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!!