Katherine, Joen and myself have been on the ground in Harrismith for just over a week now, and things are starting to get busy. We have more than 2 weeks left here, and we are involved with:
- Volunteering at Hope House children’s home.
- Organising a party for those with no family to stay with over Christmas.
- An end of year event at the bible school in Makgolokoeng township.
- Running a men’s and women’s social for Freedom Church
- Volunteering at the local hospital and clinics.
- New charity and church websites with videos.
- New computers for the charity and children.
God is giving us a real opportunity to celebrate and build relationships here, with 3 parties at Hope House over the next 2 weeks, bonding socials at Freedom Church, an end of year celebration at the Makgolokoeng Bible School, and a week long art fair at Rheola’s (our generous host who runs income generating craft projects in the township).
Today we visited Hope House, where the children immediately took my phone and started taking photos: tw0 of which you can see on the right. The level of love the children need is very intense: they run into your arms at the first opportunity, and both of us found our eyes moistening throughout the afternoon. Joen, on the other hand, was fairly shocked, having never been borderline attacked by 27 black kids. They loved him, although we did have to stop them putting him in the sit on car that they raced at breakneck speed aroudn the concrete. Over the next few weeks, we are going to take them out in groups for ice cream, or round to our house for DVDs, for cooking: general family time they miss out on.
I am finding the work in the local hospital very 
rewarding: my smattering of Sesotho is already coming in useful, and I love the air of friendly faith in the hospital. Last night around 2am I was dancing around the kettle with the senior sister, singing “Ke a bina hobane Modimo o motle” – “I am singing because God is good“.
We currently do not feel any closer to knowing if this is our long term home: for now, we are focusing on thanks and praise, and trusting that He will reveal his will to us.
Love you all,
Chris, Katherine and Joen.
