What’s up in SA!! :) … Year 2 is off to a GREAT start!

Hi everyone! I'm excited to share with you what's been going on!....

First, babies…babies…babies. And when you have babies, you need baby supplies. So once I got back to SA after the holidays I decided to take on some sewing projects. My first project was to make a breast feeding pillow-I have seen these used many many times during my years of babysitting in the States.

The ultimate goal is for the ladies who are part of the income generating sewing project at Options Care Centre to take this pattern and make it for new Moms at Options to purchase…here’s what they look like…

Things are going strong at Options Care Centre. I am so blessed to have a steady flow of clients coming into the centre. As a counsellor I am primarily focusing on the teen and young adult clients and their boyfriends/husbands. It’s really been a privilege to work in their lives. Here’s a picture of the Options morning devotional and prayer time. It’s a great way to get the day started right!

Another HUGE highlight of the past few months was my parent’s visit to SA :). It was SO awesome. My Dad had multiple opportunities to help out at Options…he cleaned out ceiling lights, fixed curtains in the counselling rooms, cleared out the garden so it could be used a meeting place for counsellors and clients, replaced a toilet seat and even fixed the water heater. He was hard at work and everyone at Options really appreciated all he did!

Now over to the Schools Team at York High School. My parents also had a chance to visit York High and attend one of the sessions as well as an outreach to a local children’s home. My parents really enjoyed hearing about the Peer Education program first hand from the third year Peer Educators….and the Peer Educators had a blast asking my parents questions about the States too! After two and a half years of Peer Education, here’s how the Peer Educators describe the program in their own words, ““Peer Education is a place where people (young adults) are taught to be true, honest and Godly in all actions. It educates us about morals, modern community issues to be addressed, boundaries and our own strengths. IT HELPS US TO LEARN ABOUT OURSELVES AND EDUCATE OUR PEERS THEREBY CREATING A BRIGHTER, SAFER FUTURE.” Wow :).

Another event with the Peer Education Program was a street collection we did at a local grocery store to collect funds for the Youth for Christ George office. The kids did SUCH a great job greeting shoppers, telling them about YFC and the schools program and we made quite a bit of money!

My parents also had the opportunity to accompany my second year Peer Educators on their outreach to a local children’s home. Again, the Peer Educators amazed me with how they put the program together….we did everything from skipping rope, fun group games, singing, face painting, and even playing soccer with the boys outside in the rain :). It was a blast!

While my parents were here we spent half the time working with the YFC ministries so my parents could see first hand what I do and then we spent the second half travelling, relaxing, having fun and enjoying some REALLY great food ;)

One evening Marion and I decided to make my parents a traditional South African Braai at our flat :). It was awesome…my parents had springbok vorsh for the first time ever! They loved it!

Continuing on the vorsh trend, I took my parents to the Sedgefield Market on Saturday morning where we sampled a variety of SA foods and also tried out the breakfast vorsh rolls…my Dad was so excited, after loving the vorsh we had at the braai. Vorsh, scrambled eggs, and tomato sauce on a roll for breakfast….YUM!

My heart is filled with thankfulness….

So overall, it’s been a really busy but fun time back here in George for year two. I feel much more settled, and George is starting to feel a bit more like home :)…which I’m super thankful for. I’m glad that I took the advice of the YFC leadership to serve in SA for two years and not just my original idea of one. I’ve learned that it takes just about a year to get settled-physically and emotionally-and although I served during year one, the most effective (less distracted) serving the community here in SA started in year two after my foundation was laid down.

One of the biggest differences between last year and this year is getting grounded in an awesome church community and for that I am most thankful. I have grown so much in this community, learned a lot about myself and strengthened my walk with God. We just finished a three month study on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood based on a John Piper Desiring God teaching called, “What’s the Difference”. If you get a chance, you should check out the book…it’s amazing, and great for a small group study!

Alright…well I think that’s the update for now. Thank you so much for your prayers and support during this time in SA :). Remember, if you’d like to receive my supporter updates in the mail which go into more detail and include specific prayer requests, just send your address to caitlin.vida@gmail.com and I’ll add you to the list :)

Blessings and Love