Thank you all for your prayers as my team travelled from Pretoria to Jeffrey’s Bay last Saturday. It was a long day in the car, but we all arrived safely! We are living in a house that is a five minute walk from the downtown area, and also a five minute walk from the townships. Jeffrey’s Bay is interesting because there is a white, upper class, and also a very poverty stricken area as well. The townships are divided into two sections, one is called Ithemba and it is the poorest area in J. Bay. The people live in make shift homes and the majority of the people suffer from HIV and AIDS. The other section is called Pellsurus, and it is an extrememly poor, colored area, however the homes are mostly government owned.
While I am in J. Bay, I will be participating in an internship. I will be able to pick a few ministries that I feel the Lord is drawing me the most to, and I will work in them for at least twenty hours a week. This past week, we have been visiting a few places that are possible sites for our internships. Next week, I will start my internship, but I am still not sure where the Lord wants me to serve and build relationships. The places that I am thinking are the clinic, house visits in Pellsurus, and also participating in a youth group at the local church, Deo Doxa. The clinic needs so much help. People go there and often wait all day long, and never get seen. They are understaffed and need help with deskwork, sorting prescriptions, and cleaning. We can also pray with the people in the waiting room and minister to them. The house visits consists of me picking a few people that I would visit consistently throughout the week. While we were visiting people this past week, many of the people had AIDS and TB, so having the opportunity to just sit and pray with them is awesome.
Last night we had the opportunity to go to a seminar on HIV and AIDS. It was very eye opening to see the statistics of the people in S. Africa. Here in J.Bay at least 25% of the people are infected with HIV and forty percent of the children are infected. Although, there is not much that medicine can do once people have HIV and AIDS, with Christ anything is possible. He can bring people hope and bring them out of this terrible disease. I am thankful for the church that put on the seminar, and definately feel more informed about the disease as I visit people in their homes who are suffering from HIV.
Please continue to pray as I minister to the people here in J. Bay. This week, please be praying that the Lord will show me where He wants me to serve Him while I am here. Thank you all so much.
