South African round-up

So I opened my blog to write something about Thailand and found out I hadn't yet published this one yet! I wrote it over a month ago, so keep that in mind as you read. :) More posts coming soon.

I am writing this post from home. Hello from cold rainy Langley! I definitely miss the warmth of South Africa. :) Anyways, I felt one more African blog was in order, so here are a few highlights from my last few weeks.

The United Lutheran Harvest Thanks giving Service took place at the beginning of November in Ikageng. I was excited to return there since I spent most of September and October there. We went in a bus--which was packed, especially with kids! Unfortunately the weather decided not to cooperate and about 3/4 of the way through the service it started to rain...a lot! Did I mention the service was in a tent? ...well, 2 tents actually. Fortunately, though, we had just finished up when the wind blew one of the tents over! But even that didn't dampen too many spirits, instead we started singing a song about being lifted up... :)

On one of my days off, I got the chance to be a tourist for a few hours! A friend and I went to Soweto and visited Nelson Mandela's house and the apartheid museum. Being a historian, I enjoyed it! I need to do some more studying about South Africa and apartheid though. I might know the basic details, but there's always more to learn!

The weekend before I left, I got the chance to revisit Maskiet. It was great to go back and see everyone, but sad because the reason I went was for a funeral. Funerals in South Africa are a bit different than in North America. They generally start Friday evening with a night vigil. There is singing and speaking and more singing and more singing! The one I attended started about 10 pm and wound down by about 3 am. Then, at 7 am the funeral service starts either at the house of the deceased or at the church. After the service, everyone goes to the graveyard. The graveyard service doesn't end until the grave is filled back in and covered with rocks. The two services usually conclude by about 10 am. At that point, everyone returned to the house for food. Everyone is fed by the family of the deceased. The funeral I attended had a dead cow and goat in the garage. The meat slowly disappeared off the bones as the weekend progressed. Chicken was also served as well as vegetables and porridge. Funerals in Africa are not cheap!

Well, that's all for now. I will be in Canada until after Christmas and then I'll be back on the road...this time to India. That doesn't mean that I won't be returning to South Africa, though. I have a job offer there and I am seriously considering it. Prayers are appreciated!

My kids...

Okay, so once again I have sadly neglected this blog. You notice that I've attempted to make up for it with not one, but two postings within a few days! :)

Sooner or later everyone I meet here asks if I have children. (Unfortunately the question isn't "Are you married?" but "Do you have children?" even from people in the church.) I always explain that actually I have 17 in Canada (nieces, nephews, first cousins of similar ages) and everywhere I go I adopt all the local kids anyways! So, with no further ado, let me introduce just a few of my newest kids!

Nuna
My first two weeks in the Northwest province ere spent in the village of Maskiet. I stayed with a family who had a young seven-year-old boy named, Nuna. Aftersome hesitation, we became good friends. He was just beginning to learn English at school, but he quickly learned what he thought was important: "Come play!" "Come children!" (Translation: the children have arrived—come and play or tell us a story) "You, me—Generations!" (Translation: Will you watch the TV show Generations with me?).

Otsile
After leaving Maskiet, I stayed in the village of Lesung with what became my African family: the Letlape's. (My Tswana name is now officially Neo Letlape.) The grandson of the family, Otsile, is three years old. The day I arrived we played together: made frogs and boats and generally had a good time! The next morning I was already gone to the school where I was volunteering when he woke up. His grandmother, Irene, told me that he got up, looked in the room I was staying in, looked in the living room, and then with increasing panic started running through the house saying, "Grandma! Where's my white lady?! Where did she go? WHERE IS MY WHITE LADY!!!???" He was very relieved when I did actually come home that evening as his grandmother promised.

Tsbang
Ikageng is an informal settlement near Lesung. I spent about a week and a half in Ikageng. Tsbang is the twelve-year-old daughter of the lady I stayed with. Tsbang loves to organize! She organized kids to come to Sunday School, she organized kids to come play games, she even organizes things at church. She decided one week that the Bishop wasn't getting an accurate view of the church there because when he came people always attended, but if he wasn't there they didn't attend. Now she's decided to take attendance! She told the Bishop, "I'll be honest too! If my mother isn't in church, I'll mark her absent! The you'll know what really happens here!" (She's the one sitting down in the white shirt.)

Vuvu
Vuvu is the five-year-old daughter of one of the church members in Simunye. Simunye is in the Gauteng province and I stayed there for over two weeks because it was central to several congregations. Vuvu heard I was finally coming back to Simunye (I stayed there for a few days when I first arrived in South Africa)and she rushed to her Sunday school teacher and said, "Ma, you made special dresses for the Sunday school. I need one for Sunday because Leona is back!" She loves to sing and play—but like many four-year-olds she can be a handful! She has a young friend named Jasmine who is also in Sunday school. Whenever I arrive the two of them fight to see who gets to sit on my lap—usually I end up with both of them there!

There are many more, but only so much room. Besides, proud parents always make the mistake of talking about their kids too much, so I think I'll stop before someone accuses me of that!

Thoughts from the mission field

Hello to everyone and lots of love from South Africa. I have been here now for over two months—but it seems like it’s been only a few days! Here are a few thoughts from my little corner of the mission field:

"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
2 Corinthians 12:9

It is comforting to remember that we do nothing in our own strength and that even when we feel that we are way out of our comfort zone, God can still use us. One of both the joys and frustrations of the mission field is it’s unpredictability! I came to South Africa to work with the Sunday Schools, but since arriving I have led a Bible at a rural medical clinic, visited and prayed for the elderly, taught grade four Math and English in a local public school, and participated in a funeral (not just attended, but participated in)! I definitely don’t think that these tasks are necessarily my strengths, but that is when I need to pray that God will use my poor efforts for his glory.

"So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." 1 Corinthians 3:7

Sometimes when I am in the mission field I get quite discouraged because I see no really change happening. No one suddenly comes to know Jesus, there are no great miracles, and sometimes it seems like people are just going through the motions and don’t have any real concept of Jesus. For example, several weeks ago I asked one youth group here who God was—they couldn’t answer. When I tried to clarify by asking if the god of the Hindus or Muslims is the same as our God their faces cleared up and they all emphatically answered, "Yes!" I was very surprised and sharing what the Bible said. However I grew quite discouraged over the next few when I saw no change—except for some youth who didn’t want to attend anymore! At times like this, or at any time even if I'm just teaching the kids like in the picture, I take comfort in the scripture above and pray that God used my insufficient words and actions to sow the seeds that will someday grow into faith.

"And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." Matthew 20:27

Our actions often speak more of Christ than our words and, like anywhere, our actions speak loudly in the mission field. As missionaries and visitors, people in other countries will always want to serve us—and it definitely isn’t wrong to accept this act of service from others. However, Jesus also calls us to be servants and I believe that call should be taken literally. When we are willing to be both served and also to serve in the daily tasks of life, it makes a big impact. I was asked by one person here whether I even knew how to wash dishes. Our resulting conversation helped him see me as an equal rather than someone who thought she was better than those around her. I really feel that helping out in the day-to-day lives of those I visit shows people the servant-heart of Jesus. Therefore, as I help wash the laundry by hand or cut up a freshly-slaughtered cow, I pray not only that I may be able to use that time to speak of Jesus but also that the task itself will shine with His light.

As I close, I ask for your prayers. Please pray that God will use me according to his purpose while I am in South Africa. Please also pray that all the members of the United Lutheran Church continue to grow in their relationship with their Saviour!