Christmas in July

In South Africa we are currently experiencing the cold of winter. Sometimes I feel like there should be snow on the ground, lights on all of the houses and a tree all nicely decorated. Julia and I have even joked about singing Christmas songs.

We had our second team of the year with us from Christ Church Lutheran (my home church) in Phoenix, Arizona. There were 21 eager hearts ready to serve in Ntshongweni. For me it was like Christmas receiving the gift of getting to see many friends who were part of the team. It was wonderful having them around for a week. The “big” project was building a home for an orphan family. Nomusa, the caregiver and the children were able to meet the team at church the first Sunday they were with us. She spent time with them on the build site and shared her story with them. One of the children, Ndumiso worked side by side with them moving blocks, mixing dagga (the stuff that holds the blocks together), laying blocks as they labored in love to get the house to roof height. Way to go team! It has definitely been Christmas in July for the Dludla family. They will be moving into their new home in a few weeks.

The team also constructed the new playground for the creche. This group was made up of some of the first timers on the group. They were a very enthusiastic group and had fun with the children that came to the center for VBS. It warmed my heart to see all of the new friendships between the children and the group, that helped to make the trip even more special for them. The children gave the playground their seal of approval, we could not get them off when it was time for them to leave at the end of the day. Kudos to the group for an awesome new playground.

There were two very special ladies in the group. This was their second time being back in Ntshongweni. Their speciality is counseling. They held a group for the women in the community where they taught them how to deal with grief and trauma, parenting skills and self-esteem. The ladies also did home visits throughout the community and Nomusa translated for them. She is still talking about the wonderful time she shared with them. They were such a valuable resource. Julia and I along with Pastor Thwala will be continuing the group. Thank you for opening your hearts to the ladies.

Yes....did I forget to mention that in addition to the team being there, Julia and I were entering the second week of VBS for the winter holiday break. Since the start of VBS we had about 90 kids attending. Three of the ladies on the team, also first timers worked with us. They planned the crafts and were kind enough to bring all of the supplies that we needed. By the end of the week they fit right in, playing with the kids and teaching them games. They also made some very special friends that I am sure they will remember for years to come. One of the ladies is a very talented artist. She designed a mural that was painted on the chicken run. Ladies you were amazing!

Thank you to the team from Arizona. You were the hands, heart and feet of God as you served with us in Ntshongweni. You have been a wonderful example of Christ, sharing the love of God with the children and even among yourselves.

(The team with Nomusa and the children)

(The team held devotions in the house before starting work for the day)

(Awesome mural painted by Laura, Rhiannon & Randi)

(Some of the team members on the new playground)

Funny How Time Flies...A Look Back at the Past Few Months

Where has the time gone, I just came back to South Africa in March and here it is the middle of July already. The end of the July makes 2 years in South Africa for me. It seemed like yesterday when I arrived. This place has become my home and I am enjoying being fully immersed in the culture.

The past few months have whizzed by. April... had it’s share of ups and downs. Julia and I went to several funerals. That is one of the hard things about life here in SA. There is too much death. I think that I have attended more funerals in one month than I have attended in the past 10 years. It was a sad time because two of the funeral were for mothers that passed for children that are very special to me and it broke my heart to see them cry. They made me think of my dad who went home to be with Jesus only 6 months ago. I miss him very much, but am filled with joy knowing that he is with our Father in heaven. One of the highlights of April for me was getting to be special guests along with Julia via Skype for a volunteer lunch at the LCMS International Center. I always the opportunity to share about the work that I am doing in SA. I also got to travel to a new place..Empangeni in Richard’s Bay with our sewing instructor Gori. I am going places..woo! hoo! The creche also had it’s final inspection from the Dept. of Social Development. It went very well and we got some good feedback. Even so, it’s still a waiting game. It’s all in God’s hands.

(The children at the creche during playtime)

April showers bring May flowers....not in South Africa. The weather is getting cooler as winter approaches. We are looking forward to the first team of the year from Pittsburgh and New Jersey. The team will be installing rain catchment systems of two of the orphan project houses. This will enable them to use the water from the rain as we are still waiting for water to be connected to some of the houses from the local municipality. They will also build a chicken run. The chicken run will enable us to move forward with the chicken project. The hope is to use some of the eggs for the creche and to see others throughout the community. We will start with 15 chickens. It was wonderful serving side by side with them. Pastor Jamison Hardy led devotions at the creche and shared a message using John 3:16. Deaconess Jenny shared a lesson from 1 Kings about the prophets of Baal with about 40 kids that came to hangout at the center. Afterwards they had to write or draw about the ways God provides or shows Himself to them. I enjoy working with teams, it reminds me of my days going on short-term mission trips. Both projects were successfully completed and the team had a great time getting to know the children at the creche. The social workers from Christian Social Services received some funding that enabled them to have a 3 week course that would train and certify a person to be a security guard. Twenty youth from the orphan project and throughout the community enrolled. They were able to use the church. Julia, Pastor Thwala and I attended the graduation. They all did very well and had a new confidence after a job well done. We pray that God will provide jobs for them.

There may not have been many showers (we did have a little rain) but there were opportunities to share about the ministry in Ntshongweni. Julia and I video skyped with a school in Ohio. We got to answer question from the kindergarten class. They were so cute and asked good questions. I think my favorite was....” Is there a Mc Donald’s where I live?” Julia and I visited the town of Piet Retief with Pastor Thwala. It is where he grew up. We spent time with his family and heard lots of great stories about him as he was growing up. It was nice getting to see him with his family. During our time in Piet Retief we took a day trip to Swaziland. We visited Pastor Thwala’s family and they spent the day showing us around. It is a beautiful country. I am still amazed by the fact that Swaziland is it’s own country inside of South Africa. We finished our time in Piet Retief by attending a mission festival at the Lutheran church in Salaam. There were folks from Lutheran churches from the provinces in South Africa and also from Botswana. The body of Christ in action.

(Some of the team members with our chickens)

(In Piet Retief with Pastor Thwala and his family)

The moon in June....There was a total eclipse of the moon on June 15th and I totally missed it. How often does one get to see that, not very often at all. We had a very important meeting at the Hillcrest AIDS Center Trust with Gogo Cwengi. She has been instrumental in putting together support groups for grandmothers (gogos) and she works with 27 in the Valley of 1000 Hills. We told her about the support group that we have in Ntshongweni and she was going to join us for the upcoming meeting on June 27th. We were blessed to have the Harrison family from Jacksonville, Florida join us for week in Ntshongweni. They came with hearts, hands and feet ready to serve. It was a busy week but awesome at the same time. They helped out at the creche, helped to dig and pour the footings for an upcoming house build and we were able to visit many families. Thanks to donations from Bethlehem Lutheran church we were able to help provide food to some families in need. It was a blessing to be able to share God’s love with them and the smiles on their faces were priceless. One of the families that we visited is made up of 4 orphans who have been on their own since their mother passed away 2 years ago. As we talked with them and they shared that, I could feel the tears welling up.... it just broke my heart. The children are 19, 18, 16 and 12 years and the amazing thing is that they all go to school. The 16 year old plays soccer for the team at our Lutheran church. We will do all that we can to continue to help them.

We had a support group meeting on the 27th and Gogo Cwengi attended along with some friends that assist her with her groups. They were very pleased with all that has been going on in Ntshongweni. Gogo Cwengi shared with the ladies the importance of supporting each other and good health/keeping fit. She led them in a round of singing and dancing. What joy it brought to my heart to see the gogos dancing. The school winter holiday break will start on June 24th so Julia and I have been planning and preparing for VBS that will start on June 29th and end on July 14th. We have been asking for volunteers from the church and community and God blessed us far more than we could have imagined. At our planning meeting they very excited about it and came up with songs and activities for the kids. The topics for VBS will be the 10 commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer. We will use stories from the Bible to talk about our Triune God. VBS started with a bang on June 29th and there were 90 kids on day one. YAY!!!!! God is good!

(Gogo Cwengi and her friends visit Ntshongweni)

(Some of the kids from Day 1 of VBS)