Mixing things up!

On Monday morning, I had the privilege and honor of serving at Living Grace, the homeless ministry that was started by Avril Thomas (Pastor John's wife).  Holden, Becca, Berrit, and I left the house around 7:30 with David to Fish Hoek, about 20 minutes away.  The Living Grace facility is located right in front of the beach, which is absolutely beautiful!  We spotted so many surfers in the water.... I don't see how they are surfing in such cold water! Yikes.  We walk in to Living Grace and are immediately greeted by Ms. Joan.  Ms. Joan and her late husband began working at Living Grace 9 years ago.  She is such a joy to be around and you can tell the people there absolutely love her.  She introduced us to a few people there and then let us know what we would be helping out with that morning.  We started off with a devotion with the people there (about 20 men and a few women).  We sang several songs, heard the devotion, and then were introduced to the group by Ms. Joan.  After the devotion, we began to unload fruit that had been donated from the local grocery store, Pick N' Pay.  Becca and Berrit helped out in the kitchen cutting various vegetables for lunch.  Holden and I were then instructed to skin apples and chop them up.  Neither of us had ever skinned an apple before.  Hahaha, it took a lot of patience to do it in a way where we wouldn't cut ourselves.  Well, I guess we got a little impatient at one point because I cut my thumb (just a flesh wound), and seconds later, Holden did the exact same thing.  Oops.  Ms. Joan took great care of us by giving us both "plasters" a.k.a. Band-Aids.  Ready to get back to work!  We then helped prepare the plates of food for the people there.  It's interesting because Living Grace is not a homeless shelter.  It is a place of rehabilitation and recovery for people to come and have their laundry taken care of, have a meal, etc.  Those who are involved with the ministry are required to have a job that can get them active within the community and still be able to go to LG and be taken care of throughout the day.  It truly carries out Living Hope's mission statement: Bringing Hope, Breaking Despair.
  

Here's something awesome that I discovered while I was there.... While I was chopping apples, I noticed a man there named Andrew wearing a rubber silver bracelet (like the Livestrong bracelet) that had "Pray for China" written on it in English and Chinese.  I thought to myself, "Hmmm, that looks so familiar."  Knowing that Amy Floyd went to Cape Town last summer with Brookwood, I began to ask where he got it from.  


I said, "Andrew, where did you get that bracelet?"
Andrew: "From an American!"
KT: "Do you remember their name? I have a friend who gave out those bracelets to people in America!"
Andrew: "She had glasses [using his hands to show glasses on his face] and was about this tall [pointing below his shoulder]."
KT: "Oh my gosh! That's my friend Amy!  She came here last year!  That's so awesome you have that bracelet."
Andrew: "She told me that when she was a missionary in China, she would get in big trouble if she got caught for sharing the Gospel.  I don't know if I could ever do what she did.  That's so powerful."


What an incredible thing!  Amy, if you're reading this, you definitely made an impact on this man all through the power of Christ!  Praise the Lord!  This just one of the many examples where I have experienced God's incredible works in people's lives.  He continues to show me how people are all connected in some way, shape, or form; it's our responsibility to take action in discovering them happening all in the power of Christ.  


Once all of them got back in from working, Holden gave the devotion at lunch about always rejoicing in the Lord even when times are tough.  We served all of them their lunch around 11:45 and then helped clean up in the kitchen.  I spoke with a man named Leon at lunch time about how there is a time for everything.  He brought up the passage in Ecclesiastes and shared that he has had a rough journey, but has now been forgiven by the love of Christ.  It was really encouraging to hear Leon's story and how he has overcome so much, but only through God's grace.  I will be going to Living Grace next Tuesday and the next.  Looking forward to it! 


While we were waiting on David to pick us up, we walked down to the beach to scope out the scene.  Really cool area!  We're hoping next time we can take our lunch down and eat it on the coast.  After getting home, I ate my lunch and then Mia and I took a quick cat nap before leaving for afternoon clubs.  We left around 2:15 and David dropped Will and I off at Ocean View.  


Club was once again different today!  We took the "office" kids (those who live near the OV office and came to holiday club) down to Marine Primary School where there are more kids several blocks away.  We had a great turn out of kiddos.  I met Ashwyn, Dalisa, Meagan, Marvin, Shanica, Reeny, and many more kids.  Thankfully God has blessed me with the ability to remember kid's names once I meet them.  I am so grateful to be able to remember the names because when you call them by name, they absolutely love it.  Hopefully, I can continue to learn their names and be able to pronounce them correctly!  The kids behaved very well today.  While I was playing soccer with several of the little boys, I had the opportunity of teaching them how to take turns, how to pass fairly, and how to be nice to one another during the game.  I commentated the game while we were playing; the boys absolutely loved it, which was awesome.  Once club started, the kids settled down and were very obedient!  Great day at club.  


David picked us up and we then went to Capricorn to pick up Becca, Berrit, and Holden.  On the way home, we took a detour and went to the St. James walk.  It was awesome!  They have this row of colorful houses which I absolutely love, as you can see below! 

Just happened to match the houses! 

Beautiful. 

Dinner was delicious, as always.  I am getting to spend more and more time with Ms. Bernie and her mother, Ms. Anita, in the kitchen each night after dinner.  I like helping them whenever I can because they are always working so hard in there.  When I asked Ms. Bernie if she likes to cook, she said, "Ooohhh yess! Yes yes yes! It's my passion honey!"  She said you can't do something, if you're not passionate about it!  Truth.