hands & feet.: undeserved kindness.

"Maturity as a Christian is about mastering the basics." - Jerry Bridges

If you haven't seen Les Miserables, you should. Almost everything that stood out to me this week about God's grace is summarized in that movie. It's easy to assume that to be a mature Christian you need to have all the stories and theological knowledge possible - that until you master the history, dynamics and depth of the Bible or of God - you aren't very spiritually mature.
Just as I'm beginning to dive into and understand the undeserved kindness that my Maker has shown me, it gave me a new paradigm on the way I view my relationship with Him and why giving that same undeserved kindness or generosity is so worth it - just because understanding His grace should make me really want to give back to Him. And that I don't have to prove myself to him, but that the story is not people coming to God, but God pursuing people.

I really hope this isn't just a lightly affecting kind of realization - but that I'm amazed and reminded to the point that there's a real change in the way I show kindness and the importance of giving. It's a lifetime process, but every fibre in my being should dare to make that same grace a reality and reflection of Jesus in my own life. The response to grace should be a life of gratitude, right?

Let's just say that the more that we understand grace - the basics of following Him - that's where maturity is, and that takes a lifetime.

We did our outreach at a hospital this past Friday, and originally we were just going to be picking up trash around the hospital (which was freaky at first - we didn't have gloves right away and there were used syringes & gauze all over the ground! we got gloves after a little.) - we ended up going to the children's ward. First we went to the abandoned children's ward - and as soon as I walked in, a little girl hugged me twice and then grabbed my hand. Most of the kids in there have mental disability. I picked up a baby boy whose name was Mufothu (I'm not sure on the spelling though!).. he thrived on even being paid any attention to or being held. He started to cry when I put him back down.. man. I can't tell you how much I wanted to take him with me. That'll be the story of my life during outreach. We'll be going to at least two or three different orphanages and spending weeks there. It's going to be really emotionally taxing.

We then went to three different rooms with sick kids and I had the opportunity to pray for a few and talk to different bomake (mums) and found another little girl named Tengetile! I told her about my little girl at the first orphanage we went to.. :)
Being there just further confirmed my heart for kids & orphans & babies! aand for nursing of course.. :) We were told to go to the maternity ward and see a European baby that had just been abandoned there. We didn't have time go unfortunately.. but this happens all the time here.

After that, we got our yellow fever shots for going to Malawi in a few weeks! (did i mention that outreach is just three weeks away? AH!) I was a little scared, and I'm normally good with needles! We had to convince one of my teammates to get hers between her tears of fear.

The week approaching we'll have around 24 people in the house! 10 extra people to cook for, clean for & share a washroom with :P It'll be an exciting week with really phenomenal speakers.. but really different for us at the base. The topic is on the Holy Spirit, then next week is on HIV/AIDS (the one i've been waiting for!) and the following week on Spiritual Warfare. Then......OUTREACH! We'll head to South Africa for two weeks at that point, then straight to Lilongwe, Malawi and most likely starting at a rural orphanage where the temperature gets up to 40-50ø!

The biggest need for my team right now is 1) Continued prayer for safety of the base - especially this weekend with all of our staff gone to South Africa for a small conference. 2) Prayer for health - it's been a continuous cycle of everyone being sick on and off, and though I was just finally feeling completely well from my sickness earlier on, I now feel something new coming on - this will be a really important prayer for us during outreach with the physical labour & emotional involvement we'll have in everything we do. 3) Fundraising for my outreach team. I am still needing a small portion of funds, and just about all of the rest of my team needs the majority of their funds for outreach. We also need living money for day-to-day expenses that don't necessarily fall under outreach expenses - which is my main need.

Thank you so much for your prayers, again!
I can't believe how fast time is going! I'll be blessed to be home again, but I am definitely blessed to be here and learn/experience the things that I am.
Love & Blessings,

your sisi,

Busisiwe :)