Wednesday, August 10, 2011
South Africa Picture Log (#2)
South Africa Reflections (#5)
Today is Wednesday and we leave in 2 days. Honestly, I wish
it were more like twenty. The first conversation we had with Pure Hope
discussed real communities and relationships, and I feel like I am just now
starting to have real relationships with not only the team from America but
also our friends we’ve made in South Africa like the Pure Hope team and the
Nieu Communities families. Regardless of our short time left, I am glad that we
met these people and the experiences we have shared.
These past couple days have been filled with some pretty
intense situations, but in a good way. Yesterday, we went back to the Juvenile
prison and sat in on the weekly Bible Study led by Pure Hope. Last week, Katie
and I joined Wihan and Dian for the art class, but since it was a holiday
(Women’s Day!!), only the team from America ,
Maxi and Chris were present. We discussed our identity in Christ and what that
meant for our purpose in life. There was some pretty intense discussion in our
smaller groups, and Conrad (one of the inmates) even led the group in
discussion and song. It was very inspiring and Jennifer even took notes on the
South African hymnals he sang. I was very glad we were able to go and visit the
boys again.
Today, after sleeping in an extra 30 minutes (such a
blessing!!), we went with Curtis and Braam to visit the Apartheid
Museum , Johannesburg ,
and Soweto . After taking a few
courses on South Africa
and the Apartheid regime, I was not much surprised by what was presented in the
museum. However, I was very pleased with the presentation of the Apartheid era
and its affect on the nation and surrounding areas. It was unbiased, objective,
but also had a personal feeling about it that allowed you to connect to the
stories of individuals who experienced Apartheid and the fight against it.
Everyone absorbs the information differently, but there is no way anyone could
twist the presentation to be for or against anyone – just cold, hard facts.
Then we drove through Soweto ,
learned a bit about its history, saw Mandela’s house and soccer city. We drove
through downtown Joberg and returned home. Later tonight, we are going to see
Bang Bang Club, which is a movie about photographers/journalists who documented
the terrors and violence in the fight against Apartheid. I’ve heard it is
graphic, and I am honestly concerned that I’ll be able to stomach it. We’ll see
how that goes, and hope that it’s good.
Thank you to all who have had us in our prayers; we have
certainly felt them and enjoyed our time here.
- Kristin.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
South Africa Reflections (#4)
We have officially been here over one week and still love
the country, the people and of course, the coffee. I think we go to coffee
shops at least twice a day, not to count when we drink coffee or tea at
breakfast. To recap this weekend, we woke up early on Saturday morning and went
to the Boeremark, which is a farmers market, but with more crafts, food and it
is a lot bigger than just a farmers market. We had something called a ‘fatcake’,
which is bread dough fried like a donut. There were spices, jams, wire/bead
crafts, food, coffee, puppies, scarves, etc. Then we spent the rest of the day
planting grass at the Yabana Village ,
which is a part of Good Hope Orphanage and Preschool. They just got a new
playground and the grass we planted will eventually be a soccer field. The kids
loved trying to help us, even though the shovels were usually bigger than they
were. We then had a braai with the children and families from around the area.
We were going to stay the night at Mama Mary’s house in Mabopane, but our plans
changed and we ended up back in Pretoria
for the night. We were able to sleep in and just hang out today and rest, which
was very needed after doing so much this last week. We are going to a church
called Third Place tonight,
and then waking up really early tomorrow morning for a safari! We have been so
busy while we have been here that it feels like we have been here for much
longer than a week. The country and the people have left big impressions on all
of us. I think there are a couple of us that could definitely see ourselves
coming back in the future J
- Julie
Friday, August 5, 2011
South Africa Reflections (#3)
It’s our fifth day here and so far, the experience has been
amazing. Between missionary work, sight
seeing, meeting new people, and networking, it has been a great experience so
far. The day before yesterday, we went
to Mabopane for the second time. The
kids race towards the van as soon as we pull in. They instantly grab our hands and want to be
held. Some of the girls would play with
our hair and try to style it. One little
girl wanted to be picked up and fell asleep in my arms for over an hour. The children just want to be played with,
held, and paid attention to.
In the evening we went to Maxie’s parent’s house for a
braai. The food was SO good. I love the style of the houses here with the
oven/grill to cook inside. It was a
great time with good company.
Wednesday, we went to the preschool at Moreletapark
Church . The kids were learning about houses and
furniture. We each got to help a child
individually with their colors, numbers, drawing, and cutting with scissors.
Thursday, we did some sight seeing- Voortrekker, the Union
Buildings , and Paul Kruger’s
house. Voortrekker was beautiful and had
so much history of early South Africa
between the Dutch and the Zulus. The
Union Buildings are like the White House of the United States.
Tomorrow we are going to a “farmers” market and then
Mabopane again in the afternoon and night.
Overall, we’re all having a great time and can’t wait to
come back!!
- Katie
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
South Africa Picture Log (#1)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
South Africa Reflections (#2)
Yesterday, we woke up to the loud screeches of what we
decided to call the “pomegranate bird” (It looked like the kiwi bird of Australia ,
but the kiwi is not native to South Africa ),
we were more adjusted to the freezing morning. The space heater probably
helped. After breakfast we headed over to the Dutch
Reform Church
(do not ask me how to spell it in Afrikaans) and had a conversation with the
good folks of Pure Hope. We discussed the differences between pseudo community
and real community, and how God’s opportunities and trials allow us to develop
genuine relationships. It was in that conversation that many of us shared
personal stories. That honesty and communication helped us to begin to develop
our real relationships with each other and the Pure Hope.
After lunch, we headed over to Mabopane. Finally, after
years of praying and planning and saving for this moment, I was in Mabopane.
When I first stepped out of the van and the children ran up to us and the Pure
Hope team, I felt alone, but in a good way. It was serene, unreal. Reality
rushed back and I had one girl who clung to me. She was about 4 and spoke very
little English. She couldn’t tell me her name, but she could count to 10, tell
me body parts, and point out colors and shapes. She called me “Sessi” which
means “sister” in Tswana. She also new the word “up” which she used every time
I would put her down. Both Katie and Julie had 1 or 2 girls that clung to them
as well, and it was then I realized that our purpose was to show these children
love and affection. They may not receive it at home or their parents may not be
in their life at all. It is our duty to show them the love that Christ shows
us. I realized that we are to develop real and not pseudo relationships with
these children, because that is what Christ did and called us to do.
- Kristin
Sunday, July 31, 2011
South Africa Reflections (#1)
After 35 hours of traveling with very little, incremental
sleep, we finally arrived in Johannesburg .
Driving out of Johannesburg into Pretoria ,
the highways and cities didn’t look too much different from the U.S.
We learned that the highways were in such good condition because of the World
Cup last year. Much of the city of Pretoria
is well-developed with really nice malls, coffee shops and restaurants. It was
not exactly what I was expecting to see, even though I was aware of the
economic disparity in South Africa
(lots of wealth, but very unevenly distributed). One of the craziest things was
going to the church that Pure Hope is connected with, called Moreletapark. It
is about the size of Willow Creek
Church in Chicago ,
can hold thousands of people and is basically really beautiful. Right next to
the church is about 800 families living in plastic shacks with no electricity,
running water, etc. Some of them are international refugees from Zimbabwe
and Lesotho ,
but most are South Africans. The government controls who comes out of this
group of shacks and has been saying for years that they will do something to
help these people, but they are still there. Pure Hope has built some better shacks
for some of these people when there shacks burnt down, but the government
support for helping these people is minimal. At the church, we listened to a
service through headphones that translated from Afrikaans into English,
although the music was in English. They did songs such as ‘God of the City’ and
Hillsong songs. They also had a children’s choir of orphaned kids from Uganda
called the Watoto choir. A church in Uganda
started this choir as a way to care for all the children orphaned by AIDs, and now
care for around 4000 orphans. Those kids can dance too. The sermon itself was
incredible. It was a simple message, but very true and relevant to the
congregation. He brought up how many orphans are in South Africa, along with
the poor who live in shanty towns outside of the wealthy cities and how it is
our duty and responsibility as the church to be the hands and feet of God that
reach out to the distressed and give them hope. We all have the capability to
do something, and it is God’s commission to us to use whatever we are given to
help others and share the gospel through words and action.
Joe is now quoting Shakespeare quite seriously to us, so I’m
going to go. We are leaving soon to spend the day in Mabopane with a ton of
kids. Should be great!
- Julie
- Julie
South Africa Team Update
Our team of 6 arrived here in safely in South Africa last night around 10:30 (South Africa time). By the time we settled in to our apartment it was near midnight and we were all ready for bed. It's cool here, which is a welcome change from the heat that we have been experiencing back home. I'll post more later, but wanted everyone to know we are here and doing well!
- joe
- joe
Thursday, July 14, 2011
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