We had an incredible time on Tuesday with the handwashing program at Maranatha. The Etelang Pele (Sotho (pronounced “Sutu”) for “moving forward”) group had all the “stations” set up outside and had the kids organized by age. It worked like a well oiled machine. Maggie demonstrated to the adults who would “man” the stations. Most would never have thought that hand washing could be so important. Afterwards the kids had lunch inside the hall and then they all got paper and crayons to draw. Some were inside the hall, others were outside. We think there were about 400 kids… from Klipkop, Boiketlong, and Maranatha. It is so difficult to describe how this feels … the kids are so happy to be removed from their settlement life and brought to this church to receive a meal and be loved by the Etelang Pele group.
Mpho is very excited about her upcoming trip.
Yesterday we visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, and the Constitutional Court which is an amazing building rich in symbolism of the old South Africa and the new.
Today we met at Maranatha in the morning – prayed and talked with the Etelang Pele group before they started their day, and then proceeded to Groenpunt (Greenpoint) prison. First we met with the maximum security inmates and later with the youth (ages 18-25). This ministry for Maranatha is so significant. We continued to be humbled by the graciousness of our welcome and how meaningful it is for them that we would come to visit. You never know what kind of impact this visit might have on the lives of these men. I (Kelly) told the maximum security inmates that I bet they never knew they had a sister that looked like me; and that its a good thing that God doesn’t keep score because none of us would measure up.
Tonight at dinner David and Maggie shared their thoughts about the trip thus far and that they try to not have any preconceived ideas about what to expect.. We have stayed for the first time at a couple places and there have been some “hiccups” but fortunately they have been very willling to just go with the flow.
Tomorrow we will go to Evaton Noord where Maggie will do the handwashing program and then afterwards we will go with Etelang Pele for in-home visits. This weekend we will be in Heilbron.
I have uploaded some photos to dropbox and will send an invite to those of you who are on my list. I tried uploading some videos but it just took forever and eventually “timed out.” I will still work on this as there is some very good stuff.
Blessings,
Kelly (Wendell, Maggie, and David)
Maranatha Welcome
Large Croud
Maggie demonstrates to Nurses
Maggie starts with Kids
Kids eat lunch with clean hands