Hospitality of South Africans

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Most of our team and the
other teams in Somerset East stayed with a host family where they would eat and
sleep and hang out in the evening since there was no where else for us to stay
while we were in town running Beat the Drum. I was so looking forward to it, but unfortunately God had other
plans. I ended up staying at the Family Church
with some of my teammates from Cookhouse. I was a little saddened by that, but it was nice to be able to just come
home at the end of the day be able to just go to bed. For those of you who do not know, my grandma
passed away last week while I was in Somerset
East. It was really hard being away from
my family and grieving the loss of my grandmother. Once I got the news that m grandmother was
gone, I was broken and I just knew that I needed time alone and to myself. Being in the church with ten other girls
wasn’t going to cut it. One of my good
friends on the team, Meghan, stayed with me that evening while everyone else
was at a youth rally, and she offered to ask her host parents if I could stay
in their spare bedroom that night. Thankfully
they said yes and I was able to have a room to myself that night to cry and
just grieve alone. It was extremely
helpful and it made the next day easier to face. Well that morning when they sent us off for
the day, Johanna offered that if I needed I could come back again that
evening. And I felt so welcomed there I
decided to go back that night and then the final night after that. God placed Louis and Johanna in my life that
week for a reason. They were like
grandparents, so it was nice being able to spend the mornings and evenings in
conversations with them talking about their adventures all over South Africa. It helped me keep my mind off of things, as
well as, helped me grieve in a healthy way. 

“O God, you give us words to live
by each day.  Help us to remember that the highest dignity is in humility,
hospitality, and service to one another.  May we welcome others as you
welcome us to your place of worship.”

There is also a blog
titled “Thank You Grandma” it’s a poem that I wrote to help calm my spirit and
remember the wonderful things my grandma had taught me over the years. Since I couldn’t be at her funeral, my sister
read it for me to everyone that was there. I loved her very much and I am happy that she is now with our Lord and
reunited with her husband, my grandpa.