The Heart and Soul…
Get To Know Our Programs
By Taylor Bellais
Hi! My name is Taylor, I am a 20-year-old college student and intern at Orchard: Africa. Over this past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to spend a month in South Africa serving and loving the people of Mafikeng and Cape Town with Orchard: Africa. Over the course of a month I got to know Orchard: Africa and its programs in South Africa a lot better than I did just working in the offices in Arizona.
One program that I got to know really well was the Care program. One day I was with one of the short term mission teams in the village of Molelwane. We met Pastor Joseph and two amazingly sweet and tiny elderly women. We learned that they were residents of the village and caregivers with Orchard: Africa. Their job is to walk the village every single day to care for patients not only physically, but spiritually. When they arrive to each home, they make sure that the patients take their medicine and have something to eat with it. They also build relationships with them, and in learning more about them they find out what their needs are and in response pray for, and with them.
“As we said goodbye I was inspired by these women and their strength and commitment to keep going and serving those in their community.”
That day we had the chance to follow them on a few home visits. There wasn’t a specific incident, or family, or crazy cool “come to Jesus” moment that made this particular day stand out, it was just the incredible love and passion that the caregivers had for the people they were caring for. They walk an exhausting amount of miles every day just so that people in need can be taken care of and prayed for.
In that process they develop a unique relationship with the people in each home that they visit. We visited three families, each one dealing with illness and severe poverty. We sat with them and the caregivers to learn each of their stories and prayed that God would provide for them. Meeting each family definitely made my “first world problems” a lot smaller. By the time our walk with them was over we were pretty tired and ready for lunch but the caregivers still had a full day of walking. As we said goodbye I was inspired by these women and their strength and commitment to keep going and serving those in their community.
“We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus and the caregivers of Orchard: Africa are the closest to that calling that I have ever witnessed…”
I truly believe that the caregivers with Orchard: Africa are the heart and soul of the organization. They may be small but they have huge hearts and beautiful spirits. I was inspired by their passion and love for people in their own community while they had their own struggles. Their whole lives are dedicated to caring for others! We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus and the caregivers of Orchard: Africa are the closest to that calling that I have ever witnessed, and hope to answer that calling in my own career and life. It is safe to say that the caregivers became my new heroes that day.
To learn more about Orchard: Africa and our Care program click here.
To learn more about interning with Orchard: Africa go here:
