More favorite pictures...

Gone wild.

The group at the chapel on the hill at Kilnerton.

Love.

Met Muman on the street.



Tercia and me :)



She was so beautiful.

Group hug!

My co-teacher Tshepiso :)

Look, a wildebeest!

Sala Kahle: Week 4

The last 4 days or so we went to Swaziland and then had some R&R at a camping resort called Klein Kariba. “Today we got up at 4:30 am (wooo!) to drive to Swaziland!! The drive was spectacular. We watched the amazing sunrise—the tinges of pink and orange brought in the day, while the sun peeked up behind the hills. We drove through thick fog that lied so beautifully throughout the trees and brush that it looked like a dream. Once we got into Swaziland, we began the intense hike up to a huge granite slab. We had to stop not only to catch our breath, but to admire the gorgeous views of the surrounding hills, valleys, and giant rocks. After climbing through a crevasse and then up through a small opening, (which, by the way, contained the root of a tree…so we basically climbed up the root of a tree) we finally made it up to the big rocks where I felt like I was on top of the world. This beautiful view just made me appreciate God’s creation all the more. It was almost overwhelming to be surrounded by the vastness of it all.” Driving back home, we also got to see an amazing sunset, as you can see in the picture. It was breathtaking.

Sadly, more goodbyes were in store on Sunday when we left the Kilnerton Centre, where we had lived in such great community for 4 weeks. Klein Kariba was beautiful and it was actually in a pretty rural area about two hours away. Apparently, having zebra roaming on the golf course is an everyday occurrence. “Retreat has been amazing and so relaxing. It’s nice to just take a couple of days to begin processing everything. I went on a run in the evening and saw a bunch of monkeys! They were so cute and just sat there watching me as they picked at the ground for food. I had to stop and watch them for a few minutes because I was literally 10 feet away from them. Later in the night the team gathered around a bonfire and we talked about what we got out of the trip. I would say that joy was the prevalent theme in the conversation. It was so nice to watch the crackling embers and sit wrapped in a blanket among people I have grown to love so much on this incredible journey. The last night of retreat we sat around the fire and worshipped for ours. I looked up at the night sky and found myself awestruck by the countless stars. The stars in South Africa are actually different from the ones we see back home. Wow. The song “Indescribable” has a line that says, “You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name, you are amazing, God”.”

I never wanted the trip to end but my last day in the beautiful country of South Africa had arrived. “I woke up at 6 to go on one last run. I found myself on a red dirt trail in the brush, and I just started praying aloud. I felt so connected to God, it was amazing. All of the sudden, I saw a zebra crossing the path about 15 feet away. That was pretty cool. The sun was just beginning to rise as I finished the run and I stood and watched it in its splendor. It was so blindingly beautiful. Pure gold spread across the sky and warmed my face. Later, I got to go horseback riding with a few people back in the brush and I saw some more wildlife up close. The ride to the airport was pretty quiet; no one wanted it to be over. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Sala kahle, goodbye, South Africa.”

What I learned on this mission trip, in a sentence: Joy is not the absence of pain or suffering, but the presence of God with his overwhelming love and grace.

Love and Gratitude: Week 3

"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love."  ~George Eliot
At this point, I’ve formed pretty strong relationships with my kids. They bring me so much joy, and I really feel like we closed that gap of unfamiliarity that was there at first. “I think I’ve finally gotten through to my students, but I’m still struggling with the idea that I may not really be making a difference in their lives in respect to academics. I guess I just have to trust that God will meet me halfway, and at least I’ve left them with a better understanding of what it means to follow Christ. I’ve grown so much on this trip and learned what it means to have the ‘mind of Christ’. I want to seek to understand like Christ did. I want to be quick to reach out to others, like Christ did. Something that was very convicting for me last night was when we talked about Paul’s ‘life secret’ in Philippians. Life isn’t about trying to figure out what we should do, it’s recognizing the power of God that gives us the strength to do what we should do.”

My group of little men at the SOS orphanage.

As one of the leaders of the skills development workshop, I got to go to an orphanage with the group twice throughout the week. We thought that we should teach the kids about reaching out to their community, and it was their idea to go to the children’s home. When we got there, the kids were pretty shy at first. They warmed up to us slowly but surely, and we read them stories and played lots of fun games. I hung out with the cutest little boys; probably around 8 or 9 years old. They always wanted me to take their picture, and I finally just handed my camera over and told them to go wild. One little boy, Twane, was especially sweet. “He held my camera gingerly in his hands and with a shaking finger, he pressed the button. ‘Good job!’ I told him, and he turned his face up to me and smiled a toothy white grin.” We read Where the Wild Things Are probably 20 times (they loved it!!) and when we had to leave, they all rushed up and hugged me. It was so hard to leave them!

The last day of tutoring came too soon. “Today was the last day of school. I wasn’t sure about how I would handle leaving my kids. I figured that I’d either cry my eyes out or that it would come to me a few days later and I’d be pretty upset. I made all of my kids goodie bags and encouraging notes. When I got to school, I handed out their goodies, for which they were very grateful, and then they gave me some presents! I was so touched; I really wasn’t expecting it. Several kids gave me handmade cards, candy, and a beautiful headband. Afterwards, I continued my follow-up meetings with each of them, and it was Precious’ turn. We sat under a tree and I told her how much I enjoyed having her in my class and what a kind person she was. I then asked her if there was anything she wanted to talk about or anything that we could pray about together. She shook her head and then said, “Well, actually…” and then burst into tears. She buried her face into my shoulder and I held her close. She said that she was going to miss me so much and didn’t want me to leave. My eyes welled up and we just hugged for a few minutes. She asked me to pray for her mother, who was struggling with work. I prayed over her, and she squeezed my hands tightly…Soon it was time to say goodbye to my class. It was especially hard because I most likely won’t see them again. I could only think about how I will never truly know or see the impact I have made in my kids’ lives. I know that I have done my part, and that God will then do the rest. He meets us halfway, and that’s the beautiful thing. I will never forget my students or the patience and love that they showered on me. I will always remember the name that they gave me: Lesego (leh-seh-ho) which means “blessing”.” The whole experience with my class really showed and reminded me how much I love working with children. Although I am still unsure of my future, I know that I have to work with kids in some way. Who knows, maybe I'll go back to Africa! :)

Some safari pictures!

Joy: Week 2



One of my favorite students, Precious



Amanda and me :)

The second week of tutoring was even better than the first because I felt closer to my kids. We understood each other on a deeper level than merely comprehending what was said. I also found that my mindset had changed. I went into the tutoring program with what you might call a “savior” mentality. By the second week, my kids were the ones saving me. It sounds cliché, but I learned far more from my kids than they did from me. We poured love and trust into each other and their ever-present joy and kindness was so refreshing. At the end of week 2, we gave all of the students their own Bibles. My kids’ faces lit up and they smiled. I could see that they were truly touched and surprised, even. “For most of them, these Bibles are the first ones that they have ever been able to call their own. On Friday, I talked to my kids about how our relationship with God cannot be broken, but our fellowship can. This was a slightly confusing concept, but I think they grasped it pretty well. It was especially cool to see them flip through their Bibles to verses that I directed them to.”

The lion cub I tried to pack in my suitcase. So cute!

On Saturday, we all went to Kruegerpark, which is a wildlife reserve and was similar to Pilanesburg, except there were a ton of animals! It was almost like a zoo in the wilderness. We saw water buffalo, jackals, rhinos, lions, cheetahs, ostriches, and zebra. We even got to see a pride of lions completely devour a cow, which was incredible.  Lions are so beautiful, and seeing them up close and personal (and eating) was quite the experience. The game park had an animal nursery and I got to play with a lion and tiger cub! It was so unreal. They were so cute and soft—I just wanted to take them home with me! I now have a pretty cool scar on my hand from the lion cub that will forevermore remind me of South Africa. The next day I got to go to a tent church in Mamelodi and I saw what it really means to worship God. It was so interesting to hear Pastor Ezekiel talk about how the really really poor areas of Mamelodi (squatter camps) are not an issue of laziness or poverty, but of spiritual weakness. He told us not to pray that people will find jobs or be able to provide for their families, but that they will find strength and hope in the Lord. Wow. Now that changed my perspective. After church, Pastor Ezekiel led us on a tour around the squatter camps. “I didn’t have my camera to capture the complete destitution of this place, but I’m glad I experienced it without looking behind the lens. As we walked through the village, shack after shack stared me in the face. I felt guilty and depressed that there was nothing I could do to help. Trash, broken beer bottles, and scrap metal littered the roads. A woman bends over a bucket of soapy water and roughly scrubs the dirt out of a worn sweatshirt. She looks up at us and smiles as she greets us, “Dumela, le kai.” This is when I realized the difference between poverty in America and poverty here. There is an overwhelming sense of community and love here. I feel so blessed that I got to spend 2 or 3 hours in that community, because it truly showed me God’s presence there-- despite what appears to be “dire circumstances”.

 



Temiso and Gateng; I'm so glad other people had cameras.