My First Ministry Experience

Makong Baptist Church, Qwaqwa, South Africa...

Today was the first day that we went out into Qwaqwa to do relationship evangelism. Honestly, it wasn't too bad when we were out ministering to the people. I thought that I would have been a lot more nervous than I really was. The first house we went to put us in a little bit of an awkward situation. There was a mom who was looking after a few children, one of which was only about a year old and would not stop crying. She said that it was because the baby was scared of us because it had never seen Americans before. We left after a little while since it was impossible to minister with the constant distraction of the baby. After we picked and washed some spinach for her, we moved on to another house. The next house was a little better but still kind of awkward. We came up to a young woman who was doing her laundry. We asked her if she could help but she didn't speak English very well so everything had to be translated. We helped a little with the laundry but it was weird because there were five of us and one of her. When she invited us in we saw that she had a baby, named Juni, who was nearly a year and a half. We talked to her quite a bit in the morning but it was a lot like an interrogation than a conversation because she didn't talk much except for saying yes and answering a few of our questions. There wasn't much bonding there. After talking with her we went back to the church that was our base for the day to eat lunch. After lunch we decided to go to a different house. This house was wonderful! We all bonded so well! There was a mother and her three daughters who were 14, 17, and 18 years old, as well as three other family members and a multitude of small children who followed after the "parade of Americans." We talked for a while about the difference in wedding traditions. They thought it was hilarious that the husband doesn't pay any money to the wife's mother for raising the child. They also thought it was funny that we thought they might still have arranged marriages. The conversation was very comfortable, and the girls all spoke English very well. They used bigger words than I could probably say. We played crazy eights and jump rope with them and taught them how to play go fish. I fell down while jump roping but I think that things like that are what make it easier to bond. It makes me look silly which in turn puts me on the same level as them. They made us orange tang juice and invited us to come back tomorrow.

I felt like it went well, until we were all in the car talking to Charlene. We told her how were were playing games with them and she said that it was ok but that that wasn't what our focus should be. I was aware that that wasn't our focus. I didn't come to South Africa to play games, but we're supposed to become friends with these people so that we can share Christ with them. How can I share Christ with them if they don't know me? Surely, they won't accept me or care to hear what I have to say. It was hard to hear that from Charlene because I thought we were doing such a good job of connecting with the people today. It was just really frustrating. I know that God will be stretching me a lot throughout this trip but I feel that Charlene was saying that what we were doing was wrong and seemed so right. I'm a little confused right now. I need a lot of prayer to be put out of my comfort zone and to thrive outside of it. I need so much of God's strength to be able to witness to these people. Sometimes I just don't know what to say, and when I think I am doing well, I hear that I am doing it all wrong. Am I doing it wrong or what? Please pray for me as I go out tomorrow.

I love you all!