Easter in South Africa

 

Easter in South Africa = Pickled Fish, Hot Cross Buns, and Marshmallow Eggs.

I had a wonderful long weekend- celebrating Easter and hanging out with friends! Meagan made sure that I had a traditional Easter South African meal of Pickled Fish (sort-of sweet, with sautéed onions, in a really tasty sauce). I had Hot Crossed Buns at Capricorn Church on Friday after the Good Friday Service (a roll with raisins) and we gave marshmallow eggs to the children at church on Sunday. I think I participated in all the traditional Easter celebration-foods.

Easter Sunday after church (went to King of Kings sunrise service on the beach then to Capricorn Church), I had all the Living Hope volunteers (most from America, 4 from the UK) to my house for lunch; everyone brought a dish. We had traditional American foods: creamed corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, ham, pineapple casserole… It was a feast! This was the first time I'd been able to have all the volunteers over. Easter was a wonderful time to have an open-house and meal together! Pictures to come.

 

A 'New and Old' Friend: The greatest and strangest connection happened a few weeks ago: I found out that a friend I'd led a retreat with about 5 years ago lives less than a mile from me her in South Africa. Laural and I did a D-Now together, really clicked but never saw each other again. We have mutual friends … and they're actually the ones that put us back in touch with each other here. Laural was so kind and had me over for dinner on Tuesday night. She made MEXICAN!!!! I haven't put Mexican in my mouth in almost 3 months. It was brilliant! We sat and caught up and just hung out! Laural married a guy she met here in South Africa while being a short term (5 month) volunteer for Living Hope a few years ago. They continued the long-distance relationship and got married last April, and she moved to SA permanently. It was so great having someone ask me about my life here, how I'm adjusting, and feel like she could relate and understand the transition. Not only was she previously here as a volunteer with Living Hope, but she understood my struggles with trying to 'plant' myself here and LIVE, not just endure the mission. She was so open to my honesty and embraced me with open arms! It was a sweet time of encouragement, laughter and laying the foundation to a great new friendship. I hope to hangout with her again very soon.

 

Holiday Clubs are under-way. I'm in Capricorn doing Kids in the morning (10am-12:30pm) and Teens in the afternoons (2pm-4:30pm). It's been a little chaotic, and I'm learning that people here don't 'plan' like Americans do. We had curriculum in hand, a general idea of who was in charge of what aspect of the day/lesson, and then we showed up and made it all happen. Holiday Clubs have come on the tail of CAMP and then a 5 day Easter Holiday; not the greatest timing. Being in Capricorn for extended time each day has been really great! It's only because of the Lord that I feel this way because when I look around at my surroundings, I see lots of dirty little children, teens that have on the same clothes from the day before, smells of unsanitary conditions, and many people just roaming the streets (without any purposeful place to go). I see hopelessness on the faces of those that pass the Living Hope Building, I see a community that needs the Lord more than they need their next meal. God has given me a love for these people that I can't describe. When I'm with the children, I can't help but smile. When I'm with my Capricorn Teens, something within me lights up – I have more energy, more patience, more of the Holy Spirits' guidance. It's great confirmation that the Lord has brought me to South Africa for a reason and lights a passion within me when I'm doing what He's called!

I've seen the Teens really open up and begin to accept my leadership. I know their names, I know their personalities and how they're going to respond to situations. I've really tried to get them into the Word. It's quite obvious that they don't read Bibles at home on a regular basis (if at all). We're having to teach them BASICS of finding chapters, how to connect stories, and how to interpret and apply Biblical concepts to their own lives. It's refreshing to see them grasp the baby steps. This week at Teen Holiday Club, I've seen growth and participation like I've never seen. The curriculum was written by the Teens Team that I work with on a daily basis. It's a challenging curriculum- getting the teens INTO their Bibles, having them read long passages of scripture about leaders in the Bible, getting them to discuss concepts in small groups and present their ideas to the group, and understand that God ordained leaders and could be calling them to lead in their own lives. That's a LOT to accomplish in the teens of Capricorn, but God is doing it right in front of my eyes. It's really amazing!

 

Pray that the seeds that are planted this week in Holiday Clubs will bring fruit in His time.