Life in the Village

Hi friends and family,

We have been in Nkomazi for about two and a half weeks now and time is flying by. I constantly am asking myself if this is really my life. We have been staying rught outside of Kruger at one of our partners houses since the base we were supposed to stay at in the village is still under construction because of Covid. This was pretty hard for me and probably most of my team to hear because it’s a long drive that we have to take everyday to get to the village which takes away from our time with the community. From another perspective it’s a blessing because we have been so fortunate to be right in the midst of the wildlife at his house since it’s right off the Kruger. Often times monkeys come to visit us and we feed them bananas or I’ll walk 15 feet from a wildabeast with my morning coffee. There is so much that we have learned about the wildlife here that had given me a greater love and appreciation for Gods creation. With that being said, even though our time in the village is shorter it’s is still so sweet and special. We have been alternating between Johnathans okra farm and prepping a beautiful family’s overgrown field to get ready to plant. Johnathan is a funny guy and is always so appreciative and eager for us to arrive. The family’s field we are working on consists of a 16 year old boy, 11 year old girl, 9 year old boy, 7 year old boy, and a single mother. These kids often work with us in the field and sometimes we goof off with them more than we work. A part of the African culture is people are dignified in their work. We don’t want to come into their lives to give them hand outs and do it for them. Instead, if we work along side them we affirm them while creating the opportunity to build relationships. The kids are always so willing to work and love to hang out with us almost as much as we love to hang out with them. We do a lot of dancing, games, and piggy back rides. Each day saying goodbye gets harder and harder. Sadly we will be saying goodbye in just less than 2 weeks. This place has my heart but I know what comes next will be beautiful in its own way as well.