Flying through the Philippines!

A week anywhere is just not long enough! And that's doubly true for a mission trip! However I suppose it's also better than no time at all. I met up with John Ruotsala, Julie Matson and Jada Questad in Manila and we flew together to Cagayan de Oro. An hour later we were also met by Dennis Hilman, Colin Kinnunen, Fratt Aho, Randy Kinnunen, and Karl Somero. All of us fro overseas et with the team frm Philippines that consisted of many people. I worked mainly with Daisy and Sandy-Lyn Senonis.

Here are a few stories and pictures from our whirlwind week!

The main reason for my trip to the Philippines was to join a team from my church who would be conducting Pastors' training seminars. During the seminars, however, Julie, Jada and I had other tasks. One day we went with Daisy and Sandy-Lyn to make house visits. We visited several families and shared the story of Noah with the kids and adults. Julie and Jada told the story and I added an addition for the adults connecting the story of Noahbeing saved with Jesus coming to save us all. In the picture, the kids are making paper boats to remind them of the story of Noah.

The next day during the training we ran a kids' club so that the kids weren't running madly through the hall where the training was taking place. That was lots of fun--we did two stories: Noah and Jonah. In the afternoon we all split into teams and went to a small seaside village to visit homes and pray for people. We split into teams and my team is shown in the picture. After the house visits, I hung out with the kids and made frogs! Always a good time. :) Afterwards there was a service and a lovely lunch.

The next day we were off to Kitcharo. In Kitcharo we had big services where many different churches came together to worship God jointly. After lunch, we had a program for the kids and another for the youth. Here is Jada with the kids. We were making boats to go with the story of Jesus calming the storm. Julie, meanwhile, was talking to the youth about letting your light shine!

On the road again

In the middle of January I left the snow behind and flew to Bangkok. As I was sitting in the back of the taxi riding from the airport to my friend's place it felt like I was home! (Anyone reading this i the hopes that I'll move back here shouldn't get to excited...I feel that way about a lot of places!)

It was great to be back here though--even for just a few days. I spent most of my time wandering around "my" neighbourhood or visiting friends. The time went quickly too! Before I knew it, it was time to head back to the airport and fly to the Philippines to meet up with a mission team from my church. I got to the airport on the new high speed train--it's great! Much cheaper than a taxi.

More soon from the Philippines.

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!

Ancestor worship, cursed children, drunken brawls, death threats…

Do you ever feel like parts of your life are so bizarre that if it was made into a movie it would flop because people would consider the plot too unrealistic? That’s been my life in the last few weeks.

I arrived in the shack settlement known as Ikageng two and a half weeks ago. Close to Ikageng is the village of Lesung. I have been splitting my time between these two areas. The work of the devil is strong here. One of the ancient deceptions the devil is still perpetrating in Africa is the practice of ancestor worship. Many people—many Christians—still believe that their ancestors watch over them and that they must pray to them and honour them with special rituals. It is sad to see people caught up in this deception. They really see no problem in believing in both the Bible and ancestor worship. The devil holds real power over them though. I was told with total conviction by a member of our church that if she didn’t keep her “gods” happy, they would strike her down with a sickness that was not curable by modern medicine…

Now, I can smell the skepticism of many of you all the way from Africa! I know that you might think the whole thing is hokey and just a bunch of superstitious nonsense, but don’t dismiss it so quickly. Read the Bible. It talks frequently of people who were possessed by demons. The spiritual world is real. The sickness I was told does happen. The devil DOES have power on this earth. HOWEVER the powers of darkness might be real, but the power of our Saviour is too—and it is so much greater than the devil’s power. It is so much greater that we do NOT need to be afraid. Jesus has overcome the world. The devils tremble before Him. His name is the cure that the medical doctors don’t have! As followers of Jesus, we need never fear things like the wrath of the ancestors because Jesus has promised us that we need only call on His name—He is greater than any power here on earth!

The unfortunate thing is many people here will not accept that the power they think comes from the ancestors is actually evil. They cannot accept that their ancestors are not listening and watching them. They will not believe that their rituals and prayers are not going to their ancestors but to the devil. So, please pray that they would come to a true knowledge of the Biblical truth: there is one God. All other “gods” are false gods and must not be worshiped. Please also pray that they will be protected by the name of Jesus from the curses that might come on them as they begin to understand and accept the truth. If you feel really convicted to pray for this issue, please email me privately for a list of specific people to pray for.

One small example of this spiritual conflict happened the day after I arrived in Ikageng. That morning I was asked to help look for a missing child. The night before a nine-year-old boy never returned home. Thankfully, he was eventually found. Unfortunately he was extremely traumatized when he was found. He wouldn’t talk, he couldn’t move properly, and part of his hair had been ripped out. The locals who found him agree unanimously on what happened: he was used in some sort of witchcraft ceremony. After he was found, his parents brought him to the doctor. I wish I could report that he has fully recovered, but no one really seems to know what really happened. I don’t have any more details, but God knows all and He will know who you are referring to so please keep him in your prayers.

For many of you who are reading this, the previous paragraphs will be the hardest to accept. The following problems are unfortunately much more universal.

The problems stem from alcohol: a worldwide problem. I personally have never had much of a problem with a glass of wine with dinner or a beer on a hot afternoon. However, I am beginning to rethink this outlook. Alcohol is such a huge problem for so many people that an example of abstinence might be much for helpful than one of temperance. Excessive consumption of alcohol here in Africa is so widespread—it’s really sad. UNfortunalte this is true amongst church-goers as well and many people seem to think the whole thing is a non-issue. Do you want to know how many times I’ve heard, “But I wasn’t drunk! I can easily drink 24 beers in an evening and not be drunk!”

Last weekend was especially spectacular. On Saturday afternoon, I was playing with the kids at one of the houses in Ikageng. Suddenly someone came running over and told me that a friend of mine was drunk and was making passes at some of the girls. Some other guys (also drunk) took exception to this and were now threatening to kill him! I immediately went over to see what was happening and ended up trying to help diffuse a street brawl: one guy had a machete, others had bottles, yet another had an old bicycle wheel… People were yelling at my friend that he’d better run for the safety of a fenced yard while others were trying to pry the machete from the other guy… My friend ran away; others chased him, one guy knocked him down, others broke it up. The whole time my friend kept insisting he wasn’t drunk, there wasn’t a problem, he was innocent and that these guys just suddenly jumped him out of the blue. Other people were trying to tell me to get my friend out of the settlement unless I wanted him to be killed. Still others were showing up to make accusations against my friend and warn him that they still planned to kill him. In the end things diffused in a rather anticlimactic fizzle as everyone stumbled off to bed to sleep off the effects of the beer they had consumed that day. Despite the quiet ending, it was a rather trying day!

The drama continued in a less explosive manner the next day when my friend—despite being sober—refused to leave the area. I spent half the day trying to convince him to leave and was finally convinced to leave him alone because he’d leave the next morning. He didn’t and we actually went in and removed him from Ikageng to Lesung that night because the guys from the day before started threatening him again! Thankfully that issue has finally been resolved. My friend went home. Before he left we were able to talk things through. He apologized for everything and has asked for prayer that he’ll be able to stop drinking and face his problems.

Well, that’s the excitement from here! However, before I close, I feel compelled to add one more paragraph. At this point, I’m sure many of you think that I’m in perpetual danger or at least perpetual excitement. That’s just not true! The above moments have taken up a small amount of my time. The rest of my days have been filled with much more sedate experiences: teaching school, playing with kids, sharing from the Bible, praying for the sick, visiting friends, etc. So, as you finish reading this blog, I do ask for your prayers, but I also ask that you don’t worry! I’m not in danger. I’m not afraid. I’m not about to be cursed or killed in a drunken brawl. I am safe! And I am definitely not ready to get on a plane and fly home—if anything, I’d like to extend my visa and stay a little longer!

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.