. It made my heart big. If I study medicine, it will be her that gets me through the schooling. "



On the whole, this week really filled us as students with a love and enjoyment of being involved with the community here in Rustenburg. Also to practically apply a learning heart of service through different opportunities and ministry styles this really benefited us each in being able to operate each in our own giftings.