Well- the wind is howling and it is pouring rain and we are doing final preparations for our departure in a few short hours! It is been an incredible experience here and we are all leaving changed people. For our final blog, we wanted to share with you a bit of how this experience has altered our view of ourselves, of God, of the world. We leave with sadness...hope...joy...and a desire to fully put into words what this experience has meant to us.
Thank you for journeying with us through this blog! Your prayers have been felt and are greatly appreciated!
-Christy-
There are several things I will take home however one is the extent to which God is at work here. He is at work here and all over the world before we get here, while we are here, and after we leave. Our five days working with the children was an awesome chance to get even a small glimpse of the amazing things God is doing here. I know I personally cannot wait to see what all God is going to do. I am along for the ride and to serve in any way possible.
-Lindsay-
I'm not sure if I've processed enough yet to be able to tell you what the most important thing that I experienced this week was, but spending time with these children and seeing the most beautiful horizons of my life have me feeling as if my heart has been thoroughly washed out - a deep and powerful cleansing. I will never be the same. Praise God for that.
-Tim-
So it really doesn't seem like the end could be here now. I'm pretty sure we all wish we could have just a few more days with everyone (children and adults) we have been working with over the last week. From this most amazing experience in my life I know that God has opened my eyes to the beauty of His creation, being the nature and people of this great country, and shown me so much more than i could have ever imagined. My life will never be the same because of this and i will continue to thank God for that for a very long time.
-Noah-
I can't correctly put into a short paragraph my feelings/emotions/thoughts on this mission trip. Yesterday the Belmont Team and I finished our ministry time with the children/teens/leaders of the Ocean View Township and the Living Hope Staff. It is true when we say God was at work before we were here, while we were here, and after we leave here. What I got to be a part of was seeing Him firsthand through the faces of the children, songs of the teens, humility of the leaders, and the work of His hands at sunset or at the southern-most tip of the African continent. Praise Him for this "wrecking" me this week. Praise Him for giving HOPE to the future of HIV-affected populations, and granting me peace and hope just the same. What am I taking home? Emotional pictures and intense memories if what God is doing in South Africa.
Blessings,
-Cheryl-