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
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3 comments:
Oh Julia, I love you.
(1) I would love to buy a shirt for Siya, no one deserves it more.
(2) You and your team are in our prayers... particularly the prayers that involve a safari and allergies.
Love you tons and tons,
T
Thanks for the updates!
I would buy a shirt for Siya, if it's decided that is it non offensive culturally. Sounds like a good conversation starter!
Thanks for the prayer updates! Diana, hope you feel better soon (and the rest of the team too!). Keep loving Jesus with your actions!
Jade
Hi Julie. Give Katy a hug for me ... and everyone else (yourself included for that matter). Hope you're having a great God experience. Lynette Hendricks sent this to me today and I wanted to share:
History of South Africa
Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa explains the history of white settlement of his country like this:
When the white man came, we had the land and he had the Bible.
He said, "Let us pray," so we all bowed our heads, closed our eyes, and prayed.
And when we opened our eyes, lo and behold, we had the Bible and he had the land.
But you know, we got the best deal!
P.S. I love this particular archbishop.
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