saying goodbye

This past week has been busy. We’ve been at the college so there’s been more free time, but a lot of final exploring to get done. We turned in our final group presentations this week and our final papers and are officially done with school. We got to go on a peninsula tour and see the most southwesterly tip of Africa and the penguins, which are adorable. On Thursday we hit some of the major museums in Cape Town like the Slave Lodge and the District 6 Museum, which was a great taste of how Apartheid impacted communities and families. On Friday we went back into down and did some final shopping and looking around. Saturday we got up at 4am and went shark cage diving. It was a 2-hour drive to get to Dyer Island where we dove, but it was all worth it. We were on the boat for about 4 hours and took turns getting into the 7-person cage and watching the sharks under water. The great things about the diving is that you have a terrific view on the boat as well because they chum the water and bait the sharks in with fish heads. So the people in the boat are able to see the sharks breech and jump and bite the bait while the people in the water are able to be a couple of feet away from huge great white sharks. It was a great experience and we got to be so close to some huge and completely incredible sharks. Sunday morning I went to a local church and the service was a Christmas pageant put on by the children of the congregation, which was adorable. After church a few girls and I went to the beach and hung out for a few hours. Today we had our final class session for debriefing and discussing the reentry process and the difficulties we might face. And right now we’re all frantically packing and trying to understand that our time here is done. In so many ways it feels like we just got here, but I am thankful to be going home and for the upcoming Christmas season and the opportunity to rest. I have so much to think about and process about my time here, but I know that we have been so outrageously blessed by God. We have learned so much and have experienced so much of God’s goodness. When I see you at home ask me about my experience or any specific questions you might have. I would love to talk more about my time here and would love to be able to bless other people with this huge blessing I have received. Thank you for going on this journey with me!

This was the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
Psalm 118:23

we've been at the beach the past few days.
wednesday is going to be a rude awakening.

1st Week in Cape Town

Home stays are over and we are moving into our final week here in Africa. It's outrageous to think that we're about to go home- our time here in Cape Town has flown by so unbelievably fast. Home stays were such a blessing. It was the second or third time I've been in a home in these past 3 months and even though our stay wasn't terribly eventful, it was so good to be able to rest and reflect. The women we stayed with are teachers and spent most of our time in their home grading papers while we did homework, but we found time to do some sightseeing with them and we got to meet their whole family and spend some time at some friends' houses. The colored community here in the Cape is loud, open, gracious, and joyful. There are always people in the street, there are always parties going on, and you can't walk or drive around without talking to someone every few feet. So being in that environment was new and exciting and getting to learn about Apartheid from a different point of view was so interesting. Every family had a different story, but after hearing them and knowing the people we were living with it made Apartheid so much more personal. Seeing the impact of the Apartheid system in my host family's life even today, a decade and a half after it ended, was also really interesting. I started noticing people staring at Caitlin and I when we were out with our family and understanding what it's like to be discriminated against or looked at differently was really eye opening for me. But we had some great times with our family and got to meet a lot of great people and it was such a good enriching experience. Being in a home did make me a little homesick especially because there was so much going on, but now that we're at BI we have some time to slow down and think which has been so great. This past week when we weren't at home stays we were either in class or on excursions. On tuesday we got to go to Langa which is a local township and we were led through it on a tour by a few of the community members. It was interesting because I've spent a decent amount of time in townships on this trip because of previous tours and because I worked in one for a month, so I came into the tour knowing what to expect and Langa was no different then any other township I've been in. The problems are the same no matter where you go and even though Langa's been given a lot of money, the problems are still there. I have learned so much in my time here about what good development looks like and I've seen so many examples of what bad community development is which has been really eye opening and will be something I'll continue to figure out and use in my career. On thursday we went to Robben Island which wasn't what I pictured, but was certainly interesting and I'm so glad I had the chance to go. The tour is guided by an ex-political prisoner, so our guide was a student that was arrested for organizing and participating in demonstrations against the Apartheid government. He was a little difficult to understand but his insight and personal experience made the tour much more interesting and it was pretty cool to get to see where so much South African political ideology was discussed and created and where so many great leaders lived. On friday Virginia, our host mom, picked us up early from school and we drove around the city and stopped at some of the major lookout points and got to see great views of Cape Town and the ocean. For dinner we got banana pizza from the camel farm across the street which was weird but pretty good as far as banana pizza made on a camel farm goes. Saturday morning we got up early and hiked Table Mountain. It was a harder hike then I was expecting, if you could call it hiking. It was really more like rock climbing/going up giant stairs for 2 hours. So not really easy, but about half way up the mountain I found a Zulu family that was hiking at the same speed as me so we hiked and talked and sang Zulu songs together and had a great time. It was really cloudy as it tends to be on Table Mountain, so we couldn't see anything from the top, but it was a good hike. On sunday we went to church in the morning with Raynard, one of the cultural mentors, and after we went to a huge flea market in Muizenberg and we broke down on the way and got to push the car up the hill which was exciting. That night we went to a concert in the Kirstenbosch gardens which are gorgeous and saw a band called Mango Groove. They're a jazz african fusion type ensemble and the crowd was mostly old people with picnic baskets but we still had a good time. The semester is almost over so we have a group presentation due in a few days and a final paper due next week so we're pretty busy and today's been devoted to homework, but hopefully we'll still get out into the city a few times in this next week to really enjoy the last of our time here!

Cape Town!

We have arrived in the beautiful city of Cape Town and are going to spend the next 3 weeks taking our history class and getting to know the city. This past week we traveled from Maritzburg for 4 days down the garden route. The garden route is beautiful and parts of it reminded me of driving the 1 in central california. We spent the 1st night in Port Elizabeth and moved onto East London the next day. In East London we were right next to the water again and a large casino and mall so we got to eat out for lunch and dinner which was fun and a great treat. The next day we drove to George and stayed at a retreat center called Carmel which was on a mountain overlooking the coast and was incredibly beautiful. We stopped at the bungee jumping place on the way to George and some of our group threw themselves off of a really tall bridge. That afternoon we got to go to a big cat refuge and looked at baby white tigers and cheetahs. The next day we took a day trip to the cango caves. The caves are huge and breathtaking- they were so much bigger then i was expecting and the formations were so cool. The used to hold concerts in the 1st chamber and the acoustics are incredible and we were able to persuade our guide to sing some Zulu songs with us which was a lot of fun. After the tour we came back to Carmel for the night. The next morning we drove the final stretch to Cape Town and got there mid afternoon. It was thanksgiving so our wonderful coordinators had arranged for us to have a thanksgiving meal together which was wonderful. We had turkey, ham, rice and vegetables, and pecan pie. They'd even decorated the dining hall red white and blue for us which was a nice touch. The next day we had orientation and got to know the city a little with our "cultural mentors" who are college students from the college we're staying at that are getting paid to hang out with us. At the college i was sharing a room with Janet, on of the CLC's that used to go to the college, so she invited me and a few of the other girls to go to breakfast with her and one of the other mentors. We got up early and walked to Olympia bakery, one of the many coffee shops and bakeries near the campus, and we got chocolate croissants and coffee and had breakfast walking down the pier. It was such a lovely way to start our time in Cape Town and i am very excited about the amount of good pastries so close to me! That evening we went to dinner at the Anglican church in Oceanview- the church that's sponsoring and arranging our homestays, and we got to meet our host families. Caitlin and I are staying with Virginia and Bernadette, two sisters that are Afrikaans teachers at the nearby high school. So we had dinner and the youth of the community put on a talent show for us and we went home with our families. We've only been in homestays a few days but it's been lovely so far. Virginia and Bernadette are very sweet and easy going and host people pretty frequently so it's been very easy to settle in and be a part of their lives. School is almost out so they've been pretty busy grading papers but we've had time to do some fun things and it's been really nice for me to sit in a home while they're grading and watch cartoons or read. We haven't had the opportunity to do that in a while and it's been nice to not be busy. Saturday we took the train downtown and went on a scavenger hunt for our history class. We got done with the assignment pretty quickly but it was a great introduction to the city and will help us plan later activities and excursions after class. After our expedition into the city we came back to our Oceanview and had dinner with Virginia and Bernadette. We visited one of the other host families after dinner and got to talk to the girls staying there and listen to hilarious stories from their host mom which was very fun. And this morning we went to church which was a little confusing because parts of it were in Afrikaans and it was very structured but Caitlin and i had fun trying to figure out what was going on. So we've been busy but it's very exciting to be here- Cape Town is beautiful. It's not like any other city i've been before- kind of a small San Francisco with more of a European pace and feel but also distinctly African. I am so looking forward to getting to know it better in our last few weeks here.

Saying Goodbye

I don't really know how to express what my time at Mpophomeni has been like or what it has meant to me. I wish I could really explain what it was like to have 10 childcare workers and 70 children love you as soon as you walked in the door. And what it was like to come along side people doing the work of God in such a real and tangible way and learn from them.
This past week at the center we finished projects and really got to know the staff and a few of the kids very well. On Monday we got to go to Claire's house after we were done in the afternoon and she made us dinner and we played card games with Zwe and Nhlaka and ate far too much carrot cake. On Tuesday we got to lead a spiritual discussion group for a few of the older youth which was intense. The spiritual issues and things going on here are pretty out of my league. We talked about ancestor worship which is a huge issue in the Mpophomeni community. Even some of the churches here practice it- kind of a combination gospel, ancestor worship religion. So we discussed the influence of ancestor worship in the community and in these kids' lives and had a really deep discussion about the sovereignty of God. The reality of suffering for the gospel stuck me as we were talking to these high school guys. If they don't practice ancestor worship and traditional religion with their families (what little family they still have- they all have either one or no parents) they are kicked out and ostracized. These young boys are facing the cost of discipleship that Jesus talks about in Luke 14 and their decision to chose to be followers of Christ in the face of that floors me. It also brought up a discussion in our team about "ancestor worship" for American Christians. We discussed what idol we are putting our faith in and why we aren't suffering for the gospel like so many of our brothers and sisters around the globe, which I think are questions we need to be seriously examining in our own lives if we call ourselves followers of Christ.
On Wednesday afternoon we got to do home visits with our child care workers. I had done home visits the week before with to visit AIDS patients but this was a whole different ball game. We were visiting the houses of the kids from the center and knowing the children and then knowing their home situation was enlightening and heart breaking. The family center ministers to some of the poorest of Mpophomeni and the first house we went to was a mud hut smaller then my room at home. We met Tokello's father and we read a passage for him and he talked with the childcare workers for a while. We met Tokello the first day we got to the center and he was having a bad day- he kept hitting other kids and crying and Claire told us that he has rough nights at home and comes in hurting sometimes and doesn't know how to handle it. And being in his home, and meeting his father who is trying to raise 3 kids by himself and who is unemployed, things started to make sense. That whole day as I met more families of children that I knew, I started realizing how important the center is. No one we visited was employed, and the biggest and nicest house was 2 small rooms made out of cinder blocks. Without the family center these kids would not eat, they might not go to school, and they would not know Jesus and have the hope that comes from knowing Him. And they are a community organization! They are not running because we were there, they just let us join in. The people in charge of the center saw a need a filled it, and that picture of loving one's neighbor gives me hope, not only for Mpophomeni but for everywhere else there is hurting.
On Thursday, our last day at the center, we spent the morning driving around and praying over churches in Mpophomeni. Our team realized about half way through our time at Mpophomeni that the issues in the center and in the lives of the people working there weren't exclusive to the center. They were community issues which needed community wide solutions, and with the magnitude of the problems and the end of our time there coming quickly we knew that we just needed to pray, so that's what we did. We visited 6 or 7 churches and laid hands on them and prayed. We prayed over churches that are doing well and are biblically rooted and we prayed over churches that are claiming to exalt Christ but are worshiping ancestral spirits or other idols. It was incredibly powerful and while we won't see the fruit of that labor, I know something is being stirred mightily in Mpophomeni and I can't wait to see the community turn back to its maker.
That afternoon we had a naming ceremony with the staff of the family center. They gave me (another) Zulu name: Thandazile, which means one who prays, which I love. God has taught me so much about prayer in my time at Mpophomeni and I love that they recognized my desire to know God through prayer and gave me a name that reflects that :). After everyone got their name we talked about our time there and what we treasured about it and what we would miss which was pretty emotional but such a blessing. After our time with the staff we had a great party and John Wallace, the president of APU, who happened to be in town showed up and we played with bubbles and said goodbye to everyone.
Friday we gave group presentations about what we did at our service sites and it was great to hear what everyone else's been doing. God's been doing some great things through the people on this group and it was so great to be involved in it by hearing about it. After the presentations our Zulu class pretended to study- it's been such a long week we're weren't terrible motivated but we had our final this morning and it went pretty well. And I only need to get 5% to get an A in the class, so I'm not too worried. It's great to be done with class and now that people are packing it's setting in that we are leaving tomorrow. I have loved being here and it's been an incredible experience but I am also excited for this next stage exploring Cape Town!
This next week we'll be on the road and probably won't have internet, but I'll catch everyone up when we get to Cape Town.


Group Shot

The 1st home we visited on Wednesday

Thembi, my childcare worker giving me my Zulu name!

2nd to Last Week in Maritzburg!

This week at Mpophomeni there was staff training going on so things were pretty hectic. The training was going on in the front room so we were feeding the kids and sending them home because there wasn't room for all of us and we were also trying to paint the early childhood development room so things were pretty cramped, but we got a ton done. We got a mural painted and the rest of the walls in the ECD room painted purple and I sewed 2 bean bags and started on covers for them so it was a very productive week. Hopefully this next week (our last week!) we'll be able to do a couple of programs with the kids since we'll have all of our space back and maybe even throw a party for everyone before we leave.
Saturday we went to UShaka Marine World which is an aquarium/sea world/theme park. A few of us didn't swim so we spent the whole time walking through the aquarium and going to shows. The aquarium was very impressive and because this is South Africa had a ton of sharks which are always fun. We also got to see the penguin feeding and a pirate themed seal show which was wonderfully cheesy. After UShaka we had a chalet dinner! There are 2 nursing students that live across the hall from me and because they're older and more responsible than the rest of us we call them the RA's of our chalet. Being the fabulous RA's that they are, they made a wonderful dinner for us with food Emily's dad sent from America (never thought I would be so happy to see Prego sauce and Kraft parmesan cheese!) and they gave us awards- I won "the smartest" award. After dinner we had a talent show. Everyone put together great acts that were hilarious. Zach and I played a few songs and managed to win second place which was fun. Ashton's fabulous impression of a fire alarm took first place.
Our final week in Pietermaritzburg is coming up and things are getting really busy. We have our Zulu oral final and then our written final this week and we are wrapping things up at our service sites and presenting what we've done to our university president John Wallace. And packing to leave. So things are crazy but I'm trying to use my final week here well and really appreciate it.

Battlefields Tour

This past weekend was busy! On friday we went to staff training with the Mpophomeni and Ethembeni staff which was such a blessing. Both of the staffs are filled with women that have experienced so much but are so full of the joy of the Lord. The women that work at both of the centers are residents of Mpophomeni and are affected by the same problems impacting the community- alcoholism, poverty, a general lack of education- but these women have given their lives and time to the Lord and it was a really uplifting time of praise, worship, and learning for all of us.
Saturday and Sunday we spent off campus touring the battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal. The Anglo-Zulu war and the Battle of Blood River were both fought only about 4 hours away from us. We went to the site of the Battle of Blood River on Saturday and spent the night in a charming hotel and ate some wonderful food and had a great question and answer time with Reg.
On Sunday we visited the site of the Battle of Isandlwana where the British were defeated by the Zulu army. It was Britain's largest colonial defeat and had a huge impact on world politics. This excursion was part of our History and Culture course so our guide delivered a lecture at the battle site and when he was done speaking we sat in silence and listened to the worship songs rising from the churches in the valley which was a beautiful way to end the trip.
This week we've been tackling projects at the family center. I sewed a beanbag today and we have so much fabric that I'm pretty sure it's all I will do for the rest of the trip, but I'm getting really good at hand sewing, so that's a plus. We've also been working pretty furiously on a mural based on the creation story in the Early Childhood Development room which is looking really great considering we have no art majors on our team. Please be praying we would be able to use the rest of the time at the center well (only 6 days!) and for the continuing of the Lord's work in Mpophomeni!