Moy Halalelang

Sorry I haven't been posting much these past two weeks. It has been really crazy here and I feel like trying to fit all of the amazing things that have been going on here into one blog post is an insurmountable task. But still.... I will try and give you the short version of it.

Last week's topic was the Holy Spirit (Moy Halalelang in Sosotho), particularly the gifts of the Holy Spirit found in the New Testament. Our speaker was amazing. His name was Stefean Hugo and he is in charge of all of the YWAM bases in southern Africa. We even had another DTS from the Drakensburg base come and stay with us for the week, which was so great to fellowship with different YWAMers! Their DTS focus is Extreme Sports and at the end of their outreach phase they are going to climb Mount Kiliminjaro. They were a small team, just five members - Pierre, from Swaziland, Cassie, from Sacramento, Melissa, from Mauritius, Tatiana from Switzerland, and Hanalee, from South Africa.

I think I have already said this, but I absolutely love the classes here. Learning about Jesus in the classroom, and then getting to go out and experience Him in our practical work has been so amazing. My favorite teaching this week was when Stefean went into the Bible and pointed out all of the practical things invoving health and hygiene that missionaries often don't speak on. A lot of missionaries will go into a village, preach to the people, convert many, and then leave the mothers with dying babies, unable to grasp the concept of their new God allowing this to happen. So he really stressed the importance of teaching health and hygiene from a biblical standpoint. For example, in Deuteronomy it talks about making sure that your bathrooms (holes in the ground) are far away from your living area.

For our ministry we have been going to Eden orphanage these past two Wednesdays, and Bohoklong on some Tuesdays and Thursday, and always on Fridays. I absolutely love our time at the orphanage. Playing with the children there has been such a blessing. We usually help feed and bathe the little ones and when it's time to go, it is so hard to walk out of those front doors. I have grown particularyly fond of a little two year old boy named Promise. He is so stubborn and grumpy, but when he does shoot you a smile, it will literally melt your heart. I think he is sick though, so please keep Promise and the other children of Eden in your prayers.

Going to Bohoklong has been a completely different experience then our time at the orphanage. Since we are actually running a soup kitchen in the squatter camp, we have been getting to know families as a unit and not just the children. Although, every time we pull up Ain our YWAM vans, the screaming BAMBALELA children continue.

One of the biggest challenges in the squatter camps is among the HIV positive people. Even though quite a few of them call themselves "Christians," animism is huge here, and many of them continue going to the ancestoral witch doctors for treatment, instead of taking their AZTs or going to see real doctors. I was told that beause of this the number of HIV positive people living in Bohoklong is uncountable.

This week's classroom topic was the Character of God. We had a local Afrikaaner pastor come and speak to us, and we went over a list of characteristics of God, and what they mean. Classroom conversation was very lively to say the least.

We also found out the location for our Outreach phase! We will be split in to two teams, (which will be very difficult since we are already such a close group) and one group will be doing some local work and going to Mozambique and another group to Uganda! Our outreach phase will be two months, and the work in Uganda will involve running a mini Discipleship Training School at a church in Kampala, and living and discipleing in some of the refugee camps on the northern border. Right now I am leaning towards Uganda, but I have until the end of the month to continue praying about it, and seeking where God wants me. I hope that you will also help me in that.

I'm not sure what this upcoming week holds in store for us, but thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. I love getting on and seeing all the comments from loved ones back home. So thank you.

- Clare
Psalm 34:10