Hello! Our week at Agathos was my favorite week yet (lekker, as an Afrikaaner would say). It was a string of 10-12 hour days, but well worth the crazy schedule. I’m trying to go back and blog some of the highlights. We didn’t have a ton of computer access so my blog update is a little slim this time.
We have been back at the BoH base here at the Shikwaru Lodge for the past week. Little amenities like couches have been a refreshing change of pace. Aside from the tarantula in our living room on the first night and the monkeys eating all of our bananas and apples the other day, it has been good to be “home.” We have been doing a variety of work around the area here. Some of our time has been spent helping Leah (BoH missionary stationed here at the ZA base) research surrounding communities.
Our time here in South Africa is quickly winding down (I can’t believe it!!). Tomorrow we leave for our last ministry location. We will be traveling to Mossel Bay at the very southern tip of ZA in the Western Province. It will be a two-day drive down, which we are all looking forward to actually. I love the road trips here! Hope all is well and I will talk to you soon!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Team
Some of you have been curious who I’m with here in Africa. So I did a few bios for ya’ll.
The team…
Gio is a sophomore in Elementary Education at Southeastern University in Florida, but originally from Cleveland. He has been taking 4 online classes while we’ve been in Africa (lots of work!). He wants to teach little kiddies in Africa and start an orphanage here someday. He has a huge heart to teach every child how important they are to God. The kids love him and we do too! He’s all about “peace and love” and loves anything hippy-ish, minus the drugs of course. He is also crazy about a girl named Anna Strong who is currently doing missions with YWAM in Australia. I’m really proud of them for following God even though it meant different countries and minimal communication for awhile. Can’t wait to meet her!
Jeff just finished high school and is from Cincinnati. He will be going to school at Union University in Tennessee this fall to study English Lit. He is your very intelligent, practical, competitive guy. He is also a boyscout, which he does not like being explained by (to which I reassure him I was a girl scout in college), but it does help explain his outdoor hardiness if you will. He is extremely self-sufficient in some of our roughing-it conditions and always a great bug killer when in a bind. Jeff and Gio have gotten very close and I think will be BFF’s for life.
Lauren is from Albuquerque and a junior at New Mexico State. She is taking the semester off from school, where she is studying Speech Pathology. Lauren is one of the sweetest, most servant-hearted people I have met. You basically have to force her to sit down, stay out of the kitchen, or stop cleaning and tidying up. She is a very skilled photographer (yay!) and has a hardcore camera in tow. But she does have thiss Jen Oberhausen spirit to her where if she doesn’t feel like taking pictures, she’s not going to do it gosh darnit. (haha I love you jenny!) Lauren is really good with the children, and very much a mother at heart.
Hillary just finished high school and is from Cincinnati as well. (Hillary and Jeff grew up together and went through the same home schooling program. Both very sharp people!!) Hillary comes from a big Italian family with lots of artistic and cooking genes built into her! She is a ridiculously good artist and would love to someday use art in the missions context. She will be attending Anderson University this fall (wahoo Indiana!) which is very exciting because she has been trying to decide on a college while here in Africa. I can’t wait to have real Italian pasta with Hil’s family someday. :) Hillary is the chatty Kathy of the group :) and , in my opinion, very mature for having just graduated high school.
Our leaders…
Vanessa is 32, born and raised in Fort Lauderdale (wouldn’t that be nice!). She studied psychology in college and has done a variety of work since then. I’m so thankful for Vanessa’s leadership because her down to earth, fun-loving personality totally set the tone for our group to be open and real from the start. She is a good cook, good delegator, good communicator, and awesome off-road driver. Vanessa is always making us laugh.
Ryan is 32 as well and is originally from Fresno, California. He has been with BoH for several years and has a huge heart for Africa. He gave up his consistent, steady paycheck job (at the firm in Erin Brachovich) to follow God’s calling on his heart to missions. He will be staying here in Africa for the summer intern team after we’re gone. It will be weird not having him on the plane ride home. Ryan is our behind-the-scenes leader. He takes care of a lot of the BoH details- budget, reports, etc. Ryan is an awesome cook and we are always excited when it’s his dinner night!
Leah is 29 and lives permanently at the farm here in South Africa (though a native of Toledo). She has been with Book of Hope for 8 years leading teams around the world and is now stationed in Africa full-time. She loves the people here and is very good at building relationships in the community. She decides where we go, when we go, and how we go… she is in charge of setting our entire schedule and connecting us with the nationals we have been working with. Leah is an awesome story teller and always has us laughing.
(Gio and Jeff wrote this about Renee. She was not allowed to edit.) For all you who don’t personally know her…Renee is from Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Purdue this past May with a degree in psychology. She is the fun, bubbly, giggly one of the group. She has said many memorable quotes…you can ask her to explain them. You can tell she really has a heart for following God and desiring His plan for her life. She has stepped out many times and shared at different times (youth group meetings, church services) and she always has deep and impactful insight. She also connects with the secondary learners a lot and you can tell she has a passion for them. Renee makes us laugh a lot. Well, she laughs a lot naturally…and it is just contagious. Random, you should all ask her about “Smooth Moves” sometime…that’ll be a good story. She is definitely the African Queen here! All the guys flock to her. We usually have to beat them off with sticks…as all good brothers do. We have been looking out for her. It’s very funny and we play it up all the time. We love her like a big sis! You are all lucky and blessed to have her in your life.
Haha, thanks little bros. So that’s our story. I’m very thankful for each of these people and the way God brought us together as a team. The experience would be quite different without them.
The team…
Gio is a sophomore in Elementary Education at Southeastern University in Florida, but originally from Cleveland. He has been taking 4 online classes while we’ve been in Africa (lots of work!). He wants to teach little kiddies in Africa and start an orphanage here someday. He has a huge heart to teach every child how important they are to God. The kids love him and we do too! He’s all about “peace and love” and loves anything hippy-ish, minus the drugs of course. He is also crazy about a girl named Anna Strong who is currently doing missions with YWAM in Australia. I’m really proud of them for following God even though it meant different countries and minimal communication for awhile. Can’t wait to meet her!
Jeff just finished high school and is from Cincinnati. He will be going to school at Union University in Tennessee this fall to study English Lit. He is your very intelligent, practical, competitive guy. He is also a boyscout, which he does not like being explained by (to which I reassure him I was a girl scout in college), but it does help explain his outdoor hardiness if you will. He is extremely self-sufficient in some of our roughing-it conditions and always a great bug killer when in a bind. Jeff and Gio have gotten very close and I think will be BFF’s for life.
Lauren is from Albuquerque and a junior at New Mexico State. She is taking the semester off from school, where she is studying Speech Pathology. Lauren is one of the sweetest, most servant-hearted people I have met. You basically have to force her to sit down, stay out of the kitchen, or stop cleaning and tidying up. She is a very skilled photographer (yay!) and has a hardcore camera in tow. But she does have thiss Jen Oberhausen spirit to her where if she doesn’t feel like taking pictures, she’s not going to do it gosh darnit. (haha I love you jenny!) Lauren is really good with the children, and very much a mother at heart.
Hillary just finished high school and is from Cincinnati as well. (Hillary and Jeff grew up together and went through the same home schooling program. Both very sharp people!!) Hillary comes from a big Italian family with lots of artistic and cooking genes built into her! She is a ridiculously good artist and would love to someday use art in the missions context. She will be attending Anderson University this fall (wahoo Indiana!) which is very exciting because she has been trying to decide on a college while here in Africa. I can’t wait to have real Italian pasta with Hil’s family someday. :) Hillary is the chatty Kathy of the group :) and , in my opinion, very mature for having just graduated high school.
Our leaders…
Vanessa is 32, born and raised in Fort Lauderdale (wouldn’t that be nice!). She studied psychology in college and has done a variety of work since then. I’m so thankful for Vanessa’s leadership because her down to earth, fun-loving personality totally set the tone for our group to be open and real from the start. She is a good cook, good delegator, good communicator, and awesome off-road driver. Vanessa is always making us laugh.
Ryan is 32 as well and is originally from Fresno, California. He has been with BoH for several years and has a huge heart for Africa. He gave up his consistent, steady paycheck job (at the firm in Erin Brachovich) to follow God’s calling on his heart to missions. He will be staying here in Africa for the summer intern team after we’re gone. It will be weird not having him on the plane ride home. Ryan is our behind-the-scenes leader. He takes care of a lot of the BoH details- budget, reports, etc. Ryan is an awesome cook and we are always excited when it’s his dinner night!
Leah is 29 and lives permanently at the farm here in South Africa (though a native of Toledo). She has been with Book of Hope for 8 years leading teams around the world and is now stationed in Africa full-time. She loves the people here and is very good at building relationships in the community. She decides where we go, when we go, and how we go… she is in charge of setting our entire schedule and connecting us with the nationals we have been working with. Leah is an awesome story teller and always has us laughing.
(Gio and Jeff wrote this about Renee. She was not allowed to edit.) For all you who don’t personally know her…Renee is from Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Purdue this past May with a degree in psychology. She is the fun, bubbly, giggly one of the group. She has said many memorable quotes…you can ask her to explain them. You can tell she really has a heart for following God and desiring His plan for her life. She has stepped out many times and shared at different times (youth group meetings, church services) and she always has deep and impactful insight. She also connects with the secondary learners a lot and you can tell she has a passion for them. Renee makes us laugh a lot. Well, she laughs a lot naturally…and it is just contagious. Random, you should all ask her about “Smooth Moves” sometime…that’ll be a good story. She is definitely the African Queen here! All the guys flock to her. We usually have to beat them off with sticks…as all good brothers do. We have been looking out for her. It’s very funny and we play it up all the time. We love her like a big sis! You are all lucky and blessed to have her in your life.
Haha, thanks little bros. So that’s our story. I’m very thankful for each of these people and the way God brought us together as a team. The experience would be quite different without them.
Isaiah 53 {Sunday, April 12}
Check it out. Spend a day thinking about it. Re-read it a few times. Every year I find myself understanding Jesus in a new light. It really is incredible that he would choose to leave a perfect place like heaven for us. Giving up some of my American comforts the past three months has given me some level of understanding, but I know it doesn’t come near to understanding the sacrifice He made. Not only did he choose to leave heaven but he also chose to come in such a humble way. What a servant Jesus was. What an amazing Savior and amazing Sacrifice. I pray you will see His love in a new way this year as I am.
It’s Like Comin’ Home {Monday, April 6}
Today we made the long trek back to Limpopo. We left around 5am this morning, and pulled in around 4:30pm this afternoon. With three stops, one being lunch, and one being the grocery store on the way into town, it made for a long day. Packing our car for these road trips is like playing life-sized Tetris. I swear it’s a God thing that we fit everything in every time.
Wedding Reception meets Church {Sunday, April 5}
This morning we went to Pastor Welcome’s church, called Power of God. They meet in a nearby Creche (African pre-school) classroom. Welcome and a few others are from Durban, so the church was much more contemporary than the Black Dutch Reform churches we typically attend. As we sang worship the two women up front led us in something all too similar to the electric slide. As Vanessa put it, the entire experience could be described as wedding reception meets church. I think I made God smile a few times this morning watching my Zulu electric slide.
Today was our last day with the kids. It was sad leaving, as a lot of them wanted us to promise we would come back. Please pray for Kwanele, the little boy with AIDS. Pray for the Mamas, that they would have energy to continually pour into these children and teenagers. Pray for Thanda as she is preparing for her wedding on April 25th. Pray that Agathos will continue to raise up Christian leaders in this community.
Today was our last day with the kids. It was sad leaving, as a lot of them wanted us to promise we would come back. Please pray for Kwanele, the little boy with AIDS. Pray for the Mamas, that they would have energy to continually pour into these children and teenagers. Pray for Thanda as she is preparing for her wedding on April 25th. Pray that Agathos will continue to raise up Christian leaders in this community.
An Inspirational American Couple {Saturday, April 4}
Okay, so there are a lot of stereotypes out there about missionaries. JD and Barbara don’t fit the mold on any of them. They are our first group of American missionaries, both graduates from Wheaton College. They are in their sixties, have four children, and have lived in Atlanta, Tanzania, The Philippines, and now South Africa. JD served as a pilot in the Vietnam War and briefly shared the impact of that part of his life. They are truly an inspirational couple.
Tonight they invited us over to their home for a “braai”. I’ll be honest, I was a little relieved to have a break from rice, potatoes, pap, and beans… even though they ended up serving rice and beans anyway. J I had no complaints though, it tasted like good home-cooking. They even made a little Filet Mignon and had salads with Romaine lettuce, which I miss. After dinner they fixed a South African dessert called Malva Pudding and made real coffee just like my dad does at home. (Although not quite as good as yours, Dad.) It made me slightly homesick having such an American evening, but was very relaxing nonetheless.
JD and Barbara shared many cool stories from their lives, their ministry, and in general just had really cool hearts. JD continued to drive home the point of God’s faithfulness in his life. He shared many times where God had provided for his family and truly wanted each of us to be encouraged in that truth.
Lastly, their home is gorgeous. It is a cottage tucked away in the mountains of South Africa and has a phenomenal view. Like the rest of their lives, they had a cool story of how God had provided the home and how they use it for His Kingdom. It is probably one of the most beautiful places I have been.
Tonight they invited us over to their home for a “braai”. I’ll be honest, I was a little relieved to have a break from rice, potatoes, pap, and beans… even though they ended up serving rice and beans anyway. J I had no complaints though, it tasted like good home-cooking. They even made a little Filet Mignon and had salads with Romaine lettuce, which I miss. After dinner they fixed a South African dessert called Malva Pudding and made real coffee just like my dad does at home. (Although not quite as good as yours, Dad.) It made me slightly homesick having such an American evening, but was very relaxing nonetheless.
JD and Barbara shared many cool stories from their lives, their ministry, and in general just had really cool hearts. JD continued to drive home the point of God’s faithfulness in his life. He shared many times where God had provided for his family and truly wanted each of us to be encouraged in that truth.
Lastly, their home is gorgeous. It is a cottage tucked away in the mountains of South Africa and has a phenomenal view. Like the rest of their lives, they had a cool story of how God had provided the home and how they use it for His Kingdom. It is probably one of the most beautiful places I have been.
A Day at the Salon {Friday, April 3}
Throughout the week we have been splitting up our team to make intentional connections with the kids and teenagers here. Vanessa and I are focusing our attention on the high school girls. We have done everything from MASH to Dutch Blitz to “A Day at the Salon.” All of us girls compiled our nail polish, nail files, lotion, etc. so Vanessa and I could do manicures and pedicures with the girls. They loved it.
Late tonight we had a surprise visitor. One of the oldest boys in the big Agathos family came back from university for his spring vacation. Zamani is 21 years old and studying electrical engineering at a school in Durban. Everyone at Agathos was so surprised by his visit they made a train running in and out of the cottages screaming, clapping, cheering, all while singing “he’s home, he’s home, our brother’s home” in Zulu. It was pretty nuts. Anyway, I would say Zamani is an awesome example of the difference Agathos is making in this community.
Late tonight we had a surprise visitor. One of the oldest boys in the big Agathos family came back from university for his spring vacation. Zamani is 21 years old and studying electrical engineering at a school in Durban. Everyone at Agathos was so surprised by his visit they made a train running in and out of the cottages screaming, clapping, cheering, all while singing “he’s home, he’s home, our brother’s home” in Zulu. It was pretty nuts. Anyway, I would say Zamani is an awesome example of the difference Agathos is making in this community.
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