July 4-17, 10 church members traveled to Johannesburg and Winterton, South Africa to work alongside 4 other Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches at 3 different ministry organizations.
We are so grateful for a church that places value on global missions and for the support we had from you. Each week you will receive a reflection from one of our South Africa mission team members. These reports were shared in worship on Sunday, July 30.
I worked at Hope Village during my time in South Africa. Hope Village is an extension of the Door of Hope started by Berea Baptist Church in Johannesburg South Africa. Berea recognized a local concern and made a choice to get involved and make a difference.
The church started their mission of saving abandoned babies with a simple cut out in the wall of their church. This provided a place where babies could be safely left rather than abandoned in the streets. Hope Village will be a place where the un-adopted children can be raised in a family setting. The Village will include homes for the foster families and schools to provide for the children’s educational needs. To date Berea has saved over 1,500 babies.
I have been asked to present a summary of What We Did. Our subgroup, affectionately dubbed “The Village People”, in cooperation with partner churches and Door of Hope staff worked on several projects ranging from creating bricks, that will be used to build one of the homes in Hope Village, and clearing a future play area of boulders and shrubbery to aiding our host family with moving into their home at Hope Village and preparing living spaces for future volunteers.
The work for our team accomplished did not end with the physical. Communing with this amazing group of people challenged us to look inward at how we practice our faith and live our lives. The people involved with this mission have unwavering belief in God and a respect for the resources God provides.
They believe that God will provide what is needed at the right time and without fail. They walk with a gentle foot print on the earth and are not wasteful or negligent of its gifts. They are patient, humble, confident, and courageous as they know God is at the helm. It has been such an inspiration to watch people truly walk in their faith.
So in short What Did We Do? We helped change lives. We practiced community with those around us. And we developed spiritually beyond measure.
This has been an experience unlike any other and hard to adequately express in words. My prayer for us is to come to know the joy and peace that unwavering faith and love for all will bring.
-Amber Holliday