Scrapbooking in Africa

My husband David and I, have been teaching the College & Career class at our church now for about 8 years. We try to take a mission trip with the kids about every other year. Some dear friends that we've known since we were all in high school, Jim & Hope Smith, are missionaries to Johannesburg, South Africa. We started fundraising for a trip for 14 of us in January 2010.  By January 2011, we had raised the $32,000 needed for the travel there (including 9 trunks full of supplies—clothes, food, toys and crafts), as well as a layover in London, England! We were beyond excited!

 

 

We left for Johannesburg in June of 2011, not fully understanding that our summer is their winter months! Us Floridians simply froze! In all of the pictures, you will notice that we all had on at least 3 layers of clothes at all times! It was 27 degrees our first night there!

 

 

We went to an orphanage one day.  The men in our group were going to repair things around the orphanage and the ladies were simply going to play with the children. When we got to the orphanage, it just broke out hearts. There were so many things needing repair.  The men went straight to work and the ladies rotated in and out of the rooms playing with and loving on the children.

 

 

 

The manager of the orphanage said she needed someone to help her finish a scrapbook she was doing for each volunteer that had been there over that year. Can you imagine that?! Flying halfway around the world and someone asking me to scrapbook! Of course I said yes and began to help her complete many pages in between playing with the sweet, sweet children. She did not have near the amount of pretty patterned paper and tools needed to complete such scrapbooks as we do here in the States, but I helped her make them as "fancy" as we could.

 

 

Such a thoughtful, sweet person—simply wanting to say, "thank you" to others giving love to these children.  We did not hear any of the children crying in the orphanage that day. They were loved and they felt it from these precious volunteers who cared for them. The orphanage also did not have any heat.  Funny thing, all the rooms were warm that day. It was unexplainable, except to say it was a miracle. It still gives me chills to think of it. We played with the children, loved on the babies, did whatever work for them we could and left that evening wanting to scoop them all up and take them with us! It was just heartbreaking but comforting to know they were well taken care of.

 

 

The next day, we went to a school to play with the children. When we pulled up, the children came running with smiles on their faces as they recognized the missionary van.  Why? They knew that toys and fun and food and love were coming to them!

 

 

One of the toys we had brought were hula hoops! The children had never seen those before.  When one of our guys starting demonstrating, they laughed and laughed.  It didn't take long before they got the hang of it and were "hoop-ing" right along! We played red rover with them, soccer, tug of war, kickball and ate some treats. I have a picture of a baby girl, maybe 1 1/2, who walked over from a field with her sister, maybe 3 or 4 yrs old herself, who walked right over to my husband, sat down in his lap, and went to sleep. She seemed to know that here amongst these people, was love and security. I was heartbreaking to see her do that. Again, we wanted to just pile them all in the van and take them home with us.

 

 

 

In one of the pictures I sent, there is a little girl named Rejoice. If you knew her life story, you would know she truly has nothing to rejoice about. But when the missionaries come, she knows for a short while she will be loved and cared for. The people, especially the children, need so much.  We send what we are able, and pray for more to come their way.