Day Three: "A Visually Beautiful Day"

Ben Maxson here, apparently Sweet Home has a best actor of the day award and it appears I have won it! Best supporting actors were Abby and Ellen Taylor. VBS today was about forgiveness which was conveyed through the story of Joseph and the technicolor coat and it was indeed a technicolor coat until Joseph's (Ben) brothers (Abby and Ellen) ruthlessly ripped it off. After the story we helped each little tike to make their very own technicolor coat. Afterwords we blew colored bubbles into the air for all the tikes to catch on white paper, in the words of Jarebear,"It was a very visually beautiful day". We were all taken aback at how the kids could be so enthusiastic and excited about something that we thought was so ordinary for over 30 minutes. The whole experience really put the cultural differences into perspective and I think we all feel incredibly grateful to have all that we have back at home. I was personally shocked at how the little tikes held onto every word of God's story as it was acted out and then translated into Xhosa. The power of worship was clearly evident in Sweet Home today as we all sang Father Abraham and many other classics. With each song that we sang more kids poured into the small shack wide-eyed and ready to experience God, maybe even for the first time.

It was a great start even before we headed out for Sweet Home with Jared leading morning devotions. His message was focused on being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It reminded us all to step out of our comfort zones, to not lead double lives and challenged students and staff alike to be examples of Christ. By the end of the night we had amazing conversations with the students that the message resonated in their hearts and in their minds. (Happy 7 months Kiana! ok you can go on reading now)

Hey y'all it's Sarah here! Being able to spend the past three afternoons with the Academy kids after school has been such a blast. They bring loads of energy for every activity that we drag them through and we exchange laughter the entire time. One thing that we have been praying for as a team is that God move in these kids' hearts to feel comfortable to share with us as strangers. And man has He! It's easy for us, or anyone on a missions trip, to go with the expectancy that we will minister to them but today was a sweet surprise. During dinner time I sat with a 12th grade boy named Sibu, who was interested in hearing about my family and all the names and faces of my siblings. As I began talking about my family, thinking that I would be speaking into his life, Sibu jumped right in and spoke about his culture. He shared how they have to do absolutely whatever it takes to make their relationships work. Hearing him phrase it just that way hit me hard and caused me to take a look at my own life. It challenged me to evaluate my relationships and ask God to help me pursue restoration and forgiveness. Sibu continued to talk and ask me if I felt that any broken relationships were hindering my walk with God. Boy, was he asking all the right questions haha! Sibu told me that he would be praying for me and my relationships and that he couldn't wait until tomorrow to spend more time talking about God. It's crazy to think that I walked into dinner ready to be a listening ear to someone, but yet God had other plans, and this amazing high school boy was challenging my own faith.

Hey everyone, it's Ellen T. now (hello to my loved ones out there)! Tonight after I dinner I was able to share my testimony and how God has been my strength these past few years with the students at the Academy. At the beginning of the trip I was scheduled to share my testimony on this particular night, but God revealed His perfect timing in a way I didn't expect. In high school I lost someone close to me, and this difficult time pointed me to Christ. I've grown to trust that God is sovereign in all situations, even when we can't always understand why bad things happen. Today, only 3 or 4 hours before I was to share my testimony, our team learned that one of the 12th grade girls just found out her brother passed away. Finding this out and knowing that each of these kids have experienced some sort of tragedy at a young age compelled me to spend a couple of hours praying and preparing to share how God is our refuge and strength during times of heartache and struggles. After I shared my testimony, the students broke into small groups led by the team members. Some of the groups shared that we wouldn't need God is everything was perfect and easy, and that we have to trust that God has a perfect plan for our lives, even when we don't understand why bad things happen. After the small group time, the girl who lost her brother today came up to me and quietly said, "Thank you for sharing". It took everything in me to not cry! She was there at the devotion time and even through the pain, she praised God through singing the worship songs. It was one of those simple, yet powerful moments where I felt that God was using a very difficult time for a greater purpose.

Everyone on the team is looking forward to the rest of our time both at Bridges of Hope Academy and in Sweet Home! It has been incredible to to see these kids and students push forward in life with smiles on their faces despite all they've been through. Please keep Yanga, the student who lost her brother today, in your prayers.


We love you all, thank you for the continued support!!