Diving into a LOT...

25-26 Jan 2010


25th, Monday

In Short:
. Redesigning Living Hope brochure
. Red Hill Kids Club
. Beauty among poverty
. Capricorn Youth Leaders Meeting

In more detail:
Went to the main Living Hope office to meet with some people about redesigning the Living Hope brochure. I’m learning that ideas change day by day- the task I was given the day before, had already begun, and felt equipped to complete was changed the next day I spoke to someone. Communication in the offices amongst natives is often temperamental. I’m learning to be patient with the staff and do as I’m asked and not complain. Right now, that’s easy because I’m new and don’t have a LOT on my plate yet, but I’m certain that will patience will wear off when I’m stressed with various tasks and can’t complete them because of communication issues.

Danielle (Long-term volunteer from Nashville, TN- Brentwood Baptist) has been taking me around to the different communities to see the Kids/Teens Clubs, learn the culture and get a holistic view of Living Hope’s scope. She took me to Red Hill on Monday and it was vastly different from any other community I’d been to. There are 3 ‘camps’:
Bottom Camp- mainly refugees from other countries that aren’t welcome in ‘native’ townships
Middle Camp- Xhosa speaking pure-blacks
Top Camp- Afrikaans speaking mixed, colored
The houses were a mixture of shacks and ‘concrete’ walls, roads are ridiculous to drive on (HUGE pot holes, narrow, not paved, boulders in the middle of the road). The government’s health clinic sprung a leaky roof (reminded me of the Student Building roof ☺) so they took over the Living Hope building/container that was used for Kids Club; now the Kids Club has to borrow the church, which isn’t conducive to the activities. The Governments’ Clinic was only to be in the LH building for a month… well, it’s been five. Avril is meeting with them this week to see if they can have their LH container back.
The Club itself was a DISASTER. It started about an hour past when we thought it would start, the leader wasn’t prepared, discipline was hard for the 3 leaders verses 40 kids, the location where Teens Club was supposed to be held ended up not being free so the teens just sat in the back and didn’t get ministered to properly… I wasn’t prepared for what I saw or experienced.
The drive to and from Red Hill is some of the most beautiful parts of South Africa. Red Hill is on the road to Cape Point (the southern most tip of Africa), the ocean is RIGHT by road, the camp is ON the mountain… it’s a beautiful place. When you look out at the surroundings, you’re awed. When you look at the houses and the poverty, you’re awed.

Being immersed in this culture is even more shocking than I thought it would be. I thought since I was ‘awed’ and exposed to the poverty and sob stories on the short-term trips, that I wouldn’t be as effected by the surroundings because I was aware. I might have been aware, but I wasn’t immersed.
Monday night at 8pm, I was asked to attend a Capricorn Youth Leaders Meeting. Shagmie (the youth minister) called the meeting and invited a handful of people to brainstorm and cast vision for the Friday night Youth events. Kendra (LH long-term volunteer and Volunteer House Advisor) and I drove to Ocean View to Casey and Sarah’s house (Americans, not with Living Hope, former youth pastor, now doing soccer camps in SA, here for 5 years) who are friends of Shagmie and have mentored him in ministry a bit. In attendance: Shagmie and Lauren (Shagmie’s fiancé), Casey and Sarah, Kendra, Andy (American volunteer working with Casey’s soccer camps), and myself. We helped Shamie understand ‘planning,’ set goals for the ministry, threw out ‘series ideas’ and topics for foundational ministry building, and planned out the next 6 weeks of Friday Youth Events at Capricorn Church. The funny thing is… I somehow was given the job of Game Girl and now I’m doing silly games the next 3 weeks. For those of you that know me and know my view of ministry games… this job is VERY ironic. When I told the group that our Student Ministry stopped doing games during weekly meeting, they were so confused and asked, “And kids still came????” I laughed and said, “YES. We decided that our students needed in-depth Bible Study and challenges from the Word more than silly games to break the ice.” They understood that; I then said, “I don’t suggest we do that here. I’m just telling you what we experienced.” I’ll grin and bear it and do the best I can. What bores the youth of America will most likely be new and exciting to South African youth. I guess we’ll find out.




26th, Tuesday

In Short:
. Teens Team Meeting
. Pat’s farewell
. Meeting the Consul General of the US- Alberta Mayberry, Ph.D.
. Capricorn Kids Club
. Tired
. Driving going well!

In more detail:
Went to the main office for a meeting with the Teens Team (Des, Megan, Timothy, Shagmie, Kendra and myself). We have a high school assembly on 8 Feb on Drug/Alcohol Awareness. We planned the 30 min assembly, and yet again, I’m in charge of an icebreaker. Seriously? I don’t know how this keeps happening. I guess I’m so anxious to contribute something that the stupid games we did in America are to my advantage now. I was so proud of this team. Des is a Xhosa speaking black, Megan, Timothy and Shagmie are Afrikaans speaking colored natives and Kendra is from TN. The diversity is beautiful and the ministry knowledge is diverse. God has brought skills together for this moment!

Pat Ball (Volunteer for 4 years at LH) is leaving. She’s actually moving to my hometown in GA to begin an Emergency Response campus (sister organization of Living Hope). The whole staff was invited. Pat has given me tours and helped short-term teams each time I’ve been to SA previously. I was honored to go and be a part. A few people spoke kind words about Pat and at the end, John Thomas had an English speaker, Afrikaans speaker, and Xhosa speaker pray over her and commission her to her new venture. It was so neat! Nadine (Team House chef) catered the event (finger food). The coolest part to me was meeting the Consul General of the US, Alberta Mayberry. She’s living in SA and does humanitarian work in SA on behalf of the US. I got to introduce myself and chat for a minute. She gave me her card and said to contact her if I ever needed anything. How cool?!

Then I got to go to my favorite place: Capricorn! The team that’s here from Delaware are doing the teaching and crafts this week. They did a great job and allowed the LSEs to just hangout with the kids! The girls in Teens Club made t-shirts that said, “I found true love.” A definite conversation starter when worn! What a great evangelistic tool in that community!

Feeling VERY tired and still a bit jet-lagged. Someone told me it takes one day for every hour your body is behind. I’m not quite on day 8 of my time here, so I guess I’m not fully on SA time yet.

For those interested in Prince William (my car)… I’m really getting the hang of things. I drove to work at the main office AND to Capricorn and back today. That’s up and over the mountain! I’m much more calm and relaxed when driving. The ‘other side of the road thing’ isn’t bad at all and shifting with my left hand is a breeze! It’s the combination of doing all of that at the same time that’s the hard part.

Thank you for your time in reading these updates. It means the world to me that my family back home is interested and cares about ministry in SA. Please continue to pray for rest and routine!