Hello from South Africa!

Written: August 3, 2007

Greetings friends!

I am sitting in an Internet cafe in a supermall in Pretoria. It seems no matter where you go in the world there is access to a mall. This one is huge- 300 shops, go carts, bowling, three movie theaters and loads of other things. Today and tomorrow are the "free" days as we spend time at this mall, take a driving tour & tomorrow head for our Safari! The remainder of the week will be work work work. :)

The flight went really well and I know it is because of your prayers! Flying to London was smooth and painless, but the 12 hours from Heathrow to Johannesburg were a little less dreamy. I did, however, get to watch about six movies! They had individual movie screens in the backs of every seat, so there was plenty of entertainment. They also fed us constantly because so many travelers are on different meal schedules. The afternoon tea, however, was without tea and coffee due to turbulence. Here in South Africa they have tea that is really cheap and the best tasting tea I've ever had! I plan to bring some back to the States.

We are staying in a small house and I have lucked out with my own room. :) It is a great luxury and I'm very pleased to have it. The walls are solid concrete, so sleeping can be very chilly, but I tend to like that anyway. The backyard of this house overlooks a valley and the yard itself is filled with indigenous plants and rocks which create a picturesque view.

Today (Friday) we went to the township outside of Pretoria to have a short meeting and orientation with the church we will be serving. During Apartheid the white Africans did not want the Blacks to live in the city, but they depended on their cheap labor, so many townships were created right outside the city borders. The one where we'll be spending the week is called Soshangave ("So-Shaan-Goov-A"). It is made up of blocks labeled A-Z and then AA-ZZ. The blocks seem to be a couple miles wide and deep each which provides room for many many homes. The church where we'll be working and I hope you can pray for is New Covenant Baptist Church in Soshanguve. The pastor was one of our drivers from the airport. They have a program that reaches out to about 50 ill community members. They have 12 unpaid volunteers that travel to five patients per day to clean them and their homes and ensure they have all their medicine and have taken it. They then return in the afternoon to cook for many of them who have no family. In addition to this, they run a program of feeding orphans. These are children in "Child Run Households." These children have been orphaned by their parents who have most likely died of HIV/AIDS and they are now running the home and caring for themselves and their siblings. The program is expanding from feeding these kids twice a month on a Saturday to everyday. We will be helping with both of these projects all next week.
The people in the community are quite isolated and tend to avoid any interaction with the sick. Even though there is some education about their safety in the presence of a patient, the stigma of the sick is so strong that many times they are cast out and left to die alone. The children of sick are typically sent to live with their mother's boyfriends or some other friend or relative. In essence many of the kids are orphans whether their parents are living or not.

I am already overwhelmed by the need and the lack of resources here. The director of the program at NCBC was telling of a woman who just went into hospice care and has a baby that is under two at home alone. If you know me well you know I immediately was thinking about the sad fact that I'm single and can't try to take this child home with me. I really believe some day I will be the mother of an orphan. I pray that becomes a reality.

I need so many things spiritually to endure this I'm not sure what to even ask you to pray for. The church has asked that we pray for two things for them:
1. That they find some sort of funding that would allow them to give their volunteers a little something for the countless hours they put into the work they are doing.
2. That someone would be called to their program who is a professional counselor, nurse &/or social worker. They are desiring much more support from a professional standpoint to offer their patients and children.

For me I would ask that you pray that I not close up from the intensity of this experience. I committed to come here knowing it would tear me open, but I'm not sure I even knew what in the world I was asking for when I prayed that prayer.
The group is doing fantastically. Logan has been a great leader and we are all (for now ;)) getting along great. The children (Hunter, 6, Chase, 4, and Emma, 2) did awesome on the plane rides and we've all settled into a groove that I hope God will continue to bless as we work together this week.

The most profound realization for me today is that my needs are abundantly met by God every single day. The people here in Soshanguve rely on God in a much more intense and practical way. They rely on him to actually feed them bread each day and to help them care for their family's needs. So often I believe that I am actually meeting many of those needs for myself. I am such an independent focused woman with the opportunity and resources to make things happen for myself that I hardly stop to consider that I am not actually bringing all these things together, but God for me.

Thank you for praying! Please continue! I am thinking of all of you as I gaze upon the landscapes and introduce myself to the locals. I am seeing some of your faces in the faces of these beautiful people and I hoping for many of you that you have the chance to come and see South Africa for yourself one day.

The remainder of the week we will most likely not have access to email, so if you respond I wont be able to read it or reply until next weekend. Feel free to write anyway as gmail has LOTS of space. :)

With a tested spirit and full heart,
e