2 weeks in: God is changing my heart

Some fun things I've done since my last update:
-watched a show of Zulu dancing
-attended a Zulu church service (luckily they translated most parts)
-ate at the most beautiful resaurant ever overlooking the "Valley of a Thousand Hills"
-watched the World Cup Final at a Fanpark
-ate some ostrich and kudu billtong (basically their version of beef jerky)

The Lord has really been working and showing up while we've been here. We finished up the Soccer and Netball clinic last week and have been working in an AIDS hospice center this week and also at a safe center for abandoned children.

On Sunday my team attended a Zulu church service in one of the townships nearby and it was one of the coolest experiences. We went in and they were singing worship songs at the top of their lungs in Zulu. It was beautiful. I feel like I got a glimpse of what Heaven will be like all singing praise to God in our own languages with all the Joy in the world.

I was beginning to think Durban was a normal touristy city with so much culture and vibrance and not a whole lot of poverty in sight, but I was wrong. Attending the service was the first time we'd traveled into the townships. A boy on my team mentioned "it looks like something out of a National Geographics Magazine, but in real life." The poverty is indescribable. I have never seen anything like it. The pain and suffering that we hear about Africa all the time becomes all the more real when it is staring you in the face. I am so thankful that church is a place of hope in such a dark place.

This week we've been working at Ukukhanya (translated to "a light in the darkness") AIDS hospice located in the township of Ntuzuma. Ntuzuma houses over 500,000 people and a 48% HIV infection rate. Basically one out of two people in Ntuzuma are infected with HIV. The mission of this home just amazes me. They take in people and children off the streets or whose families can no longer care for them and care for them with the most loving hearts. They truly are a light to these people. We've been helping rennovate the building, by painting the interior and exterior as well as tiling and picking up trash. When we are finished with all of the rennovations, the center will be able to house 28 people!

Yesterday my team visited a safe center for abandoned children, a place where children are housed for 6 months between being rescued and foster care or an orphanage. This is another amazing ministry. I really enjoyed loving on the kids and playing with them all. the staff are so awesome and they really do a great job in sharing Christ's love with the children. While both of these centers are hard places to work in because of all the hurt and pain, they are very hopeful places and the Lord is using them in such amazing ways, bringing people and children to Him.

Through my experiences at both centers the Lord has really just broken my heart for those who don't know him more than ever. He has shown me his heart for all people and nations. I have become more aware of my own need and everyone's need for a Savior. Please pray that the Lord will continue to use these experiences to change my heart and see the world and his people as he sees them, that it will be a lasting transformation. Please also be in prayer for the two centers, Ukukhanya and the Safe center, they have such amazing ministries who bring true light in darkness.

I'm not quite sure what is in store for next week, but I'm confident God will continue to show up. I do know as far as the weekend goes, we're going to a Sharks game (the local Durban Rugby team) and then possibly even some bungee jumping? We'll see.

Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement, I am so grateful!

Blessings,
Lainey