Hello from Beats&Books! Our 3rd and final ministry month is in Jefferys Bay, South Africa! We are being hosted by the Global Leadership Academy (GLA) which is a 5min taxi ride from the beach and every day we work with students at an after school program called Beats&Books. This organization is like nothing I’ve been a part of before, in the best way.
The schedule
The day starts with quiet time, sometimes on the beach or at our house on the same high school campus that the GLA started. We are at the ministry site of Beats&Books by 10am. What this looks like is a one floor, 3 bedroom house that was turned into a music and tutoring center. Each “bedroom” has been turned into a classroom which is used for the students to grow in their music skills, study mathematics, literacy, and take classes such as a Discipleship class. The “living room” has been turned into a library filled with many donated books of all reading levels.
From 10am-2:30pm we do whatever administrative work needs done. Everyday this looks different. This past week I created graphs and charts displaying the students academic progress where as last week I organized the books in the library. It’s been really neat being able to use different skills I don’t use in a typical day.
From 2:30pm-5pm we are working with the students! There are about 35 students total that come in throughout the week the youngest being 8 years old and the oldest being 18. Each day for me is different. I’ve done everything from teaching piano in the library to tutoring in Algebra in the garage to making egg sandwiches in the kitchen.
For the rest of the evening we have dinner with all the girls in the house. We were fortunate enough to be housed with another all girls World Race group for the first 2 weeks. These girls were on month 11 of their race! They had a different ministry they went to during the day, but it was so sweet to get to fellowship with them during dinner and have worship nights with them. They each had so much wisdom to share.
Every ministry day, one of us will stay back from the group at the house and be a “housemom” along side our wonderful housemom Wendy. This was a really cool opportunity to serve our team by cleaning the house, grocery shopping, packing lunches for the group before they leave, making dinner and spending the day learning from Wendy! This was definitely one of my favorite days here.
The People
Auntie Carla and Uncle Jonathan followed the Lords calling 3 years ago to move their family overseas to take leadership over Beats&Books. They both have such a wonderful way of loving on the kiddos and maintaining their own system. Carla is such a light and pours not only into the students daily, but also into us. Each day is hectic and filled with surprises, which it has been good to always be on our toes ready to move project to project. They do so much behind the scene work for these students, it’s insane.
Cornelius is the founder and director of Beats&Books. He is very dedicated to helping each and every student succeed with their futures and make sure each of them are provided for outside of their organization at home. He also has such a wonderful growing family. His wife Prima and him invited our group over for dinner and they both poured into us for hours around the dinner table. Both of them are deeply rooted in their faiths and love the Lord in a way I’ve never seen, it is amazing to witness. They have so much knowledge and wisdom that left me feeling so filled and loved.
The students jumped right in with us starting day one. They knew each of our names by day two and are always asking us questions. The afternoons are NEVER quiet with everyone running around and laughing while they work, trying to have mini photo shoots on our iPhones, playing soccer, and even letting birds loose in the house. Never a dull moment.
A week before heading into month 3 we found out we were no longer going to eSwatini but here. This may not have been in our plans but it was definitely in the Lords for us. It has been such a blessing to be part of this unique ministry.
As we head into our final days here please be praying for the students and organization we are partnering with. Prayers that the Lord will continue to provide safe environments for the students to learn in and opportunities for Beats&Books to grow and reach as many students possible.
Blessings,
Brenna:)
1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace
You sound like you have been a busy little B. Sounds like you have enjoyed yourself. We cannot wait to hear everything you did and saw on your mission. Love ?? you
This sounds like sooooo much fun! Not only are you by the beach, but you get to help out with music and kids every day! Count me in! The fact that you were able to help them out with their journeys at Beats&Books while also doing your ministry work is awesome! You were able to impact their lives on so many different levels and connect with them all in a different way. It’s so cool that you were able to meet up and stay with people on month 11 and share similar interests to not only your housemates, but your hosts as well. I also bet being by the beach didn’t hurt too badly either! I’m sure the impact you all had on the children their as well as the impact they had on you will stick with each respective group for their entire lives. I’m so glad it was an amazing experience!