Erin and I barely made it to Francina's home with just a single bucket of water.  In our attempt to bless this new friend, we found ourselves huffing and puffing at the top of the mountain with only enough water for maybe one day.  Francina laughed and graciously took the bucket inside her tiny home. . .

Each day, women like Francina carry water up the steep mountainside at least 2 times per day.  I realized as I hauled the heavy water up the hill just how blessed I am (and just how weak I am)!  :)  It has been a long week of minstry here in South Africa.  Several of us have been meeting daily with Francina (a young woman who lives in the squatter camp in Atteridgeville) as well as with one of her friends, Julia.  These women have been a joy to us as we've helped them to plant grass in their yard, played with their sweet babies, shared cookies and drinks with them, told them tales from America about a foreign thing called snow, and shared prayers and encouragement from God's Word. 

When we are not meeting with these friends, we have been spending a lot of time hanging out with our much smaller friends - a group of children who spend their days playing together on the mountainside.  These children have captured my heart with their little bare feet and their beautiful smiles and eyes.  One child in particular has become very special to me.  Her name is Katu (spelling up for debate).  Katu is about 5 years old, and she lives on the mountainside with her mother and step father.   Sadly, little Katu is the victim of physical abuse inside her home.  Please pray for us as we love her in all the ways we can.  It's heart breaking to see her hurt and also to know that she is just one of many children in this community who experience abuse and neglect.

We are each amazed daily by God's grace and blessings even in the midst of lives that are much more difficult that many of us can imagine.  We are encouraged by God's love for us, and my prayer is that each of you will know this love as well.  Thank you again for your prayers and encouraging messages.

With love and blessings from Africa,

Katie