Home Again

Hi All,
Just thought that I would add one more posting to wrap up the blog for this trip, but still continue to view the www.myersmission.blogspot.com, as they will be there at the cottages until the end of June. It was a long trip to get back, and it was sad thinking of all of the new friends that I had left behind in South Africa. I will miss them all very much and pray that God would continue to work in their lives.

What an amazing experience this has been for me, I have been blessed in so many ways and have been humbled by the determination and spirit of the children and moms that live there in Loskop. When you see how others live without all of our advantages, you realize how many everyday things that we all take for granted. You also realize that we really don't need as much as we have to be happy, and what it is like to live a spirit filled life.

Watching the children walk to school (which is about a mile and a half each way) with no complaints, and watching them hang out and play after school without games and toys, no TV or Radio to pass the time in the evening, and the same 3 meals week after week without ever a complaint about what's for dinner may sound like a Mom's dream to us. But what you realize is that these children are survivors in every aspect of the word.

When you read their files, there is a birth certificate followed by the death certificates of their parents (some just one parent, but alot have two deceased), whether they are HIV positive or not, and a little medical history about them (which is usually just what they have been treated for since living with Agathos). They live with an assigned Mom (a Zulu speaking woman that has been hired for this position) in a small room with bunk beds and about 4 children to a room. Most rooms only have a light in them, no electrical outlets and no indoor plumbing or water. The children have very few clothes and wear uniforms to school each day which they wash out by hand every afternoon when they come home from school (even the youngest ones), and hang on the line to dry, and then iron them (there is one iron in the dining room area which has an outlet and which they all share). A treat for them is to watch a DVD on a laptop computer which usually belongs to a volunteer, in the dining room on wooden benches (no big screen TV or surround sound) and they leave afterwards like we walk out of a movie theater at home. This is a typical day in their lives, and they look forward to each and every one.

I have learned alot from these children about what is important in life. They love and laugh and are just like our children when it comes to their hopes and dreams for the future. They have a heart for God and our involvement in their lives lets them know that they are not forgotten but are part of the larger family of God that we all belong to. During Sunday morning worship when the pastor asked me to speak, I told them that on the other side of the world we worshipped the same God as they did. That our God is all powerful and regardless of where you live or what the color of your skin, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. I also told them that God has a plan for each and every one of them, and that he is their father just as he is mine. It was amazing to watch their faces after my words were translated, to see the smile and glimmer of hope come into their eyes. The fact that I was there to give them my testimony showed them the awesome power of Gods love.

I will never forget my experiences or the people I met in South Africa. What an awesome privilege it is to touch other peoples lives like I have on this trip.

Peace and Love, Pam Bunton