As I start to write this post, it has been one
month to the day since my return from South Africa. About seven months ago,
when I was still preparing and sorting out the details of my trip, my parents
and I had a skype call with Sarah Prince, my contact and coordinator in Ocean
View. This was before I knew much about what I would being doing in Ocean View
and Sarah was giving me a few ideas of some of the projects that were going on
and what I could potentially get involved with. I was getting excited, and my
mom was tearing up in her own excitement for me. Oh, Lindy. She didn't even
know! But there was one thing that Sarah said toward the end of the call that I
will never forget. She was talking about how, of course Ocean View could be
dangerous, but as long as you are smart, you will be fine. And my parents were
all, "oh, we're not even worried about any of that." Sweet,
unconcerned parents. But then Sarah said, "I will warn you about one
thing, though..." And in a second I'm thinking oh no. There must be an
especially horrible, violent thing going on there right now that I'm definitely
not prepared for. Until she finishes her sentence with... "You are going to
fall in love with this place."
At the time, I honestly thought to myself, jeez.
I hope that's true, and then, ah! what if it's not? What if I am the one person
that goes to this place and comes away thinking "meh, it was alright." Or what if
it's worse than that? What if I don't have a good experience at all?
And now here I am, a month away from a place
that grabbed my heart so completely that I miss the tone of voice that coloured
people use to ask questions. I miss seeing the kids at the Care Centre being
excited that they recognize the face of the volunteer coming to help out in
their classroom that day. I miss greeting and learning about the incredible
lives of the strong women of Ocean View who came to a bible study to learn how
to lead each other. I miss the coffee that gives the phrase "made with
love" a whole new meaning. I miss witnessing and understanding the impact
that the Ubuntu soccer ministry has on the lives of teenage boys and their
communities. I miss seeing the Holy Spirit come alive in ways that I did not
understand before. I miss the sweet, happy woman who took care of us and always
made sure we had enough juice and biscuits. I miss the high school girls who
are trying to figure out what the Gospel truly means. I miss climbing new
mountains, and witnessing new Creation. I even miss the men coming to my car window
trying to sell me magazines and beaded animals at stoplights. I miss the place
that I was warned I would fall in love with.
I know that I did not utilize this blog as well
as I should have over the course of my summer. I'm pretty new to this and putting
my thoughts and experiences into words kept proving to be a very daunting task
that my days refused to hold time for. I want to apologize to those who I
should have kept more up-to-date. But I want all of my supporters and
encourage-rs to know how much this adventure meant to me, and to the people
that I came into contact with. The budget that I headed to South Africa with,
was the exact budget that I ended up needing, to the dollar. I know that was
truly an act of God, and I want to say thank you again to all of my
supporters.
One of my favorite verses that came up this
summer is Habakkuk 1:5 :
"Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly
amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe,
even if you were told.”
Could
it be more fitting? God did something in me and in a community this summer,
that I did not believe would happen, even though I was told. I fell in love
with an entire community and got to participate in, and be utterly amazed by,
the work God was doing in his faraway nations. And now that I am home, I will
be continually grateful to the giver of all utterly amazing things, and I will
wait expectantly for my next chance to move Further Up, and Further In.
