Created for a place I've never known- this is Home.

Our family portrait- isn't this what your family looks like?

Things have been intense this week. The theme for the week has been Repentance and Reconciliation and it has been an emotional week. We have been talking a lot about our different cultures, celebrating their strengths, but also acknowledging their weaknesses. We’ve also learned a lot about our own prejudices and looked at our backgrounds and roots to see where they have come from. Then this morning we talked about forgiveness and how crucial it is for us to be free in Christ. One of the quotes repeated a lot this week is “he that sees the need must take the first step.” If we see areas in our lives, even if it was something done to us, we must take the first step towards reconciliation because we have seen the need. Then for the rest of this morning we spent a couple hours listening to music, praying for one another, washing each other’s feet, and laying down our burdens at the cross. It was a time of strong emotions but in the end it was a time of freedom and release. Then tonight we had our own team worship time. We sang songs- both American and African J, wrote down words of encouragement for each other, and painted a “family portrait”- our own pictures of what we think God sees/wants to see us as. Lesson learned: this is our home right now and we are a family J

Outreach has also been really good this week, but emotional as well. Monday at Kabokweni we went again to Pinkie’s house, but this time her sister Whitney was home so we were able to go inside and see where she has grown up. We also were able to meet her sister and talk with her for a little. Those two girls are an inspiration to me J Wednesday we spent the afternoon at the Iris Children’s village digging trenches- fun fun haha Then this afternoon we went to Dwaleni like normal. I was helping to dish out food for the kids and we were sitting inside as Kacy would just keep saying “Oh some more kids just came” over and over again until we got to the point where we knew there would absolutely not be enough food for the kids. We ran out of each thing one by one until at the end, my bowl of meat and potatoes was simply thrown out for the boys to fight over and hopefully get a handful. It was cute to look at but then realizing the truth of it was heartbreaking. That is some of those kid’s only meal for the day. But afterwards I was able to see my friend from two weeks ago- Nolwazi! She went around looking for me last week when I was sick so I was sure to find her this time. We just talked and played. I learned she has 4 brothers and 4 sisters. Her parents are both still alive but she only sees her dad once a year because he has to live far way for work- this is pretty much normal here. She is such a sweetheart and I don’t like to let myself think of the things that she has seen and had to go through. These people are so beautiful even with everything they have gone through.

February 12, 2010

“The condition for a miracle is not difficulty, but impossibility.” This was one of the biggest lessons that we learned this week. Our speaker for this week has made two movies: “Faith like Potatoes” and “Hansie.” He has challenged us to dream big and let God make our dreams come true. Yesterday we each made movies and today we got to watch them and I must say- they were pretty stinkin sweet J We also had an incredible worship time this morning. Rich showed us a video of a man making an introduction as if he were introducing Jesus. Then we all went around and wrote our own introductions- it was really sweet….each person’s introduction showed their own stories and what God has brought them out of. That is worship J Oh yeah and…for work duty today I think I might have done the grossest thing I’ve ever done in my life. We cleaned the trash pike- who in the world cleans trash?? We do apparently… don’t worry it was just crawling with maggots and had a smell that made me want to throw up the entire time hahaha

February 16, 2010

The past few days have been really great J This weekend we pretty much had completely off and a lot of our leaders were gone for the weekend so it was a very quiet and relaxing weekend- exactly what we all needed I think…a lot of alone time but also time together in the pool and playing games. Sunday some of us went to a different Church and then went out to each and had a little Valentine’s Day photo shoot afterwards…pretty awesome haha Then Sunday we didn’t have community night so we did our little worship night with worship and a time of speaking encouragement into each other- it was really awesome.

Then yesterday might have been my favorite day so far J We started off the morning with base work day- moving bunk beds and cleaning the bathhouse…not the best part haha. But then we went to Miss Elizabeth’s for the afternoon. While we were waiting for the kids to come some of us went with Pinkie for a walk. She took us to her house, we met her neighbors, we visited a school, and then while walking back we met some of the kids going to feeding program so we walked back with them. The kids always dance and sing before they eat and this time we just joined on in with them all!! And it was sweet J It was so much fun! Then for work duties when we got back our group had to wash all of the cars on base….it could have been lame if we didn’t spend the majority of the time throwing buckets of water and spraying the hose on each other J Last night we also had a meeting about issues with unity of our team and it brought out a lot that needed to be said. And I have to say that last night I had some of the best times of conversation with people yet- ending with all of us girls crammed into two beds chatting and goofing off.

And…this morning was also great J This week our theme is the character and nature of God but surprise…our speaker isn’t here yet haha So we wrote down on a piece of paper things we should stop and start to grow closer to God and also what we think God wants us to do. Then we watched a video about God and how much He just wants us to be with Him and enjoy Him. Afterwards we were told to take our papers that we made, rip them up, and throw them out. The whole point was while God may have things He wants us to work on or fix, what He really wants is us J

February 18, 2010

Another week of unexpected adventures in Africa J Yesterday we went to the school and feeding program that is a part of the Iris Ministries we usually go to on Wednesday. We left only to have our van break down within ten minutes. We then had to spend the next half hour walking straight uphill in the rain- TIA. We were supposed to be doing home visits but couldn’t because of the rain. So instead we met the students of the Bible school and watched two of the guys give us a show of their puppet show ministry J Today we had our official start of lecture with David Song this week. The theme is the “Character and Nature of God” so we spent the morning just doing some intro. Oh and…we also learned how to take a “Wipe-less Poo”- very important information haha.

February 21, 2010

I love weekends J This was such an awesome weekend- BEST weekend ever!! We had class Saturday during most of the day but then after it was done we left for Girl’s Night! All of the girls from our group and all of the girls from the entire base went over to one our leaders house’s that is off base. We ate a ton of awesome food, painted our toenails awesome colors, watched movies, did facial, and just chatted a ton and it was so great J We had some really awesome conversations throughout the night and I felt like some serious walls came down with some people. Then Brittany and I shared a bed for the night next to the bathroom so we just laid there guessing who was going to the bathroom each time. Today was also an awesome day. We all went to Church in the morning and then the girls went to some markets nearby and lunch afterwards. Kacy tried banana and bacon pizza-apparently normal here…who knows. Tonight we had a campfire where we worshiped together, prayed for each other, and made some yummy smores. Then some of us went to the giant rock on base and just hung out under the amazing sky of stars- yeah and amazing weekend J

Some pictures : )

My friends and I from Dwaleni : )

Yeah we are super concerned about safety....

I pretty much love this girl- Sandile : )

Umm yeah we wash cars really well...and dont get wet at all in the process...

"Cleaning" the trash...

Our Valentines photo shoot after Church : )

Putting up the beam to start the prayer hut

February 6, 2010

Well I am sitting here after getting off the phone with my mom telling me about the foot of snow back at home while my face and arms are hurting from my sunburn J But anyway…yesterday and today have been pretty great. We had “creative expression” yesterday morning. One of the core values of YWAM is creativity so we have some random times of drawing, doing crafts or whatever and it sounds like something I did in kindergarten but its really pretty awesome haha. Then we had the rest of the day off yesterday. Most people went into town, but a small group of us went to the mall for ice cream and a movie. It was a relaxing day which was really nice to have.

Then today we had community outreach and it was pretty much the best yet J We went to this place called “Michael’s Children Village” run by a ministry called Iris. They take in children that come from really rough backgrounds- usually brought to them by Social Services. A lot of them have been abused- both physically or emotionally, abandoned, mistreated, and so on. It really was heartbreaking to hear their stories while looking these amazingly beautiful children in the face. We met a little baby named Welcome when we first got there. We all guess that Welcome was about 6 months old, only to find out he is 19 months old. He is a tiny little boy and was brought to the village in August after being abandoned at the hospital. He came while being extremely malnourished and sick with pneumonia and Tuberculosis. Those have been taken care of but he also has been diagnosed with HIV. But he now looks happy and playful, and he’s just an adorable little boy. It’s so hard to imagine how someone could leave him in that condition. But…when we there we actually didn’t all spend all of our time with the kids. They needed jobs done around the property, so we split up into groups. My group helped to dig holes and then set up giant wooden beams to be the foundation for a huge giant hut outside. We actually had to recruit guys to help put up the center beam because we needed like ten people to help put it up. But it was really nice to be outside and do something physical and tangibly helping people. Just ended the day with some sun burn J

February 8, 2010

Yesterday was our fun Sunday that lasted a lot longer than usual. Sunday morning felt like a day in itself. It was over 90 degrees in an already hot Church with a very tired and slow crowd. Lets just say there was a lot of sweat, hungry stomachs, and children sleeping…but then community Sunday started! We spent the afternoon/evening swimming in the pool, eating tacos, playing ultimate Frisbee, and watching Saved by the Bell episodes J It was different now that the Orlando team is gone and the Switzerland is here, but it was still great. Then last night a small group of us decided we weren’t going to miss out on the SuperBowl. So since it was a live game, we went over to someone’s house at 1:00 AM and watched the game until it was over at 5:00 AM- probably the quietest SuperBowl I have ever watched. It wasn’t quite the same without the crazy commercials from the States, but it was still pretty sweet- and we aren’t tired at all today J

This week is going to be another interesting week. Our speaker for the week cancelled last minute so we really aren’t sure what we are doing. But this morning we painted pictures of things that we think resemble ourselves and then we shared them with each other. It was actually really cool to see how each painting reflected each person. Then this afternoon we went to Kabokweni- which we will be going to every Monday afternoon from now on. We helped with the feeding program but it was so much better this time because we are finally getting to know the kids a little.

February 11, 2010

So every week I think it just think it cant get any faster and somehow it does haha This week has been crazy fast but pretty good. Our speaker came on Wednesday and he has made some movies so on Tuesday morning we watched the movie “Faith Like Potatoes” that he made. Then yesterday he started speaking to us and, he talked about finding our purpose and calling in life. It was pretty good- he gave us some ways to find our purpose and told his own stories of how God has directed his life. Then yesterday afternoon we got to go back to the Children’s village! This time my group cut down trees- yay! Haha My legs just have a few cuts on them J Then last night my small group went to see “The Princess and the Frog.” I will just say there is nothing like driving through Africa, blasting music, windows down, eating McDonalds J We were all pretty content. Then we spent the afternoon in Dwaleni with the feeding program there. It gets better every time that we go and spend more time with the kids. Today they taught me some hand games and they also tried to teach me to dance- most of the time was spent listening to them laugh at me but soon I will be a true African dancer J haha

February 2, 2010

This is a tiring week. For class today we spent the entire morning answering the age-old tough questions about God like, “How does a good God allow evil?” “If God if just, why does He allow injustice?” “Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?”- yano simple easy questions….not. So it’s a mentally and emotionally challenging week. But the good thing is that I just had my small group and now I’m free until 4:00 for work duties- there are a lot of us just updating blogs and checking e-mails while listening to music.

February 4, 2010

It’s been a tiring week but good at the same time J Our week of classes has been…interesting…I’ll just say it wasn’t exactly what we all expected. But we did watch the Passion of the Christ last night which was a bonding time for our team I think. That is one of those movies that affects you no matter how many times you watch it. Yesterday we had some interesting experiences in the community. We went to help with a Kid’s Club in the high school in the Mbonisweni community. So we got there at like 1:05 and had to leave at 2. At 1:50 we realized we hadn’t started anything and had to leave in 10 minutes-TIA. So then we walked through the community to the Church to help with a Girl’s and Boy’s Club. We each wrote down different questions to ask the teens and then helped them to apply the ideas to their Christian walks. We actually had some really good conversations. Then this afternoon we helped with another feeding program in the community of Dwaleni. I got to help hand out drinks to the kids. Today there were about 50-60 kids that were fed. Then we played silly games and sang songs with the kids. We also had a fun little hair salon where all of us girls got some very nice braided hairstyles J It was fun to actually be able to spend time with the kids. Then tonight after dinner- one of our leaders brought us some real coffee back to the base. How long was it until we were on our way to the kitchen? Umm…about 5 minutes J And then after class we spent just a little time playing cards and laughing since we were hyped up on caffeine- fun night haha

We also found out about our outreach (last two months) here today! We will be spending the first four weeks in Zambia. We will be staying in an area around a lake so we have been told that we will even be going to a lot of places that can only be reached by boat. There are a lot of ministries that they do so we will probably get to do a lot of things but then also focus on kids a little more too. We have been told that this will be our “rural” experience- maybe sleeping in tents, eating rice and beans every day, wearing only skirts…it will be an experience that’s for sure J Then we are going to spend three weeks in Johannesburg working with a ministry that deals a lot with street children and orphans. I’m sure we will have some stories to tell afterwards haha.

January 29, 2010

We are finished our first week of class! This week was really incredible. Today we just spent the entire morning first writing down the passions God has given us, and then our teacher for the week prayed over each of us individually and we all just prayed over each other and spoke to each other about how God wants to use us. It was a really awesome time of people just dreaming of what’s after these five months and what they can do with the rest of their lives. It really helped me to see once again the passion God has given me for children that have been quieted and shut out- those who need someone to open them up to talk and play and simply live. I still have no idea how to do that but the spark has been started again haha.

Yesterday a bunch of us spent the afternoon in town- we got some snacks, greasy KFC, and mango J It was fun to actually get off base and spend time out in the community. We have the afternoon off again so we are all catching up on emails, sleep, and journaling. And highlight of today- the work with the bricks is done!! Yay! No more hauling bricks- we hope at least! Haha

January 30, 2010

New phrase of my life: TIA- this is Africa….Today we had planned to help run a VBS at a local Church nearby. So- We are sitting around ready to go and we find out that we are leaving a half hour later than we thought. So we make a sweet video of ourselves to kill time. Then a half hour later we find out we aren’t going at all…But there is a possibility of us going on a prayer walk in the communities nearby. So we sit and wait to hear about that. Soon we are sitting in a truck going to the Church for the prayer walk J-TIA- But it was really good. The group that I was with ended up meeting a soccer team that was in the middle of practice and first we prayed for them, and then they prayed for us. Lennon- from our DTS team- was in our group and he is from the community we were in so it was really interesting to hear him talking about the people and the problems that they face.

February 1, 2010

Well the rain has left and it has become stinkin hot- TIA. Yesterday we went to Church and some of us had an interesting experience....so we this little girl sits next to us and starts playing with me- fun, right? Well soon this little girl with the sweet little smile is pulling at our hair, taking our water bottles and cameras and then trying to bite us when we take our things back, putting her hand around our throat and squeezing, and so many other wonderful friends….haha great J Then last night we had community night- the theme of the night was dreams. We shared with each other what our one dream would be if we money was no option. Then we each made bracelets and gave them to someone else to symbolize the fact that we are going to hold on to our dreams and that relationships and community are a key part of our dream. This morning during all base worship we continued on with the theme of dreams. We drew pictures of our dreams and hung them all up. On another note, a picture of what we do for fun in Africa- we spent about half an hour looking at this huge spider in its web and feeding it moths- yeah things are different here J

Today we started our second week of classes- the theme for the week is “Father Heart of God.” The rumor is that it’s a tough week- a lot of realizing our misconceptions of God and changing our views. Then we had our first real community outreach today! We went into the feeding center that this woman Elizabeth runs. While waiting for the kids to come back from school some of us went over to the day care next door- only to be bombarded by a ton of children all wanting to hug us and to be held J Then we helped/hung out with the kids at the feeding program. A highlight of the afternoon- I am now an African women complete with braids covering my head J haha