I spent Friday afternoon at the Ark playing rug-ball (a combination between rugby and American football) with some of the younger kids. Donavon had been asking me to bring my football ever since our Independence Day braai back in March, so I decided to leave it with him to enjoy. Though I’m certain I’ve doomed it to a life as a makeshift rugby ball.
Much has changed at the Ark over the past two months. Lazarus and Leila, the house parents for the last 3ish years, are moving up north to work with the ministry in Oshikuku. So now the house is being led by foreign volunteers, all female. They’ve made some new rules and disciplinary changes that the kids are getting used to. It’s been tough on many of them and simply reinforces my belief in long-term consistency with kids, especially through such formative years. It’s no wonder many become so hard-hearted and closed off, but it’s something this continent has gotten far too used to.
Saturday evening I was invited back for another boy’s night. The female volunteers, not knowing me from before, asked if I would be ok with the guys by myself. It made me smile realizing that in reality, I was probably more ok than they were. It’s not gonna be fun in a few weeks saying goodbye to the kids for the last time, but God works in seasons. And my prayer is that this won’t be the last season for me to invest in their lives.
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