Mission work in Joburg

I made it to Johannesburg yesterday and went straight from the airport to start my volunteering work for Come Back Mission. An older couple and their mentally challenged adult son lost their home and all their belongings in a fire on Thursday. Now, their home is not what we Americans think of as a home. Their home was an 8x8 foot corrugated tin shack. It might not be much to us, but it is all they had. So I helped about 12-15 young African and coloured men build a frame and attach new corrugated tin siding to their brand new home. It was a blessing to be able to help these people and they watched with smiles on their faces as we built their new home. Today, we drove out to the farm - a house in the country that Come Back Mission just opened in April to house women and girls get back on their feet after addiction to drugs. Ironically, the property was previously owned by people who manufactured crystal meth in the barn (yes, crystal meth is a huge problem here just like in the States). The ladies at the farm greeted me with hugs and called me uncle Eric. I was so touched by the power of their program and the smiles on the faces of the girls. Come Back Mission has great plans to expand by turning the barn and other outlying buildings into additional dorm rooms, a gym, and a multipurpose craft room where women could create bead works, quilts, scarves and other goods. They will also be growing vegetables in the dirt lot in front of the house. I going to help them come up with a sponsorship packet so they can acquire more donors and more funds to achieve their goals of expanding the farm to serve even more young women. I am so happy I can be of service to these wonderful people with their mission to help the people of South Africa.