So that's it.... We've said our goodbyes and all 6 English Roses have been reunited with their families, life has returned to normality.... except the 6 best friends who returned are not the same as the 6 strangers who left Heathrow all those months ago. We have had an incredible time in South Africa but its impossible to forget the harsh realities. Just because we are no longer there doesn't mean that LI aren't working with those children day in day out, Amaoti is still there-a community full of people who just want to be able to support their family but due to the unemployment level are unable to, a place filled with schools run by teachers who care more about the money than their pupils and a community where far too many children are in abusive homes. But, despite the darkness in Amaoti its a place that has such a sense of community, its a beautiful place.

While in SA we heard a lot about light and dark, about 'shining like stars in the dark world' (Philippians 2:15), it seemed to be an ongoing theme, with the soundtrack of Build your kingdom here

Build Your kingdom here.
Let the darkness fear.
Show Your mighty hand.
Heal our streets and land.
Set Your church on fire.
Win this nation back.
Change the atmosphere.
Build Your kingdom here.
We pray


I hope that for the time we were in Amaoti we were lights to the community, like a city on a hill (You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden- Matthew 5:14) On our last day Theo mentioned how the people of Amaoti are talking about us, they cant believe that 6 white girls would work with them for so long and would live in the community for a week. I would like to think that during our 6 months we've challenged the people of Durban about their attitude towards Amaoti and Phoenix.

We lived a much simpler live in our 2 bedroom house in Phoenix, its seems weird to come home to my own bedroom which is full of a lot of rubbish! Small things like hot water, tin openers and carpets are luxury and as Abi said when we all got very excited by comfy beds when we went on safari- I never want to stop being so grateful.

We have learnt that poverty isn't just materialistic, yes that is a huge part of the problem but spiritual poverty is an aspect we had never considered. One of our team phrases was 'you live in freedom', in our final weeks we went on a prayer walk in Amaoti and prayed for so many people, alcohol and drug abuse are huge problems in the community and we prayed for people to realise that they don't need to rely on drugs and alcohol but that they can find a freedom in Christ.

One of the main things I learnt was to trust God with everything, I have heard people say this before after doing similar trips but never really realised the extent some people trust God. The staff of LI are such an inspiration- never in the UK would you try and run a holiday club for 700+ children with a zero budget, we had to fully rely on God to provide food for 5 days, the staff are trusting for salaries at the end of the month and we are still praying for breakthrough with the vehicle situation. They don't give up but continue to pray and worship, they have a passion which is inspiring and through it all there is a sense of joy.

We never imagined that it would be so hard to say goodbye, we have build such strong relationships with the staff that saying goodbye was a tearful occasion. Even as I write this I am chatting to friends from SA! In our last week we popped round to the Browns several times just to make the most of our time with them, we couldn't have felt more welcomed into their family, they are incredible!

Its been 6 months where I have been constantly pushed out of my comfort zone but its been incredible to see all of us grow, if you had given me a huge group of Zulu speaking kids when I first arrived I would have had no idea what to do but now I just get on with it, even if our Zulu singing isn't the best!

Our hearts have been broken for the people of Amaoti and the thousands of miles between us and South Africa aren't going to stop us praying for the people we met and getting involved from here! Rend Collectives album was often blasting in our car and the lyric 'you're not finished with me yet' seems appropriate, God has bigger and better plans for Amaoti, LI and the 6 of us, by Gods power Amaoti can become a place of hope and where children have the same opportunities as those born in richer parts of Durban.

This is probably our last blog post, there are so many stories we could tell you that never made it online so ask us questions, the more interesting the question the better! 'How was it' is quite hard to answer!

Loads of love

Catherine
(on behalf of all the girls who are far too far from me!)