Hawane Bible Study

Things at Hawane are going real well. The church at Hawane is only about 1 ½ years old. I do a bible study with whatever children and youth want to come (whether they go to that church or to the primary school close by) on Fridays at 1pm. Right now there are about 10 each week. There are 5 girls who are loyal to come each week. Two of them I have grown extra close to – Khanyisile and Lindolihle. They are both in grade 7 and have very different personalities. Khanyisile is tall and very thin (I think thin partly because she sometimes goes without supper). She is kind of shy, but seems to be very studious. She is also the one that does most of the interpreting during the lessons. Lindolihle is a class clown. She was recently orphaned when her mom died on the first of September and now she and her younger sister live with her grandma. She told me that her grandma told her not to cry about her mom’s death. I worry about her sometimes, that she may look to boys to fill the void that the death of her parents left. One week we were talking about how Jesus said to turn the other cheek. At the end she asked “I thought that meant that if someone hits you on the cheek, then you could in turn hit them on the cheek.” I almost started to laugh because I thought she was just clowning around again. But once I saw she was serious I explained the verse and then she and 4 or 5 other girls were like “Oooohhh.” They seriously did not understand the meaning of the passage. That was a wake up call for me. I can’t ever assume that they have already heard a story or that they already understand something. If I do, then I may seriously confuse them.

With some of the girls from

bible study. I am leaning on Lindolihle.

Khanyisile