Bawo sifuna wena

 

Wow! So many things have happened since my last post, so many pictures, and so many stories. This will be a long post- you’ve been warned ahead of time!

I love to watch the sunset. The colors amaze me! This was the view from the local bus ride home from Somerset West (the big city down the mountain) a few weeks ago. I’m so glad that I have a loving God who loves me enough to allow me to watch His craftsmanship at work.

While Annet, the Dutch volunteer, was still here, Gerrit (the man in charge of Agape) took us out into the township to meet people and to step into their lives and homes for a short while. He took us through a part of the township called “Beverly Hills”, but as you can by the picture, it is one of the poorest parts of the slum. If you look closely you can see all of the wires going through that tree. A few feet before the tree all of those wires are loose on the ground, which causes many problems with people, especially children, being electrocuted. This is not the only part of the township where the wires are like this- it is common in most of the slums here. I’ve been trying to remember to pray for the children in areas specifically in their safety and that they will be taught to stay away from these “live” wires.

For four days this past week I experienced something I never would have guessed that I could say: I went camping in South Africa! We packed up 26 of the children living in foster homes within Agape, and their house parents and headed into the “farm country” of Montagu. As you can tell by the picture above, we were surrounded by beautiful mountains- and that we really all slept in tents! As they made traditional South African dishes, I was able to experience some local food.

We took two tours of the farms close to Montagu. In the picture above, the farm still has remains from the war between the British and the tribal men. As I learned about how the British used these mini-forts to take over this land, it saddened my heart. The children enjoyed hiking around the big hill up to the fort.

This farm pictured above is known for selling dried fruit. Riding on the tractor-pulled wagons and looking over all the farm land really made me miss home. When my Agape family remembered that I lived on a farm, they were asking lots of questions about our farm. Farms in the SA are much different- most of hard labor is done by the blacks or coloured people, but it is the white farmers running the farm. I know things have improved greatly for these workers over the years, but it is hard to imagine that my dad isn’t the one out there picking the harvest!

At the beginning of October, I started reading the “The Discipleship Journal: Bible Reading Plan”, a plan that gives you two parts of the Old and New Testament to read each day. God has really used these passages to speak directly to me in my time of need- especially in the times when I’m longing for home. At camp, 98% of the time they were speaking Afrikaans, which often made me feel so isolated. I can understand more, picking up on words I know, so I might have an idea of what the conversation is about, but I really can’t respond by any means yet. In my time of “trouble” God put James 1:2-7 in my path:

“Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for JOY. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed,  you will be strong in character and ready for anything. If you need wisdom- if you want to know what God wants you to do- ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.”

As I soaked in this verse, I realized that I was asking God for help with many of the decisions and struggles I’m dealing with, but I’m not really EXPECTING an answer. Like understanding the language. I didn’t really expect that God could simply change my mind and tongue to understand Afrikaans. Like the situation with the van for instance. I’ve been working so hard to see how I can find the finances. But the thing is- I CAN’T do it by myself. I completely turned over the situation to the Lord, and I’ve been trying my best not to worry about it, and when I got home and checked my account, there are many generous donations specifically for the van!!! Several of them are from complete strangers!!! I serve a MIGHTY and FAITHFUL Father!!!!

Our second tour was through a farm that has a cave, Guano Cave, that was used long ago by the Xhosa people. If you know what “guano” is, you know that we also encountered some bats that now live there. The picture above captures just one of the many beautiful mountains that surrounded us in our time in Montagu. The children –and even adults- were baffled when I told them that where I live is basically FLAT land- full of corn and soybean fields, so I’m still getting used to the mountains. I look like a tourist when it comes to the mountains- I just can’t seem to get enough pictures!!

 

Sammuel- one of the children that Gerrit and Ami (directors of Agape) have adopted posing for a pictures with Tessa. I’ve been so blessed by the friendship that God has given me in Tessa, and her husband Faizel!!! She has been helping me with the language, with transition, and has been my main source of transportation. The biggest thing for me is to just talk with another Christian woman, who has left her family and country to live here. She listens to me when I’m sad or frustrated, and helps to remind me of my purpose here. I’m thankful for those that have prayed for companionship for me while I’m here- I think God has answered those prayers with Tessa! Now we live across the garden from each other, but once I move I will live about a 20 minute walk away- or 5 minutes by car. I will be sad to be so “far” from them, but we’ve already decided that the children and I will have them over once a week for dinner! I made them homemade tacos a few weeks ago, and they’ve been requesting that is the first meal we have together!  

Tessa, Faizel, and I were in charge of coming up with some games to play with the children while we were at camp. I’m so thankful for my 8 years of serving in youth ministry because I was able to use many of the ideas for games from IMPACT/ORANGE with the kids- and they LOVED them! For my ORANGE crew we played “Flour Dodgeball” and “Pass the Candy” (in the picture above). As you can tell, they enjoyed putting the flour on themselves, so the game didn’t quite go as planned, but they were having fun, so that’s all that matters!

Sweet Gwennie is one of the children that lives at the foster home on Agape 1’s campus. She was such a BLESSING at camp! She knows a little more English than the other children so she sometimes served as my translator. She was most helpful during our games of UNO! Often she would come hold my hand when I was standing alone watching what was happening around me. She was among the children that would wait for me in the bathroom in the mornings because they were fascinated with how I did my hair and ESPECIALLY with how I put my contacts in. I just had to laugh about that. I’m constantly reminded of how different our lives are, but that we are all loved JUST THE SAME by our Father!!!!

 

Unfortunately, because of bathroom and transportation issues, my beloved Catie Belle didn’t get to come to camp, and neither did Meliska. Ami assured me that they would do something special with these girls when we got back. I know how busy they are so I asked if I could take them out for a special day. On Friday, Tessa, Meliska, Catie, and I started out on an adventure for the whole day. We first went to look at the minivan I’d been praying about, and Dean, the man who is helping me to find a quality vehicle for the children and I, said that it has lots of problems with it that are going to end up costing me a great deal. I can’t lie and say I was relieved- I fell in love with the van when I saw it- but I completely trust Dean’s knowledge of cars. So this van isn’t the one I’m supposed to have. Please pray with me as Dean is continuing to look for a vehicle for us. Pray that God will answer as we expectantly pray.

Our next adventure was out for lunch and then to a movie: Tinkerbelle 3D! Meliska really loved the movie, but Catie was so scared by the 3D that she cried for the first 20 minutes of previews and the movie, but then eventually fell asleep! When she woke up, she realized she REALLY LIKED  the movie and was singing along with the movie at the end! Situations like these are sometimes quite hard for me to understand, but I try my best to put myself her her little shoes. I don’t know if she’s ever been to a movie in the theatre, let alone a 3D movie. She was also TERRIFIED by the hand dryers in the bathrooms. These are new situations for her that I’m going to have to work hard to think through before I take my little family out and about! As you can tell by the picture above, everyone was quite happy by the end of the day with our girly adventure.

One of my favorite parts of the day was grocery shopping with the girls! As I pushed Catie through the store in the cart, she was pointing out all the things she knew “Look Tannie Megan!” and was asking all sorts of questions about the things she wasn’t so sure of! I never would have thought that a simple trip to the grocery store could bring so much joy to EITHER of our hearts!

 

As for the title of this post, “Bawo sifuna wena”, it is part of a song we sang today in church and it means “Father we need you!” I know that I need my Father so much through the constant transition to life here, without my family and friends close to me. In a culture and language that most of the time I don’t understand. I NEED my Father, and He answers. He takes care of me in many ways, never allowing me to feel totally alone. He gives me music to lift me. Emails, packages, and phone calls of encouragement. Best of all, I can really feel His arms around me, even when it hurts and I’m crying. PTL!!!

Praises:

*I’m almost completely over my head cold!!! Still some coughs her or there, and a little congestion, but I’m feeling much better physically!

* I received my first package from home- a package from my parents! I told Tessa that “my heart feels like Christmas!”, even though the box is filled with simple things like deodorant, hair products and socks!!!

* I was also able to talk with my parents and my sisters yesterday on the phone! It was SOOO wonderful to talk with them all together!! I was reminded of how much I’m loved- and how much I love them!!

Prayer points:

* That God will lead Dean and I to the right vehicle and that He will continue to provide financially for the van.

* Tessa and I are sharing part of our testimony about how God led us to Agape tomorrow night at a Women’s Prayer Event at Agape. I’m nervous- even though I shouldn’t be. Pray that we can speak with clarity and that God will use us to speak to the women that attend.

* Pray as they are supposed to be finishing a few things in the house, so we are hoping the children and I will be able to move in by the end of the week. Pray for patience for me and that the BIG transition will go smoothly and in God’s timing!

I will be praying that you were able to patiently read through this long post! Please leave comments and questions!

Bawo sifuna wena!!!