Wow where do I even begin…
This place will forever hold such a special place in my heart. So quickly J-Bay felt like a second home and that’s all because of the amazing community that we were able to be a part of. I sure hope I’ll come back here in the future (God-willing :)).
We spent a lot of our time serving at our ministries. Our whole team was split into 2 smaller teams. Half of us were serving at Beats and Books and the other half were serving at Timion. My team with Kaitlyn, Lily, Grace M., and Katelyn (yes, our group has many duplicate names haha) worked at Timion—an organization that helps families with children who have cerebral palsy. The founder of this company, Daniel, saw the need for improved equipment and care for children with this disability in South Africa, and started designing/building chairs in his garage! So crazy cool how far this company has come in the last 15 years. The majority of the time we were working in a garden. Where we were planting potatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, green onions, lettuce, and green beans. Some of the produce from this garden is given to local food kitchens and some of it is sold and the proceeds go to helping the families with kids with cerebral palsy. For our last week in South Africa, Timion was hosting a camp for a few families. Five moms and their kiddos traveled to attend the camp! It was such a special thing to be a part of and I’m so thankful for God’s timing where we had this opportunity! We would sit with/hold/play with them and the joy that they brought me is indescribable. God’s love & joy poured out of those kids.
Another special thing we were able to be a part of was a wedding that we helped cater! It was definitely a whirlwind of a night… we only had one oven that was about a 5-10 min drive from the wedding location that we used to warm all the meat & cake. So, we then wrapped the food in towels to keep it warm till it was served. Talk about making it work with what you got! Oh and I forgot to mention we didn’t have electricity. Everything was being run on a small generator! All this being said, it was a great night. We got to dance & eat some good food & experience some good company. And I loved being able to bless the bride and groom in this way on their special day!
Now for some of the fun things we did with our off days… I got to ride horses on the beach! What an amazing adventure this was. We were soaking up some of God’s beauty & peace while we were galloping along the coast. I had a stubborn horse named Moonlight who just wanted to hangout in the back of the pack and sometimes didn’t even want to move, but he made me laugh. I also got to surf a couple times! And I can whole-heartedly say I have a new amazement for surfers… one, it’s a workout! Swimming out past the waves was like making it through a cycling class haha. Two, it is NOT easy to catch a wave and ride it. But what a fun battle. The waves definitely got the best of me the majority of the time, but it was so fun being out enjoying the water! Finally, I went BUNGEE-JUMPING! Never thought I’d say that. But when an opportunity like this is available, I have to take it right? It was CRAZY to say the least. It’s the 4th highest bungee jump in the world at about 700 ft called Bloukrans Bridge. SO CRAZY!!! I have a video, so if you’re interested in that let me know. Anyways, it was so fun experiencing all these fun adventures and being reminded that we live on mission first! It’s only because of Him that we get to enjoy all these things.
Some scripture that stuck with me throughout my time in Jeffrey’s Bay…
1 Peter 1:8-9
Romans 8!!
1 Corinthians 2:10-16
Once again, thank you for being a part of this journey, reading this blog, and praying for our time! This is such a small piece of what we experienced in J-Bay and I’m looking forward to sharing more stories when I see you next.
I love you all!
Lilly
