Leaving

by Cammy Brantzeg

Today we head back to the US and I have mixed emotions.  I LOVE being in South Africa but I know it is time to go home.  It is easier for me to leave knowing I am leaving South Africa in good hands.  We have so many friends that feel like family that we come alongside on these trips to love and support.  Their daily work is not easy but they are doing what God has called them to do.  They do it with joy and God's amazing LOVE pouring out of them each and every day.  I am so blessed to know each and every one of them...

Did we make a difference?  My prayer is that we did.  My prayer is that the people we came in contact with on this trip felt God's love through me and the others on this trip.  My hope is that they know deep in their heart that they are God's beloved children and that he loves them so very much.  We prayed with and Pastor Vicki anointed many people on this trip that made the connections to the people we came in contact with special.

The faith of many of the Ouma's (grandmothers) and leaders (Meyer, Louise, Nozuko, Dipuo, Yolande, Stephanie, Cornel, Ma's for Wellington leaders and volunteers, Archie) is humbling.  They shine God's light so brightly here.  My hope is that I can shine a similar light back in the US.

Last night, they started the Mosaic after school program again.  It had been closed for over a week due to the construction at the community center.  I was so happy to see the kids.  We made cross necklaces with the kids, shared a Bible story time and sang some songs.  At the end of our time together the Mosaic kids sang two songs for us.  Wow!  The second song made me tear up.  I am tearing up as I type this.  I have so much hope for them and their future.  

I am so thankful for Mosaic and Ma's for Wellington and the programs they offer.  I am so thankful that God led me to this path that goes through South Africa.

I want to say Thank You to all of our South Africa partners.  I know it is a lot of work to have Americans come over.  I appreciate the patience you show us as you try to educate us about your programs.  I learn something new on each trip and I am sure that will continue each time I come down.  My default answer when someone asks me if they can do something that I am not sure about is to ask Nozuko, Meyer, Louise, Cornel or Stephanie.  We are blessed to have local South Africans to help guide us to make sure we do no harm on these trips.  It is crazy to think that one of my goals is to do no harm on a trip but after being on so many trips I can see how easy it is to do harm without even knowing it.  

Below are the sayings on our mission trip t-shirts for this trip.  

Do Justice 
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly

Go.  Be.  Love.  

My prayer as I return back to the US is that we did what God called us to do and that we will continue to do what God calls us to do back in the US... 

The pictures below are some of the people we prayed for.  These are the moments I will never forget.

Wrapping Up

by Dick Pry

As I write a note today, I know my friends have already shared the amazing stories of our time here in S/A. We are winding up yet another amazing trip to this beautiful place we all have grown to love over the years. 

This was a different trip than most as instead of building the brick houses, we got to renovate the shipping containers as you heard. Truthfully, if we had been outside laying brick in the sun—- we would likely have struggled as the heat passed 100 degrees much of the week. It was hot in the containers but you were shaded so it was not too overwhelming.

Taking a rectangle of metal and turning it into a functioning life space is an incredibly rewarding task. We made  amazing progress in getting the community center kitchen expanded to double the size. This means Ma’s of Wellington/Mosaic will be able to do even more feeding of hungry children in the future❤️❤️

Yes the poverty is overwhelming and can cause you to question things. However, at the end of the day, the mission is to save just “one” of these kids. Maybe that one will pay it forward and on and on? Maybe in a generation or so we won’t need as many “ mission trips” to help the world’s poor. Maybe one of them , who saw God’ s plan for helping those less fortunate take place here near CapeTown, SA in 2018 will be the next Nelson Mandela😍

This is my prayer and why I come!

Hope in the Middle of the Storm

by Linda Allan

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain pounding hard against the window above my bed. The wind howled. A torrential storm was raging outside as I lay safe and warm in my bed. I wondered how awful and frightening must it be to be a child waiting out this storm living in a mokuku (tin shack). My heart sank as I realized that I wasn’t in “Kansas”/West Chester anymore. I’m in South Africa. There will be no buses pulling up to school tomorrow filled with dry kids protected in raincoats and armed with umbrellas. I worried for the children and the fear they must be experiencing - let alone trying to stay dry in their leaky homes. My heart sank as I realized that the day I had been dreaming of for weeks may not happen. No one would venture out in the storm that was raging outside my window. My dream came crashing down on me...my dream of seeing and loving on the children of Mosaic. I prayed “Jesus, please stop the storm!” You may not believe me, I even had a hard time believing at first, but the rain that was pounding against the window over my bed instantly ceased! The wind didn’t just die down, it stopped dead! I lay there holding my breath wondering if this truly was happening: a true answer to my prayer or was it just a pause in the storm. Silence.....God truly heard my plea in the middle of the storm. God gave me a miracle or a God wink of sorts letting me know loud and clear that He is there in the middle of the storms. Not just the storm that raged outside my window but the storm of poverty and pain that rages every day here in Africa. God is here. God cares more then we can imagine. God didn’t make this mess, man and his greed set all of this in motion long ago. But God will prevail over it one child at a time, one good work at a time, one storm at a time.

I woke this morning to the sound of birds singing outside my window, to the sound of hope. I wondered, if God cares for me so much that He would hear my prayer in the middle of the night how much more must He love those beautiful children that I will meet today. Our good Father who has planted Mosaic here in this place to help these children, these families. Our God who sent a ragtag group of 11 weekend warriors half way round the world to help pull off a big renovation project. Our God who is so big He can make anything happen. Our God, the God of hope, chose me to witness His awesomeness this week. His miracles in the midst of the storms. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us today!

Lynne just gave me a weather report for today....the clouds will part and the sun will shine. You know that 100 degree heat that we have dealt with all week? God blew that away with the storm to a lovely 63 degrees and sun! Our Father is so good!

Make yours an amazing day! God bless!Linda :)

Popsicles

by Linda Allan

Hello from halfway around the world! 

I really had know idea of what to expect when I signed on to this trip. All I knew was there was a need for volunteers to help build classrooms for children and I was called to come. What I saw when I got here was beyond my imagination. The divide between the haves and have nots were more then I could comprehend. But the busyness of the weeks work kept me from thinking long and hard about it. There was so much to be done. Metal shipping containers that needed to be turned into classrooms in less then a weeks time! Measuring, cutting, framing, screwing, measuring, cutting, insulating, stapling, measuring some more, cutting drywall, screwing, taping, spackling, sanding, priming, painting. A frantic race against time to get the job done. All of it done in the hot South African sun, all done with smiles and to the sweet sound of laughter, chugging of water and Tony’s musical playlist to spur us on. So much fun, so much work and not much time to contemplate the enormity of the job we were accomplishing.

Saturday night came quickly. We wrapped up and looked forward to worshipping at Mayer, Cornel and Stephanie’s church in the morning and then back to Mosaic for a dedication ceremony.

As I stepped into the newly renovated space on Sunday morning minus the tools and building supplies that had littered the worksite the days before. My eyes were opened to what will be and the hope that Mosaic brings to the community. As I reveled in the joy of a job well done I was drawn to the children who peered through the ripped netting that covered the fence. The children who live in the makukus (the shacks) across the street. Angelic faces of innocence who smiled and talked to the happy American lady. They smooshed there faces close to the fence and let me touch their cheeks as I silently prayed for them. We laughed as I snapped their pictures. God’s children who melted my heart and drew me to this place. The children who i forgot about in the midst of being covered in saw dust, sweat and paint all week. They asked me for a popsicle, something all the adults were happily sucking on in the 100 degree heat. I thought “9 kids, 9 popsicles I’m sure I can easily do that! How easy to make a child happy! As I danced off to complete my mission I checked with Cornel to see where they kept the supply but before giving them to me she presented me with a question....”Yes Linda you can have 9 popsicle to give to these 9 children. But where will you get the 300 for the 300 children who will quickly follow? And what will you do when you can’t supply that and those 9 children get beat up for their popsicle? Yes Linda what will you do?

My joy quickly turned to tears. The enormity of the need became crushing. The cruelty of the desperate was more then I could comprehend. My naivety could have caused such harm to those who I so wanted to help.

Giving handouts is not the solution to the poverty that plagues this country. A quick fix is not going to help. Mosaic, Ma’s for Wellington and the countless people who run these organizations have seen first hand how damaging an unearned handout can be. They are teaching the children and the community the value of work and an education all wrapped up in Jesus’s love. 

What an eye opening experience this has been for me. I can’t stop thanking God for opening the doors that got me here. And for giving Meyer, Louise, Stephanie and Cornel the vision, courage, stamina and most of all the wisdom to see His plan through.

The Transformation

 

by Cammy Brantzeg

Before and after pictures of the five containers that were renovated this week.  The transformation is amazing...  

Container #1 - Old Storage Container to be used as a classroom

 

 

Container #2 - New 20 foot container is now a storage closet and an office for the social workers.  I couldn't find a picture of this container before it was framed and the insulation was installed.  It started out as an empty container just like the rest...

 

Container #3 - New 40 foot container that is now a classroom and the Swop Shop storage...

 

Container #4 - Old Swop Shop container is being converted into boys and girls bathrooms.

Container #5 - The HOOP after the cabinets were removed, the wall was being cut out, and a second 40 foot container was added.

The HOOP now that the size has been doubled!









It was an amazing week!  A lot of people came together to work on renovating these containers this week.  In addition to our mission trip team, people from Mosaic, Ma's for Wellington, Shofar church and the NG Moeder Gemeente Wellington (Andrew Murray church) church provided volunteers to work during the week and on the weekend.

I am tired and I need to go to bed but I wanted to post some before and after pictures quickly.  I am sorry that I don't have time to write more details right now but the pictures tell the story...

Sunday

by Carl Siewert

Sunday was a day of worship and celebration after all the hard work put in during the week.

The day started with the team worshipping at Shofar Wellington church.  This is the church that Meyer, Louise, Stephanie and Cornel attend. The church sets up a worship center every Sunday in the gymnasium of a local school.    

Shofar provided many of the same qualities of other churches around the world attracting a younger generation. (I have had the privilege to worship previously at Hillsong London and Elevation worship - Columbia SC campus).   There were greeters with “contagious joy” to welcome us at the door.   The congregation was fairly multi-cultural (as it will be in heaven).    The service opened with extending praising of the Lord through music.  There was about 40 minutes of music which we understand was a bit on the short side.    The mission team did not know most of the songs but was thankfully in English and we quickly felt like participants in the worship.

Then Pastor Neils spoke on the strength of Matthew chapter 5, the beatitudes from the sermon on the mount, challenging us to see the those blessings through our relationship with Jesus Christ.  I was struck by the idea that being “poor in spirit” is not to be focused on ourselves in anyway but to be focused on Christ.  This is the basis by which we can then move towards having faith and then being able to have the other blessings Jesus spoke of (Matthew 5: 4-9).

The service ended with a challenge to identify where we have doubts and where we want God to open us fresh to new Faith.    This convicted me in areas I had struggled during the week with the complexities of South Africa.   I asked God for a new Faith that He will continue to move forward and provide hope to those suffering in South Africa.

After that the team went to the Mosaic Community Center for a celebration of what was done this week. Everyone was very happy to see the walls completed and the cabinets back in place in the kitchen!   After a few words and worship songs, everyone went through the rooms of the center to pray of the rooms.  We prayed that God would use the spaces to help the children and others in the community.  We prayed that God would strength the workers and volunteers as they help in this goal. And finally we prayed that God’s Word and Truth would grow in the hearts of all involved.

Most of the team had lunch at a market with stalls of food styles from around the world.   I had Tunisian Brik with Ostrich meat.

After some down time in the afternoon, the day concluded with a wonderful meal at Stephanie (one of the Mas of Wellington) and her husband, Kiffie’s house.  

Peace

by Lynne Kreher

Today a group of us had the opportunity to visit Drakenstein Correctional Centre. This is the prison where Nelson Mandela spent his last few years of incarceration and from which he took his first steps of freedom after 27 years. Our host and guide today was the long-time chaplain, Pastor Archie. He explained to us the different classifications of prisoners and the work he does with them.  We were able to walk through the prison and meet several of the young men there.  We prayed with them and I think Pastor Vicki went through an entire bottle of anointing oil during our visit! We even had the chance to sing and praise the Lord with their praise team who was practicing. We sang "How Great is Our God" and "Celebrate Jesus." It was amazing.

Many of the prisoners are there due in part to the circumstances of their upbringing. They had abusive or absent parents or difficult childhoods for a variety of reasons. Pastor Archie encourages the men at Drakenstein to forgive their parents for past transgressions in order to begin healing.

Our God is so good that he knew that visiting that prison today is EXACTLY where I needed to be.  When I arrived in South Africa on this trip, I learned that my father has passed away while I was traveling.  This morning I woke to the news that my mother had died the day before.  To put it simply, I had a difficult and complicated relationship with my parents. But, I know that it does not begin to compare with what these young men endured. So, if they can forgive their parents, who I am to complain about my life?  I was able to let go of my hurt and found such profound peace.
As this is my fourth trip to this beautiful country, I have some very poignant and special memories of this place, but today may just top them all.  God Bless.

Pastor Archie and his wife