I want to start this post with a little apology; I’ve been at Hands at Work in South Africa for a couple of weeks now, and I know that I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with information about where I’ve been or what I’ve been up to. 

Right now, I’m about to start week three of the five-week orientation programme here in White River, Mpumalanga, living in community with other international volunteers. I’ve been incredibly blessed with a wonderful intake of volunteers who every day encourage me, challenge my perceptions and push my capacity. And I’m loving it. 

I’m so aware that it’s incredibly bizarre to write this, but being here, living with people from every kind of culture and background, halfway across the globe from most of you reading this, I feel like I’m finally home. I get to wake up every morning knowing that I’m exactly where God wants me to be; I’m back in the place I’d been so homesick for. 

That’s not to say that orientation isn’t without it’s challenges. In between sessions about the core values of Hands and the ways in which Hands as a whole operates, we’ve spent several days in communities around this part of South Africa; driving as far as two hours each way to places like Welverdiend and Share. 

It’s in these communities that we once again remember why we’re here; to serve the most vulnerable and support the local church in fulfilling their Biblical mandate of caring for the orphan and the widow, speaking up for those who can’t do so themselves. I’ve had the privilege of sitting in homes belonging to sixteen year olds caring for their siblings and getting to hear their stories of braving Kruger National Park to escape from hardship and unrest in Mozambique, and walking through the communities they’re living in with care workers that frequently share the same life experiences. 

In some respects, it’s easy to romanticise certain parts of life in these communities; the simplicity and reliance on the earth. But often, that hides all kinds of hardships that seem so far removed from the comfortable existence that I, for one, am acclimated to. The people I’ve met, whose names I’ve learned and stories I’ve listened to, are in very real danger of running out of food if we don’t get more rain. That’s just one very visible problem; the more stories I hear, the more I am reminded that there is so much need that transcends physical poverty. And it’s so hard; there’s such an urge to do- to find some kind of practical solution- but in the cases of many of the people I’ve met, a physical solution (if one were to be found) wouldn’t really solve their problems but maybe alleviate some of the symptoms. 

But in all of this, there is still hope. There are care workers who come from local churches and see the needs of the vulnerable people in their own communities. These are people who, despite their own hurts and brokenness, choose to reach out to the next generation of children like themselves. People who in the midst of their own busy lives, raising their own families, choose to care for the lonely and the vulnerable; to bring Jesus into their situations. Because without Jesus, to be really brutally honest, there isn’t a lot of hope. It’s through Jesus that reconciliation happens in these communities, and that so many of these children find a hope for the future. 

Whilst our need and our brokenness may look so very different from the children I’ve met recently, the solution is still the same. Jesus is the one that we so desperately need in our homes and our communities, to bring hope and peace and reconciliation to a world filled with so much injustice and pain. 

With all of that in mind, there are some things that I would love you all to be praying for;

• for safety in travelling. Driving here isn’t always as straightforward as we might hope- although we’ve seen a couple of nasty accidents and roadblocks, we’ve been incredibly blessed with travelling mercies so far but it’s not something we take for granted.
• for the February intake that I’m a part of. I’ve been blessed with an incredible family from all over the world, and everyone has a very different story that has brought them to serve at Hands. Pray that we would continue to be united as an intake, and that we would all settle into the wider Hands family.
• that God would position me exactly where He wants me. After orientation, I have no idea where I’ll be, or what I’ll be doing, which I find incredibly exciting. Please pray that He would direct and guide me, as He’s done already.

Thank you so much for reading this, and supporting me so far in this journey.