Curse the ozone...

So I'm suffering from a bit of Sunburn today. We spent a day away from our busy orientation schedule at a South African water park called Sun City. It was really nice but the sun here in Africa is much hotter than in Florida surprisingly. The theory is that the ozone in the Southern hemisphere is more depleted and the sun burning through my three separate applications of 30 spf makes me a believer! Unfortunately no pictures (I have a bad tract record with cameras, not going to risk it at a water park!), but other than some beautiful trees and a monkey who stole bananas out of our stuff (how cliche) there wasn't much worth taking pictures of. But enough about that.

Things here are going well. I've been a bit homesick and it took me about a week to really beat the jet lag. Today I really missed Crosspoint, knowing that Rob's first day was today and being excited for what's happing in the life of the church. I know that God has called me here for a purpose, but it's ok to miss you guys now and again. I have a few pictures I figured I'd like to share. One is of the whole team, which getting one seems like a feat in and of itself. The following ones are of my room for those who still don't believe I'm not living in a mud hut.






During these next two photos I'm actually quite nervous, mainly because I'm driving for the first time in a foreign country. If you look close enough you'll notice that some things just aren't the same as the states...

This is a video about what happens when your point man drives too fast in a foreign country.

The last week has really been an opportunity to learn about the culture and the history of the South African people. We visited the natural history museum (sorry, no pictures allowed) and got a brief overview of the history as far as they can go back until now of South Africa and how it became a country. One of the weekends coming up we will actually be going to the Apartheid Museum to gain a real understanding of what happened at that time. We are also reading a book called A Spirituality of the Road by David J. Bosch a native South African and missiologist which questions the current state of spirituality (it was written in 1979 but is very relevant to today). I'm actually considering starting a second blog where I will discuss our more in depth conversations a little more thoroughly. I really want this one to be an overview of how I am and what we are doing here. If anyone would be interested in that please let me know by commenting on this site. Whether or not you comment I will most likely still do it, but I'll at least know you're interested.

For a look at what's coming up, we still have two weeks left of our orientation and then we move into our listening posture. During this time we are introduced to different people, places, ministries, and churches so we can listen to their stories. We also learn to take time and listen to God while we explore different ways of doing that. At the end of this posture we enter into a submerging posture where we can engage in some of those different ministries and really become the hands and feet of Jesus to them. I'm very excited about this because we've gotten a few glimpses into different ministries and opportunities that we will have but those will have to wait for another time so I can better explain them.

I will leave you all with some random pictures I've taken of the team just during the week so you can just get a better idea of who I'm living with. Please send me lot's of emails and comments, I really miss you all. I know it seems like I don't have a lot to offer you right now but they are really trying to ease us into our rhythm here at Nieucommunities, understanding the initial culture shock, homesickness and the like. I was looking at this weeks schedule and it seems like orientation is picking up the pace a bit, so it will be a fairly busy week. I won't be able to blog again or return emails until next Sunday, so be looking for that. Again, I can't express how much I miss everyone of you and long to see your faces and hear your voices. So please be keeping me in prayer that God would sustain me and keep me and that I would truly enter into community here and love my new family. So, with all that said, goodnight, God bless, and I love you all!!!

These are just some time spent in the city.

Making dinner at Pangani.

This was a team building project to put up a tent. It took some time, but I would have slept in it when it was done... maybe.

A Beautiful Beginning

So this is day 3 in South Africa and everyone has finally arrived. The apprentices are seven in all. Today we began our weekly tradition of gathering for a braai (Afrikaans for barbecue and pronounced "bry") . During this time we invite all staff and friends to Pangani (the name of the place where we are living) and partake in the braai and then gather for a time of worship.

Arthur (our trip leader) in the background trying to clean the grill and Jody (another apprentice) not helping.

Extremely cute baby

The baby was very photogenic.
Luc and Roger are in the background discussing todays cricket game.

Good stuff right there!

The finished product!

Arthur got a hold of my camera. Roger doesn't like normal pictures.

Still Arthur.

Arthur once again.

We had to move inside because of rain. Still a good time!

A beautiful time of worship.

The name "Pangani" was given to this house and grounds over 100 years ago and it means "come together" which seemed to be an almost prophetic name when Nieucommunities acquired it because this is now a place where people can com together to experience God, to rest, and like us to be trained and sent out. This was a great start to the week being as that our apprenticeship officially starts tomorrow. The team seems to click very well and I truly believe that this is going to be one of the best and challenging years of my life.

Now this will also mean that I will be taking some time off of the internet. As a team we are all going to take some time to really acclimate ourselves and dive into our lives here in South Africa and these next couple of weeks of orientation are crucial. Don't worry though, I will be blogging again next Sunday night and taking a ton of pictures. I will also have many stories to tell! Feel free to comment and email me, I will get them. Just don't be surprised if I don't get back to you right away. After a few weeks we will get into a regular rhythm and I will be able to be in contact more often. At this point I expect to blog once a week, most likely on weekends. So be looking for my updates then.

I also added a section on the right called photography. There are some photos I've been editing myself and there are just too many to put on here so I've been putting them in photobucket so you can take a look.

So you all can really be praying in this next week that I can begin to acclimate to the time (lots of jet lag!) and that I can begin allowing God to speak to me about my purpose here, that I wouldn't be distracted or thrown off track.

Also for all who are supporting me financially I want to again say thank you and just give you a reminder to send in this months support as soon as you can if you haven't. On the practical side it may be easier for some of you to give online and that is possible through my section in the upper right of this blog entitled "Support Me In South Africa!!!" Just click on the link and follow the instructions. You can even set up an automatic withdrawal if that is easier for you. It is just extremely important that you remember to do this so that this year can run smoothly and uninterrupted.

Thanks again and I can't wait to hear back from you all!

I'm here now!!

So I finally made it! Not without a few delays (apparently it snows in the winter in DC, who would have thought?), but after 20 collective hours of being on planes we arrived in Johannesburg at about 6pm (that's 11am for you).



As you can see there were quite a few people here, it was also dark and rainy, so there were very few photo opportunities. These are a couple rough shots of the grounds on which I will be living.




Some of the apprentices arrived today and others will be arriving tomorrow. The official number of people is going to be seven, with a few transient staff members, fellow sojourners, and the like. I can't wait to show you all some more shots of the grounds, they are absolutely gorgeous. I'll have some pictures of my room tomorrow (it's a tad messy right now) and some of the other apprentices (also a tad messy from the long day... I hope they don't read this!). Indeed it has been a long day and it's about time for me to unpack and unwind, but in the midst of the weariness there is a hope and anticipation for what God is going to do in us, with us and through us this year.

Today's the day!

It's finally here, the day that I leave for South Africa. I can't believe it! I will miss you all very much, but I know that this is what God called me to do. Thank you all for your support this far and for your continued support as I leave on my journey.

This next few weeks are going to be very critical for me so please keep me in your prayers. For about three to four weeks I will be limited in my access to the internet due to the nature of getting acclimated to a new culture and new surroundings. I will be updating about once a week and then from there I will be updating on a more regular basis and will be able to be in regular contact. You can, however send me as many emails or comments on this blog as you would like because I know that I will need to be hearing from you all!

The next time you hear from me will be from the other side of the world!

One More Week!!

So it's down to a week and I couldn't be more excited! The support has just been continuing to flow in. I have reached and am continuing to exceed my one time support goals, and the one time support has reached $725 out of $1,000. I've gotten my visa, plane tickets, and overseas health insurance, so I'm pretty much set up, just waiting on that last bit of monthly support.

It seems very bizarre that in a week I will be leaving this country, not to come back for another year. There isn't any fear there, God seems to have replaced it with a serene peace. Not to say that this last two weeks hasn't been hectic. Between totaling my car and catching the flu, I have to say they've been pretty eventful. But all things in the end have been blessings. Totaling the car means I don't have to do the legwork to sell it in such a short amount of time (and no one was hurt, most important of all!). The flu gave me time away from my stress. I have so much to do but I was missing out on God in the midst. It was like God was saying "If you don't stop for a second, I'll make you stop!" He want our whole selves so much more than what we can do for him. If he can't have me then South Africa is pointless. He wants all of us and what we do for him is just an overflow. Our desire to serve should never outweigh our desire to be in love with God and I know that I am guilty of that. I think we all are. Just remember that he loves you more than anything you could ever imagine and he wants your heart to be his alone!

Thanks for all the support and I can't wait to see everyone one last time this Sunday!