Settling in for the year

So it seems that things are starting to move towards normalcy here (as normal as it can feel to live halfway across the world). Though I'm still dealing with bouts of homesickness and such I'm coming through with a sense of clarity and purpose. It seemed funny to me that we didn't start the year off hitting the ground running, but with Nieucommunities everything and every time has a purpose, even free time. A lot of what we've been doing here in the last week has been very team oriented. The pictures you are about to see (and the one from the top) are from Kwalata Game Ranch where we spent the day doing some team building activities. It was hard to take pictures while being involved, but I had one of the guys there take pictures of what was my favorite activity. We had to take a rope make it form a perfect square with 90 degree angles. The trick is we had to do it blindfolded. You can see how well it turned out.








As you can see, it actually worked. The exercise taught us a lot about listening to each other and leadership. You can probably see at one point there were only four of us holding the rope in the middle. We had to figure out the corners while everyone else waited for further instruction. Then when we sorted everything out the rest of the team had to come in and build from there. It showed that there are sometimes where we need to wait and be quiet and other times where we need to get up and go while the ones who were leading had to be quiet. In the end it took all of us to complete the square, so we couldn't have done it without the team. It was a lot of fun but also a very important lesson.

On the way out we spotted some local wildlife. These guys are called Springbok and were nice enough to hang out while I snapped some photos.



Another cultural activity we got to participate in during this past week was playing/watching some cricket. As an intro to the game we played some garden cricket which we pretty funny to watch and play as you'll see. Then this weekend we got a chance to go to a 50 over match (meaning an 8 hour match) which was surprisingly engaging and fun to watch. This match also had some serious cultural relevance because it was Shaun Pollocks last match. Shaun Pollock was one of the best cricketers in the game and his retirement brought out a large and overwhelmingly emotional response from South Africans and some of our staff members alike.

At the match

A couple pictures of Shaun Pollock if anyone is curious

So while in Johannesburg we got a chance to check out some very culturally relevant sites. Below is a picture of the Nelson Mandela statue in none other than Nelson Mandela Square. It was erected on March 31, 2004 to honor the famous South African statesman. It stands 6 meters tall and is quite impressive in person


We then got a chance to go to the Apartheid Museum. It was a hard museum to walk through, to see what people were subjected to due to years of fear that then turned to hatred. It was very sobering to see what can happen when power is taken too far. We weren't permitted to take any pictures in the museum, but I got the chance to take a couple at the end as we walked out. They are just words that represent ideals that South Africa is now rebuilding a nation on.




Last week got a chance to go out and see some of the local ministries and hear the stories of the people who started them. One place we went was to an orphanage called House of Joy and ate lunch with it's founder Thobile. When she was a school teacher she began to have children show up to class who hadn't eaten in days and had nothing to eat for lunch. Then as she began to investigate she found that some of these children had lost their parents to AIDS and had grandparents who couldn't support them. So she started providing for them, feeding them, and helping their grandparents support them. Eventually she left school teaching, even though she had her own family to support, and started caring for these children full time. Now she houses 8 orphans full time and hosts a daycare/school for those who can't afford it for around 95 students up to age 5. They also run an after school computer program for high school students who want to learn because the schools don't have computers. They rely completely on the support of churches and government organizations, truly believing that God can sustain all their needs. These are some pictures of our lunch together with her and her staff.








So this week was also a chance to take a look at what the rest of the year will look like for us as apprentices. With this week ending our orientation we will be moving into our postures. One definition of posture is a mental or spiritual attitude. For us they will look something like this:

Listening: Learning to listen to God, to our hearts, and to the culture around us.

Submerging: Being the hands and feet of Jesus in the neighborhoods we live in.

Inviting: Becoming fragrant followers of Jesus who gather people around a compelling story.

Contending: Fighting well for the lives and faith of those God has brought into our lives.

Imagining: Seeing and embracing what God has created for us and preparing to engage the next leg of our mission.

Entrusting: Preparing those we have served to go on with God and encouraging them to pass on what they've received.


That picture at the end just represents the idea that this is a cycle of living. Each one of these postures builds upon the next, so it's not like when we enter the submerging posture we stop listening to God and so forth. Like I've said in previous posts, this will be an opportunity for us to explore ministries and opportunities for ministry in the surrounding communities and really hear from God about what he would have us do this year. The postures will also be supplemented by books we will be reading and also specific parts of scripture that we will implement in our times together as well as times of solitude.

Another cool thing we are going to be doing as a community is that starting this Wednesday we will be participating in lent. It sometimes seems like an old boring tradition, but God can sometimes be found in tradition. It's amazing to know that when we are participating in daily readings and prayers for that we will be joining in with a global community of believers that will be preparing to celebrate Easter and learn what it means to share in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. This is definitely new ground for me but I am excited to see how God is going to shape and transform our community through this time.

So that's what's been going on in the last week or so. It's been busy but good. I hope to hear back from everyone so I can hear some news from home. I love you all and have a great week!