Let me just start off by saying, God is sooooo good!! Last Friday at Ithemba was the best day I've experienced so far. I finished up a blog that morning before heading off to ministry, that updated some of the progress I'd seen in a girl at Ithemba. Allulutho (I'd been told previously that her name was Aludehu) has, by God's grace, made great strides since we've been working at Ithemba.

    When I first started there, I noticed right away that she stood alone next to a wall every day. She never interacted with other children. She never smiled. She never talked. When I asked the Ithemba ladies about her, they told me she'd been like that for as long as she'd been attending and that she had never even spoken to them. That blew me away and challenged me to work one-on-one with her. I'd never worked with a child like Allulutho before, but I knew that God had a plan for this little girl and I.

    The first hurdle she jumped was to allow me to stand next to her. Since then Allulutho, has transformed into a joyful little girl that responds to her name, plays with myself and a few other teammates, and is beginning to interact with the other children. Instead of me pursuing her every day upon my arrival, she seeks me out and runs to me with open arms and a smile.  

    Last Thursday, she played on the playground and in those few moments, I truly saw Jesus' love for her. Friday was by far however, the best day of all because she took the biggest step she's taken to date. That morning I wrote in my blog how I couldn't wait to see what God was going to do in her next. I typed of wanting to hear her speak. That afternoon at ministry, Allulutho spoke to me!!! She started with one Xhosa word and then said a word in English for me. I can't fully explain how I felt the second that first word was out of her mouth. I was filled with such joy that, if I had released it in any amount, the poor little thing would have been scared to death. Once the first word was out, it was as if Allulutho finally felt free. The floodgates were open. The little girl, so hidden away inside, was now brought to light. A few minutes later, she sat in my lap singing a song in Xhosa, an activity not uncommon to a stable, happy child. I sat there praising God silently, so overwhelmed by all He had done in her in one day.

    When her mom came to pick her up that day, she searched through the crowded room with her eyes, until they met mine. She threw up a big wave and a beautiful smile. I can't tell you what that felt like. To experience all of this in one day, seemed almost too much. It was all more than I'd expected to see God do in her in that amount of time. But then again, He is "able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can ask or think.." (Eph 3:20)

    This week, I have seen Allulutho continue to blossom. I know she will be playing with the other children some day soon. God is so good, so faithful, so amazing. All praise be to God, the God of answered prayers!

    Another child I'd like to send out an update on is Victor, one of the three children God has place directly in my path. I haven't written much of Victor in some time. Most of that is due to the fact that between our team being out of town for Beat the Drum, and him being out of town for several weeks, I hadn't seen much of him. I'll be completely honest and say that I didn't hate having the break from him. He is extremely difficult to handle when trying to work with a couple of specific others and the large group. (Though Ithemba is a place of frequent multi-tasking.) I did miss him though and I did miss the opportunity to be challenged by God with him. And boy is he a challenge from God!

    Yesterday was the ultimate example of what that looks like. Yesterday though, was more than I've handled before with this boy or any other. When we first got there Victor seemed to be in a pretty good mood. That usually means he had a fairly abusive-free weekend. The Mondays he acts out the worse are a direct response to whatever he experienced between Friday and then. At some point Monday I noticed Victor going back into a room a teammate had just kicked him out of. I got up from sitting with Allulutho and went to see what he was doing. I never know what I'll get when following Victor into a room. Sometimes I'll walk in to find him about to pee in a corner. This time, I found him on top of a table skimming through a teaching book he wasn't supposed to have. My teammate had left the room briefly but, I knew that was her book and she wouldn't want it destroyed.

    I asked him to get off the table, knowing fully that he wouldn't of his own volition. The moment I tried to take away the book, he started trying to rip out the pages. I managed to get it away and ended up having to pick him up in the cradle position, and carry him out of the classroom. He tried to kick, hit and bite the whole time. I took him out to the big room, where all the children play, and sat on the floor still holding him. Victor is average height for his 4-5 age, and while he is pretty thin, his flailing was strong. The moment I re-entered the big room, Allulutho wanted my attention. So, when I sat down, I had her sitting on the floor wanting to play and him being restrained in my lap. I didn't really question what to do with him, which is of course all God. I just felt like I was supposed to hold him. As an abused child, he doesn't respond much to physical discipline. What he needed was love and a firm reaction to his behavior. People have given up on Victor because he is so difficult and in this moment, I plainly saw the result of that.

    He continued to try to kick and hit, not just me, but also Allulutho because she was the only other one around. Every couple of minutes he would turn his head and attempt to bite my arms that were wrapped around him, holding together his limbs. After a while he would calm down and then moments later would reach out to attack Allulutho or myself. I kept holding him in the cradle position. The harder he tried to fight me, the softer I spoke to him, the more I embraced him, and the greater I tried to make him see that it was "Ok."  By the time he had calmed down again, the children were all being gathered on the stage for the bible story. I knew that if I let him go, free to sit by himself, that he would start acting out again. I headed towards the stage with him and as I walked past a girl on a team visiting from America, he lashed out and bit her sleeve. After I freed her we sat down behind all the other children. Throughout the first half of the story, he continued to try and reach out to kick, hit, or wipe spit on the other children. Every time he would get an arm or leg free, I would take it back in.

    At some point, Victor completely wore himself out. He couldn't fight anymore and fell asleep in my lap. I sat there through the rest of the story, still holding onto this little boy. I knew Victor wanted so much to be loved, but he just didn't know how to be. Even though he was asleep and couldn't cause anymore damage, I kept holding onto him. When the story was over, he was still asleep. After the bible story the kids go to class. I had to go to my Creche class, so I slowly slipped out from beneath him and left him to enjoy his earned rest.

    About five or ten minutes before class was over, I looked into the big room and saw Victor had awakened. He stood there on the stage like any typical child, eyes half way open, balance off, and with a glazed over face seemed to be staring through whatever was in front of him.

    I went to him and asked if he wanted to come to class. (Because of his age, he is in my class.) Perhaps it was exhaustion, or perhaps everything we'd just gone through but he didn't fight when I took his hand. He walked with me to the classroom. It was a short distance, but such a walk with him is usually occupied with the purposeful collapsing of his legs. He quietly sat down at the table and waited for me to hand him a piece of paper that all the others had. I helped him with the project I'd done with the rest of the class and then I got out the stickers. I'd given them all stickers for being good. Normally, giving Victor anything would not be a good idea, as everything ends up in his mouth or destroyed. I knelt down next to him and told him that I would give him a sticker as long as he promised not to eat it. Now, you'd have to know Victor to understand how big this was but, when I gave it to him he verbally promised.

    Again, I was blown away by God and all that He's doing in the children of Ithemba. Ithemba means "Hope" and for good reason. There is hope for Victor, despite how hopeless some may see him. There is hope for Allulutho, as quiet as she's been for so long. There is hope for each and every child that attends Ithemba. There is hope for each and every child in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.