Matt & Anne Button, Alex, Karen, Tim & Pete Griffin
Why South Africa?
In 2004 Matt spent a month at Emthonjeni as part of his medical elective during med school. The project was in quite early stages of development then, but Thami the project director had a big vision and we were keen to go back and see what God was doing. Alex & Karen have also been to South Africa a few times and were keen to go back – not just for the wine!
Where did we go?
We flew into Jo’burg and drove across town to the Retreat House which is on the outskirts of Johannesburg and Soweto.
What we did
Our time was split between volunteering at Emthonjeni, and the following activities:
Invited lots of people around for dinner
Stayed in a lovely big house with a pool, tennis courts and trampoline
Made new friends
Played games
Picked raspberries
Went to church
Had an Easter Egg hunt
Went on a tour of Soweto
Went on a short safari
What we did at Emthonjeni
We all went on some home visits – taking food and medicines to people too ill to get to the project . Most of us (the adults) prayed for patients at the clinic. They would see the doctor and then come through and we would pray for them. There were stories of abuse, neglect and deprivation – heartrending stuff.
Anne did some admin
Matt & Karen sat in on some doctors consultations
Alex did some design work – planning use of a building, and designing a house for one of the caregivers
Karen helped in the kitchen
Pete did some sweeping
Tim & Pete played with the children
We led early morning devotions one day and had everyone singing Great Big God with the actions
Our overall experiences – the good, the bad and the ugly
Matt:
Planning a trip is a doddle when you have an organiser for a wife.
I really enjoyed seeing the massive change in Emthonjeni and the opportunity to get to know some of the leaders of the Vineyard Churches in the area.
What I found hard was that we prayed for so many people who not only had physical ailments but also were either struggling with abuse or with general social deprivation and there were not enough resources to meet all these needs.
Children slowed the pace down and brought a more relaxed approach to mission trip. There were some outbursts, but the children did surprisingly well – fitted in brilliantly.
Interesting experience in an empty tourist market – got to know I wanted a giraffe – so after wandering round al the other stalls the people from the first stall were waiting next to the car ready to sell me their finest giraffe. Unfortunately I had to say no!
Anne:
Planning a trip is hard work…it takes lots of organisation. But once you get there it’s all worth it. Being away from what is normal is incredibly refreshing and a bit like a reset button. Seeing the sorts of things that we saw reminds me that I need to get up each day and do my part to make a difference – listening out for what God is saying.
