Overwhelmed with compassion

Today was a wonderful day. The tears keep coming. If only you could see what I have been seeing. We will continue to stay in Bolenfentain till Friday. On Monday, we went to Ladybrand. It was an hour and a half away from Bolenfentain. The mountains and the scenery are just gorgeous!!! Along the way we passed by grave yards that are so full that the tombstones are right next to each other. There is so much dying. I have only seen two older Africans. That's it! They were probably in there 50s or 60s. Near the grave yards is a settlement. Thousands of people live in these settlements. If anyone saw the size of my bed room in Pastor Bob's house, many of their homes are smaller than that!! About 5-10 people live in one shanty. Can you imagine? That means these people practically sleep on top of one another. Rape is so common. I can understand why. The children learn all about sex at such a young age. They are so curious, they will go out and experiment themselves. Many of the rapping's are from family members such as mothers, fathers, step parents, uncles, and aunts. Drugs is another thing that is common. The children get bored and don't know what to do with themselves so they go and experiment. The government used to fund the schools to give the learners food, but now the government can not afford it. Majority of the learners are not getting any food. Blessman Ministries asked that the children we were seeing get a package of food. I feel so guilty eating in front of them. But the thing is, I do not have enough food to give to the hundreds of children around me. It is so sad. In town, they have a mall and some nice buildings. I wish the government would use more money for the poor than build such fancy buildings. There is no money for the schools because it is going towards the WORLD CUP!!! Lots of people here are looking forward to that. I just don't get it. This government is really corrupt. Doc just found out yesterday that the health government funding are going bankrupt. Now if someone has two children HIV+, the parent must only pick one child to go on antireteral medication. The medication is supposed to help delay terrible symptoms. How terrible is that? In Ladybrand, it was a challenge to minister because of the language barrier. So many of the students are behind in their education. They are supposed to start to learn English in the fourth grade. But many 17 year old I could not communicate well with. I had a translator but sometimes I wonder if they are correctly translating everything I am saying. It was a very stretching experience!! It was good for me! The Zion Christian Church is very deceived. It is the fastest growing church in South Africa. These people are open to believe just about anything. In this case, that is not a good thing! Lord, break down the walls of deception. Let them see the truth!! Some of the translators are apart of this church. That is why this concerns me so. Tuesday, we went to Thaba-Nchu. That was about an hour drive from Bolenfatain. We were completely surrounded by a settlement of shanties. This venue was a college that is no longer used at a college. It is a beautiful place, if only they could put it to good use. The need is great!! Compared to Monday at Landbrand, I greatly enjoyed Thaba-Nchu. I think it was because there were slightly more English speaking learners. Not only that but we could hear each other fairly well. Some of the venues or classrooms we use are small and get very loud with lots of people. I pulled out on of the learners that knew English to help us interpret. Her name is more original than the others, Abigail. She specifically wanted me to pray for her mother because her mother drinks too much alcohol. Olebogeng is twelve and her prayer was to pass school and be a social worker and some day own her own business. I told her she would have to work hard but I believed that she could do it. Lerato just wants a friend. Many others don't even have a mommy or daddy. I saw a down syndrome boy and took a picture of him for Julie. He looks like Scoob but with dark skin. He was so cute!! Today, we did not have to travel far for our venue. I can not remember where it was at though. Again, the primary school was right in the center of a squatter camp or shanty settlement. Pop, means doll, told us that there is much thievery and it is really hard to keep the school nice. There were lots of broken windows. Bob, one of my fellow missionaries, took a couple Book of Hope to cover the broken windows. It was very cold today. I thought that was pretty clever! They believe that we are to get some snow. YES, you heard me right. I wore five layers of clothes today. Today I experienced challenges with learners who are supposed to be of age to read but can not. They thought it was an eye problem but it is actually a reading problem. The schools in this area are not teaching the learners well. It seems they are just passing the learners through even if they can not read. I gave many elementary versions of Book of Hope out today. There are three different versions: Elementary, pre-teen, and teen. Xola is 14 and in the fourth grade. He can not read at all. He was one of the one who thought he needed glasses but did not. He told me he was a Jehovah Witness. I just kept telling him about Jesus and the Book of Hope tells about the truth of Jesus. One thing I love to do is pray for the learners even if they can not understand me. I pray against deception and disease. It is wonderful! The Department of Education gave us all gifts. One of the Educators said she learned so much from us. She mentioned that we not only help them with their physical eyes but their spiritual eyes. YES, she is getting it!! Praise the Lord! The gifts were extra special because they were made by Mentally Challenged Learners of Pholoho School. It is a coffee mug that you can use chalk to right on. Inside of the mug is coffee and brown sugar. Attached to the handle is a beaded bracelet. It is very special indeed! I am very blessed! Tonight, we are meeting with another Department of education to go to more schools and reach more children. We are handing out hundreds of glasses. God has been so good! Thank you for all your prayers. I hope you can read all of this. I know it is a lot but it is not nearly enough!!