On the road again

It’s good to be on the road again! I traveled back to South Africa on August 25th. Amanda is no longer with me—in fact she recently flew from Germany (where she is going to university) to Ecuador (where she is doing her PhD research).

I was met by the Bishop and by Mali, a friend from one of the United Lutheran congregations. I didn’t stay in Simunye long, however. Only three days after arriving, however, I was off to the Northwest province to stay in the village of Maskiet for two weeks. I’m writing this now near the end of my time with the people of Maskiet. Here are a few thoughts about my time here.

One of the first things you do when you visit a village in South Africa is to go and greet the chief of the village—especially if you plan to visit the other people. The chief here is pretty laid back and the visit was quite informal. I actually enjoyed the visit immensely! The chief’s wife was quite interesting and we had a good discussion about the Bible.

The other thing about living here that stands out is the lack of indoor plumbing: no water for bathing or cooking! All water for washing, cooking, or bathing comes from the communal water tap down the road. Several times a week someone must ferry empty water containers to the water tap and back. The outhouse is fine—I don’t have a problem with that, and I’m used to doing my washing by hand (the kids in the picture prefer to do it by foot). However, I haven’t had a shower since arriving in South Africa. Instead, my baths consist of a basin of water, soap and a washcloth. There isn’t a bathroom with a drain either—I generally bathe in my bedroom, and the water must therefore be contained within the basin. I must admit that I’m sure going to enjoy the next shower I have—but it probably won’t be until I return to Canada at the end of November!

In terms of my volunteer work with the church, the kids from this congregation have been the highlight! Unfortunately Sunday school here usually consists of learning to sing—if it is even held. There are various reasons for this, the biggest problem being that the Sunday school teachers are young and have no background in the Bible themselves. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the kids are eager and willing to learn! Because of a teachers strike, I have met with the kids almost every day and I am so encouraged watching how fast they learn!

The rest of the congregation members here really need your prayers! I plead with you all to add them to your prayer list. Many people that I’ve talked to have no real understanding of who Jesus is and why he came to earth. The youth seem to know very very little of the Bible, despite having gone through confirmation. Many people no longer attend church services (the church building is shown in the picture) and the leader of the congregation is discouraged and disillusioned. I know that it is only God who can make a lasting change so I ask that you would all uphold this congregation in your prayers.

I ask for you to pray for me as well. I want to be doing only God’s will and speaking only God’s words. Please pray that God will help me do so throughout my time here!

Note: I refer to pictures, but the connection here isn't good enough to add them at the moment, so the posts will be updated later with photos.