Last week with the kids :(

This school week has just been incredible in terms of interacting with the kids, getting to know them all really well, and seeing our work pay off. One beautiful thing that I’ve noticed about South Africa is their strong emphasis on the community. Today (Thursday) the drama workshop performed an outstanding play for the rest of the students. It was not only perfectly done, but the balance between the South African sense of community and the American’s focus on individuality was evident. Nate, the director of the show, told us that they didn’t want to perform unless everyone could be in it; Nate also really highlighted their individual qualities during the play.

Here's a picture of me, Dan, and Given, a student volunteer, in front of Lehlabile, the school that most of our kids attend. We visited these schools on our second outing in Mamelodi on Monday.

Tuesday was a very very busy day of learning. The kids were rowdier than usual, but still remained attentive when it came down to work. Faith taught us all about the diversity in South Africa and we all learned a lot about this unique culture.

On Wednesday, we held mock-interviews in class. I learned so much about my kids that day! I found out that I have two pairs of siblings in my class, and that so many of the student’s goals are to “get rich and then help the poor”, again with the awesome sense of community. What really made me excited was that every single student put down “go to University” as one of their top goals. These students work so hard in class, have a million other talents outside of school, love the Lord, and are serious about their big dreams. Today we also didn’t read the Bible in class for the first time, and Skumbuzo was pretty disappointed, and asked if we could read double the next day— how cute!

Here's a picture of a typical market on the road that sells fruits, chips, and other convenience items.  

On Thursday, we planned a review for the kids and bought a ton of candy, but the kids were so interested in answering questions like “Who wrote the Bible?” and “Do we have just one God even though Jesus is also a God?” that we put aside all lesson plans and just talked. I love how curious and intuitive these kids are! I pray that their curiosity for God will always be this strong.

Our team was also very blessed by having the opportunity to relax and see Harry Potter!! Not to mention it comes out 2 days early in South Africa! Pretty awesome! 

Here's one last picture of my class!  

Please keep the children that we work with in your prayers. Pray that we were able to show God's love to them in our actions and in our words. Pray that these kids will continue to be encouraged about their education, and that they will be able to pass the matriculation exam. Unfortunately only about 40% of students are able to pass this exam and be admitted into University. And please also keep our team in your prayers, that we may end healthy, and really connect with the Lord as we de-brief this weekend.

"Anything is possible if a person believes." - Mark 9:23

Dumelang!

Dumelang! (Hello!)

This is my last week in South Africa. I can’t believe time flew by so quickly! Let me tell you a little about what we did last week. :)

Day 15-17 Tuesday-Thursday

This week, Dan, Faith, and I taught the students a ton of cool things. We wrote letters to God, talked about our friends, learned about states of matter, fractions, and sentence structures.  We also had a talent show, Mamelodi’s Got Talent, in which all the teams performed. Not to brag but the piggies definitely got some major swag!

The kids are as interested and as involved as ever.  I met these two adorable kids (siblings of a student in the program). Here’s a cool picture!

They are 5 and 9 years old respectively. Due to malnutrition, most kids here are smaller than the average American children.

Karabo, one of our newer students, has even decided to lead a Bible study at her school! Praise God for her passion and courage!

Day 18: Friday 7/8/11 Date Night

After class on Friday, the boys in our team had planned a date night for the girls. I was so impressed with everything they had planned for us! We watched the sunset, were serenaded, received beautiful letters, ate a delicious home-cooked dinner, enjoyed desert in a cool hut, listened to karaoke, and danced the night away! They really made us feel like appreciated women of God. Yay boys!

Here’s a picture of the ladies before our festivities began!

Day 19: Saturday 7/09/11 Rhino and Lion Reserve

Today we went to a rhino and lion reserve and it was SO COOL! The reserve is very similar to the game park that we went to last week, but there were more opportunities to see African animals. We saw lions devouring a cow, a majestic tiger, wild dogs, wildebeest, huge rhinos, baby rhinos, cheetahs mating, snakes, and we even got to cuddle with some baby lions and tigers!!!! Check out a picture of me getting kisses from a tiger! (Ironically I introduced myself to everyone on the trip as Tati the Tiger haha).

In Rhino and Lion Reserve is also the 3^rd largest cave in South Africa, the Wonder Cave. We saw beautiful structures formed by the minerals in the earth. I can’t believe that each structure, stalagmites and stalactites, grow only 1 centimeter every 100 years! Here’s a picture of me and my friend Hilary in the cave. (Hi Hilary’s parents!)

Day 20: Sunday 07/10/11 Township church and walk through Mamelodi

Today we went to a church in one of the poorest areas of Mamelodi. The church service was held in a tent that the members of the congregation help put up and take down before and after the service. What struck me the most about the church was how filled with joy everyone is! All the African music is so happy and joyful. Here’s a picture of me with some kids outside the church.

The pastor ended the service 1 hour early to show us where they live. They said they wanted us to see the depths of poverty so that we can know exactly what to be praying for. It was really amazing that the pastor and other members of the congregation invited us into their neighborhood. We saw the poorest of the poor today, and it was really heart-breaking.  Here’s a picture of me with some friends in their neighborhood.

Day 21: Monday 07/11/11

After a busy day in class today, some of our South African friends wanted to take us around Mamelodi again. They took us to a different part than we had been to the previous day. We walked around a significantly more wealthy neighborhood, closer to the University that we work at, and close to many of the high schools. There is such a big difference in wealth in Mamelodi because the Apartheid forced all blacks, regardless of social status or wealth, into the townships. Our students come from both the more wealthy and the very poor parts of Mamelodi. Most of them did not know each other before the program began, but they make friends so quickly-- it’s incredible!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned to see how my trip ends!!

More in Mamelodi!

Day 11: 07/01/11 (Friday) Tshegofatso comes to Christ!

During class today we had a vivid discussion after reading the Prodigal Son. Dan and I put down the majority of our lesson plans for the day and just enjoyed this verbal interaction with the students. We also received some new students and a new co-teacher today! Faith, the new co-teacher, is an education student at the University of Pretoria. She’s so great with kids!

After class today, the American teachers stayed for one hour longer to share our faith with the students, and we invited any of our students that were interested to join us for that hour. Two of my students stayed, Tshegofatso and Ishmael. Dan and I went through the KGP (Knowing God Personally booklet) with them, and explained the gist of the gospel and how precious a relationship with Christ is to us.  Both Ishmael and Tshegofatso were very interested and asked a lot of questions. Dan asked if either of them were ready to receive Christ, but reminded them that there’s no pressure, and they could look over the booklet tonight and pray the sinners prayer at home if they wanted. Tshegofatso’s response startled me. She assertively said, “No. I want this now.” Ishmael had a few questions for Dan, so I took Tshegofatso away from the group and walked her through the sinner’s prayer. God is so good! She was so excited after we finished praying! She gave me a big hug and asked me several questions afterwards. I was so happy later that day to hear all of the stories of the other teachers, and their experiences sharing the gospel with their students. Our purpose here is to work with the current students in South Africa to better the education level in the townships so that more students will be able to go to college, but as a group of Christians, we never want to lose sight of our ultimate purpose in life, to share the good news of the gospel that changed our lives.

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

Here’s a picture after the piggies won first place in the challenge today!

Day 12: 07/02/11 (Saturday) Game Park (Happy Birthday Allie!)

Today’s Saturday adventure was a trip to one of the biggest game parks in South Africa! We saw a ton of cool animals and admired beautiful African landscapes. My favorite animals were the zebras, giraffes, and a baby hippo! For those of you who don’t know, a game park is a place that mimics the wild habitat of these animals, and we can spot the game as we drive by the park. Check out some pictures!

Day 13: 07/13/11 Sabbath

Today was a crazy Sabbath. Our team split up into two groups. I was in the smaller group, and we went to a township church in the morning. The church could hold 100 people, and there were about 60 in attendance. We had a great experience at the church; we sang and danced every minute, and the pastor even switched his message to be presented in English instead of Suthu to welcome the visiting Americans. Check out the picture of Amanda, me, and Ben with our new friend Violet and two women who sing at the church. 

After church, a local Campus Crusade staff, Jackie, invited my group for tea at her house. She lives in a government house in the township, right next door to Violet (from the picture above). I will never forget what they told us over tea. Jackie and Violet were invited to train a group of people on evangelism a few months back. Violet was aware of the spiritual warfare present in South Africa because of her crazy experiences a couple years ago with a teenager that was convinced she had to kill Violet. Jackie, on the other hand, was completely surprised. Long story short, it turns out this group of people, which I later found out were called Sangomas, invited Jackie and Violet with the hopes of sacrificing them. What most astonished me was Jackie and Violet’s reactions when they discovered the true reason for their visit. Neither were afraid, because they realized that this group of people are more afraid of Christians than anything else, because we walk with the power of the Holy Spirit. A woman asked Jackie if she was afraid of dieing tonight, and Jackie responded boldly, “Do I look afraid? I walk with the army of the Lord.” Sangomas, also known here as tribal healers, call upon ancestors at night to listen to what the ancestors want to tell them, and apparently also practice human-sacrifices. Spiritual warfare is a big deal here, and I didn’t even know this existed. I am thankful that I am now aware of this, and can better relate to some of my students that come from Sangoma backgrounds.

The rest of the day was just relaxing. Me, Amanda, and Michelle ran through the botanical gardens and watched the sunset when we returned. Here are some pictures. :)

Day 14: 07/04/11 Happy 4^th of July!

Today was a pretty normal day of classes, workshops, and games. We played multiplication-war which the kids really enjoyed. We also got a new classroom to work in, but the students preferred the corner of the room with make-shift desks that we had before, so we’ll be moving back tomorrow. Good news: the piggies are the champions of last week’s challenges! Here’s a victory picture!

 

I’m having so much fun here. We’re working hard, of course, but we gain a lot of energy from working with the kids and experiencing life together in our community. Being with the kids for over a week now has made me aware of their personal struggles, triumphs, and fears. Besides things like how to stand on my head, balance a soccer ball on my foot, and say hello in 11 languages, the kids are also teaching me things like how to get really excited about learning, how to make friends on a whim, and how to love each other regardless of where we all came from. Please continue to pray for all the kids in the program, that God will bless them in their education and in their personal lives.  Please continue to also pray for the teachers in the program, that God will keep us healthy, and that we may continue to love and encourage these students. Thanks guys for reading! Stay tuned!!