…My heart became completely open to whatever He wanted to do and a deep desire to return to South Africa filled my heart along with joy at the thought of being His hands and feet to the most vulnerable. Throughout that journey, God taught me to have faith far beyond my own expectations and also how He is so faithful to listen to our heart’s deepest desires.
“Everything may be different and yet, stepping out of our van into the community of Maranatha, I was greeted by faces I knew and people I could greet by name. I even recognised some of the kids and greeted them by name, even though it has been four years since I saw them last. I felt joy in seeing them again and, by the faces, I believe this was mutual….”
We faced many challenges along the way because people thought that if you were doing something like this, you should get money. They would also point to the work and say that it was for women and that men are supposed to be working for their families. But the relationships that I had built with the children made me unable to say no.
“They both thought of God as a distant figure, someone not to be approached, someone whose love had to be earned. They came to Africa with thoughts of “fixing problems,” especially practical problems. However, through their first couple of trips, they began to see their own brokenness and the brokenness of the world around them, and, more importantly, they began to see God’s desire to bring healing and restoration”
“Our children saw the stark difference between our comfortable lifestyle and wealth and the hardship and poverty that the people of Mcheneke Community, Malawi, live with daily. They also saw the difference in attitude between their own complaining and discontent hearts and the joyful, grateful hearts of the Care Workers and children that they met, despite their impoverished conditions.”
Jakob and Candece share their personal reflections on how the five weeks of orientation at the Hands at Work Hub in South Africa and four-week placement at a local Hands at Work office have helped to shape their understanding of what it means to serve the most vulnerable and give of themselves even if it personally costs them.
At that point I was a Christian and was going to the Apostolic Faith Mission Church. Farai Gunhe (African Volunteer, Zimbabwe) was my youth leader, along with another lady, which is when I started hearing about Hands at Work and the work that Farai was involved with. He did invite me to join but I just didn’t think I had the gifts it took to serve the most vulnerable. However, it encouraged me when Farai kept pursuing me – he must have seen something in me.
Through serving and working with different people, I am a changed person. Not just in the communities, but in my family. I am a leader at my church because of the things that I have gone through and now people can trust me. If I was where I had been, than maybe I wouldn’t be alive, but God saved my life. That's why I also want to serve, to give life to other people.
