I Have Found My Mission

 

It may sound silly to say since I came here to do a specific job with Oceans of Mercy as a missionary but today I have truly found my mission. As I type this my fingers are getting all jumbled on the keyboard because I am so excited to start this work. A few weeks ago God really put on my heart not to just feed kids but to give them an opportunity to know Him. It is great that I love the kids but it is far more important that they know that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them infinitely more. A father who does not leave them, a father who forgives them, stands with them through adversity and will offer them not only saving grace but a seat at His eternal table. This is my true mission.

Don’t misunderstand, I absolutely, 100% believe in child sponsorship. These kids are starving, they are being denied education because of lack of school fees, not having shoes and are often times silently dying of a disease that has torn this country apart. Child sponsorship helps with all of that. When someone commits to sponsor a child we make sure they are fed, educated and cared for. I actually have 35 or so kiddos that are in need of a sponsor right now. If that is something on your heart click on the “Get Involved” tab at the top of this page or zip me an email at ageesinafrica@gmail.com.

What I hope to do is to add to the awesome work that is already being done in the Child Sponsorship Program. I want to pour into the Community Care Workers in the villages that work with me and are on the front lines every day with these kids and their families. I want to get them resources to help them share the Gospel and the confidence to do so. I want every single family that is under our care to not only be cared for physically but spiritually as well. I’m not at all sure what this is exactly going to look like and I ask for your prayers as I open new doors.

Pastor Schaun chooses a word each year that he wants to define his year and asks others to hold him accountable for living out what his word entails. My word for the year is DETERMINED. I am determined to make a difference in the lives of the families it is in my ability to reach. I am determined not to get sidetracked from this mission. I am determined that I will make my home in South Africa a place where all who enter feel loved, welcomed and cared for. I am determined to do better than I think I can because I serve a God who is bigger than any opposition that may come my way. I am determined.

*Pictured above is one of our kiddos currently in need of sponsorship. His name is Mfundiso and he is 13 years old and in the 4th grade. When he grows up he told me he wants to be a policeman but for now he loves playing soccer.

Xhosa Prayer

Here is a link to the soup kitchen in  Motherwell. We were fortunate to catch a video of them praying prior to their meal. Isn’t it beautiful?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXqXJmCnGng

Photo Link

I uploaded a ton of pictures to Facebook. To see the photos you do not have to be a Facebook member. Just follow the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=132941&id=749077528&l=1e5f52c1ff

These photos are of some of the ways we have been serving in December. Enjoy!

Why Were Here

Several people have asked me what our mission/goals will be over the next few months. I will be doing my best to get more kiddos sponsored through our Child Sponsorship Program www.onelifechild.org . For $32/month a family can sponsor a child. This sponsorship provides food, education, medical care and a community care worker in their area to help advocate for their needs. While in the Transkei last week, I added 37 new kiddos in desperate need of immediate help. I will also be visiting the children that are currently sponsored to check on their well being, get updates and be actively looking for areas to improve my ministry.

I have been really convicted lately not to just fill the kids belly but to make sure they are shown the love of Christ in all that I say and do and to make sure that they have an opportunity to truly know the Lord. One small, but embarrassing, example of this was found on a video. We had some teenagers come with us to shop for and serve the Christmas bread and fruit at the soup club in Motherwell a couple weeks ago. One of the teenagers took my video camera and taped off and on throughout the day. I did not think a thing about it until I saw the video the next day.

I noticed that while I was passing out the bread and fruit to the kids after they got their soup, I barely smiled. I was clearly in task mode with so many in the line but it hit me like a ton of bricks. If I am supposed to convey to the kids the love of Christ in all that I say and do then my face that day definitely did not do that. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t scowling and did smile occasionally – it was a huge wake up call to be aware that everything I say, do or don’t say or do is being observed by these little ones. You can bet that when we went to the Transkei a few days later that armed with my new awareness, I let those kids know that I was 100% glad to be there and made sure I spoke to the group about how much their Father in heaven loved them, how he heard their prayers, thought they were beautiful, unique and perfectly made.

As for Darrell, he will begin construction projects in the Transkei in January. The kids start school January 13th. We bought their uniforms yesterday – too cute. The kids have made several friends that have started hanging out here – which we love.

The picture above is of one of the kids at the soup club enjoying her apple (photo taken by Kristi Fair). Thank you again to everyone who donated to let the kids have bread and fruit for Christmas. It looks like we actually had enough donated to allow this blessing of extra nutrition go on for another 5 months!  Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!

Christmas Treats Explained

In this video, Alyssa and Jennifer explain what’s the deal with the Christmas treats…don’t judge me by this video, it had been a really long week!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU92guu-kFE

1 Billion People

Today I am disgusted. I just read an article that stated that the latest research by Livescience.com has shown that 40% of all food produced in the US is wasted. Living in South Africa we regularly see kids begging for food, kids with distended bellies and orange hair from malnutrition. As I am reflecting on this I cannot help up feel despair at the injustice of it all. Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, Darrell went up to the Transkei and was smack in the middle of the hunger and devastation the families there are living with every day. This morning we read about this increase in waste in the US. I am now very aware that my previous lifestyle in the states was just as wasteful as this article described. I am sick about it. What was wrong with us? Why did we not see? Why did it take so long for God to open our eyes to our sinfulness? Wasting so much is sin plain and simple. According to the World Food Program, there are 1 billion people worldwide who do not have enough to eat. As I sit here typing this, I am wearing a pedometer to help me remember to walk and exercise to rid myself of the obvious gluttony that I have indulged in over the years.

The Oceans staff had a contest the other day. We were shopping to fill a plastic grocery bag with “fancy food” for the kids Christmas who are in our Child Sponsorship program. Darrell, Brent, Alyssa, Kristi and I were taken to Shoprite and given R150 (about $18 US) and were told to make the best Christmas bags that we could because the winning bag would be used as the template for the Christmas gift bags for the kids. We were in the store shopping carefully with our calculators in hand and prayerful consideration on our heart. The photo above is all of our goods displayed for a local mama who judged the winner of the contest (Aly won the contest and was so excited). As I was going up and down the aisles of the store I could not help but think of the differences in Christmas between the US and our kids here in South Africa. The kiddos who will get this grocery bag of goodies will be genuinely joyful and thankful for this “fancy food” like ramen, canned peaches and peanut butter.  I feel so content and happy to get to be a part of serving these kids ensuring they have a full belly.

For those of you who are donating money for bread and oranges for Christmas please know that these are for the kids in our soup clubs and is completely separate from what I described above. If you would like to donate a few bucks to help us buy bread and oranges for the kids in our soup clubs for Christmas you can donate online by visiting www.oceansofmercy.com and pay via Paypal. Please make sure you put a note on the donation saying that they are for bread and oranges for Christmas. Our goal is to raise $350 to buy each kiddo 2 oranges and $200 for each child to get two slices of bread. In our soup clubs, the kids are fed split pea soup so bread and oranges are something extra and special that we can give them. If you have questions about this or anything else, you are welcome to email me privately at ageesinafrica@gmail.com.  

Finding Yourself by Brent

One thing that has been very true for me since we moved is when you lose almost everything that you know, you find yourself. When I started this move I was all about it then, and then I started wondering what I got myself into. Although now, I am both glad and sad that I moved at the same time. I’m sad because I realized many of the people I called my friends were just people to hang out with. I now know that I only have a few true friends. I am glad that I moved because you realize that you are very over spoiled in everyday life. When you move you can really tell who your true friends are because the ones that don’t want to be your true friend disappear. Those that actually care for you as a person, not because of your stuff want to try to help you and they act like you didn’t just drop off the face of the Earth. This has made me think that God puts trials and tests in our lives to keep us on track with him. I have met a few people here but no one I would consider my friend. I would consider them an acquaintance. The main thing I want to get across is that when you get away from all the things of everyday life and step into something new you remember who you are without the chaos of everyday life.

*The picture is of my dad and I last weekend at Thomas River (near Stutteerheim) on a weekend visit to a friends’s farm. Also, thank you for all the prayers for my grandpa. He is doing much better and we are hoping he will get out of the hospital in the next few days.

On my knees

Tonight I am on my knees praying, begging, that God will not take my grandfather away from me just yet. He is currently in the hospital on dialysis after being admitted last Wednesday. There are multiple things going on at once in his body and the doctors are working to get each one back in working order. I am so thankful for these doctors.

As many of you know, my father died when I was 6 years old. My grandfather has been the strong father figure in my life and the thought of losing him is unbearable.  I hate that I am not there for him right now and that I cannot wrap my arms around him and give him a big ol’ hug. I was able to call him at the hospital from my Vonage phone last night and when I hung up the phone I just broke down in tears. I am not ready to let him go and am praying for his health to be restored. I know that God is the “author of life” as my friend Kristi pointed out to me. I read Psalm 139:13-16 and affirmed that this is true.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.

 15 My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

 16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.

Please take a minute to pray for my grandfather, James Hines. Pray that his health is restored and that a supernatural healing will take place in his body. I am on my knees tonight praying with an expectant heart that God will hear my prayers.

Internet

We are finally on the internet at home!!!! You cannot begin to imagine what that means to us. I was able to talk with my grandmother, mother-in-law and a few of my best girlfriends and man do I feel refreshed and renewed.

Tomorrow we are headed off the get the kid’s school uniforms and help get the new Oceans of Mercy set up. We are still considering rather or not to jump Brent to the 10th grade in January when school begins. Please pray that we will have supernatural wisdom with this decision. Now I must get off the computer because the kids have been counting down the minutes until their friends are out of school to call all of their friends on the Vonage phone…and there are only five minutes left and they are starting to swarm…tata for now!

Identity Theft

Yesterday I attended my first women’s Bible study over here. I was not nervous as I have been a part of or lead Bible studies most of my adult life. I also was not nervous because the people of South Africa have been so genuinely warm and friendly that I had no doubt that these women would be as well. The woman’s home that was hosting was literally across from the ocean and I remember thinking what an awesome place to be in awe of God’s majesty surrounded by such beauty. Walking in I was instantly introduced around and given a cup of tea (I have drank and served more hot tea here than I have in my whole life in the states, most think cold tea is disgusting and shudder at the thought).

Surprisingly, the women were of all ages which I thought was wonderful. As they shared prayer requests they were loving, supportive and hands on helpful. It was awesome to step into a scene that was so familiar. The women of the group help support a missionary couple running Bible school classes 4 days week by making soup or sandwiches for the kids one day a week and other groups such as ours help with the other days. Well this week it was our turn to make the sandwiches and without so much as a “Hey, new American girl do you want to help” I was given the task of making 20 sandwiches – we each were. You cannot imagine how wonderful it felt to be instantly included into this new posse. The sandwiches are to be comprised of two slices of buttered bread and a slice of polony in the middle. Polony is a bologna wanna be that just does not have the firmness or smooth texture that bologna does. I find it groty to the max but it is inexpensive so you can buy a lot of it cheap. I am already thankful to the women for the friendships I know will come with time.

After returning home from the group it occurred to me that no one asked me what I did in the states prior to becoming a missionary…actually no one in South Africa has asked me that question. Being an Executive Director at an adoption agency was so much a part of my identity for the last 11 years and all of a sudden it seems almost irrelevant. Nobody here knows that I am a licensed Marriage and Family therapist or hold a Master’s degree. It occurred to me that I had been a willing participant in the theft of my identity. I allowed Christ to change the course of my life and with it He change forever how I will be described and identified here on earth. “Oh, you know Jennifer, she’s my friend that is/was a missionary in Africa.” As I type this I feel totally humbled that God called us to this place and to serve His people in such a tangible way. I will take whatever earthly identity I am called to take because I know the truth. I am, and always will be identified by my Heavenly Father as one of the people He calls His own and that is more than enough identity for me.