homecoming!

This past week was homecoming! It was really just for fun- we didn't have a game or any real reason to put on a homecoming week and dance, but we did it anyway and had a great time. We had dress up days during the week and this weekend we had events in the evenings. Friday we had a soccer game and watched Beauty and the Beast. Saturday we took our final for Intercultural Communication and had a game night. And last night we had a homecoming banquet/dance! By far one of the best dances i've ever been to- we played some fun games and of course, danced. Zach and i got to play a few songs as people were coming in and did a cover of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" which was really fun and everyone sang along.
This week we are starting our community engagement course which has been fantastic so far. Our teacher, Francis Njoroge is a world renowned leader in community development pedagogy and is a community development facilitator himself. He just got back from a stay with a community in Sierra Leone. He's also the nicest man in the whole world and it's an incredible joy and privilege to get to study under him for this next month. So we've had all day lectures for these past few days which has been exhausting, but we've received a ton of information for this month in service sites and i'm sure i will be using these principles later in my life/career. We've also had an opportunity to learn a lot more about the Mpophomeni Family Center this week because the girl who is in charge of coordinating our group has been here on site and sitting in on the lectures with us. So yesterday we got to talk to her about the Mpophomeni Family Center community itself and discuss what was working and what needs help, which was really eye opening. We will certainly be working with the kids and the community in home visits, but another part of our job will be working with the staff at the center which was an area of ministry that i had not even considered before our conversation. From my initial impressions and conversations with Claire it seems like the staff is tired and lacking vision which she said has had a negative impact on both the work environment and the kids. And while i haven't seen or experienced any of this myself, i am very hopeful for our team and this situation because i can see strengths in our team that meet the weaknesses we have talked about in Mpophomeni. So i am so excited to see how God will take the strengths of the staff and teach us and how He will use our strengths to build up and encourage them. Please be in prayer for open hearts and minds. The Zulu people are reserved in nature which can make it hard to approach problems openly and talk about solutions, so if you would pray that we would be able to be open and respectful with one another that would be greatly appreciated.
Our team is Katie, Tyler, Kristina, Adam, Leanne, Caitlin, and I, if you'd like to pray for us by name.