If the rolling mountains and verdant plant life were not enough to remind me of the incredible fact that I am back in South Africa, then this blazing, sticky heat would certainly have done so.  Today must have reached 105 degrees, at least. I have been covered in an inch of sweat for a few days now, but today’s heat has been the most intense. All of us on the base look like wilting flowers, drained by the sun and hiding in the shadows. I could really use some of that Virginian and English weather I left just a few short days ago.  Hard to believe it’s been just 10 days since I was in the US and 8 days since I left the shores of England.

My return trip to the US flew by at the rate of an Aston Martin on the Autobahn.  I absolutely loved being back in my home country once more.  When the overhead voice recording in the Dulles Airport Customs line welcomed all US citizens home, I almost cried. Tears pricked my eyes and I simply could not wipe the grin off my face.  I was so excited, and nothing could pull me down from that cloud.

I had such a great time seeing friends and family that I had not seen in over 11 months. An added bonus was speaking at a ladies tea/brunch about my life here in South Africa.  We spent nearly three hours together talking about everything God is doing here, and it was such a blessing to get to meet these women. (To any of you who are reading this, thank you again for all your encouragement!) I only wish I could have had longer than just three weeks in Virginia, but timing was short. Regardless, I feel hugely blessed to have been able to return home at all.  I even got to stop over in England to visit two of my good friends for three days. Warrick and Abi are the ones who convinced me to go to South Africa in the first place, so I was doubly glad to see them and catch up on all that has been happening in my life since we last saw each other in May 2010.

Overall, my sojourn in the US and England has left me feeling incredibly loved and blessed, and those are two things that cannot be taken from me. I still carry them around with me as I go about my days here in Shayandima. No matter how difficult things may get, I know I have an amazing support team back in the US praying for me.

Since returning to South Africa, life has been a whirlwind, as usual. I got back to the base this past Saturday (the 7^th), and on Monday it was back to work for two staff preparation days.  School started up again on Wednesday yesterday, and I am settling in with my new responsibilities, which are many, I might tell you. This is certainly a year of new beginnings and fresh experiences, and I am ready for the challenges this term will bring.

I am now a supervisor (main teacher) for the Amethyst Learning Center, grades 3 and up. I am working with my two co-workers from last year, Brendon and Nicole, along with Cecilia, one of the local Venda teachers who is a lot of fun to work with. Brendon and Nicole head up the Amethyst B group, while Cecilia and I are the supervisor and monitor for Amethyst A. I will also continue as the Conversational English teacher. Those classes will not begin for another week, but I am already looking forward to them.

In addition to my teaching positions, I am leading the American Global Year Team’s morning devotions every Thursday morning. I had done a few of them last term, and I guess I did a good enough job to make the responsibility permanent. I’m glad for this opportunity, because I don’t often get to spend time with the American team that are here, so this gives me a chance to interact with them a bit more. I am also acting as the MC for one of our chapel services this term.  It’s usually one of four people who run chapel, so I was pleasantly surprised to see my name on there.  I just so happen to be the MC for the last week of school too, which means the entire school (preschool and up) will be there that day, so I better have a lot of energy and strength to capture the whole school’s attention. I will be sure to let you know how that goes. I foresee fun and craziness.  Should make for a very interesting chapel service. Haha!

I honestly cannot wait to dive in to this year. I just know it is going to be simply amazing.  Strange to think that I am beginning my second year of teaching at Shayandima School of Tomorrow and living in South Africa. Only God could imagine something so utterly crazy for my life.  I certainly never saw this one coming. This only makes me even more excited about my future. Being in my early twenties, I still have quite a few years in front of me, but already God has me serving Him overseas in unimaginable ways. My future may be a blank canvas, but I don’t have the slightest worry, because I know the greatest Artist and Writer is creating my life story for me.  I cannot wait to read the next chapter.

Give me your eyes for just one second / Give me your eyes so I can see / everything that I keep missing / Give me your love for humanity / Give me your arms for the broken hearted / the ones that are far beyond my reach / Give me your heart for the ones forgotten / Give me your eyes so I can see

… “Give Me Your Eyes,” Brandon Heath …

There are days when the truth and reality of my purpose here truly hits home.  I work every day, Monday through Friday, in the same learning center with the same students doing the same routine. Weekends are a blur of chilling out with friends, movies, and a good book, and then the entire routine begins again.

The mundane is a forest that we are all apt to get lost in within a matter of days, and many of us are perfectly content to remain that way. We don’t seek out the profound or the curious or the melancholy lurking in the trees because we are far too comfortable beneath our tall, shady tree. Today, that tree I had taken a rest beneath since Term 4 began was ripped out by its roots.

Every second week in a term, we have a devotional/prayer time with small groups of students from our individual learning centers. Since we lost our second supervisor at the start of the term, Nicole and I had to rearrange the students into two large groups, resulting in a hodgepodge of students from Grade 5 to Grade 10 in my group.  The 40-minute prayer time was a bit hectic since most of the girls in my group were chatterboxes, but at the end, I told them that if they had any private prayer requests, they could bring them to me privately and I would pray for them over the next two weeks. I had no idea what was coming.

I see these girls every day. I speak to them every day. I watch them laugh with their friends, talk when they aren’t supposed to, study for tests, and joke with them whenever I have a spare moment. Despite it all, we have no idea what these kids go through every day at home.  One student came to me asking for prayer for her father and family members living in his house because an evil spirit has been cast upon them and is now threatening their home and lives. Another student just wants to spend time with her mom and to find her father, both of whom are out of the picture. More girls came to me individually whispering in my ear, asking me to pray because all they want to know is who their father is.  Not just one girl, but four of them.  I know there are many others just like them in my learning center.

My heart and mind cannot grasp how much these kids suffer on a daily basis. How can I, an American girl raised in a loving Christian home with two wonderful parents and a younger brother I count as a friend, ever understand the pain these girls (and even the boys, I am sure) experience every single day? I have known and received love my whole life, but these kids have only had the merest shadow of the love I have been shown.  These kids need our love far more than we realize.

My fellow teachers and I are some of the few stable people in their lives.  We spend hours with them each day, helping them and hugging them and talking to them, but we fail to realize just how important those small gestures are. We find ourselves watching the clock, praying it will move faster so we can get home and read that book, talk to our friends, relax on the sofa. That is not why we have been called to this mission base and to this school. God sees these children.  He knows them inside and out. He knows their family situations. He knows their hopes, their fears, and their pain, and He wants to share this knowledge with us so that we, His hands and feet here on earth, can reach out to these kids and love them as He has called us to do.

How many children go unloved because someone is too comfortable in his or her suburban home to get out there and help?

How would this year have changed for my students if I had chosen to remain in Lynchburg, Virginia, with my nice car, dependable income, and loving family and friends?

How would Shayandima, South Africa, be different if the Palmers had refused to run a small ACE school in the Limpopo Province because they liked the city life?

What if the Shayandima School of Tomorrow closed down this January because people were unwilling to give up their homes and comfortable lives to serve God and His children in South Africa?

What if my students had nowhere else to go, so they ended up in a government school where love isn’t readily given or shown and where Christ isn’t mentioned?

What if …

There are a lot of “What Ifs” in life, but there is one thing I know for certain: God called me here to minister to those students in my learning center because they desperately need the love of God in their lives. Why God chose me to be His loving arms to these children I will not know until I stand before Him one day and find the courage to ask. Out of the millions of people on this earth, He chose me.

He has called you too.  Every person is called to be a missionary. Even if you are not called to a foreign mission field as I have been, you are still a missionary in your hometown. There are kids just down the road who may be as heartbroken as the African children I see every day. The question is …

What will you do about it?

Teachers are desperately needed here, but we need willing servants for God’s glory and purpose. For information on how you can serve in South Africa or help the students in the school and local area, contact me via Facebook, email, or this blog. I will be more than happy to convince you to join us here on God’s base and in God’s school: the Shayandima School of Tomorrow. 

Hold out your hands and close your eyes / Trust me this time, I’ve got something in mind / Don’t try to guess or you’ll miss it altogether / The timings more important to me anyway / (Come with me) / And I’ll watch you dance / When you see the plans I’ve made for us /

Will you take my hand?

… “I’ll Watch You Dance,” Holly Starr …

Virginia experiences an earthquake, and South Africa embraces a hot, muggy springtime with no warning whatsoever. One day it’s winter, and in the next it’s spring with temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Whatever happened to gradual climate shifts? I now sleep with an obnoxiously loud fan blowing hurricane-like air currents around my room just to keep the heat at bay.  Most people open their windows to let the cool night air inside, but I refuse.  The mozzies (mosquitoes) would find me in a milli-second and descend upon me as I innocently sleep in my bed.  I think not.

With the arrival of spring, change lingers in the air we breathe, and I have not escaped its effects.  The most difficult change came about five weeks ago. I never saw it coming: the departure of a beloved student. As the oldest student in the school, she was one of the two girls I had been working with one-on-one two to three times a week.  She is highly intelligent and enjoyable to be around, and I looked forward to working with her throughout the remainder of this year and the next as she prepared for graduation and university in the USA. As a result, I was crushed to discover she would be leaving for a neighbouring school.  I had one last week with her after I was told the news, and I helped her as much as I could in those few days. I just had to trust in God and His plans for her by letting her go.  Her absence has not been easy, but God knows what He is doing. I still work with the second female student, of course, and I’ve been able to give her more of my time. I continue to push her to excel, and even though she hates me for it sometimes, I know it’s for her own good. I honestly have to laugh, because this girl is so much like me: outgoing, sociable, and a major procrastinator. The latter makes for an interesting time, because no matter how many different excuses she comes up with, I bat them all down with ease. After all, as a fellow procrastinator, I have used those same excuses and tricks far too often in my lifetime to be fooled by them now.

Even in the midst of change, God still gifts us with joyful moments when we least expect them. Having lost my oldest student, I could only pray that she would enjoy her new school and continue following God. I hoped to see her again, but I did not count on such a gift. Still, God makes a way. While serving on after-school gate duty two weeks ago, a student in a different school uniform appeared at my shoulder.  I paid the student little attention at first, but when she persisted in standing there, I finally looked.  She was the very student I had been missing for all those weeks! After a bone-crushing hug, we talked for the next 45 minutes about her new school and how she was doing.  In that time, I managed to encourage her to seek the positive in the changes and to not give up on God and His plans. We parted ways with another fierce hug.  A week later I received a letter from her thanking me for the encouragement and support. Although she still struggles with all the changes, she is now seeking God’s peace and joy in her life. I’m so excited for her, and I know I will see her again very soon. I thought God had closed that door, but He was quick to open it once again. I know my role in this student’s life is not finished, and I can only thank God for the opportunities He has given me to impact not only her life, but also the lives of all my students.

Every one of my students is such a blessing. Every smile and laugh fills me with joy.  God has given me His eyes so that I can see what He sees in each child in that learning center.  No matter how tired or emotionally drained I may be, God fills me with joy and strength with one smile or greeting from one of His children. Each morning, I stand in the learning center as the students file in to stand before their desks, and I am always greeted by smiling faces and cheerful voices as they say, “Good morning, Miss Matthews.” I love hearing that. It’s equally rewarding to see these students grow in knowledge, working with them one-on-one and watching as difficult subjects suddenly click in their brains and make sense. My dad has always said that he loves his job as a university professor because he is impacting the lives of the future generation every day.  I can now say the exact same thing.  It’s a realization and truth that overwhelms me with awe and excitement at random moments. I often think of my favourite high school teachers and university professors, all of whom left major footprints in my life. I will always be grateful to them for their encouragement, support, and expertise. And now, a teacher myself, I can only pray that I am having the same impact on the lives of my students.  No matter where God sends me after my sojourn in South Africa, I will know that I made a difference.  Even if I only make a difference in one student’s life, I will have joy because of it.

So long as we open our lives and talents to God’s plan, He is faithful to use them in a wide range of places and circumstances.  My love of travel led me to South Africa; my writing talent has been given an outlet in the form of Mr. Palmer’s book; and now my enjoyment in editing is being used for a good cause and purpose.  In the last week of this month, I will be attending the ACE All-Africa Student Convention in Bloemfontein, South Africa, as a volunteer and judge. I am in the midst of judging short story entries for a literary contest, in which I read various stories from students across the continent and give them a score. Two other judges are reading the same stories as me, and all of our scores will be totaled to decide on a winner. The range in stories is vast, and I’m enjoying the time spent perusing the entries. Some are good, some terrible, some better than others, but I am doing my best to give the scores rightfully deserved while, at the same time, providing valid feedback in the comments section of the judge’s form.  For some entries, it’s difficult to find positive things to say, but for the sake of the burgeoning writers, I must. The experience has been rewarding thus far. I still have 30 entries to score in the next week, but I will accomplish it in time. It’s nice to use the gifts God gave me for a variety of individuals and organizations.  In coming to South Africa, I thought I would work in the school, go on a few mission trips, and do a few services in the community. I never imagined I would be assisting in so many different fields and places. Already, I’ve traveled to Botswana and Zimbabwe, and in a few weeks I will be exploring other cities in South Africa. I hope to visit Mozambique soon, as well. The sky is the limit around here!

I look back on the last eight months in amazement.  God has brought me so far, and I have learned so many things. I am definitely not the same girl I was in January, and I just might scare a few people with the drastic changes in my life when I return to the US in mid-December. Living abroad has always been a dream of mine, but I never imagined it would have such a drastic affect on me. Everyone needs to experience something like this, whether it be living overseas for a year or a short-term mission trip.  Whatever it may be, it’s necessary for every Christian that lives and breathes in today’s world. We are so quick to lose ourselves in comfort and complacency while the world aches for the love and knowledge we have in Christ. I am fortunate to have grandparents who devoted their lives to serving God overseas, and their testimonies and example have made all the difference in my life. Knowing they put everything on the line to serve God overseas for years, I found the courage to step outside of my comfort zone and find God’s will overseas. I never really imagined myself as a missionary while growing up, but I can now see how God prepared me to be just that.  It doesn’t take an inspirational speaker with charisma to burn, or a doctorate degree with a matching cap, or an individual with years of experience in a specific field. All it takes is faith, trust, and a willing heart.  God will provide all the rest.  He paved the way for me to come to South Africa in January. I had no teaching experience and very little money to live on, and yet here I am, thriving in the place God’s placed me.  He has provided for me in every circumstance, and already He is providing for my second year in South Africa. I don’t have to worry because He is in control.  All I had to do was believe in His provision and buy a plane ticket. Any of you could do the same, and I hope you do. The experience is worth the cost. Christ gave it all for us, so how can we not do the same for Him and His people?

“The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Matthew 9:37b