Hello Friends!!
What an exciting day. We just finished our Safari and had an incredible time! Highlights for me are being out of the van include
1. Being 25-30 ft away from a HUGE elephant for at least 20 minutes while it took a mud bath. Oh my word...I can't tell you how awesome it was! Thanks Jesus. :)
2. Seeing 5 Cheetah with a kill. Little far off for good pics, but still amazing!!
3. Starting down a Rhino out of my window ten feet away...little scary!!
4. Taking a picture of Heather Reynolds (founder of GGA) with Pink Jesus, our team mascot. (www.answermejesus.com)
Now for a full team update. But first, a disclaimer. I just glanced at my old posts and caught at least 4 grammatical and spelling errors. Please forgive me for those, I can't spell and I don't have the time or the rem sleep to proof these before I post them.
Team: Melissa and Katy are here and safe and fantastic!! WHEW what a difference two people make in a team of 8 total. Just seemed to make thigs click. Their energy and excitement really has poured over into me and most of the rest of the team. So things are good! We have a very eclectic group all around and it has been interesting to see the dynamics. So much to learn from each other.
Work: We finally did some! WHEW. We've laid a major (at least 10 inches!) concrete sidewalk around the pre-school front and sides this week as well as helping with the food drops in the valleys on Monday and Tuesday. We have to at least finish that sidewalk or there will be some major frustrations!
Coming Attractions: This coming week we are going to get to visit families in the valley with the volunteer in charge of the Child Sponsorship program. Prayers that our eyes would see what the Lord sees, our hearts would feel what His feel, and that in the midst of that our Hope would come from His Love and Grace. Also, please pray for our relationship with Charlie, the volunteer. Charlie is an aethiest a really bitter about life. We have a few things going for us in his eyes, mainly that we aren't so "disgustingly nice" like most Christians. Compliment??? Mmmmm. He is hysterical and makes my heart hurt at the same time.
Next weekend if the weather is nice we get to take the kids to the beach to have one last good time with them! I'm excited about that.
In other news: My Daddy says I'm worth 20 cows :).
Prayer!!!!
*I've got a case of the RV again (Rondoval Virus aka, allergies to the thatched roof)
*Work- productivity and feelings of purpose and accomplishment
*Attitude- that team members would have a positive attitude about being here and trust in the fact that even in the midst of frustrations with how GGA is run or work not going like we 'planned' that God IS working. Maybe not even inspite of those things, but in them.
*Safety- another national strike next wednesday.
PRAISE!
Diana and Taylor feel better woo!
We saw elephantswoo!
Melissa and Katy are here woo!
God is moving. Double woo woo!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
With this cow...I thee wed.
So...I'm fully aware that ideas that come up in the rondoval late at night here in South Africa aren't always based in reality. Just wanted to share an idea the team had the other night and you can do with it what you'd like...laugh or get excited and make some shirts!
So there is a man here named Siya. Siya is fantastic. He leads the chior here at GGA and is quite a character. Siya grew up at GGA but is 29 now. The last time I was here Siya was telling us about his girlfriend and little baby (then 2, now 4). About how they had wanted to get married for a really long time, but he couldn't afford the Lebola (sp??). The Lebola is a Zulu tradition similar to a dowry....which has good and bad merits that I won't go into. Siya needs to buy 11 cows (plus other gifts) in order to marry his gf. Cow are about 6000R or $850 which is a LOT of money here even with his job as the GGA chior director. Two years ago Siya had 2 cows and now, as far as we could tell from our conversation has 3 cows plus a goat and some blankets. (this sounds like a bad joke as I'm typing). So Siya left our rondoval (sidenote: he came over for so water after he taught us a sweet Zulu dance!! we are pretty whitebread and it i looks terrible, but fun!) and we all discussing how we feel for him wanting to marry his gf and take care of his family, but now only getting to see them on the weekends because they live with her parents until he can buy all the cows. We decided we really wanted to help him and the idea of the "With This Cow, I Thee Wed" t-shirt was born. We even had a moment of rondoval delirum where we decided we should ask Chick-fil-A to sponsor them since they love Jesus and aren't open on Sundays. Haha.
But seriously...this t-shirt could be amazing, and it could help a really deserving guy marry his gf and be able to be a full time Daddy to his baby girl. We are investigating cultural implications right now...will it be offensive, etc? So stay tuned...
In other news...We did some actual work yesterday and it was GREAT! Very good for the team moral to do something productive where we could see the difference we made. Very very good. Katy and Melissa get here tomorrow night and we can't wait for them to join us! We are going to clean the rondoval today to prepare. On tap for next week, we will get to help with 2 food drops on Monday and Tuesday, and get to go on our safari to the game park next weekend. I really would like to see lions and elephants :).
Prayer Requests
* That Melissa and Katy would feel a part of our group and recover from Jet Lag quickly!
* That all of us would be focused on loving on people and being obedient to what Jesus is leading us to do.
* Lions and Elephants :)
* Diana and Taylor are having some allergy/cold problems...pray for healing.
Love and Hugs!
J
So there is a man here named Siya. Siya is fantastic. He leads the chior here at GGA and is quite a character. Siya grew up at GGA but is 29 now. The last time I was here Siya was telling us about his girlfriend and little baby (then 2, now 4). About how they had wanted to get married for a really long time, but he couldn't afford the Lebola (sp??). The Lebola is a Zulu tradition similar to a dowry....which has good and bad merits that I won't go into. Siya needs to buy 11 cows (plus other gifts) in order to marry his gf. Cow are about 6000R or $850 which is a LOT of money here even with his job as the GGA chior director. Two years ago Siya had 2 cows and now, as far as we could tell from our conversation has 3 cows plus a goat and some blankets. (this sounds like a bad joke as I'm typing). So Siya left our rondoval (sidenote: he came over for so water after he taught us a sweet Zulu dance!! we are pretty whitebread and it i looks terrible, but fun!) and we all discussing how we feel for him wanting to marry his gf and take care of his family, but now only getting to see them on the weekends because they live with her parents until he can buy all the cows. We decided we really wanted to help him and the idea of the "With This Cow, I Thee Wed" t-shirt was born. We even had a moment of rondoval delirum where we decided we should ask Chick-fil-A to sponsor them since they love Jesus and aren't open on Sundays. Haha.
But seriously...this t-shirt could be amazing, and it could help a really deserving guy marry his gf and be able to be a full time Daddy to his baby girl. We are investigating cultural implications right now...will it be offensive, etc? So stay tuned...
In other news...We did some actual work yesterday and it was GREAT! Very good for the team moral to do something productive where we could see the difference we made. Very very good. Katy and Melissa get here tomorrow night and we can't wait for them to join us! We are going to clean the rondoval today to prepare. On tap for next week, we will get to help with 2 food drops on Monday and Tuesday, and get to go on our safari to the game park next weekend. I really would like to see lions and elephants :).
Prayer Requests
* That Melissa and Katy would feel a part of our group and recover from Jet Lag quickly!
* That all of us would be focused on loving on people and being obedient to what Jesus is leading us to do.
* Lions and Elephants :)
* Diana and Taylor are having some allergy/cold problems...pray for healing.
Love and Hugs!
J
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Greetings from South Africa!
Friends!!
We have officially been at GGA for a week as of last night about 11:30. It has flown by for us, but thinking about what I need to update you all on I'm realizing quite a bit has happened. Most importantly, we all survived the madness of the 18 hour flight from DC to Jo'burg and got to GGA safe and sound and very very exhausted. Jet lag is a funny funny (and not in a funny) thing and I'm very glad that we all are over it now...although it took until this weekend!
The first few days we spent sleeping (A LOT) and playing with the kids here at GGA. Many of the kids are away visiting relatives because they are on a two week school break right now. So the ones that were left here have no one to visit and needed some special attention. We got thrown right into it on Thursday morning last week because GGA is very short on long term volunteers right now, some of which are gone on mandatory holliday right now, and many of the others have been sick! So we were enlisted to help entertain and watch the kiddos with one volunteer who was available. We made cupcakes (mixing it with our hands of course!) and played and played. It was fantastic. Many of the kids remember me, which I was not expecting, and I got a lot of questions like "Where is Ryan!?" and such about team members from the last trip. My favorite though was Amahle, who I taught to Hook Em Horns, last time and he remembered! (Bryn...I'm supposed to tell you that you have to come next trip, and that you need to send Amahle a watch and a chocolate) Andrew, our lone boy on the trip---who you should pray for because he has a lot of naggy sisters on this trip haha!--- has been called Harry Potter, Goofy, and June. Not sure where June fits in, but the other two fit pretty well. Creative kids.
Friday we went in the morning to see our worksite-- a public (although still costs money) preschool being built in the Valley of a Thousand Hills for about 30 kids. Most of the building has been finished by other teams and the building team here at GGA, but we will get to help lay a concrete slab around the building, put on a roof, plaster and paint the walls, and ***I really really hope*** get to paint a mural on the inside. There have been quite a few delays with us getting to work work, although I try to keep reminding our team that we are 'working' when we are loving on kids. The concrete mixer was in the shop on Monday, so we stayed here and played with kids and helped decorate and make cards for Myrtle's (the orphanage manager) 60th birthday. It was a great suprise! And then yesterday when we went to the worksite Robin, our concret mixer, was smoking and then quit, never to start again yesterday. So we spent the day handing the Zulu building team, who knows what they are doing, the roof supports while they attached them. We are easing into the working bit... We joked, that Katy and Melissa may get here and wonder what exactly we had done without them, but that may actually happen as today (Wednesday) is a country wide working strike to protest gas prices and food prices, so we are home again at GGA where everything is safe and quiet. All of the delays have been pretty frustrating for some of our team...so please be praying for patience and the ability to see things with an eternal perspective. I feel deeply that the Lord is not only trying to teach those of us who need to know what is going on at all times (not me) something deep and lasting, but also those of us who can't understand those that need to know what is going on at all times (definitely me) something deep and lasting as well. And we all have a very American need to produce and be driven rather than being and being flexible, just all to different extents. This will be good. We will learn and grow, and 30 kids will have a brand new school where their brilliant little minds will be cared for and nurtured.
This weekend we got to take our first trip and went to the Drankenburg Moutains. But what made the weekend so so special was Heather and Patrick (founders of GGA) came along and brought 10 of the kids who were old enough to come, but young enough they really hadn't ever been anywhere, with us and a few volunteers! It was so fantastic. We had a suprise 16th birthday party for one of the girls (Zenhle...i know i just butchered that spelling) with a Braii (bbq), cake and sweets, bonfire, singing, dancing, and star gazing. It was priceless. Such a Holy weekend full of joy. And cold. Very cold. :) But still wonderful. We traveled up Sani Pass into Lesotho and drank hot cocco at the highest pub in Africa, and rode horses on Sunday with the kids.
A few other exciting notes..and then I must go.
* Andrew has an amazing voice and I told Siya, the choir director, so of course he made him sing. He was so blown away, that Andrew is getting to sing some with the chior. The Zulu is kind of a barrier, but it is really fun to watch! I have video!
* Jungle bars and Vita Snacks are still delicious and I love them.
* Our first day we were at the Spar (grocery store) and the lady asked Katie if she wanted a plastic (bag) but Katie couldn't understand her and just kept saying "America". HAHAHH! We laugh about that quite a bit.
Please pray for
* Some of the kids in Creche have the chicken pox and two of the creche kids are HIV positive and DON"T need to catcht that...AND some of our team hasn't had them either
*Us in general.
Love and Hugs,
Julie
We have officially been at GGA for a week as of last night about 11:30. It has flown by for us, but thinking about what I need to update you all on I'm realizing quite a bit has happened. Most importantly, we all survived the madness of the 18 hour flight from DC to Jo'burg and got to GGA safe and sound and very very exhausted. Jet lag is a funny funny (and not in a funny) thing and I'm very glad that we all are over it now...although it took until this weekend!
The first few days we spent sleeping (A LOT) and playing with the kids here at GGA. Many of the kids are away visiting relatives because they are on a two week school break right now. So the ones that were left here have no one to visit and needed some special attention. We got thrown right into it on Thursday morning last week because GGA is very short on long term volunteers right now, some of which are gone on mandatory holliday right now, and many of the others have been sick! So we were enlisted to help entertain and watch the kiddos with one volunteer who was available. We made cupcakes (mixing it with our hands of course!) and played and played. It was fantastic. Many of the kids remember me, which I was not expecting, and I got a lot of questions like "Where is Ryan!?" and such about team members from the last trip. My favorite though was Amahle, who I taught to Hook Em Horns, last time and he remembered! (Bryn...I'm supposed to tell you that you have to come next trip, and that you need to send Amahle a watch and a chocolate) Andrew, our lone boy on the trip---who you should pray for because he has a lot of naggy sisters on this trip haha!--- has been called Harry Potter, Goofy, and June. Not sure where June fits in, but the other two fit pretty well. Creative kids.
Friday we went in the morning to see our worksite-- a public (although still costs money) preschool being built in the Valley of a Thousand Hills for about 30 kids. Most of the building has been finished by other teams and the building team here at GGA, but we will get to help lay a concrete slab around the building, put on a roof, plaster and paint the walls, and ***I really really hope*** get to paint a mural on the inside. There have been quite a few delays with us getting to work work, although I try to keep reminding our team that we are 'working' when we are loving on kids. The concrete mixer was in the shop on Monday, so we stayed here and played with kids and helped decorate and make cards for Myrtle's (the orphanage manager) 60th birthday. It was a great suprise! And then yesterday when we went to the worksite Robin, our concret mixer, was smoking and then quit, never to start again yesterday. So we spent the day handing the Zulu building team, who knows what they are doing, the roof supports while they attached them. We are easing into the working bit... We joked, that Katy and Melissa may get here and wonder what exactly we had done without them, but that may actually happen as today (Wednesday) is a country wide working strike to protest gas prices and food prices, so we are home again at GGA where everything is safe and quiet. All of the delays have been pretty frustrating for some of our team...so please be praying for patience and the ability to see things with an eternal perspective. I feel deeply that the Lord is not only trying to teach those of us who need to know what is going on at all times (not me) something deep and lasting, but also those of us who can't understand those that need to know what is going on at all times (definitely me) something deep and lasting as well. And we all have a very American need to produce and be driven rather than being and being flexible, just all to different extents. This will be good. We will learn and grow, and 30 kids will have a brand new school where their brilliant little minds will be cared for and nurtured.
This weekend we got to take our first trip and went to the Drankenburg Moutains. But what made the weekend so so special was Heather and Patrick (founders of GGA) came along and brought 10 of the kids who were old enough to come, but young enough they really hadn't ever been anywhere, with us and a few volunteers! It was so fantastic. We had a suprise 16th birthday party for one of the girls (Zenhle...i know i just butchered that spelling) with a Braii (bbq), cake and sweets, bonfire, singing, dancing, and star gazing. It was priceless. Such a Holy weekend full of joy. And cold. Very cold. :) But still wonderful. We traveled up Sani Pass into Lesotho and drank hot cocco at the highest pub in Africa, and rode horses on Sunday with the kids.
A few other exciting notes..and then I must go.
* Andrew has an amazing voice and I told Siya, the choir director, so of course he made him sing. He was so blown away, that Andrew is getting to sing some with the chior. The Zulu is kind of a barrier, but it is really fun to watch! I have video!
* Jungle bars and Vita Snacks are still delicious and I love them.
* Our first day we were at the Spar (grocery store) and the lady asked Katie if she wanted a plastic (bag) but Katie couldn't understand her and just kept saying "America". HAHAHH! We laugh about that quite a bit.
Please pray for
* Some of the kids in Creche have the chicken pox and two of the creche kids are HIV positive and DON"T need to catcht that...AND some of our team hasn't had them either
*Us in general.
Love and Hugs,
Julie
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