The past two weeks we have been visiting schools in the Knysna and Plettenberg Bay areas of the Western Cape Province. Today we started the two-day road trip to Velkom where we will be helping a church with construction work for three days. Tonight we are staying at a hostel in Port Elizabeth. Thursday we head back to the farm before we leave for the States on Sunday. I can hardly believe it. Have a wonderful weekend! See you soon!
PS. Happy birthday little bro! Good luck on your finals this week. I hope you have a wonderful day!! African love from your big sis.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
The Last School {Thursday, April 30}
Today was our last day in the schools. Can you believe it? We’re almost done here. Time has seriously flown by.
A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That {Wednesday, April 29}
My alarm went off at 6am this morning for our second-to-last day in schools… and what a crazy day it was. Five school presentations, a meeting with the Knysna Youth for Christ staff (yay Liz!), a lunch meeting with an American missionary, a wonderful church service, dinner around 8, and home around 10. Whew!
Our second school was a very nice Christian academy. The principal was very friendly, invited us for tea and coffee, and gave us a tour of the school. It was very interesting learning about their school, as it was quite different from my schooling experience, and different from most schools in ZA as well. They have a self-teach education system with tutors and monitors around to provide assistance. The kids work at their own pace and have certain guidelines and stipulations on the amount of work that needs to get done in a day.
Our last school of the day was quite the opposite. It was an all-Xhosa school system pooling from a large community of shacks near the Plett area. Here there are 45-60 kids per classroom… and the presentation was probably a notch below mass chaos. The presentation was scheduled for the same time school lets out (why??), so the kids were that much more talkative and ready to go home.
Just before our last school of the day we grabbed a quick lunch with a Texas-native named Michelle. She was a fascinating woman with a compelling story to share. Five years ago Michelle was working a prestigious job at a medical supplies company, working her way up the ladder to Vice President of the company… when she let God interrupt her life and plans to serve amongst the poor here in South Africa. She met with Bruce Wilkinson (author of Prayer of Jabez) who was kicking off his “Dream for Africa” project at the time. She felt God pulling her heart to the need in Africa and decided to go. The entire forty minutes we spent with her, she was rattling off facts and stories… and it was very evident she was crazy about serving the Lord with all of her heart… and being the hands and feet of Jesus here in the Plett community. Most of her work is in the community from the last school I mentioned… She has started three orphanages and one church since she got here. She has a passion for HIV/AIDS orphans… sharing that every day in South Africa 1500 children are orphaned. What a cool heart Michelle has.
The last part of our day was one of the most memorable evenings for me here. We visited a church in one of these rural shack communities… and watched people worship God with all of their heart, soul, and strength… knowing they themselves had nothing. It was the most genuine, all out worship I have ever seen… It truly touched me to the core and gave me a glimpse of what heaven will be like someday. In Revelations it says all nations, tongues, and tribes will stand around the throne worshipping God with everything in them. So often I think we picture heaven as a bunch of English-speaking, NIV-reading, middle class Americans singing “Lord I lift Your name on High”… or something like that. But tonight gave me a glimpse of something quite different and much cooler.
“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” Revelations 7:9
Our second school was a very nice Christian academy. The principal was very friendly, invited us for tea and coffee, and gave us a tour of the school. It was very interesting learning about their school, as it was quite different from my schooling experience, and different from most schools in ZA as well. They have a self-teach education system with tutors and monitors around to provide assistance. The kids work at their own pace and have certain guidelines and stipulations on the amount of work that needs to get done in a day.
Our last school of the day was quite the opposite. It was an all-Xhosa school system pooling from a large community of shacks near the Plett area. Here there are 45-60 kids per classroom… and the presentation was probably a notch below mass chaos. The presentation was scheduled for the same time school lets out (why??), so the kids were that much more talkative and ready to go home.
Just before our last school of the day we grabbed a quick lunch with a Texas-native named Michelle. She was a fascinating woman with a compelling story to share. Five years ago Michelle was working a prestigious job at a medical supplies company, working her way up the ladder to Vice President of the company… when she let God interrupt her life and plans to serve amongst the poor here in South Africa. She met with Bruce Wilkinson (author of Prayer of Jabez) who was kicking off his “Dream for Africa” project at the time. She felt God pulling her heart to the need in Africa and decided to go. The entire forty minutes we spent with her, she was rattling off facts and stories… and it was very evident she was crazy about serving the Lord with all of her heart… and being the hands and feet of Jesus here in the Plett community. Most of her work is in the community from the last school I mentioned… She has started three orphanages and one church since she got here. She has a passion for HIV/AIDS orphans… sharing that every day in South Africa 1500 children are orphaned. What a cool heart Michelle has.
The last part of our day was one of the most memorable evenings for me here. We visited a church in one of these rural shack communities… and watched people worship God with all of their heart, soul, and strength… knowing they themselves had nothing. It was the most genuine, all out worship I have ever seen… It truly touched me to the core and gave me a glimpse of what heaven will be like someday. In Revelations it says all nations, tongues, and tribes will stand around the throne worshipping God with everything in them. So often I think we picture heaven as a bunch of English-speaking, NIV-reading, middle class Americans singing “Lord I lift Your name on High”… or something like that. But tonight gave me a glimpse of something quite different and much cooler.
“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” Revelations 7:9
Jumping …. Mom: Read Slowly. {Monday, April 27}
So there happens to be a bridge about an hour from Knysna where the world’s largest bungee jump is located. Gio hasn’t been able to let it go since we first heard about it… So the last big surprise of Gio’s birthday weekend involved a trip to the infamous bridge. I totally was going to sit it out because I didn’t want to pay… until I realized how many times will I be in Africa… at the world’s largest bungee jump?! Okay it can’t be that bad.
By far the most terrifying and exhilarating experience of my life. Half the terror was walking out to the middle of the bridge. I held up the entire group with my slow walking, inconsolable shrieking, and frequent breaks before arriving at the jump site. As soon as you get out to the middle it’s like Cedar Point… techno music is blaring (thought of you, Ellsper) and the workers are running around teasing and taunting nervous wrecks like me. They tie up your feet, clip on a bungee to your harness… then when it’s your turn you hop to the edge of the bridge with two Africans at your side… get a big one, two, three, BUNGEE! And you have to jump / free fall forward. I still cannot believe I jumped.
I bought the DVD for you all to watch if you wish. It starts out with me announcing my concern over the fact that I need to blow my nose. So glad they caught that on tape.
By far the most terrifying and exhilarating experience of my life. Half the terror was walking out to the middle of the bridge. I held up the entire group with my slow walking, inconsolable shrieking, and frequent breaks before arriving at the jump site. As soon as you get out to the middle it’s like Cedar Point… techno music is blaring (thought of you, Ellsper) and the workers are running around teasing and taunting nervous wrecks like me. They tie up your feet, clip on a bungee to your harness… then when it’s your turn you hop to the edge of the bridge with two Africans at your side… get a big one, two, three, BUNGEE! And you have to jump / free fall forward. I still cannot believe I jumped.
I bought the DVD for you all to watch if you wish. It starts out with me announcing my concern over the fact that I need to blow my nose. So glad they caught that on tape.
Grocery Shopping in Africa {Sunday, April 26}
Last week we visited just about every school in Knysna. The schools ranged from small colored rural schools all the way to an Afrikaaner version of Deer Ridge (except with two classrooms). For the most part schools here are much more modern and resourced than the majority of schools we have visited here in ZA. Come to find out, part of visiting every school in a city means when you go to the grocery store every child there is pointing at you, tugging on your shirt, giving you a hug, or even greeting you by name. It’s pretty stinkin’ adorable. One mom even told us her sons have been reading the books all week.
Church this morning felt just like home. It was so nice to be able to worship in the way my culture worships, to be able to understand the lyrics I am singing and to hear a message in English that challenged me. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved experiencing so many different churches and worshipping God in new ways (be it dancing or stumbling through a Zulu hymnal)… but, as Vanessa said on our way home this morning, it does give you added appreciation and understanding of the importance in maintaining culture and embracing our diversity in the Body of Christ. We were all created unique by God. He created us to worship Him in our own ways. It is wonderful to get to see and experience other ways, just as it is wonderful to praise Him in my own way… in a way I understand. These people need the very same as we minister to them.
This week we will be visiting schools in
Zuma Wins with a 68% Majority {Saturday, April 25}
Three days later, it is announced that ANC candidate, Jacob Zuma, has indeed won the election with a 68% majority. The DA party was next in popularity, but no where close to competing with the ANC. Please pray for these people I have been meeting and the future of their country.
An African 21st!! {Friday, April 24}
Today we celebrate Mr. Gio’s 21st Birthday!! WahoO! After a full day of school presentations and a visit with a local pastor -- not to mention some African hospitality…coffee, tea, and pie with little-to-no advance notice we were even coming… I learn so much from this culture’s hospitality!! – Anyway, we finished the day off with a BanG. We ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant in a waterfront shopping center and had a wonderful meal. Gio got a piece of cheesecake for his birthday, which we all decided looked and tasted like a block of Philadelphia cream cheese. When we got home we surprised Gio with our fully decorated hostel rooms followed by a dance party (his favorite) that ended up lasting three or four hours. It reminded me of times at the Deeg. Midway through the party Bonnie and Amber surprised Gio with a chocolate birthday cake decorated with the country of Africa in sprinkles… It was really nice. They spent the rest of the night watching us make fools of ourselves singing and dancing… and even videotaping us.
Happy Birthday G!
Happy Birthday G!
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