…If only for Marie - Julie

Today was a mixed bag for our team.

We spent the morning hours shadowing Home Care Givers into 2 communities (Masiphumalele and Ocean View) and observed as they dressed wounds, checked blood sugar levels for diabetes, checked blood pressure, asked questions about their wellness (and in one of my homes we sang White Christmas to a blind and nearly deaf 94 year old…never would I have imagined this as part of the job). We felt honored to be the guests in these families’ homes and were blessed by the good care that these women provide.

Some of our team had a chance to prayer walk at the Living Hope Ocean View Center. This is a building that was formerly the home of a drug lord and was condemned after his murder in the home. The home was acquired by Living Hope and was nicely renovated, and while the center is functioning well and has a clean, fresh look there is still a stigma in the neighborhood about the center and it’s past life. The kids and families often call it “the old house” which was the name it was formerly called. We took some time to pray that God will restore this building and will change the name of this place to “the good house.”… “the house of healing”, “hope and restoration”.
Will you join us in praying this prayer? Pray that God will alter the reputation of this block of land and cast aside all fear in the neighborhood from this place. That, as Laural prayed, they would “rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the former devastations, they will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations (Isaiah 61:4)”

During the afternoon we led a training for the Care Givers. As a closing activity I passed around a basket of rocks and asked them each to take one to represent a patient that they have lost. We had a moment of silence to remember, to ask God to help them relinquish that person, and then when they were ready they were to come to a basin of water and place their rock in it as they emotionally relinquished the care of that patient to God. Some of them seemed sincere and some giggled through the experience. As they left this afternoon to board their “transport” home, a caregiver named Marie came to Allison and shared, with tears in her eyes, that the day’s activities had brought up much thought about her deceased husband, but that it was good to relinquish him to God. It was a powerful moment to see how God used that simple activity in someone’s life. We were glad we did it...if only for Marie.