Today is the beginning of Advent. 

Every December, long before we unwrap gifts or gather around tables, the season of Advent invites us into a quieter rhythm. It does not push or pressure. It does not demand. It simply asks us to wait and to prepare.

Every year, our team pauses from the rhythm of daily ministry to gather for a time of rest, renewal, and reconnection. This year’s staff retreat was no exception. It overflowed with laughter, learning, and moments of spiritual refreshing that will shape our service in the year ahead.

In a recent gathering, we spoke about how forgiveness is both a pathway of faith and a pathway to faith.

Someone asked, almost in a whisper, “What if I’ve chosen to forgive, but the pain won’t leave me? Does that mean I haven’t really forgiven?”

Mr. Ngaka Mosweu has lived his entire life in the small rural village of Madutle. As both a father and grandfather, he has invested deeply in the lives of his children and grandchildren. In his younger years, Mr. Mosweu dreamed of making a difference in his community. However, because he never had the opportunity to attend school, he feared his dream would never be realized.

Our Cape Town garden stirs with life from dawn until dusk and into the night. The owls keep to high branches, regal and watchful. The smaller birds flit through the branches, shy and retreating. Squirrels dart across the lawn, intent on mischief, while the wild geese who regularly visit our garden parade in noisy procession down the driveway. At night, frogs sing their endless chorus from the fishpond. The critters in our garden go about living their life, co-existing in the beauty of nature. I find much peace and joy in observing them. Yet, none of them seek my applause. In fact, they try their very best to avoid my attention.

We are deeply grateful for mission teams who partner with us in South Africa. Their time at our Impact Centers may be short, but the impact lasts for years. Recently, students from Baylor University led Early Childhood Development training at our Cape Town Impact Center. Pre-school teachers from the Orchard Network learned about brain development, child milestones, nutrition, and creative play. The team also showed how to make toys from recycled materials, which is an affordable, creative solution for under-resourced schools.

Behind our mission house the wind is stirring up the clouds that rest over the Helderberg mountains. In Cape Town, the rainy season has begun and I give thanks for this supply of life-giving water.  Our ancient, patched-up irrigation system is acting up again and the rain is bringing relief to those dry corners of our garden.   This piece of Africa that we steward is challenging, as is this entire Land.  Teeming with life, our garden is home to humans and critters alike.  Our patch of Africa has wetlands and desert, highlands and valleys and many a hill to die on.

A sliver of light pushed its way through the gap in the curtains, crept over the worn parquet flooring of our house, and caught my eye as I passed with a basket of laundry in hand. I paused and let the sunlight warm me. I stood there longer than I intended, letting the light find me.

Outside, the day was cold and grey. I had brewed a cup of tea that now sat forgotten on the countertop. I had much to do, but that little sunbeam, audacious and stubborn, broke into my ordinary day and insisted I pay attention.

July has seen us in the thick of mission season. It is a joy to see each team bring their unique gifts to help equip the Church to care for the vulnerable. We’ve had teams run preschool-teacher workshops developing their skills for use in classrooms, lead young adults in a program that helps them discover their identity and purpose in God’s kingdom, present VBS programs that bring light and joy to children, participate in women’s development that is so encouraging and filled with the life and love of Christ…

Mayaeyane village is an extremely poor village in a remote part of the North West Province in South Africa. The majority of the community is unemployed and rely on small government grants to survive. Some people may think this is as a hopeless situation. Others may see an opportunity for God to work through the local church to restore joy, peace and an overflow of hope in the community.

Winter has arrived in full force on the southern tip of Africa. The mountains around our mission house are covered in snow, the wind blowing an icy cold into our town. Fireplaces are cranked up high and a lot of warm beverages are being consumed. At this exact same time, the temperatures in the United States are at 90+ degree days with a long summer ahead. Visits to the oceans, lakes or mountains are planned where the breeze is cool and the pace is slow.

Mayaeyane village is an extremely poor village in a remote part of the North West Province in South Africa. The majority of the community is unemployed and rely on small government grants to survive. Some people may think this is as a hopeless situation. Others may see an opportunity for God to work through the local church to restore joy, peace and an overflow of hope in the community.

Owami is a young woman who recently participated in our Young Mothers Development Program.  We met her when she was 8-months pregnant, and things were not going well. While dealing with a myriad of issues, Owami was invited to join the Young Mothers Program through her local church. Here she got to meet other mothers dealing with similar challenges and was able to work through a well-structured program with peer support to help her feel more prepared for motherhood.

Sometimes our world is a place of upheaval and life can feel scary, cruel, or bewildering. We wonder if God even hears us when we cry out. Possibly we even rail at him and protest the suffering we endure. What the future holds is unknown, and control seems to be in the hands of the unpredictable. There were days, not so long ago, that I felt this way.

Marriam Mhlakaza carefully sorts through a bag of red beans that she is about to add to today’s meal. She looks for any beans that are not suitable for the pot. Mirriam slides these to the side of her table and starts preparing the meal for the 180+ children who will arrive at the Fishers of Men Church feeding project.

From our first breath to our last, we seek to connect with others in a deep and meaningful way.  We long for the assurance that we are accepted and important. Life’s journey is all about this connectedness; about knowing that we have a place in the world and that our place matters.

A few years ago, Orchard: Africa, with the help of volunteers from the United States, developed a twelve-month preschool curriculum designed in a unique way. Each month, pastors collect a tote box from our Impact Center that includes daily lessons for the teacher to present, the necessary story books that accompany the lessons as well as the worksheets, activities and school supplies needed for the children. It is a fully prepared curriculum-in-a-box.

January is the start of the school year in South Africa which means we have many little ones starting pre-school for the first time. Kano is a three-year-old little girl from Top Village who is one of these children. Kano’s mom told us that her daughter was so excited that she hardly slept the night before.  When she arrived at school, she would not put her little school bag down because, in her mind, it was the only way that she could show others that she is now attending school.

This morning, as I walked in the dark of the dawn with the sky streaked in magenta from the rising sun, I thought about a question I have been asked a few times this past week. “What are your goals for the year?” My answer has received a few furrowed brows.  Probably because it is not the typical list for this time of year, like to get fit, or to travel to such and such a place, or to improve my financial situation.  These are all good goals, some of which have made my list in years gone by. But not this year. This year is profoundly different.

When I was a little girl, it was a tradition that in the first week of December, my paternal grandmother would take my two sisters and me shopping for our Christmas dresses. These were the days before neighborhood malls so we would be driven into the city center to one of the large department stores. The Christmas decorations and music filled my senses while store assistants rushed around bringing dresses and shoes and frilly socks for my grandmother to inspect. Us three girls all got exactly the same outfit, including a little monogramed handkerchief to place in our little-girl handbags. The day ended with a lovely lunch in the department store café. It was a day of the year that my sisters and I waited for and anticipated with much joy.  For us, this day marked the beginning of the Christmas season.