Mission trip to Masoyi

Who would have thought that this city slicker wouldn't want to come back after the mission trip?!? It was unbelievable but also very sad at the same time. I loved it though. On my second day I mentioned to one of the people on the team that a week is far too short to do such a thing. He assured me that a week is just fine. If we were to stay longer it makes it so much harder to go back home and resume our normal lives. How very true did I find those words after the week was over.

When we arrived I was still not quite sure what the heck I was doing there, but as the hours drew on I realised that my learning would be to show me how small in my faith I really am. I have some serious growing up to do.

Monday : The first day I spent working in the vegetable garden at Masoyi Home Based Care (Hands at Work). It was truly back breaking, but if Wendy (a much older American) could do it, then so could I. Samson, the head of the gardens, tasked us to pull out all the diseased plants and spit the bed over. It was quite hectic. We later learned that it would have taken two adult men to do in three days what Wendy and I accomplished in one morning.

The afternoon was spent a bit more leisurely – JoAnn and I sorted clothing that was donated. There was a lot of girls stuff, not much for the boys. To all who contributed in this regard, thank you SO much from Mama Africa and her orphans.

Tuesday : On the second day Jean, Teresa and I were meant to do HIV education to the young ones. Unfortunately this never materialised. Things happen differently in Africa when it rains. Plans change overnight and arrangements made do not materialise. No matter though, we're in Africa.

That afternoon Ray (American), Lee, Garth, Sue and I went to assist Samson in the garden again to plant all the seedlings they got the day before. The soil was lovely and wet, so planting was a breeze. We were tasked to plant tomato, beet and green peppers. It was getting a bit crowded all trying to plant, so I went over to assist Joseph in weeding other patches. At first it was difficult to not "weed" the veggies, but I soon got the hang of it.

When we were done with the planting and my weeding, we initiated Ray with the soil of Africa. Ray had never been to South Africa, let alone Africa before. Garth and I took dirt and rubbed it all over him. He was such a sport for allowing us to dirty him like this.

On the way back to ACTS we ran into Callan. I did not recognise my own son until he called me by my name. He had his hair braided. I cannot say that I liked what I saw, but at least it wasn't in his face.


Wednesday : Day three arrived and I was going to be doing Home Based Care. We started our day with a prayer meeting at Masoyi HBC office. All the HBC staff were there as well as all of us. Jabs, Callan's African mom, led the meeting introducing all of us as well as all of them to us. When the prayer meeting ended we were taken up to Kayalethu 2, or better known as K2, where were going to be taken by the workers to the houses of those due to be visited. We concentrated on the area of Mahushu.

I accompanied Tebogo to visit two of her people. Obviously we walked where we wanted to be. It wasn't such a train smash as we were all well prepared for that with comfy shoes and wide brim hats to ward off the sun.

As this is a very traditional area we were advised to wear skirts and blouses that show no cleavage or shoulders. We obliged because we were visitors to their homes.

Caring for the people in their homes was not as traumatic as I had expected. Maybe it was because I did not visit "ill" people as such. The first lady we met was partially paralysed due to a stroke three years ago. The other was 102 years of age. What a dynamo that one was. I did not understand anything that was said in the language that was spoken, so felt quite odd and out. Never-the-less, a learning experience all the same.

The people in Mahushu live very modestly. Their homes, built with cement stone is solid with windows and doors, but very sparsely furnished. They have no running water and there also is no electricity. The language barrier was a bit of a drag because I couldn't really understand what it was that Tebogo had said about it.

The fact that we, as missionaries (I still battle to think of it in those terms), were willing to enter their homes were and share a prayer and some every day talk with them was a lot more than what they had hoped for. That was my impression anyway. Tebogo did say that her people appreciate the concern and assistance they are offered by all at Masoyi HBC.

The afternoon was spent in children's ministry up at K2. The American team brought over stacks of things for the kids to do. The group I was in ended up with the older kids. We had some crosses that we decorated with them. They truly went to town in the decorations. Most of theirs certainly was not done for taste, more for the colours that they were able to incorporate on it. It was fun none the less.

Thursday : The next day I assisted the building team with painting up at K2. Ray, Sue and I were tasked to paint window frames. Care had to be taken to NOT get paint on the windows itself. Bethuel was quite a hard task master as far is that was concerned. Sue had some cloth in her "taxi" and we were able to get the paint off with the turps that was supplied. It was brilliant, just standing there and painting. We were later joined by a young chap called Desmond who lived with his aunt as his mom had passed away due to Aids. Desmond painted with us. We did not need to hold a conversation with him, he was just happy to help us instead of sitting at home and doing nothing with his time.

Friday : On our last day we went out to Mama Africa's orphanage. When we got there we were welcomed with open arms by the kids. We had some balls for them – show me a kid that does not like a ball and I'll show you a dead one – and we played for about 45 minutes with them. Kicking the ball around and throwing it for the girls. Of course there were chicks there that had better soccer skills than some of the men.

All we were required to do was mingle with the kids, run some crafts with them and just enjoy the day with them. It was brilliant! I haven't been as tired as I was that day for a very long time.

Ruth (American) had a little one in her arms that started crying. I was right there next to her and the little one just leant over to my direction. I took hold of her and had a permanent attachment for the rest of the day. She was quiet and well mannered. Well mannered enough to not throw up on me or to do a number two in her nappy whilst I had her. It's the first time ever a baby behaved in my arms … miracles do happen, you see!

We were served lunch by them at lunch time. Lunch consisted of pap with a cabbage, potato and carrot stew. We ate it Africa style with our hands – taking our cue from the kids who surrounded us. It was divine. No scraps left over on my plate that's for sure. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that I was hungry. It was truly a lovely meal, simple but very filling indeed.

We were informed by Mama Africa later that the kids used to eat only one meal per day – dinner. Fortunately that changed when more organisations started to hear about the orphanage. Now the kids have three meals per day.

Whilst most of us were occupying our time with the kids, the building team (American and South African) were hard at work building new ablution blocks for the kids. Their current situation is very primitive and totally inadequate.

At the end of the day, all of us being sunburnt and tired we headed out to have dinner and get some much needed rest.

The whole South African team left just shortly before lunch time. I stayed on because I was there in my own vehicle. This allowed me to spend some much "needed" time with Callan before I set out for home on Saturday.

The whole experience is something that I can definitely recommend to everybody to do at least once in their lives. It is heart wrenching but also very uplifting at the same time.

Having done this for the first time I realised how very small in faith I really am. I have a lot of growing to do to get to where the Masoyi HBC staff, kids, orphans or even the American team for that matter.

I've spoken to Callan a few times since I have been home and he is thrilled to have had the opportunity to "share" Masoyi with us. He truly has embraced the whole missionary training and subsequent serving the community.

Good news to most will be that Callan will be spending the remainder of the time at Masoyi assisting Levy with the children's ministry. This does not mean that he will not be going out of the country for a while. For the moment (to be advised later) he has committed himself to going to the DRC to assist at their base with building for up to 8 weeks.

Now, before you all start having heart palpitations like I did the first time I heard about it, I have been assured that it is quite safe where he is going. He will be going to the south, just over the border. The people that are there, Margaret and Dominique, will take good care of him, should he be required to go there.

I spoke to the brat today and he said that he has been asked by some kids from Masoyi who failed their Afrikaans exam to assist them to do the re-write in May. So, Callan is now a teacher … don't let his teachers find out – they may just revolt!!!

To all the Relentless kids who wrote him letters – thank you so much. He appreciated that like nobody can imagine.

That's our news for now.