Hello!

Hello there!! Here’s the latest update from our Nomad team. We are wrapping up our stay here in Jozini and moving on to our next location tomorrow morning bright and early. We will still be staying in the KZN province, but heading south to Loskop (near Estcourt). We will be working with an HIV/AIDS orphan care ministry called Agathos Foundation. I’m really excited, I think it will be an awesome week. Vanessa’s small group back home actually sponsors this ministry, so it will be really cool for her to be there and see it in action. We will be in Loskop for one week and then finally head back to the farm!

Our team is safe, healthy, and excited for an awesome week at Agathos, so stay posted!

Moving Eve {Sunday, March 29}

Wow, what an experience today was. My sermon this morning went well! I was very thankful the translator seemed to understand English well enough to convey what I was saying (not always the case). I even got my own pulpit (that I could barely see over) which turned out to be a huge blessing when, mid-sermon, my dress blew up to my stomach. Thankfully the pulpit was so big no one but me realized what happened. Whew, almost made a new most embarrassing moment there!!

After my message we had more worship, communion, one of our BoH dramas, offering followed by the offering revival- as I call it, worship, then the head pastor gave a final word of thanks. During this time I sensed all Zulu-speaking people turning to look at me, while the guy next to me nudges me, “sister, you must give the closing.” So I start to go back up to the pulpit while everyone continues singing … having no idea what a closing is in this church… And remembering that this sometimes means a second sermon. I lean over to the head pastor’s assistant up front and whisper, “would you like me to pray?” To which he responds, “No, bless.” Umm… “Okay, maybe I can pray?” He looks at me with seriousness as if I am understanding what he is wanting, “Close, please.” Fabulous. I’m glad we’re communicating clearly. I’m thinking do I try my Pastor Rick’s benediction or recap my sermon or …. Oh man, I don’t know. So I kind of did a little of everything and prayed. I love when I have no idea what’s going on.

After church we got a VERY special treat… Actually, we have been looking forward to it all week… KFC!! I can honestly say I have never been so excited for KFC in my life. I miss good chicken, and who knew KFC makes the best chocolate caramel avalanche sunday you have ever had??

An Outline… from my Message

Most of my message was focused around what I mentioned in my blog yesterday.

Hebrews 11:6-16 ~ Three things about Noah and Abraham
1. By Faith
-trusted God would do what He said
-being sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they did not see (v.1)
2. Obedience
-received God’s calling in faith and followed through in obedience…despite the risk and sacrifice involved
3. Living for a Heavenly Kingdom
-content with being different (v. 13) … a life lived for God will often be counter-cultural
-they were focused on God’s Kingdom, not their own, otherwise they would have backed out (v. 15)

Jeremiah 29:13 ~ Seeking God with all Your Heart, what does it mean?
1. A close relationship with God
-spending time with Him
-giving Him the opportunity to lead
2. Walking in faith
-God often gives us one step at a time
-we will not always see the end result of our faith (v. 13)
-willing to risk and sacrifice
3. Resolve to be different
-citizens of a heavenly kingdom; foreigners on earth

I know it is just bullet points, and these are just some of my thoughts. Hopefully you can spend time looking over these Scriptures yourself. There is a lot to be learned in these passages.

…When you seek me with all of your heart… {Saturday, March 28}

I’m increasingly more thankful for the opportunity to spend 3 months here in Africa. Being here for 3 months gives the opportunity for day-to-day life to sink in. I haven’t been blogging as much this week, partially because of being hot, but also just sensing God stirring things in my heart. One verse has been on my mind a lot this week- Jeremiah 29:13. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” I love this verse because it keys in on the personal element of a relationship with God. The fact that God can be found by us when we seek Him with all of our heart means He desires to be close with us. I love that. I’ve been spending time studying places in Scripture that talk about seeking God… What does it mean to seek God with all of my heart? How do I do that?

As I was searching Scripture, I came across Hebrews 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I love Hebrews 11. It reminds us of so many lives lived in faith. I was excited to re-stumble upon it… It was actually a passage that I studied quite a bit as I made the decision to come to South Africa. You should read it when you get a chance.

Tomorrow we are going to a local Zulu church where we’ve been asked to give a message. Our leaders Vanessa and Ryan usually give the sermons in these situations, but I offered to speak instead… partially because they’re awesome and totally need a break and partially because I’ve been a lot more introspective lately and feel like God wants me to share these things that have been on my heart. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to share yet, so I will keep you posted on my first sermon! ;)

Move Along {Friday, March 27}

This week has probably been the most draining for our team. Jozini is lovely, but not our favorite place so far. To be blunt, there’s a lot of bugs and it’s really really hot. Sometimes I think about dragging my mattress outside to sleep at night where I think I would feel cleaner and cooler. Haha, ok there. I said it. That’s all I’m going to say on that end, but it has been a more difficult week. Please pray for our energy and endurance as we’re hitting the mid-way point exhaustion. We’re all doing just fine, and we’re making the most of Jozini. But I don’t think anyone will be crying when we leave on Sunday. ;)

School Visits {Thursday, March 26}

Today we visited two schools. The first school this morning was huge. It was R-12 and had about 2000 students. They wanted us to go classroom to classroom, but because we had another school appointment we were not able to do so. Some of the presentations were frustrating because it was almost impossible to be heard with the amount of people and the setup of the area. In total we ended up doing six presentations there. Afterwards we were invited back to the Principal’s Office (the first air-conditioned room I’ve been in since maybe Hazyview??) where we were served “cool drinks” (juice and soda) and MUFFINS. I don’t know why, but I realized how much I missed muffins and was deeply grateful for this special treat.

The next school was much smaller but in a more remote location. We got lost on the way there (red dirt road suddenly ended) and had to stop multiple times so Thabani could ask random Zulu people where the “tar road” was. It was definitely interesting.

Only in Africa {Wednesday, March 25}

Only in Africa do you wake up to a random Zulu guy raking your front yard leaves in his boxers. That’s all.

Hump Day {Tuesday, March 24}

Today is our official half way point. It seems like it has been a long time since I left home and a lot’s happened since then. I’m so thankful to be here and excited for what’s still ahead!!!

This Week {Monday, March 23}

This week we will be visiting schools in the Jozini area. We are very thankful to continue working with our translators from Kosi Bay- Themba, Tombencane, and Thabani. They will be with us this one last week. We will be sad to part with them after a month… In some ways they have become part of the fam! They play parts in our dramas, they eat our American dinners, they’ve learned our card games, and they love our IPods. Last week Themba and Thabani watched 5 movies on Hillary’s IPod.

Moving Day… Jozini! {Sunday, March 22}

After three weeks and 38 schools in Kosi Bay we finally made our move out. It was definitely weird leaving, as I had gotten somewhat attached to the family we were staying with. Cari, my new 14 year old friend, discovered my obsession with “real” coffee and would spoil me with their french press coffee (almost all coffee here is instant) and rusks (similar to biscotti). I will miss Cari and her family!

Jozini is not a far drive from Kosi Bay. In fact, we nearly drove to Jozini on several occasions visiting schools in the surrounding area. It took us about 2 hours to get to Jozini. You should try Google Earth on some of these places if you haven’t already. We are staying just around the corner from the Jozini KFC. If you can find the huge red KFC next to a green plaza center, you have found me!

Our new home is a similar setup to Kosi Bay- camping house next door to the missionary host family. Inside the house isn’t so nice, but outside it is gorgeous. There are banana trees and plumeria trees and a nice patio/covered garage attached to our kitchen…which is the garage…where I’m sitting and typing right now. It’s probably the most “roughing it” we’ve done so far, but we’re honestly all pretty used to it by now. Everyone’s spirits are high and health is good! We’ll be here for a week and then moving on. :)

Long Time Coming {Friday, March 20}

This morning we woke up to a flat tire. With all the off-roading we’ve been doing I cannot believe it hasn’t happened already. So we got to ride to our schools in the back of Themba’s pick-up truck, which over here is called a “bucky.” We drove to our first school where we passed my favorite store in town marked, “Cell Phone Doctor and Hair Salon. Perfume and tobacco for sale.”

Flexibility is Key {Thursday, March 19}

Today was supposed to be very similar to a Hazyview day—visiting homes and praying with families in the rural and impoverished communities. I really enjoyed doing this last time so I was looking forward to it. We followed Themba to our meeting place for the day. As a person with no sense of direction- even with the help of civilized roads, interstates, and landmarks- I’m daily amazed by our nationals’ ability to find schools and other meeting spots in, literally, the middle of nowhere. The Reverend we met up with took us to his nearby tent church. He invited us in for fellowship before we did our home visits. We soon found out fellowship meant one of us needed to share a message. I’m learning that is so much of mission work. Be prepared for anything… and be flexible in everything. So after a few brief messages and a worship song in Zulu we discussed the plan for the day.

Next came the not so uncommon miscommunication. It seemed that they thought we would be doing humanitarian relief as we visited the homes… giving money and resources for the people we would meet. After an awkward discussion explaining that was not our ministry and focus here, they decided it would be best for us to visit schools. So we ended up doing our school visits as usual.

After we finished our presentations, we got to visit a local Afrikaans woman who assists with training the BoH Life Orientation program. She had us over to her art gallery where we had tea, coffee, and scones… one of my favorite things here!

Marina is your typical artsy lady. Wild hair up in a clip, the classic artistic framed glasses, and slightly clumsy (spilled the coffee two or three times). She was very friendly, welcoming, down to earth, and quite inspirational. She has a passion for art and a passion for spreading the love of Jesus in this community. Seven years ago she started an art mission where she began training local Zulu women to stitch and embroider. This is such a cool concept because it provides skills for these women to make an income and a means to support their families. Projects like this instill work ethic and employment into these communities.

At first the women were compensated with tea and biscuits for their work. As the project grew, she was able to employ her workers with regular wages. Now she has 17 women sewing and stitching in her mission creating quilts, picture frames, key chains, greeting cards, and framed artwork. The art all has an authentic African influence and is VERY well done. The facility is pretty amazing. I think it was a unanimous decision that we all wanted an outdoor wedding there. She was telling us stories of how God provided for the mission, how it grew, and the people that have supported along the way. She was saying how there was a hair company from the States that heard about her project and bought a ton of Christmas cards from them last year…. She was trying to think of the guy “umm… Mitchell..?” I was like “Paul Mitchell?!” “Yeah, him!” Haha, that was pretty crazy to me. I mean I have his hairspray back home and I’m glad he supports cool projects like Marina’s. ;)

Candles and Flashlights {Tuesday, March 17}

The past two nights we have had no power. Usually right after dinner is when the electricity dies. Power goes out all the time here in Africa. Monday night we had five of us lying on my bed comforter under the stars. The stars here are incredible… you can even see the Milky Way. We saw a few shooting stars and too many low-flying bats to count. After about an hour lying on the ground we got a bit psyched out by the possibility/reality of critters, spiders and snakes and decided to go in.

We are still visiting three schools a day this week. Another part of our school visits that I have not yet mentioned is our Life Orientation program. South Africa requires schools to teach a class called Life Orientation (LO). From my understanding, this curriculum is a combination of health education, life skills, and guidance counseling. The program is supposed to educate kids on topics like HIV, abuse, love, healthy relationships with people, sex, and others. It is a class in K-12 curriculum every year.

Book of Hope has put together a Life Orientation program that we offer to schools free of charge. LO material is often hard to come by, or not well done, so I’m excited BoH is doing this. We have both teacher manuals and student books that we provide. This material is geared toward HIV education, abuse, decision-making skills, character development, and education in morals and values. There are many interactive demos and illustrations given to teachers throughout the program which they seem to appreciate. The end of the book has Christian applications and teachings that teachers are able to use as well. Christianity can be taught in SA schools, but teachers are not allowed to teach any religion as absolute truth.

Buy a donkey!! {Sunday, March 15}

I just wanted to thank each one of you for the encouraging posts and emails you have been sending. It is so exciting hearing from everyone! I save all of your notes and facebook posts in a Word document and read them often. :) Thank you!!!!! (Buy a donkey means thank you in Afrikaans. Possibly different spelling, but whatever.)

Well hello there! {Saturday, March 14}

Yay! So good to be back in touch again! We’ve been in Kosi Bay for the past two weeks doing full days of school presentations. So far we have visited 26 schools here- both primary and secondary. We will be here for one more week. If you just want to check in, you can know our team is healthy, safe, and doing great. If you want ridiculous Renee-writes-about-everything detail, scroll down to Tuesday, March 3 and read on. Hope all is well with you!!
PS. Do a load of laundry, and eat a chocolate chip cookie for me. Oh and maybe a tall skinny vanilla latte. Awesome, thanks! ;)

Questions {Friday, March 13}

Can you help me get on the Oprah show?

Is God black or white?

What happens when you die?

What makes you think a book can change my life?

Will you tell Obama we said hi?

What should I do if someone wants to have sex… and I do too?

How do I not get HIV?

To Gio: Do you have more than one girlfriend? (No) Wow. You are a loyal man.

Can you get HIV from kissing?

Did you vote for Obama?

How do I hear God speaking to me?

How can Jesus become my best friend?

Are there any job opportunities in America?

What are Obama’s intentions for your country?

If we are made in God’s image, but you steal, are you still made in His image?

My brother is not a Christian and making wrong choices and I pray for him. I keep trying to bring him to church but he won’t come. What should I do?

What are differences between the US and South Africa?

Do you think it’s okay for me [grade 10 student] to date?

I have a question about sex. [Uncontrollable laughter] That’s all.

These are some of the questions we get at high schools. Some are pretty simple. Others are pretty blunt. They love Q&A…. and we do too. Sometimes it is the most influential part of our presentation. We try to be as real as we can in our answers, and I think that gains a lot of their respect. Silence in large high school assemblies usually means you have their attention. Please pray that these students will be open with their questions, doubts, concerns, fears… and that we can be relevant and real in our answers. Pray that they will see truth and that they will see Jesus in a way they have never seen before.

Dear Mom: First Grade in South Africa {Thursday, March 12}

Today we went to a primary school (R-7^th) with 1980 students. I’m often thinking of my mom and her first graders when we go into these primary schools. I wish she could come visit a first grade classroom here with me. So today I found out some 1^st grade stats for you, Mom, and wrote them on my hand. There are 480 first graders, 8 first grade teachers, and 7 first grade classrooms at this school. Isn’t that crazy?!

uNkulunkulu {Wednesday, March 11}

By far my favorite Zulu word. uNkulunkulu (oon-koo-loon-koooo-loo) means God. It sounds awesome when all the kids say it.

All 3 of our schools today were secondary schools. It is a totally different presentation for high schoolers and you have to be on your toes or you lose them quickly. Granted we are immediately received as famous Americans the minute we say we’re from the US… and they want to know if we have Usher’s cell number or if we know Beyoncé…. And before you know it everyone wants a picture with you with their cell phone camera. It’s crazy. But I like it.

At the second school today we broke up in groups and went class to class. This is fun because we allow the learners to ask questions at the end. Sometimes they ask about America or Obama, and sometimes they ask about sex and HIV. As we were about to leave the classroom, one of the teachers stopped us with his own question. “You talk about HIV. It is a large problem here. I understand your views. I understand you teach abstinence and faithfulness. But I myself can’t blame these young girls… they have no parents, no money, no food… and they’re caring for many brothers and sisters. So when older men offer them money for sex, what options do they have? Poverty is the real problem here.”

Luckily Vanessa, one of our leaders, was in our group and had a great response for this teacher. I was caught totally speechless, and left feeling quite sick to my stomach. The situations that exist here are far beyond difficult. It saddened me to hear this teacher’s views. It saddened me to once again see the complexity of life here. The situation here in Africa is devastating and very complex.

At the next school we did two large assembly presentations. A reserved girl named Khanyisile came up to me afterwards. She was soft-spoken and had semi-broken English so it took some patience in understanding what she was telling me. I learned that she was 21, and studying in grade 11. She was telling me about her family. “We are suffering, can you help me? My mother is positive (HIV)… she is very sick… my father has already gone… my brothers and sisters, we are five…. Can you tell me what to do?” Hillary, one of my teammates, was there with me as we tried to comfort this girl. We talked, asked questions, and listened. It was very difficult to know the right things to say. We prayed with her and I took down her name on my hand. I told her we would continue praying for her and her family.

Today was a difficult day for me. I find myself thinking about my small group of high schoolers back home. I cannot believe that girls just like them here- girls the same age- are faced with such different decisions… They have the same teenage-girl spunk and personality yet live completely different lives. Please keep Khanyisile in your prayers.

A Day in the Life {Tuesday, March 10}

Today we visited our 25^th school since we’ve been here in SA. We visited 5 in Hazyview and now 20 here in Kosi Bay. It is crazy to think our team has had the opportunity to influence literally thousands of children in such a small period of time. I continue praying some part of our message will stick with each child. Most of our presentations focus on the message: “I am important to God.” We address positive self-worth and communicate how special each child is to God through our dramas and testimonies. The dramas are very effective in capturing the kids’ attention. In the lower primary schools we start out teaching them the “Hello Song.” We teach them how to say hello (with different gestures or dances) in many different countries around the world. They get really into it, it’s adorable. In the upper primary schools we do an illustration using “chappy” (gum) and Rand (SA money). This is probably the best illustration we do. It definitely has the whole classroom- or assembly- laughing by the end. We do another drama after these illustrations called The Walk of Life. As one person from my team “walks through life” he is repeatedly stopped by friends that call him names. After he is called ugly, stupid, worthless, and told that nobody loves him, a Christian shares about their best friend Jesus- someone that thinks you are important and special. It’s so cute when you’re the “walker” because you get to be really interactive with the kids. We’ll say, “Oh!! Did you hear that, he just called me STUPID! Do you think I’m stupid?” All the kids will yell “NO!!!” And when they say it in Zulu it involves a tongue click so it sounds like they’re clucking at you.

Please keep praying that our message would connect with these kids. Their lives are filled with hardship, and I truly believe they need Jesus. Many of these children have heard about Jesus before, but there is so much junk around them that suffocates the truth. Christians we have met here will tell you Christianity in SA is wide but it doesn’t go deep. There is a bunch of ancestral worship and other practices mixed in with Christianity that skew truth. Others have heard about Jesus but don’t know what a personal relationship with Him means. Outside of Christianity there’s also religions like Shembe… and in this particular area in Kosi Bay we have heard there is a high concentration of witchcraft. Please pray that God would speak through us here. Pray that educators will be open to using our curriculum in their classrooms.

Can I Have Your Number {Monday March 9}

Can I have your number. Can I have it. Can I have it please. These kids want our numbers. Some days you come home with random cell numbers written on your hands, arms, etc….

The ATM’s went on strike this past weekend. There were lines wrapping around street corners at every ATM in town. Didn’t know ATM’s could go on strike, but it happened.

A few cultural fun facts. These Afrikaaner men like their shorts…. short. I see a little more leg than I care to at our gas station stops in town. From what we gather, even the local women do not find it attractive. It is a mystery why this situation still remains.

Also, it is not uncommon or socially uncomfortable for guys to hold hands here. This has brought ongoing entertainment for most of our team. Thabani, one of our translators that is our age, has gotten especially friendly with the guys on the team. We’ll be walking to our next school and I’ll see him go in for the move on Gio or Jeff. It cracks me up seeing them all walking hand in hand as we walk through the schoolyard. And, sometimes, he’ll even wrap his arms around their waists. It makes me laugh because every time it happens the guys are totally caught off guard and you pretty much see them reminding themselves this is normal.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned how much I like the goats. They are one of my favorite animals here. I know, call me crazy but they are pretty stinkin’ cute. Like cows, they often stand in the middle of the road…totally oblivious. My favorite are the baby goats. They are so little. A close second is the mullet goat. When it runs, the party in the back shakes. It looks ridiculous. I’m still working on getting better footage of this for you. I doubt American goats are this cool.

Anyway, we had a long day and tonight I don’t feel like blogging about anything serious!

“Youth Group” {Saturday, March 7}

Themba invited us to his youth group this morning. Nothing is close around here, so we had to get a 2 hour head start. We were supposed to meet Themba at the halfway point around 9am. Zulu culture has no emphasis on time, so he showed up around 9:45. Although we were very late, it seemed like no big deal. We arrived to the start of a very typical African church experience. The church, about a ten minute off-road (uncomfortable) drive in the middle of rural South Africa, was jumping with music. Loud singing, lots of dancing, off beat clapping, and the synthesizer keyboard rocking. It’s so funny attending church here because you have NO idea what is going on the majority of the time. Everything is in Zulu. We’ll sing a song, we sit down, someone starts to give a sermon?, someone stands up and starts singing, we stand up, dancing starts, clapping starts, and it all repeats. I swear it seems like there’s no organization to it whatsoever. Occasionally people will hand you a hymnal and point to where we are in the song, as if you can read Zulu. After about 30 minutes of singing and dancing, the message starts. The synthesizer piano continues playing throughout the entirety of the sermon, which I find interesting… and distracting… but not like I can follow the message anyway. Midway through the sermon the baby on the woman’s lap next to me pees on her. So as she went and cleaned up I got to enjoy an hour sermon- in Zulu- in a small hot church with pee baking in the seat next to me. There are many times that I find myself thinking… “wow, that really just happened.” This is definitely one of them. I laugh a lot here.

Anyway, after the message we had a 5 minute intermission (church is now half over) and it pretty much repeats for the second half. Not quite anything like The Chapel. It’s like a 3 hour ordeal. As much as it is entertaining, I do have to stop and realize just how cool it all is. The same God you and I sing to in our American churches is being worshipped-- in an entirely different way--here in South Africa. It’s so easy for me to get wrapped up in my little corner of the world. I’m so thankful to get to see a new culture. To step into a world different from mine back home. It helps me see how big God is. How creative He is in what He has created. How much bigger life is than my little corner of the world. God has created so many different people, with different styles, preferences, and surroundings… And He calls us to live as One Body and to bring glory to His name. What an honor to see another culture loving God in their own way.

So “youth group” turned out to be a church service, three hours long … that started nearly one hour late. What a day.

Just Over the Hill {Friday, March 6}

Some things just get lost in the whole cross-cultural experience. This has been a great source of entertainment for me.

Yesterday we had an AWESOME opportunity to visit the BEACH!! We went to two nearby schools and finished our day earlier than normal. Rev. Louwrens family was going to the beach and they wanted us to come along. Okay, you don’t have to pull my arm for that. It’s funny because as soon as you hear beach you know what you’re getting into. You drive, park, pull out your towel and lay out. I can do that.

I should’ve known better. So it starts out interesting as we have to park in someone’s backyard … the beach is just over the hill the locals tell us. We’ve got all of our towels, cameras, water bottles, the whole I’m an American tourist deal in tow. We run down the first sand dune and climb the top of another. We get to the top, and everyone is cracking up saying “you’ve GOT to be kidding me!!” We see the beach… like 5 miles away through what looks to me like Michigan sand dunes/African bush/Sound of Music. Suddenly beach day has a Survivor twist to it. The best part was the Pit Bull – Rotweiller dog that led us the entire way to the beach.

The beach was gorgeous. We had to swim across several bays, to sand bars, and then swim around into the Indian Ocean. It was crazy. I think I was driving everyone crazy with my broken record of “I cannot believe we are doing this. Did you ever think you would go to the Indian Ocean??? Oh my gosh. This is so cool.” Our group of 15 was, for the most part, the only people there. The Indian Ocean is rough! We went out in the waves and they were crazy. We also got to do some snorkeling in the bays and saw some pretty cool fish and a few polka-dotted eels. Ew!

HIV/AIDS {Thursday, March 5}

Tonight we had a British doctor come to our house to share her insight on HIV/AIDS here in South Africa. The local hospital is very under-staffed and most of the doctors are from other countries- England and Australia seem to be common. Here’s some basic info…

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV becomes AIDS, or Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. In short, this disease is a virus that attacks the immune system.

The life expectancy in SA is 37 for women, and 39 for men. Most AIDS patients are 24-34 years old. The doctor approximated that 80% of hospital patients here are suffering with AIDS. She added how embedded the stigma is here. Even in the hospitals, nurses and doctors are still very hush-hush in acknowledging the disease. The most at risk group in this area of SA are married women (so many men are unfaithful to their spouse, or in some cases have multiple wives). I found that very interesting.

Quick stats:
-In Sub-Saharan Africa, 28 million ppl are infected {2 million children} with HIV
-25 million HIV deaths globally since 1981
-2.8 million deaths in 2005 – half million of which were children
-12 million AIDS orphans
-5.7 million people infected in South Africa- world’s highest caseload
-600-1000 deaths per day
-In South Africa, 1 in 3 pregnant women is HIV positive

Schools & Presentations {Wednesday, March 4}

The people here are very welcoming. Last night Rev. Louwrens (pronounced Laurens) invited us to his house for a dinner/Bible study with their small group. Rev. Louwrens has five children... Two high school girls that I like hanging out with. They remind me of my small group girls back home! Dinner was another curry meat and rice combo... they seem to like their curry here. Luckily I'm doing fine with it.

We are having a more typical Book of Hope internship experience here in Kosi Bay. We visit three schools every day, meeting with the teachers and doing presentations for the students. Most schools we visit are primary schools- grades R (kindergarten) thru 7^th. Sometimes we go class to class (probably 40 to 60 kids per room) or split the school into two groups and do assembly presentations. Throughout training we learned different dramas and games geared toward specific age groups. Every presentation is structured with an intro, interactive illustration/game, drama, testimony, and the closing explanation and distribution of the Book of Hope. The kids love it.

We are getting to know our translators pretty well. They are awesome. Thabani is my age. He just graduated metric (high school) in 2007 and his favorite musician is Chris Brown. Tombencane is a 33 year old woman who studied child psychology at a university here. She likes to talk to me about my classes in psych. The c in Zulu actually makes a clicking noise, so to pronounce her name you have to make a click in the middle. I think I can finally say it right after like 5 days. She is getting married in May. In the Zulu culture the man must pay a bolla (pronounced bowl-a) to the bride’s parents for his bride. The most common amount is 11 cows. One cow costs 4000 Rand ($400 US dollars). The engagement process takes a long time because the bolla is so expensive.

Themba is our last translator. He’s a ton of fun. On Sunday he invited us into his home for coffee. We of course said yes, as it is extremely rude to turn coffee/tea down here. He showed us his entire wedding photo album while we waited for our “coffee”… which actually turned out to be a full meal and hot chocolate. It was pretty interesting. He’s loud, funny, and very metro. He has these European looking snakeskin shoes that he likes to wear with tight jeans and sweater vests. Probably not what you would think for a Zulu guy huh. Haha.

Road Trip… Kosi Bay {Tuesday, March 3)

Hello again! We arrived here at Kosi Bay (KwaZulu Natal Province) on Saturday night. We woke up around 4am on Saturday to pack up the car and head out. The drive took…. Ugh, pretty much all day. While the GPS and locals predicted 6 hours of driving time, our road trip took more like 11 hours. Driving in rural Africa is a totally different experience. Entire herds of goats and cows chill in the middle of roads, construction causes roads to close for 20 minutes at a time, many roads are dirt/red clay, and potholes (miles of them) are everywhere. It’s entertaining… for the first few hours. ;)

Kosi Bay is in the northeastern tip of South Africa. We’re probably 20 miles from the Mozambique border and 15 miles from the Indian Ocean. We drove along the Swazi (Swaziland) border on our way here from Hazyview.

Things have been crazy here. We have been pretty much go-go-go since we pulled in on Saturday night. We had a full out Afrikaans meal Saturday night, and I got to try Kudu meat for the first time. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.

I’ll be honest, I have had to develop an eating strategy for some of these meals. As soon as I realize things are less than appetizing… slash starting to feel the gag reflex come on… I quickly switch to the mash and mix method. Ie. When you have squash (disgusting, I cannot keep it down) and kudu (texture a little iffy, but do-able) you mix them together for a much easier eating experience. It is also key to eat very fast.

We are staying next door to a missionary family. They are very friendly. Accommodations here are much more of a camping-style (but sleeping indoors) than our vacation home in Hazyview… but still working just fine. And most importantly, we are safe and healthy here!