So last week brought on the crazy realization that it has now been over a year since I left for Africa. I can't believe it. I can't believe over 3 months have gone by since I've been back either. I'm really not sure where all the time has gone.
I got to visit Pittsburgh last week and see some family, which was awesome. I've been able to see a decent amount of people since I've been back, which has been great, but I'm ready to settle down into a home. The fact that it's been a year since I left for Africa also means that it's been a year since I've had a solid home base. Even though I was in Africa for 9 months, I always knew it was going to be for a limited amount of time, so it never truly felt like home. And now I've really been running around for the last 3 months. I'm just burnt out I guess. As for today, I'm back in Nashville again looking for a job. Job hunting has been a struggle. I was hoping to be a little further along in my job search at this point, thinking I'd be moving out here by now. I haven't even gotten an interview at this point, which is really frustrating. With this job market there isn't a whole lot out there, and jobs that used to be in my range are now asking for 5+ years experience, because they can. The jobs that I've applied for so far have pretty much all come back as being filled internally. I'm not sure what to do, but I need to continue to network and push on, which is why I'm back in Nashville. I've made some good contacts so far, just waiting for that one opening that fits...
On the other side, it has been a very exciting year, filled with some great ups and downs and some big life changes. Thanks again to everyone who has supported me and prayed for me in that time. All the best.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
One body
Geez, I can't believe how much time has gone by since the last post, sorry. Still, as promised I'm going to try to write about some things I learned or am pondering more from my mission trip. I imagine it's not going to be easy to effectively write about some of this as I have trouble even just sorting out my thoughts most of the time. But here goes...
One of the most important things I noticed during my time at Lily is the need to be a united body. In a business environment it is important to get everyone on the same page so that you are properly using every person's talents and perspectives to maximize results. Also, it is important for parents to present a united front when dealing with their kids. You cannot effectively teach kids right and wrong and proper behavior if parents offer conflicting opinions and don't back each other up, just think about one parent telling a kid they can't do something and then the kid going behind their back to the other parent who let's them do it; kids learn quickly how to get their way. If this idea of being on the same "team" is so important in business and family, how much more important is it in ministry where our message is so important and emotions run high. How unfortunate is it that this problem so often comes between the church's message because of our in-house bickering over denominational things. Combining all these areas, how great is the need to be one body when working at a ministry that is supposed to be a big family raising young children? It is also unfortunate that it looks like South Africa has an even more uphill battle due to still significant race tensions, open or not (not to say we don't have our issues still in the US).
It is so easy to set up barriers, there are so many ways to divide people, so many characteristics we can use to segregate. But unless we can overcome our differences internally and focus on the one common goal, then we can never move forward, in business or in faith.
"There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:4
One of the most important things I noticed during my time at Lily is the need to be a united body. In a business environment it is important to get everyone on the same page so that you are properly using every person's talents and perspectives to maximize results. Also, it is important for parents to present a united front when dealing with their kids. You cannot effectively teach kids right and wrong and proper behavior if parents offer conflicting opinions and don't back each other up, just think about one parent telling a kid they can't do something and then the kid going behind their back to the other parent who let's them do it; kids learn quickly how to get their way. If this idea of being on the same "team" is so important in business and family, how much more important is it in ministry where our message is so important and emotions run high. How unfortunate is it that this problem so often comes between the church's message because of our in-house bickering over denominational things. Combining all these areas, how great is the need to be one body when working at a ministry that is supposed to be a big family raising young children? It is also unfortunate that it looks like South Africa has an even more uphill battle due to still significant race tensions, open or not (not to say we don't have our issues still in the US).
It is so easy to set up barriers, there are so many ways to divide people, so many characteristics we can use to segregate. But unless we can overcome our differences internally and focus on the one common goal, then we can never move forward, in business or in faith.
"There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:4
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Aren't they cute?
In my last couple weeks at Lily I took about 1,000 pictures...well, actually, most of the time I gave my camera to older kids who took a majority of the pictures... regardless, I've gone through and narrowed that down to about 180 pictures which I've posted online. I know it's still a lot of pictures, but the kids are just so cute and funny! Here they are: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/573686228HyCdqo
As I mentioned in my last post, things didn't end like I would have wanted them to at Lily and future reflections will probably dwell on some of that again, but when I look at the pictures of the kids I remember all the good parts about the place. I think about all the times the kids made me laugh and all the good times hanging out on the trampoline, in the houses and running around the grounds. I also look at these beautiful, healthy kids and am amazed to think about some of their background stories...kids abused, kids neglected, kids abandoned, kids in and out of the hospital for TB or HIV related diseases battling for their lives, kids literally on their death bed, all having found a home at Lily, now healthy and growing and thriving. One kid was apparently brought to Lily at 11 years old, weighing 22 pounds, everyone expecting him to die within a couple weeks and surely never walk again; now at 13 he is a healthy, good sized boy running around, smiling, playing with the other kids. Other children who had shut down emotionally and socially from past horrors have gained confidence and opened up while at Lily. Yes, there are many great stories to be told. I thank the Lord for those stories, for his goodness, for those kids and for granting me 9 months to live with them. I pray that Lily can grow and continue to meet the often very difficult physical and emotional needs of these kids, building on what has already been done so that these kids have a chance to live happy lives when they grow up. Enjoy the photos!
As I mentioned in my last post, things didn't end like I would have wanted them to at Lily and future reflections will probably dwell on some of that again, but when I look at the pictures of the kids I remember all the good parts about the place. I think about all the times the kids made me laugh and all the good times hanging out on the trampoline, in the houses and running around the grounds. I also look at these beautiful, healthy kids and am amazed to think about some of their background stories...kids abused, kids neglected, kids abandoned, kids in and out of the hospital for TB or HIV related diseases battling for their lives, kids literally on their death bed, all having found a home at Lily, now healthy and growing and thriving. One kid was apparently brought to Lily at 11 years old, weighing 22 pounds, everyone expecting him to die within a couple weeks and surely never walk again; now at 13 he is a healthy, good sized boy running around, smiling, playing with the other kids. Other children who had shut down emotionally and socially from past horrors have gained confidence and opened up while at Lily. Yes, there are many great stories to be told. I thank the Lord for those stories, for his goodness, for those kids and for granting me 9 months to live with them. I pray that Lily can grow and continue to meet the often very difficult physical and emotional needs of these kids, building on what has already been done so that these kids have a chance to live happy lives when they grow up. Enjoy the photos!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Blog??
Yeah, I've been bad, I don't know what to tell you (but i'll attempt). It's been a combination of things (begin excuses...):
1. I've been recovering (I know it's been a month already! take it easy on a guy)
2. I've been busy with family, friends and Sarah. Having a girlfriend across the country is not easy. And if I haven't seen or talked to you yet I'm sorry.
3. Lily didn't end all that well and I haven't really wanted to post on it. I figured the post would be depressing, and well, i've had a few people tell me to keep blogging and keep it funny, which it would not be right now... although i don't consider myself that funny in general.
4. Since my mom has gotten the chance to see me she has been far less nagging about my blogging... although she's picked back up more recently.
So why am I blogging now? Because I'm trying to look for a job and that's just depressing, blogging is a much better option. So is sleep... I think I'll do that soon too. As for the job hunt, I'm now looking for a job in Nashville, TN, which I am visiting at this moment. So if you have any contacts out here, please please make my life easier. Yep, Nashville... it'll be interesting to see how the South and I get along... I just had my first use of "fixin'" in a sentence today, that was weird. The occasional y'all usage has also been increasing. Unfortunately one thing I didn't leave behind in LA was guys wearing girl jeans...that happens too much in Nashville as well.
Seriously though, I think I owe it to all of you who have supported me to fill you in on how the trip has affected me. So back to wrapping up my South Africa trip before moving on to other things... As I said, my time at Lily didn't end all that well. Basically, as I blogged about once before, some sexual abuse between kids was brought to light during the end of my time there and a few more things happened before I left. It was just tough to see that stuff and also see the way it was handled. There are still some things going on there that are hard for me to swallow and some unhealthy relationships. These things have caused me a lot of pain for the past few months and have also forced me to reevaluate and question things a lot. I think I'll be processing this stuff for a long long time, but I will try to get down some thoughts in forthcoming blogs on what I've learned from my time there and what I'm still working on. As for Lily, that place and its management need a LOT of prayer. Unfortunately, I think my time with them is coming to an end soon once I wrap up some loose ends, but I continue to search for guidance there. I still love those kids. I'll try to post some pics soon along with the additional blog posts.
1. I've been recovering (I know it's been a month already! take it easy on a guy)
2. I've been busy with family, friends and Sarah. Having a girlfriend across the country is not easy. And if I haven't seen or talked to you yet I'm sorry.
3. Lily didn't end all that well and I haven't really wanted to post on it. I figured the post would be depressing, and well, i've had a few people tell me to keep blogging and keep it funny, which it would not be right now... although i don't consider myself that funny in general.
4. Since my mom has gotten the chance to see me she has been far less nagging about my blogging... although she's picked back up more recently.
So why am I blogging now? Because I'm trying to look for a job and that's just depressing, blogging is a much better option. So is sleep... I think I'll do that soon too. As for the job hunt, I'm now looking for a job in Nashville, TN, which I am visiting at this moment. So if you have any contacts out here, please please make my life easier. Yep, Nashville... it'll be interesting to see how the South and I get along... I just had my first use of "fixin'" in a sentence today, that was weird. The occasional y'all usage has also been increasing. Unfortunately one thing I didn't leave behind in LA was guys wearing girl jeans...that happens too much in Nashville as well.
Seriously though, I think I owe it to all of you who have supported me to fill you in on how the trip has affected me. So back to wrapping up my South Africa trip before moving on to other things... As I said, my time at Lily didn't end all that well. Basically, as I blogged about once before, some sexual abuse between kids was brought to light during the end of my time there and a few more things happened before I left. It was just tough to see that stuff and also see the way it was handled. There are still some things going on there that are hard for me to swallow and some unhealthy relationships. These things have caused me a lot of pain for the past few months and have also forced me to reevaluate and question things a lot. I think I'll be processing this stuff for a long long time, but I will try to get down some thoughts in forthcoming blogs on what I've learned from my time there and what I'm still working on. As for Lily, that place and its management need a LOT of prayer. Unfortunately, I think my time with them is coming to an end soon once I wrap up some loose ends, but I continue to search for guidance there. I still love those kids. I'll try to post some pics soon along with the additional blog posts.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I'm back!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Nearly over
I know I've been slacking on the posts as of late, but its just hard to come up with the right words now. I'll be leaving Lily and heading back to the USA in just 9 days, and what a mix of emotions it is right now. For one, I'm worn out, just tired... hopefully that means I gave all I had to this place. Of course there were some tough times at the end here and I can't say it's been the same since... I mean when you lose such a big awesome family as the Christensens you're going to notice it, on top of everything else. At the same time we're working through some things and I hope this place will grow and get better as a result instead of going the other way; I'm optimistic. I know I've grown a lot. I also dislocated my left shoulder (not the surgery one thankfully) last sunday wakeboarding (the spot in Port Edward was awesome) and that has been a bummer. I feel a bit useless in my last few weeks with my lame arm, and just frustrated that I hurt myself again, but at the same time maybe it's a bit of a blessing as it has forced me to slow down, relax and spend more time just hanging out with the kids. No matter how many headaches these kids have given me (way too many), I'm still gonna miss them like crazy, I love them all. I hate having my camera out, but its been in my hand nonstop these last few days as I try to savor the last moments.
So yeah, there are things I'm definitely ready to get away from here, but there are a lot of things I'm going to miss, especially the people. I'm also excited to get home and see family and friends and my girlfriend, its been way too long. At the same time I've been warned that the transition home is a rough one. It hasn't been easy for most volunteers who've left before as its easy to get let down that home isn't all you built it up to be in your head and people don't understand your experience. But I'm lucky to have a great support group of old volunteers and close friends that I think will help with that. Just don't ask me 2 questions please:
1. How was the food? I don't really care in the scheme of things
2. How was Africa? I don't have the slightest idea how to start responding to that general question. All you'll get is, "it was good."
Add in being thrown back into a bad job market though and it is a bit overwhelming. Oh well, for now I'll just focus on enjoying my last days here and look forward to seeing loved ones.
Blessings to all. Thanks for following the blog and supporting me throughout my time in SA, knowing so many people are behind me made this all much easier. I guess i'm making this sound like the end, but I'll definitely post a few more times, the experience isn't over yet... heck, i'm still in South Africa.
So yeah, there are things I'm definitely ready to get away from here, but there are a lot of things I'm going to miss, especially the people. I'm also excited to get home and see family and friends and my girlfriend, its been way too long. At the same time I've been warned that the transition home is a rough one. It hasn't been easy for most volunteers who've left before as its easy to get let down that home isn't all you built it up to be in your head and people don't understand your experience. But I'm lucky to have a great support group of old volunteers and close friends that I think will help with that. Just don't ask me 2 questions please:
1. How was the food? I don't really care in the scheme of things
2. How was Africa? I don't have the slightest idea how to start responding to that general question. All you'll get is, "it was good."
Add in being thrown back into a bad job market though and it is a bit overwhelming. Oh well, for now I'll just focus on enjoying my last days here and look forward to seeing loved ones.
Blessings to all. Thanks for following the blog and supporting me throughout my time in SA, knowing so many people are behind me made this all much easier. I guess i'm making this sound like the end, but I'll definitely post a few more times, the experience isn't over yet... heck, i'm still in South Africa.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Love
Thanks to everyone for your prayers after my last post. Things are still getting worked out; it’s a very very frustrating process. Continued prayers would be much appreciated.
It’s been a really hard couple of weeks, and really, a trying 8 months… I’m tired. Yeah, it’s been that long already, crazy, less than a month to go now. In my time here I’ve been forced to learn a lot about myself, others, and God, and I’m still learning. For now I’ll leave you with this scripture I’ve been meditating on recently, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians…
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP is the LOVE of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." – Ephesians 3:14-21
I’m just trying to wrap my head around a little bit of that “love that surpasses knowledge.”
It’s been a really hard couple of weeks, and really, a trying 8 months… I’m tired. Yeah, it’s been that long already, crazy, less than a month to go now. In my time here I’ve been forced to learn a lot about myself, others, and God, and I’m still learning. For now I’ll leave you with this scripture I’ve been meditating on recently, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians…
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP is the LOVE of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." – Ephesians 3:14-21
I’m just trying to wrap my head around a little bit of that “love that surpasses knowledge.”
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Troubling news
So not to get into too many details, as it is not necessary and everything is still being investigated, but it looks as if one of the oldest boys at the orphanage has been sexually abusing some of the younger boys. A terrible incident occurred over the weekend while I was gone that brought it all to light. For me, the news was terrifying, infuriating and heartbreaking; I was completely broken. I still don’t really know how to respond. All I ask for now is your prayers: for the victims, for the perpetrator, for everyone else affected, for wisdom for management and myself, etc…
I sometimes struggle when writing this blog because I often think that if I was on the side of a donor I would want to believe that my money was supporting the perfect orphanage where kids, workers and everyone were living in harmony and the kids were going to go into life after as first class citizens about to change the world with their knowledge and attitude… I too want to think that I am giving 9 months of my life up for something similar. Unfortunately, events like this happen and I must face the truth. That truth is that we live in a fallen, broken world and I am working with kids in a broken country and community, coming out of broken family lives and we’re doing the best we can to work with the pieces and show them they are loved. The rest I lay at God’s merciful feet. I also have to remind myself that as a Christian I have given my life to God, so it’s no longer my life to give, I’m a servant of God and as his servant I must go where he leads; I know he knows best. Of course not everything is bad, there are some amazing things happening here and I’ve had a great time. God is definitely at work, but Satan isn’t going to give up that easy. Praise the Lord, at least I can say that through everything my faith has been strengthened... its just really hard sometimes.
Another twist was that when I heard this awful news I had just come back from an amazing weekend participating in the Emmaus walk (it’s in the US as well if you want to check it out). Basically it’s a 3 day men’s Christian retreat full of talks and discussions. But really, it was an awesome experience of God’s love. I had a great time over the weekend and was on such an emotional and spiritual high on Sunday. Then I came back to this and took a hard fall. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to use what I learned last weekend to help me in this situation. De colores.
Again, I thank you all for your great support, encouragement and all of your prayers. God bless.
I sometimes struggle when writing this blog because I often think that if I was on the side of a donor I would want to believe that my money was supporting the perfect orphanage where kids, workers and everyone were living in harmony and the kids were going to go into life after as first class citizens about to change the world with their knowledge and attitude… I too want to think that I am giving 9 months of my life up for something similar. Unfortunately, events like this happen and I must face the truth. That truth is that we live in a fallen, broken world and I am working with kids in a broken country and community, coming out of broken family lives and we’re doing the best we can to work with the pieces and show them they are loved. The rest I lay at God’s merciful feet. I also have to remind myself that as a Christian I have given my life to God, so it’s no longer my life to give, I’m a servant of God and as his servant I must go where he leads; I know he knows best. Of course not everything is bad, there are some amazing things happening here and I’ve had a great time. God is definitely at work, but Satan isn’t going to give up that easy. Praise the Lord, at least I can say that through everything my faith has been strengthened... its just really hard sometimes.
Another twist was that when I heard this awful news I had just come back from an amazing weekend participating in the Emmaus walk (it’s in the US as well if you want to check it out). Basically it’s a 3 day men’s Christian retreat full of talks and discussions. But really, it was an awesome experience of God’s love. I had a great time over the weekend and was on such an emotional and spiritual high on Sunday. Then I came back to this and took a hard fall. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to use what I learned last weekend to help me in this situation. De colores.
Again, I thank you all for your great support, encouragement and all of your prayers. God bless.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sermon Illustration
Pastors love using sermon illustrations, some of them are good, but many are fairly cheesy. So when the pastor at church on Sunday said he had a story about a turtle and a scorpion, I just rolled my eyes. But the simple story hit me and has been on my mind ever since. It goes as follows:
A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on its back across the river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown." "My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "If I were to sting you, you would drown and I'd go down with you. Now where is the logic in that?" "You're right," cried the turtle. "Hop on." The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle, resigned, said, "Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there is no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?" "It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion replied. "It's just my nature."
The illustration is to talk about how SIN is our nature, and it's completely true. We are slaves to sin, we can't even control it. So often we do things that hurt us and those around us, and we just keep doing them. There is no logic in it. There is ultimately escape though, and that is through a relationship with the perfect and holy Jesus Christ. Will you suddenly stop sinning completely? No, I think anyone can atest to that, whether christian yourself or if you've watched someone who claims to be a christian. It's still a constant battle with sin, but God will continue to work on your heart and make you new, forgiving all those sins until ultimately we can live with him, renewed, in heaven for eternity.
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst." - 1 Timothy 1:15
A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on its back across the river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown." "My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "If I were to sting you, you would drown and I'd go down with you. Now where is the logic in that?" "You're right," cried the turtle. "Hop on." The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle, resigned, said, "Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there is no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?" "It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion replied. "It's just my nature."
The illustration is to talk about how SIN is our nature, and it's completely true. We are slaves to sin, we can't even control it. So often we do things that hurt us and those around us, and we just keep doing them. There is no logic in it. There is ultimately escape though, and that is through a relationship with the perfect and holy Jesus Christ. Will you suddenly stop sinning completely? No, I think anyone can atest to that, whether christian yourself or if you've watched someone who claims to be a christian. It's still a constant battle with sin, but God will continue to work on your heart and make you new, forgiving all those sins until ultimately we can live with him, renewed, in heaven for eternity.
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst." - 1 Timothy 1:15
Lauren's gone
Yep, Lauren left yesterday. It really is going to be kind of weird. We came together and have worked together for over 7 months. I wish her the best of luck integrating back into life in the US.
Lauren, myself and the other 2 volunteers got to go to Lesotho last weekend for Laurens last full weekend here, which was a lot of fun. We drove up the Sani Pass and then rode horses back into a little village where we stayed with a local family in their rondavel with no electricity or running water. The mother cooked us an awesome traditional meal and it was nice just relaxing there and seeing the amazing stars. I was sore for days though... my body is not used to riding horses, ha. It was interesting seeing the style of life though as much less of the western world has gotten to them.
But on the trip we were again faced with many kids and people running up to the car begging and asking for sweets. This wasn't too much of a surprise except that right beforehand the guide asked us to not give anyone handouts and that they were trying to keep control of this and that they didn't see too much begging. But then the guide got really frustrated when right after that we were swarmed the rest of the trip. Someone had probably just been there passing stuff out. That trip combined with something the manager of Makaphutu (the sister childrens village to Lily) said early that week got me thinking a lot again on the issue: "Is our help helping or hurting?" It really is something to think about. Especially as Americans we like to think that just giving someone money or sweets or something is helping them, and we feel better about ourselves, whether that be a person in Africa or a bum on the streets of LA. We feel like we've done our good deed and then we move along. But the thing is that we often just feed into a begging culture that keeps that person down, on the streets, expecting others to provide for them. Handouts create a sense of "us" and "them", rich person giving and poor person receiving, forming a greater gap. We must figure out how to work side by side with people, and encourage them to help themselves. A quote I recently heard which can relate to this is "You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."
As for us left at Lily, life goes on. It will be busy. We're down to 3 at the moment, but have a guy coming tomorrow who will be here for a month. At least today is a holiday, Freedom Day, celebrating the elections in 1994, so I've had a chance to chill and recover. Oh yeah, and ANC won something like 65% of parliament. I've tried talking to some locals about some things and as I said they are basically just loyal back to 1994, that is all. They are also convinced that everything bad said against Zuma is a political conspiracy to try to keep a Zulu out of power. They were partying in the streets this weekend.
Lauren, myself and the other 2 volunteers got to go to Lesotho last weekend for Laurens last full weekend here, which was a lot of fun. We drove up the Sani Pass and then rode horses back into a little village where we stayed with a local family in their rondavel with no electricity or running water. The mother cooked us an awesome traditional meal and it was nice just relaxing there and seeing the amazing stars. I was sore for days though... my body is not used to riding horses, ha. It was interesting seeing the style of life though as much less of the western world has gotten to them.
But on the trip we were again faced with many kids and people running up to the car begging and asking for sweets. This wasn't too much of a surprise except that right beforehand the guide asked us to not give anyone handouts and that they were trying to keep control of this and that they didn't see too much begging. But then the guide got really frustrated when right after that we were swarmed the rest of the trip. Someone had probably just been there passing stuff out. That trip combined with something the manager of Makaphutu (the sister childrens village to Lily) said early that week got me thinking a lot again on the issue: "Is our help helping or hurting?" It really is something to think about. Especially as Americans we like to think that just giving someone money or sweets or something is helping them, and we feel better about ourselves, whether that be a person in Africa or a bum on the streets of LA. We feel like we've done our good deed and then we move along. But the thing is that we often just feed into a begging culture that keeps that person down, on the streets, expecting others to provide for them. Handouts create a sense of "us" and "them", rich person giving and poor person receiving, forming a greater gap. We must figure out how to work side by side with people, and encourage them to help themselves. A quote I recently heard which can relate to this is "You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."
As for us left at Lily, life goes on. It will be busy. We're down to 3 at the moment, but have a guy coming tomorrow who will be here for a month. At least today is a holiday, Freedom Day, celebrating the elections in 1994, so I've had a chance to chill and recover. Oh yeah, and ANC won something like 65% of parliament. I've tried talking to some locals about some things and as I said they are basically just loyal back to 1994, that is all. They are also convinced that everything bad said against Zuma is a political conspiracy to try to keep a Zulu out of power. They were partying in the streets this weekend.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Zuma stinks -edit
So the ANC is the current leading party in South Africa, and will most certainly still be so in a few short days when elections take place. The sad part is that much of the vote they get are from villagers who are completely uneducated about the politics, but still vote for the ANC because the ANC throws it in their face that they were the major political force in fighting against the apartheid government, which ended in 1994. This was the party that Nelson Mandela was a part of. Well, the sad thing is that they hold onto power this way despite seemingly not having done much else to help the people since, and maybe even making some things worse. I still don’t know all that much about it, so I can’t get to harsh, but it seems that this is a government of false promises, full of corruption. Their ring leader, Jacob Zuma epitomizes all these problems.
You can do some research yourself if you’d like but let me lay out a few things I’ve recently learned about Zuma… for starters, he is a self proclaimed socialist and aligns himself with communist parties. He is also a self proclaimed polygamist and has been married at least 4 times and is engaged to 2 more. He’s had at least 18 children with at least 8 different women. And for the criminal side… while Deputy President of South Africa, he was charged with rape by a friend’s daughter. The court later dismissed the case saying there wasn’t enough evidence that it wasn’t consensual sex. During the trial Zuma said that he had unprotected sex with the woman in question, knowing she was HIV positive, and then took a shower after to prevent getting the disease. Oh yeah, this clown said that while he was the head of the AIDs council in SA, the group that is trying to educate people on the danger and prevention of HIV and AIDs… scary. Furthermore, he has twice been charged with corruption in relation to the procurement of South Africa’s arms deal from a French company. Despite much evidence against him and the fact that both his right hand man and financial advisor have been found guilty in their cases, the prosecution just dropped the charges right before the election… smells fishy. How this man is not in jail or at least completely out of politics is beyond me, and yet he is about to be the leader of this struggling country.
Democratic elections in this country seem to be more like your highschool prom queen vote, based off popularity over substance and for some reason people seem to ignore all of the terrible things Zuma has done and all his shortcomings because, well, they like him. I saw a stat the other day that said most of the ANC followers think he probably is guilty in the corruption case, but that they don’t care. One apparently good thing that has happened recently is the growing strength of an opposition named COPE. Who knows if they’re all that much better than the ANC, but at least they are calling out many of the ANC’s major flaws and trying to force the public and even the judicial branch to really take a look at what the ANC is doing, and just giving people choice. Sometimes I struggle to find much hope in this country’s future. Please pray for South Africa.
**EDIT- I'm not sure how I forgot to write about this part: Zuma only has a 5th grade education. Yeah, you read that right. And if the schools back then are anything like they are now, that's really only like a 2nd grade education from America. Isn't he great? ***
You can do some research yourself if you’d like but let me lay out a few things I’ve recently learned about Zuma… for starters, he is a self proclaimed socialist and aligns himself with communist parties. He is also a self proclaimed polygamist and has been married at least 4 times and is engaged to 2 more. He’s had at least 18 children with at least 8 different women. And for the criminal side… while Deputy President of South Africa, he was charged with rape by a friend’s daughter. The court later dismissed the case saying there wasn’t enough evidence that it wasn’t consensual sex. During the trial Zuma said that he had unprotected sex with the woman in question, knowing she was HIV positive, and then took a shower after to prevent getting the disease. Oh yeah, this clown said that while he was the head of the AIDs council in SA, the group that is trying to educate people on the danger and prevention of HIV and AIDs… scary. Furthermore, he has twice been charged with corruption in relation to the procurement of South Africa’s arms deal from a French company. Despite much evidence against him and the fact that both his right hand man and financial advisor have been found guilty in their cases, the prosecution just dropped the charges right before the election… smells fishy. How this man is not in jail or at least completely out of politics is beyond me, and yet he is about to be the leader of this struggling country.
Democratic elections in this country seem to be more like your highschool prom queen vote, based off popularity over substance and for some reason people seem to ignore all of the terrible things Zuma has done and all his shortcomings because, well, they like him. I saw a stat the other day that said most of the ANC followers think he probably is guilty in the corruption case, but that they don’t care. One apparently good thing that has happened recently is the growing strength of an opposition named COPE. Who knows if they’re all that much better than the ANC, but at least they are calling out many of the ANC’s major flaws and trying to force the public and even the judicial branch to really take a look at what the ANC is doing, and just giving people choice. Sometimes I struggle to find much hope in this country’s future. Please pray for South Africa.
**EDIT- I'm not sure how I forgot to write about this part: Zuma only has a 5th grade education. Yeah, you read that right. And if the schools back then are anything like they are now, that's really only like a 2nd grade education from America. Isn't he great? ***
Friday, April 10, 2009
New Address
If for some reason you want to send something to Lily (I'm here 2 more months), we got a new address:
PO Box 561
Camperdown, 3720
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
PO Box 561
Camperdown, 3720
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
We Survived!
So, to update everyone, I am not dieing of menigitis... I have a bit of a cold, but that is all. I am very worn out (which doesn't help the cold).
Anyway, the little boy who was in the hosiptal with meningitis is back with us, running and laughing, looking healthy and back to being very adorable. He is so happy to be back that he runs full speed at all the volunteers with a big smile just wanting to be held. The other big blessing was that nobody else came down with the disease! It was a tense time around here as anytime kids got sick we thought the worst, and kids are getting sick a lot now with the changing of the seasons. I also spent a lot of time on the phone and in the car to talk to doctors and public health officials to make sure we didn't need to all be treated. But it all worked out in the end. Thanks so much for all your prayers.
As for the rest of the two weeks without the manager, well, we held things together at least. The kids were brats at times and I yelled at a few of them on the last day like I've never yelled at them, but it was needed. The problem with being in charge as a volunteer is that I still don't have enough authority to really punish. I just don't know what to do with the kids besides tell them they were wrong and maybe send them to their house... but there are too many kids to keep an eye on and they know this so they listen to you tell them off and then go do whatever the heck they want again. The discipline issue is definitely something to be addressed, among other things.
There is no rest now though as we are down to 4 volunteers already and Lauren leaves in 2 weeks. Craziness. Today is a national holiday for Good Friday and supposed to be a chill day, but we were up early doing a Sunday School type thing for the kids and then Mike and I put in many hours of hard labour trying to fix up our trampolines. It's going to be crazy around here for a while. Pray for our energy, strength and health.
Happy Easter to everyone! Enjoy the holiday and take some time to reflect on the incredible events that we are celebrating and what they mean for us... a God who sent his Son to die for us and who then conquered the grave so that if we so choose we can be united with God in Heaven for eternity. Amen. He is risen!
Anyway, the little boy who was in the hosiptal with meningitis is back with us, running and laughing, looking healthy and back to being very adorable. He is so happy to be back that he runs full speed at all the volunteers with a big smile just wanting to be held. The other big blessing was that nobody else came down with the disease! It was a tense time around here as anytime kids got sick we thought the worst, and kids are getting sick a lot now with the changing of the seasons. I also spent a lot of time on the phone and in the car to talk to doctors and public health officials to make sure we didn't need to all be treated. But it all worked out in the end. Thanks so much for all your prayers.
As for the rest of the two weeks without the manager, well, we held things together at least. The kids were brats at times and I yelled at a few of them on the last day like I've never yelled at them, but it was needed. The problem with being in charge as a volunteer is that I still don't have enough authority to really punish. I just don't know what to do with the kids besides tell them they were wrong and maybe send them to their house... but there are too many kids to keep an eye on and they know this so they listen to you tell them off and then go do whatever the heck they want again. The discipline issue is definitely something to be addressed, among other things.
There is no rest now though as we are down to 4 volunteers already and Lauren leaves in 2 weeks. Craziness. Today is a national holiday for Good Friday and supposed to be a chill day, but we were up early doing a Sunday School type thing for the kids and then Mike and I put in many hours of hard labour trying to fix up our trampolines. It's going to be crazy around here for a while. Pray for our energy, strength and health.
Happy Easter to everyone! Enjoy the holiday and take some time to reflect on the incredible events that we are celebrating and what they mean for us... a God who sent his Son to die for us and who then conquered the grave so that if we so choose we can be united with God in Heaven for eternity. Amen. He is risen!
Holiday (SA for Vacation) Part Two
***So this is super late and most have probably already read Lauren’s posts, so feel free to skip, but I thought I’d still post it as I’d written a while ago, just got bogged down.***
We got an early start out of East London on Saturday morning to spend the last few days of our trip exploring the Wild Coast. We didn’t think we had too much driving to do to get to our destination of Bulungula Backpackers, but what we didn’t realize was that we’d be spending hours navigating terrible pot-holed and dirt back roads to get back to this very remote location located on the beach in a Xhosa village. In fact the last 3 km are only accessible by serious 4x4 vehicles and we went over some pretty crazy terrain that I was worried I wouldn’t make it through… thanks for the upgrade Hertz.
People rave about this place as being a great cultural experience, but unfortunately I realized when I got there that this is exactly what I didn’t want… I get bombarded with the culture of living in a township every day. On the drive in, 30 guys hanging around a tuck shop tried to scam me by saying that I had backed into one guys car, which was clearly not true and their story made no sense, but I’m sure they’d done it before. This got me fired up already and it was only made worse by all the kids begging for sweets and money and the adults begging for cigarettes and money as we approached the place. My time in South Africa really has taken its toll emotionally at times. Everyday you’re overwhelmed by a culture that has been often reduced to begging, not knowing what else to do, and very misguided. The clash of first and third world is overwhelming. Should we have left these people to the life they’d known for centuries? Have we only made lives worse by polluting minds with first world materialism? These are some of the question I debate frequently and I had another good conversation around a campfire that night with some South Africans. I hate to say that I’ve become hardened to it, but at that point in the trip I was, I almost had to be… my heart goes out to these people and I’m often saddened by what I see, and because of that I just couldn’t handle anymore, I needed to get away from it all on this trip, but instead I was just reminded of how deep rooted the problems are. On the flip side, this place is located on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and I was able to march down to the other end of the beach for some alone time to think, pray and just cool off and relax. I ended up really enjoying my stay that night and the next morning and I’m sure I would have enjoyed going on some of their tours to see how the locals live if I was in different circumstances.
The next day we headed off towards our final destination, Hole in the Wall. Hole in the Wall was extremely close to Bulungula as the crow flies along the coast, but again it took a while to navigate the 4x4 track (which our car was a champ on) and back roads to get there. Like Bulungula, this is another place that is surrounded by incredible beauty and also great poverty. The hotel itself is completely fenced in and people stand along the fence begging, it is really sad. The first day we took a short walk to the Hole in the Wall viewpoint, and all along the way locals were trying to get us to hire them as our guide, even though it is about a 10 minute walk, one kid even attempted this when we could see the place about 100 yards in front of us. This was nothing though compared to what was going to take place the next day… from our hotel we took a hiking trail to Coffee Bay and back right along the coast. About 2 hours into our trip some kids ran down a hill and started walking about 15 yards in front of us, without saying anything. We soon noticed that anytime we stopped to take a picture or admire a view the kids would stop as well. We recognized this ploy and told them that we were just walking the trail and did not need a guide. They chose to ignore this. After a while longer, and them getting in the way of every picture, we started getting really annoyed. We then told them again that we were walking the trail on our own, they were not our guides, we did not need guides and finally that we had no money or sweets to give them anyway. The kids just said no problem and chose to ignore our pleas. After an incredibly frustrating hour we finally left the kids at one point when we stopped into check out a place for lunch… the kids started asking for money and sweets even though we had told them many many times we didn’t have anything for them and that they weren’t our guides. They then said they would wait for us, which we said no to, but again they did not listen. So we left them and went into Coffee Bay to explore and hang out on the beach for a while before heading back. On the way back we found the 2 kids waiting for us right where we had left them hours before and they had now picked up a friend. This time they changed their tactic and followed behind us, the whole time begging for sweets and money. We kept telling them we didn’t have anything, and continued to get more and more frustrated that we couldn’t enjoy the incredible beauty of this remote place in peace. They followed us for another hour, the kid continuing to say “help me and I help you,” despite the fact that we were on the trail, knew the way back, had said we didn’t need a guide and also that we didn’t have anything to give them. I think you get the point now. For 2 hours of our 5.5 hour hike we again were unable to escape the thoughts of 114 kids asking for sweets back at Lily or the great poverty that we are constantly surrounded by. So that sums up South Africa for you really… a place of great, wild, rugged beauty and also very great, depressing problems. Thankfully we had another hour and a half of the hike to work off our tension and take in the beauty of the place before retreating to our place to read, relax and rest up before heading back to Lily the next day.
I hope I didn’t sound like too much of a jerk when describing some of these events, and I do understand that many of these people beg out of necessity, but it just wears on you. I keep trying to think of ways to help these people that would be better than just giving them some money, as this often seems destructive. I will say that I think the Bulungula backpackers does a decent job at providing income for the local community by embracing the culture, not trying to change it. So yeah, pray for my heart in the rest of my time here, and that I can know the best way to help some of the people I’m in contact with.
We got an early start out of East London on Saturday morning to spend the last few days of our trip exploring the Wild Coast. We didn’t think we had too much driving to do to get to our destination of Bulungula Backpackers, but what we didn’t realize was that we’d be spending hours navigating terrible pot-holed and dirt back roads to get back to this very remote location located on the beach in a Xhosa village. In fact the last 3 km are only accessible by serious 4x4 vehicles and we went over some pretty crazy terrain that I was worried I wouldn’t make it through… thanks for the upgrade Hertz.
People rave about this place as being a great cultural experience, but unfortunately I realized when I got there that this is exactly what I didn’t want… I get bombarded with the culture of living in a township every day. On the drive in, 30 guys hanging around a tuck shop tried to scam me by saying that I had backed into one guys car, which was clearly not true and their story made no sense, but I’m sure they’d done it before. This got me fired up already and it was only made worse by all the kids begging for sweets and money and the adults begging for cigarettes and money as we approached the place. My time in South Africa really has taken its toll emotionally at times. Everyday you’re overwhelmed by a culture that has been often reduced to begging, not knowing what else to do, and very misguided. The clash of first and third world is overwhelming. Should we have left these people to the life they’d known for centuries? Have we only made lives worse by polluting minds with first world materialism? These are some of the question I debate frequently and I had another good conversation around a campfire that night with some South Africans. I hate to say that I’ve become hardened to it, but at that point in the trip I was, I almost had to be… my heart goes out to these people and I’m often saddened by what I see, and because of that I just couldn’t handle anymore, I needed to get away from it all on this trip, but instead I was just reminded of how deep rooted the problems are. On the flip side, this place is located on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and I was able to march down to the other end of the beach for some alone time to think, pray and just cool off and relax. I ended up really enjoying my stay that night and the next morning and I’m sure I would have enjoyed going on some of their tours to see how the locals live if I was in different circumstances.
The next day we headed off towards our final destination, Hole in the Wall. Hole in the Wall was extremely close to Bulungula as the crow flies along the coast, but again it took a while to navigate the 4x4 track (which our car was a champ on) and back roads to get there. Like Bulungula, this is another place that is surrounded by incredible beauty and also great poverty. The hotel itself is completely fenced in and people stand along the fence begging, it is really sad. The first day we took a short walk to the Hole in the Wall viewpoint, and all along the way locals were trying to get us to hire them as our guide, even though it is about a 10 minute walk, one kid even attempted this when we could see the place about 100 yards in front of us. This was nothing though compared to what was going to take place the next day… from our hotel we took a hiking trail to Coffee Bay and back right along the coast. About 2 hours into our trip some kids ran down a hill and started walking about 15 yards in front of us, without saying anything. We soon noticed that anytime we stopped to take a picture or admire a view the kids would stop as well. We recognized this ploy and told them that we were just walking the trail and did not need a guide. They chose to ignore this. After a while longer, and them getting in the way of every picture, we started getting really annoyed. We then told them again that we were walking the trail on our own, they were not our guides, we did not need guides and finally that we had no money or sweets to give them anyway. The kids just said no problem and chose to ignore our pleas. After an incredibly frustrating hour we finally left the kids at one point when we stopped into check out a place for lunch… the kids started asking for money and sweets even though we had told them many many times we didn’t have anything for them and that they weren’t our guides. They then said they would wait for us, which we said no to, but again they did not listen. So we left them and went into Coffee Bay to explore and hang out on the beach for a while before heading back. On the way back we found the 2 kids waiting for us right where we had left them hours before and they had now picked up a friend. This time they changed their tactic and followed behind us, the whole time begging for sweets and money. We kept telling them we didn’t have anything, and continued to get more and more frustrated that we couldn’t enjoy the incredible beauty of this remote place in peace. They followed us for another hour, the kid continuing to say “help me and I help you,” despite the fact that we were on the trail, knew the way back, had said we didn’t need a guide and also that we didn’t have anything to give them. I think you get the point now. For 2 hours of our 5.5 hour hike we again were unable to escape the thoughts of 114 kids asking for sweets back at Lily or the great poverty that we are constantly surrounded by. So that sums up South Africa for you really… a place of great, wild, rugged beauty and also very great, depressing problems. Thankfully we had another hour and a half of the hike to work off our tension and take in the beauty of the place before retreating to our place to read, relax and rest up before heading back to Lily the next day.
I hope I didn’t sound like too much of a jerk when describing some of these events, and I do understand that many of these people beg out of necessity, but it just wears on you. I keep trying to think of ways to help these people that would be better than just giving them some money, as this often seems destructive. I will say that I think the Bulungula backpackers does a decent job at providing income for the local community by embracing the culture, not trying to change it. So yeah, pray for my heart in the rest of my time here, and that I can know the best way to help some of the people I’m in contact with.
Vacation Part Uno
***So this is super late and most have probably already read Lauren’s posts, so feel free to skip, but I thought I’d still post it as I’d written a while ago, just got bogged down.***
Well well, I must say, it was good to get away for a couple weeks, see a little of South Africa, and hopefully recharge. As you will see the recharging was probably less than I had hoped since we were constantly on the go, and well… we were still in South Africa, struggling with the frustrations of South Africa. But here goes a brief rundown for you…
First stop: Cape Town. Lauren, Palmer and I flew out of Durban early March 4th and landed in Cape Town mid-day. The trip started out with a couple of good signs. First, due to huge cost differences, we rented the smallest car we thought we could get away with, but I guess we underestimated all our stuff… right away when we walked into Hertz, the lady at the counter looked at our bags and Palmer’s wheel chair and said there was no way we were going to fit into the car we rented, but proceeded to give us a free upgrade to one of their biggest cars, a 4x4 truck. The thing was a gas guzzler, but it definitely made it easy for us to load up our gear and also enabled us to go on some additional adventures later in the trip, so that was awesome. Secondly, I struck up a conversation with a guy on the plane near us who was reading a book on prayer in the early church. This guy proceeded to lead us the 20 minute drive into the V&A Waterfront area from the airport and then treat us to lunch as well as buying us all a souvenir gift. He was a cool Christian man and it was a nice way to start off our time in Cape Town.
Cape Town was definitely a refreshing change from Durban. It was great to be in a cleaner, safer city where there was plenty to do. The first afternoon we lounged on the beach and then Lauren and I had one of the best dinners ever at a game restaurant where Lauren got a mix of Kudu, Eland and Springbok and I ordered warthog… delicious, I want to go back to Cape Town just to eat at that restaurant (Khaya Nyama on Long St). The next day Palmer continued to hang with some friends from home that were also on a trip to Cape Town, so Lauren and I split off to explore all day. This was a very full day, started by walking around the waterfront, then taking the boat over to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and capped off by a brutal hike to the top of Table Mountain to picnic while watching the sunset. Unfortunately, we underestimated the hike a little, and the heat, humidity and steepness took its toll on our already exhausted bodies, so a late start meant only getting to enjoy 20 minutes on the top before having to catch the last cable car down! Boo for that, but it was still awesome and beautiful up top. The next day all 3 of us hopped in the car for the long drive down to Cape Point. We stopped at Boulder Beach on the way down for a chance to hang out with some penguins. Lauren used the opportunity to take about 500 facebook profile pics, all of which she didn’t really like in the end and will probably not use… but we were really close to some funny looking penguins, so that was cool. We then continued our drive down to Cape Point which was absolutely gorgeous… the drive, the point, the short hike we did, everything about it. You can read Lauren’s blog for the funny story that occurred at the Cape of Good Hope. Our last full day in Cape Town was Saturday and being completely exhausted we went for a more chilled out itinerary… I suffered through some morning shopping then we enjoyed strolling through the botanical gardens before picking up Palmer’s sister at the airport.
From Cape Town we headed out to the Stellenbosch area on Sunday to check out the winelands. It was fun to do a little wine tasting, and the first place we stopped at was great; the lady gave us 9 tastings, talked us through every wine and then gave us a quick tour of the wine cave. We were short on time, so we only stopped at one more place before finding a place to stay for the night. The area was beautiful and has lots of wineries to choose from, but I’d still take Napa over it hands down. It was fun to compare though. From their we had a long day of driving Monday, choosing to see the Southern Most point of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, Cape Alguhas, not content to settle with the lame “Most South-Western Point” that the Cape of Good Hope claims. I then enjoyed running down and jumping off huge sand dunes right on the coast at De Hoop NP. We crashed in a nice hostel in Mossel Bay that night before heading to Knysna the following day, which wasn’t all that exciting. Then on Wednesday we drove to my favorite part of the trip, Tsitsikamma National Park on the Storms River Mouth. This was cool because that night we stayed in a little cottage right on the coast and I watched the waves crash against the rocks from my bed, as well as taking a nice boat trip up the river and going on one of the most beautiful coastal hikes I’ve ever done. This was followed the next morning be going on a zipline canopy tour in the neighboring forest, which was good fun. Thursday we headed out of the Garden Route and towards Addo Elephant Park. I’m still kicking myself for not doing the Great White Shark cage diving… I talked about that so much back in September before I came out here and I didn’t even end up doing it, the schedule was too packed.
Anyway, Friday morning we drove into Addo Elephant Park early and let’s just say that it was appropriately named… we had front row seats from our car to observe elephants splashing themselves at a watering hole, baby elephants wrestling and even a stampede of elephants coming out of the trees and marching right past our car. It was awesome, and I think Lauren got about 1 million pictures of it, so hopefully there will be some good ones. That afternoon we drove off to East London where Palmer and her sister were catching an early flight back to Lily. As for Lauren and I, the trip continued… (onto part two). Oh, and I guess that wasn’t too brief… but like I said, we did a lot!
Well well, I must say, it was good to get away for a couple weeks, see a little of South Africa, and hopefully recharge. As you will see the recharging was probably less than I had hoped since we were constantly on the go, and well… we were still in South Africa, struggling with the frustrations of South Africa. But here goes a brief rundown for you…
First stop: Cape Town. Lauren, Palmer and I flew out of Durban early March 4th and landed in Cape Town mid-day. The trip started out with a couple of good signs. First, due to huge cost differences, we rented the smallest car we thought we could get away with, but I guess we underestimated all our stuff… right away when we walked into Hertz, the lady at the counter looked at our bags and Palmer’s wheel chair and said there was no way we were going to fit into the car we rented, but proceeded to give us a free upgrade to one of their biggest cars, a 4x4 truck. The thing was a gas guzzler, but it definitely made it easy for us to load up our gear and also enabled us to go on some additional adventures later in the trip, so that was awesome. Secondly, I struck up a conversation with a guy on the plane near us who was reading a book on prayer in the early church. This guy proceeded to lead us the 20 minute drive into the V&A Waterfront area from the airport and then treat us to lunch as well as buying us all a souvenir gift. He was a cool Christian man and it was a nice way to start off our time in Cape Town.
Cape Town was definitely a refreshing change from Durban. It was great to be in a cleaner, safer city where there was plenty to do. The first afternoon we lounged on the beach and then Lauren and I had one of the best dinners ever at a game restaurant where Lauren got a mix of Kudu, Eland and Springbok and I ordered warthog… delicious, I want to go back to Cape Town just to eat at that restaurant (Khaya Nyama on Long St). The next day Palmer continued to hang with some friends from home that were also on a trip to Cape Town, so Lauren and I split off to explore all day. This was a very full day, started by walking around the waterfront, then taking the boat over to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and capped off by a brutal hike to the top of Table Mountain to picnic while watching the sunset. Unfortunately, we underestimated the hike a little, and the heat, humidity and steepness took its toll on our already exhausted bodies, so a late start meant only getting to enjoy 20 minutes on the top before having to catch the last cable car down! Boo for that, but it was still awesome and beautiful up top. The next day all 3 of us hopped in the car for the long drive down to Cape Point. We stopped at Boulder Beach on the way down for a chance to hang out with some penguins. Lauren used the opportunity to take about 500 facebook profile pics, all of which she didn’t really like in the end and will probably not use… but we were really close to some funny looking penguins, so that was cool. We then continued our drive down to Cape Point which was absolutely gorgeous… the drive, the point, the short hike we did, everything about it. You can read Lauren’s blog for the funny story that occurred at the Cape of Good Hope. Our last full day in Cape Town was Saturday and being completely exhausted we went for a more chilled out itinerary… I suffered through some morning shopping then we enjoyed strolling through the botanical gardens before picking up Palmer’s sister at the airport.
From Cape Town we headed out to the Stellenbosch area on Sunday to check out the winelands. It was fun to do a little wine tasting, and the first place we stopped at was great; the lady gave us 9 tastings, talked us through every wine and then gave us a quick tour of the wine cave. We were short on time, so we only stopped at one more place before finding a place to stay for the night. The area was beautiful and has lots of wineries to choose from, but I’d still take Napa over it hands down. It was fun to compare though. From their we had a long day of driving Monday, choosing to see the Southern Most point of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, Cape Alguhas, not content to settle with the lame “Most South-Western Point” that the Cape of Good Hope claims. I then enjoyed running down and jumping off huge sand dunes right on the coast at De Hoop NP. We crashed in a nice hostel in Mossel Bay that night before heading to Knysna the following day, which wasn’t all that exciting. Then on Wednesday we drove to my favorite part of the trip, Tsitsikamma National Park on the Storms River Mouth. This was cool because that night we stayed in a little cottage right on the coast and I watched the waves crash against the rocks from my bed, as well as taking a nice boat trip up the river and going on one of the most beautiful coastal hikes I’ve ever done. This was followed the next morning be going on a zipline canopy tour in the neighboring forest, which was good fun. Thursday we headed out of the Garden Route and towards Addo Elephant Park. I’m still kicking myself for not doing the Great White Shark cage diving… I talked about that so much back in September before I came out here and I didn’t even end up doing it, the schedule was too packed.
Anyway, Friday morning we drove into Addo Elephant Park early and let’s just say that it was appropriately named… we had front row seats from our car to observe elephants splashing themselves at a watering hole, baby elephants wrestling and even a stampede of elephants coming out of the trees and marching right past our car. It was awesome, and I think Lauren got about 1 million pictures of it, so hopefully there will be some good ones. That afternoon we drove off to East London where Palmer and her sister were catching an early flight back to Lily. As for Lauren and I, the trip continued… (onto part two). Oh, and I guess that wasn’t too brief… but like I said, we did a lot!
Friday, March 27, 2009
PRAYER CONCERN!
So I still owe you all vacation blogs and all that jazz, and they are basically written, but there is a more pressing concern now. One of the kids at Lily was admitted to the hospital on Friday night for bacterial meningitis. Please pray for his healing! Also, myself and 2 others spent a lot of time with him that day trying to get everything sorted, and he's a small child so that meant lots of holding him... bacterial meningitis can be very contagious, so please pray for God's protection over us and everyone else at Lily, that we don't also become ill. Not to mention that the hospital insisted on having someone stay with him, so a house mom is with him now in the "infectious disease" ward where they take no precautions at all and myself and the 2 others mentioned also spent considerable time there with no protection. TIA (this is africa) can be a really depressing phrase... sometimes this place just sucks. The hospital is a wreck, so I'm praying real hard.
This is just one of a few problems that we've had to deal with in my first week at the helm, but definitely the most serious. We're keeping things together so far, but its tough. I'm completely exhausted. We're low on people and of course everyone likes to take advantage of the boss being gone, and well, there are just a lot of kids. So please pray for strength, protection and wisdom for myself and the other volunteers. And just pray that things run smoothly and that relationships between staff, kids and volunteers are good during this time. Thanks so much. God bless.
This is just one of a few problems that we've had to deal with in my first week at the helm, but definitely the most serious. We're keeping things together so far, but its tough. I'm completely exhausted. We're low on people and of course everyone likes to take advantage of the boss being gone, and well, there are just a lot of kids. So please pray for strength, protection and wisdom for myself and the other volunteers. And just pray that things run smoothly and that relationships between staff, kids and volunteers are good during this time. Thanks so much. God bless.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Headmaster...
So, I'm back from vacation and was greeted by being informed that I would be running the show around here. That's right, Warren and Sungmin left today for a 2 week leave and as the old man on campus I've been charged with looking over everything. Of course we're a team of volunteers, so I'm not doing it alone nor am I really any sort of final say... but yeah... so much pressure... ahhh... jk.
Anyway, to prepare for my stint in charge I went all out...
http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.php?ParticipantKey=2009-351289
That's right, I shaved my head again... I bet Lily has never seen the head person in charge with such a funny looking head. So check out the link and if the pictures give you a chuckle and you feel like donating that would be awesome. Some of you may remember that my boss at the Dodger's got me to do this last year and we raised an amazing $2,700 in a very short time span. Of course everyone has been very generous in donating to my time here as well as many other things in your life, so I'm not aiming too high this time. Oh, and yes, this might be somewhat of an excuse to justify my stunt, but its for a good cause so give it a look. I might be posting more pictures of the shaving later.
As for everything else, I should have a few posts up in the near future to talk about my trip, some thoughts on SA, and why it's so depressing that a man like Zuma will probably be the new president of this country in a month. So stay tuned... hope you enjoy.
Anyway, to prepare for my stint in charge I went all out...
http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/shavee_info.php?ParticipantKey=2009-351289
That's right, I shaved my head again... I bet Lily has never seen the head person in charge with such a funny looking head. So check out the link and if the pictures give you a chuckle and you feel like donating that would be awesome. Some of you may remember that my boss at the Dodger's got me to do this last year and we raised an amazing $2,700 in a very short time span. Of course everyone has been very generous in donating to my time here as well as many other things in your life, so I'm not aiming too high this time. Oh, and yes, this might be somewhat of an excuse to justify my stunt, but its for a good cause so give it a look. I might be posting more pictures of the shaving later.
As for everything else, I should have a few posts up in the near future to talk about my trip, some thoughts on SA, and why it's so depressing that a man like Zuma will probably be the new president of this country in a month. So stay tuned... hope you enjoy.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Pictures!
Hey, so I finally got around to posting a bunch of pictures. Hope you enjoy them! Everything else is going pretty well over here. Take care.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/570304095EktmiN
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/570304268EGiaeO
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/570305596xhyRnx
And just for fun...
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/570304095EktmiN
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/570304268EGiaeO
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/570305596xhyRnx
And just for fun...
Monday, February 23, 2009
5 months! No Way
The internet has been down for a bit, good old Africa, so don’t think I’m ignoring you all. Wow, it’s been over 5 months now. I can hardly believe it. Time definitely flies by. Sometimes I wonder what I have actually accomplished during my time here, but I know I’ve poured myself into this place over that time. The thing is, you just get caught up doing all of the day to day stuff, it’s not a job where you are building something tangible per say that you are going to be able to finish and look back on. I’m just a small part of these kids’ life stories and I can only hope that my short stint here helps steer them onto the right path. I guess I may never fully know the answer to that in this lifetime.
A week and a half ago I got the chance to go along with Dave on some house visits in another nearby village. Mophela is definitely better off than some other townships as there is water and electricity (although not everyone has them to their house) and the main road is paved; we traveled out to another township that doesn’t have water, electricity or any paved roads and it was quite an experience. These people walk very far to collect water, food and wood. For wood they rummage for sticks in the nearby lumber farms, but also often steal the smaller cut logs. Kids and adults of all ages carry these long poles on their heads, while some of the smaller children drag sticks behind them. Whole extended families sleep on the floor of often just one big hut, with a fire in the middle for cooking and heating. Every house had these fires burning inside when we visited, as it was a cool day, and the smoke was suffocating; just another thing to cut down the lifespan of these people. Also, a few of their mud and plaster houses were starting to crumble with some of the recent heavy rain. We visited a few of the neediest families, where nobody was working and they were not receiving any government aide.
During the house visit we would go into their house and sit in a circle while our 2 Zulu friends asked the family how they were doing and translated back to us. After some time of this and other small talk we would eventually pray for them. Due to our diversity we had prayers in English, Zulu and German, which was awesome. As we left we would go back to the car and grab food parcels for them. Most of these families were on their last bit of food, just scraping by. It was cool though because all of them said that after the last time Dave and a group had come to visit them and pray for them, that they had definitely seen God providing and making things just a little easier, and they were filled with praise for that. We chose to give the food parcels out at the end of our trip so that the focus wouldn’t be on the food or on them thanking us, but instead that the focus be on establishing a true relationship and on prayer and pointing all thanksgiving back to God. Also, in return, even in their need, one of the families gave us a gift of fresh corn they were growing around their house. I felt bad accepting it, but was assured that the polite thing to do was to graciously receive their gift. God will surely bless their generosity.
In other news, I have a new roommate for a bit as a new volunteer, Andrew
came in from Canada on Monday. He is only here one month, of which I will only be around for 2.5 weeks, but it has been cool to have him around as an older guy with a great love for Christ, who I can fellowship with. I say he’s older cause he’s 27. I went to pick him up from the airport and the running joke around here was who would look older, him or me, which the other volunteers would judge upon our arrival back to Lily. Well, I was told it was me, but everyone keeps saying its cause I now have a full beard going. Andrew also used the beard excuse after he first guessed that I was in my thirties. Oh well, nothing new. (Picture on the right)
I said I’m only around for 2.5 weeks of the month Andrew is here cause on March 4th I will be heading out to Cape Town for my first and possibly only big tourist trip during my time here. It’ll be a 12 day jaunt, flying to Cape Town for 4 days and then driving the way back, spending time on the Garden Route and Wild Coast. I’ve been getting mixed messages on Cape Town so far. All of the foreigners say it’s a must see, while most South Africa’s from around here (Kwazulu Natal area) say it’s too much like a European city and not really African at all, and that I should go visit the bush instead. I’d like to do both, maybe get to Kruger or up to the Okavango Delta, we’ll see. It’s kind of weird cause you get so sucked into life at Lily and it can be hard to get away. But hey, I came here to serve at Lily not to be a tourist, so that’s the name of the game, I’m grateful for the chances I have to do some sightseeing on the side.
Another thing you can be praying about is that we’re looking to start up a class for some of the adolescents in the community and at Lily, going over the series “No Apologies: the truth about life, love and sex” from Focus on the Family. The main point of the program is to say that the only safe sex is abstinence, that condoms and other contraceptives aren’t a 100% guarantee against pregnancy and disease that could affect your life forever, and also to tell them about the emotional and spiritual effects of a sexual relationship and how God has a greater plan for sex in the confines of marriage, and how cool it can be to wait for that. So please pray for us as it is definitely a touchy subject around here, but one that needs to be discussed. Pray for wisdom in finding leaders, in deciding on class look and structure, in finding the right kids to come, and in opening the hearts and minds of not only the kids to come, but their families and the greater community. Also, I went to the local Mophela church yesterday and it just breaks my heart how few men and youth come to church, the women definitely seem more open to the word of God. Please join me in praying that God works in the hearts of the men and youth in the community. This is especially needed in this male dominated society where so many of the men are abusive or wrapped up in alcoholism and other sins of this world, and where the youth need strong examples, but also need to be reached personally so that there can be hope for the future.
Thanks as always for your partnership in my ministry. God Bless!
A week and a half ago I got the chance to go along with Dave on some house visits in another nearby village. Mophela is definitely better off than some other townships as there is water and electricity (although not everyone has them to their house) and the main road is paved; we traveled out to another township that doesn’t have water, electricity or any paved roads and it was quite an experience. These people walk very far to collect water, food and wood. For wood they rummage for sticks in the nearby lumber farms, but also often steal the smaller cut logs. Kids and adults of all ages carry these long poles on their heads, while some of the smaller children drag sticks behind them. Whole extended families sleep on the floor of often just one big hut, with a fire in the middle for cooking and heating. Every house had these fires burning inside when we visited, as it was a cool day, and the smoke was suffocating; just another thing to cut down the lifespan of these people. Also, a few of their mud and plaster houses were starting to crumble with some of the recent heavy rain. We visited a few of the neediest families, where nobody was working and they were not receiving any government aide.
During the house visit we would go into their house and sit in a circle while our 2 Zulu friends asked the family how they were doing and translated back to us. After some time of this and other small talk we would eventually pray for them. Due to our diversity we had prayers in English, Zulu and German, which was awesome. As we left we would go back to the car and grab food parcels for them. Most of these families were on their last bit of food, just scraping by. It was cool though because all of them said that after the last time Dave and a group had come to visit them and pray for them, that they had definitely seen God providing and making things just a little easier, and they were filled with praise for that. We chose to give the food parcels out at the end of our trip so that the focus wouldn’t be on the food or on them thanking us, but instead that the focus be on establishing a true relationship and on prayer and pointing all thanksgiving back to God. Also, in return, even in their need, one of the families gave us a gift of fresh corn they were growing around their house. I felt bad accepting it, but was assured that the polite thing to do was to graciously receive their gift. God will surely bless their generosity.
In other news, I have a new roommate for a bit as a new volunteer, Andrew
came in from Canada on Monday. He is only here one month, of which I will only be around for 2.5 weeks, but it has been cool to have him around as an older guy with a great love for Christ, who I can fellowship with. I say he’s older cause he’s 27. I went to pick him up from the airport and the running joke around here was who would look older, him or me, which the other volunteers would judge upon our arrival back to Lily. Well, I was told it was me, but everyone keeps saying its cause I now have a full beard going. Andrew also used the beard excuse after he first guessed that I was in my thirties. Oh well, nothing new. (Picture on the right)I said I’m only around for 2.5 weeks of the month Andrew is here cause on March 4th I will be heading out to Cape Town for my first and possibly only big tourist trip during my time here. It’ll be a 12 day jaunt, flying to Cape Town for 4 days and then driving the way back, spending time on the Garden Route and Wild Coast. I’ve been getting mixed messages on Cape Town so far. All of the foreigners say it’s a must see, while most South Africa’s from around here (Kwazulu Natal area) say it’s too much like a European city and not really African at all, and that I should go visit the bush instead. I’d like to do both, maybe get to Kruger or up to the Okavango Delta, we’ll see. It’s kind of weird cause you get so sucked into life at Lily and it can be hard to get away. But hey, I came here to serve at Lily not to be a tourist, so that’s the name of the game, I’m grateful for the chances I have to do some sightseeing on the side.
Another thing you can be praying about is that we’re looking to start up a class for some of the adolescents in the community and at Lily, going over the series “No Apologies: the truth about life, love and sex” from Focus on the Family. The main point of the program is to say that the only safe sex is abstinence, that condoms and other contraceptives aren’t a 100% guarantee against pregnancy and disease that could affect your life forever, and also to tell them about the emotional and spiritual effects of a sexual relationship and how God has a greater plan for sex in the confines of marriage, and how cool it can be to wait for that. So please pray for us as it is definitely a touchy subject around here, but one that needs to be discussed. Pray for wisdom in finding leaders, in deciding on class look and structure, in finding the right kids to come, and in opening the hearts and minds of not only the kids to come, but their families and the greater community. Also, I went to the local Mophela church yesterday and it just breaks my heart how few men and youth come to church, the women definitely seem more open to the word of God. Please join me in praying that God works in the hearts of the men and youth in the community. This is especially needed in this male dominated society where so many of the men are abusive or wrapped up in alcoholism and other sins of this world, and where the youth need strong examples, but also need to be reached personally so that there can be hope for the future.
Thanks as always for your partnership in my ministry. God Bless!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Pool Man...
… that’s my new job description. Yep, Mike and I have been spending many hours recently cleaning the Lily pool. We’ve got the cleanest pool on the block for sure. It went from being so green and gross that you could only see a few inches down to crystal clear and blue with a clean view to the bottom. Being able to see under the water is especially nice when trying to watch for drowning children. I mean, in December the pool was so gross that when Katie was told she’d have to dunk her head in if she didn’t reach her homework goal for the week, she freaked out about getting diseases… I on the other hand just enjoyed a swim the other day. Since December the pump was fixed and the pool cleaned, but it was still fairly dirty. Well, then in January the pump broke again and the pool declined into dangerous territory, yet the Lily kids were still allowed to swim in it. Quite frankly, this angered me some, as I thought it was a health risk allowing anyone, let alone HIV positive kids with weakened immune systems, swim in that pool. So Mike and I have slaved away, and it has been very rewarding to see the progress and finished project. In the past few days everyone got a chance to take a swim, from 4 year olds to teenagers, volunteers, the manager and even the maintenance workers… if only we could get the Zulu house moms in there, now that would be something.
Oh yeah, my mother called today to ask when I was writing my next blog (of course – and it worked) and had the pleasure of having a couple of the first and second graders get on the phone and say “Hello, mother for Uncle Ben.” This was especially funny cause just an hour earlier these girls were playing with my phone, pretending to call my mom and say “Hello, mother for Uncle Ben. Yes, Uncle Ben is being naughty.” Seriously, this is a regular occurrence especially when I am doing chest physio with them. (Don’t worry, I’m not being naughty, it’s just the only thing they can think to say, probably cause they’ve been called naughty so many times.) When their time came to shine though, they left off the latter part and just said a very cute hello. Hope you enjoyed that Mom.
This weekend I got the chance to help on a beach trip for a couple of the teenage kids’ birthday celebration. For the younger kids we just do a little party at Lily, but the teens get to pick a few friends and choose an outing. Obviously our kids can be a handle full at times, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this turned out to be one of my favorite days here. We bbq-ed and hung out and played in the waves and sand. I mean, I spent a few hours with some of the kids just playing a simple game where you rotate people yelling out whether to dive under and over the next incoming wave. Then later I was with a few of the other kids and had them stand on the shore and let the crashing waves wash the sand away from under their feet so that they sank in. They loved it all, and during the latter I got a chance to tell them a little about tides and swells and other fun stuff. It really was a great day, and we topped it off by all watching a movie together back at Lily. A few of the kids have come up to me since to tell me what a great day that was, and I definitely agree.
Every Sunday morning I help lead Sunday school for the first through sixth graders, and later Warren and Sungmin do something for the Youth, which I have never been to. Well, this past Sunday I decided to check it out, and Warren happened to be showing the movie Indescribable to the kids. I had never seen the movie, and loved it. The basic idea is that they talk about and show pictures of things in our Universe to show how small we are in comparison and how great is the God who made it all. There are some really cool photos and it really is amazing to think how massive and beautiful the Universe is and how small both us and our lifespan are in it. But again, it’s not just to make you feel small, it’s to show what an awesome God we have. Check it out if you get a chance.
In other news, homework club is still moving along. It’s going to be tough as always to reach these kids who are way behind American standards, but it seems to be going alright so far. Please pray for that. Also, pray for my health as I seem to constantly be battling some minor cold or something that just zaps me of energy at times. Please pray for my personal time with the Lord and also for the hearts of the children, house mothers and non-believing volunteers. The somewhat CEO of Lily you may say (not sure what to call him) is trying to move his family next door and our workers have been working franticly for months to get the house rebuilt and ready. The family had to move down to a neighboring building here this weekend as their housing had run out and the new house wasn’t quite ready. So please pray for them as they make the transition, the workers as they finish up, and also that everything go smoothly with the family now living basically on site. Finally, we have had one kid in particular who has been in serious pain from a disease for which she just underwent two weeks of chemotherapy. I can’t be any more specific, but she came back on Friday and by Monday was literally screaming from the pain, it was chilling and heart breaking and about brought me tears with sadness and frustration, especially when considering the story behind it all. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.
Hope you’re well. Please fill me in on what’s going on with you and how I can pray for you. God Bless.
Oh yeah, my mother called today to ask when I was writing my next blog (of course – and it worked) and had the pleasure of having a couple of the first and second graders get on the phone and say “Hello, mother for Uncle Ben.” This was especially funny cause just an hour earlier these girls were playing with my phone, pretending to call my mom and say “Hello, mother for Uncle Ben. Yes, Uncle Ben is being naughty.” Seriously, this is a regular occurrence especially when I am doing chest physio with them. (Don’t worry, I’m not being naughty, it’s just the only thing they can think to say, probably cause they’ve been called naughty so many times.) When their time came to shine though, they left off the latter part and just said a very cute hello. Hope you enjoyed that Mom.
This weekend I got the chance to help on a beach trip for a couple of the teenage kids’ birthday celebration. For the younger kids we just do a little party at Lily, but the teens get to pick a few friends and choose an outing. Obviously our kids can be a handle full at times, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this turned out to be one of my favorite days here. We bbq-ed and hung out and played in the waves and sand. I mean, I spent a few hours with some of the kids just playing a simple game where you rotate people yelling out whether to dive under and over the next incoming wave. Then later I was with a few of the other kids and had them stand on the shore and let the crashing waves wash the sand away from under their feet so that they sank in. They loved it all, and during the latter I got a chance to tell them a little about tides and swells and other fun stuff. It really was a great day, and we topped it off by all watching a movie together back at Lily. A few of the kids have come up to me since to tell me what a great day that was, and I definitely agree.
Every Sunday morning I help lead Sunday school for the first through sixth graders, and later Warren and Sungmin do something for the Youth, which I have never been to. Well, this past Sunday I decided to check it out, and Warren happened to be showing the movie Indescribable to the kids. I had never seen the movie, and loved it. The basic idea is that they talk about and show pictures of things in our Universe to show how small we are in comparison and how great is the God who made it all. There are some really cool photos and it really is amazing to think how massive and beautiful the Universe is and how small both us and our lifespan are in it. But again, it’s not just to make you feel small, it’s to show what an awesome God we have. Check it out if you get a chance.
In other news, homework club is still moving along. It’s going to be tough as always to reach these kids who are way behind American standards, but it seems to be going alright so far. Please pray for that. Also, pray for my health as I seem to constantly be battling some minor cold or something that just zaps me of energy at times. Please pray for my personal time with the Lord and also for the hearts of the children, house mothers and non-believing volunteers. The somewhat CEO of Lily you may say (not sure what to call him) is trying to move his family next door and our workers have been working franticly for months to get the house rebuilt and ready. The family had to move down to a neighboring building here this weekend as their housing had run out and the new house wasn’t quite ready. So please pray for them as they make the transition, the workers as they finish up, and also that everything go smoothly with the family now living basically on site. Finally, we have had one kid in particular who has been in serious pain from a disease for which she just underwent two weeks of chemotherapy. I can’t be any more specific, but she came back on Friday and by Monday was literally screaming from the pain, it was chilling and heart breaking and about brought me tears with sadness and frustration, especially when considering the story behind it all. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.
Hope you’re well. Please fill me in on what’s going on with you and how I can pray for you. God Bless.
Living it up in SA…
Last Wednesday all of the village volunteers and Warren and Sungmin went to a Sharks rugby scrimmage. It wasn’t a real game, just a warmup for the start of the new season, but the tickets were only 20 rand ($2), so we thought we’d check it out. It was fun going to my first rugby game and continuing to learn about the game from a very very passionate fan in Warren. I definitely want to get back to a real game when the stadium is full and rockin.
On the 31st of January all of us volunteers drove south on the coast some to Oribi Gorge for the day off. It was a beautiful place and is also home to the Wild 5… the main attraction being the gorge swing. What is a gorge swing you ask? Well, its basically a bungy jump without the elasticity of the bungy, instead after you fall you kind of swing out a little http://www.oribigorge.co.za/5_swing.htm. 5 of us in all gave it a try, including myself. I’d never done anything of the sort, but figured it was cheap enough to give it a go. It was definitely fun, but I’m not too scared of heights and I think that dulled the brief thrill, which I’m not sure was worth it enough for me to do much of the same in the future. I’m glad I did it though. The best part was just how picturesque the setting was, jumping off the cliff next to a waterfall into a beautiful gorge. In fact, the water got me a little wet as I was pulled back up to the top, which was awesome. Yet another recent adventure it was probably best my mother wasn’t around to see…
On the 31st of January all of us volunteers drove south on the coast some to Oribi Gorge for the day off. It was a beautiful place and is also home to the Wild 5… the main attraction being the gorge swing. What is a gorge swing you ask? Well, its basically a bungy jump without the elasticity of the bungy, instead after you fall you kind of swing out a little http://www.oribigorge.co.za/5_swing.htm. 5 of us in all gave it a try, including myself. I’d never done anything of the sort, but figured it was cheap enough to give it a go. It was definitely fun, but I’m not too scared of heights and I think that dulled the brief thrill, which I’m not sure was worth it enough for me to do much of the same in the future. I’m glad I did it though. The best part was just how picturesque the setting was, jumping off the cliff next to a waterfall into a beautiful gorge. In fact, the water got me a little wet as I was pulled back up to the top, which was awesome. Yet another recent adventure it was probably best my mother wasn’t around to see…
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Berg
So after 4 months I finally got myself up to the Drakensberg mountains for a short trip. It's not a far drive so we headed up friday evening, crashed for 1 night and then got up early and hiked all day the next day before driving home. All 7 volunteers and Warren and Sungmin went on the trip with much anticipation and it certainly delivered.
We hiked up to the top of the Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg area, via the Sentinel Dome trail. When we first started it was pretty cloudy and we were worried we wouldn't be able to see anything, but it turned into a beautiful day and was even a cool contrast of experiencing the way up in the mist and then the top and way down in the sun. The place is absolutely stunning. The mountains jut out of nowhere, causing giant sheer cliffs and skinny ridges. This time of year everything is also super green, which just makes it beautiful. Also, at the end of the hike is Tugela falls, the second highest falls in the world with a 3,110 ft drop... so that's pretty cool. You can only see the first part before there is a short cascade and its pretty skinny, but still stunning.
One of my favorite parts of the hike was that there is a set of chain ladders (think rope ladder from your tree house) that you climb up on the side of a cliff some 30 to 50 meters (heard different numbers, but you're hanging on the side of a cliff for a long time, put it that way. This is not for the faint hearted and we had some scared hikers, but all made it up (and back down). I remember the first time I ever hiked up to the top of Half Dome being really scared of heights, but now that stuff doesn't bother me too much, I even like the little rush. So needless to say I also enjoyed playing around on the jutting rock structures and going to the edge to get the best view straight down... good thing my mother wasn't around to watch me or she might have freaked (don't worry, I'm careful mother).
Anyway, it was a great trip of bothing bonding time with everyone and also a chance to see the beauty of God's creation here in South Africa. I mean, I can't look at something that beautiful and just, well, crazy, without seeing God's hand in it and being struck with awe. I'll try to get some pictures up of it soon, cause talking about the place just doesn't do it justice.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge" Psalm 19:1-2
"Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90:2
We hiked up to the top of the Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg area, via the Sentinel Dome trail. When we first started it was pretty cloudy and we were worried we wouldn't be able to see anything, but it turned into a beautiful day and was even a cool contrast of experiencing the way up in the mist and then the top and way down in the sun. The place is absolutely stunning. The mountains jut out of nowhere, causing giant sheer cliffs and skinny ridges. This time of year everything is also super green, which just makes it beautiful. Also, at the end of the hike is Tugela falls, the second highest falls in the world with a 3,110 ft drop... so that's pretty cool. You can only see the first part before there is a short cascade and its pretty skinny, but still stunning.
One of my favorite parts of the hike was that there is a set of chain ladders (think rope ladder from your tree house) that you climb up on the side of a cliff some 30 to 50 meters (heard different numbers, but you're hanging on the side of a cliff for a long time, put it that way. This is not for the faint hearted and we had some scared hikers, but all made it up (and back down). I remember the first time I ever hiked up to the top of Half Dome being really scared of heights, but now that stuff doesn't bother me too much, I even like the little rush. So needless to say I also enjoyed playing around on the jutting rock structures and going to the edge to get the best view straight down... good thing my mother wasn't around to watch me or she might have freaked (don't worry, I'm careful mother).
Anyway, it was a great trip of bothing bonding time with everyone and also a chance to see the beauty of God's creation here in South Africa. I mean, I can't look at something that beautiful and just, well, crazy, without seeing God's hand in it and being struck with awe. I'll try to get some pictures up of it soon, cause talking about the place just doesn't do it justice.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge" Psalm 19:1-2
"Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90:2
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Honey Badgers and Cute Kids
So most importantly, I wanted to share with you my recent African discovery: the most awesome animal alive… the Honey Badger. Oh man, I just watched a National Geographic special on these guys and they rock my world. They are small but so fierce and feisty. They move, hunt and eat nonstop. They take on the worlds deadliest snakes with no fear and devour them for dinner. Then they chase off animals 4 times their size and even put up a good fight against big hunters like lions and leopards… it took a leopard an hour to finally finish off an old, slow, half blind female badger on her last legs when it takes them just minutes to kill bigger game… the Honey Badger never gives up. Seriously, inspirational those Honey Badgers.
Anyway, on to slightly more relevant matters… I was asked when I first got here (maybe even before) by a few friends to send them pictures of the cutest kids here and tell them which ones they should adopt if for some crazy reason they decided they were looking to adopt as singles in their early twenties… I definitely try not to rank kids and show favoritism, but for fun I set out to find good pictures of the 5 cutest kids at Lily to send to my friends. Well, as I was flipping through I soon realized 5 wouldn’t be enough and the list grew by a few kids… then a few more... then a few more. Eventually I just gave up and will probably never send the pictures. What this exercise did though, was really open my eyes to how much I love these kids. I mean LOVE them. Sure, there is still one kid who probably wins out on most physical cuteness contests and who we want to sign up as a child model (think about the profits it would bring in for this place… hmm)… but honestly each one of the kids is cute for different reasons and their individual personalities hold a special place in my heart. I thank God for giving me the time to spend with these kids. I’m definitely going to miss them when I go, I can’t help but think about it already. I’ve been here fourth months as of today!!! Craziness.
Anyway, please pray for us and the kids as they head back to school. Just that they value learning and try and advance, and that we can help them with that. Also continued prayers for focus, energy and health. Thanks!
Anyway, on to slightly more relevant matters… I was asked when I first got here (maybe even before) by a few friends to send them pictures of the cutest kids here and tell them which ones they should adopt if for some crazy reason they decided they were looking to adopt as singles in their early twenties… I definitely try not to rank kids and show favoritism, but for fun I set out to find good pictures of the 5 cutest kids at Lily to send to my friends. Well, as I was flipping through I soon realized 5 wouldn’t be enough and the list grew by a few kids… then a few more... then a few more. Eventually I just gave up and will probably never send the pictures. What this exercise did though, was really open my eyes to how much I love these kids. I mean LOVE them. Sure, there is still one kid who probably wins out on most physical cuteness contests and who we want to sign up as a child model (think about the profits it would bring in for this place… hmm)… but honestly each one of the kids is cute for different reasons and their individual personalities hold a special place in my heart. I thank God for giving me the time to spend with these kids. I’m definitely going to miss them when I go, I can’t help but think about it already. I’ve been here fourth months as of today!!! Craziness.
Anyway, please pray for us and the kids as they head back to school. Just that they value learning and try and advance, and that we can help them with that. Also continued prayers for focus, energy and health. Thanks!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Christensens back and Lily girls punished
So the Christensens are back! They made it safely and with all of their bags, amazing. I filled up our big van with all 16 of their huge checked bags and all their carry-ons. I'm excited to have them back around and get things back to somewhat normal. Hope everyone in Apple Valley enjoyed their visit.
In other news, the Lily girls have been banished to their houses until they stop fighting and get better attitudes towards each other and authority. This is a good thing and hopefully they learn their lesson before its too late. As I've posted before, its hard to keep the reigns on so many kids and admister proper punishment to them all, which scares me for their developement. Another problem is that you can't really tailor punishment to each individual kid, but hopefully this all encompassing punishment does something. Please pray for them and us.
Also, school starts on Wednesday. Crazy to think about cause they've been off for so long. It'll be good for the kids to get back to school, but will also be more work for us again as we start back up with homework club for another year. I'm prepping myself now to get the kids to sit still for 30 minutes AFTER being in school all day already...
In other news, the Lily girls have been banished to their houses until they stop fighting and get better attitudes towards each other and authority. This is a good thing and hopefully they learn their lesson before its too late. As I've posted before, its hard to keep the reigns on so many kids and admister proper punishment to them all, which scares me for their developement. Another problem is that you can't really tailor punishment to each individual kid, but hopefully this all encompassing punishment does something. Please pray for them and us.
Also, school starts on Wednesday. Crazy to think about cause they've been off for so long. It'll be good for the kids to get back to school, but will also be more work for us again as we start back up with homework club for another year. I'm prepping myself now to get the kids to sit still for 30 minutes AFTER being in school all day already...
Ramble reflection
I used to love getting the monthly Stress Management email from the Dodger’s HR department and then emailing it to some of my friends, so a friend at work passed the last one on to me and I’ll share it with you now. They always make me laugh a little. There is definitely a little truth to share in these things, but they are also just so misguided from where we should be searching for true help… in God. So here goes…
"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
-----George Bernard Shaw
This month: NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
Well, its that time of the year - lots of promises, good intentions, lots of changes. Change is one of the most difficult things for us to do. For better or worse most of us would rather stay where we are, in that all too comfortable position, than do something different - even when we know it is ultimately better for us to make the change. But if you can see change as a “process” rather than something that happens all at once, it might be a little easier to add or delete something to your routine to help you on your way to a healthier lifestyle.
Do any of these New Year’s Resolutions sound familiar?
*Exercise. If you’ve decided exercise is your new thing for 2009, start slowly and add gradually. That new body you want is not going to happen overnight.
*Lose weight. The average person gains 5lbs between Thanksgiving and the new year. You’ve resolved to diet, but, oh, it is hard. Rather than just another diet, think about making some permanent healthy eating choices - a little at a time. If your thing is too much sugar (or fat, or carbs, or ...) cut back slowly. Think before putting that extra something in your mouth.
*Get organized. Set attainable goals and do a little on a regular basis. The thing to remember, don’t overwhelm yourself with too many changes. That’s a sure way to get stuck. Think in smaller increments and be easy on yourself. Change doesn’t happen overnight.
So remember, slow down, find gratitude in what you have, take time to take care of yourself.......and BREATHE.
Take that very first quote about what life is. What a shallow and empty life we would live if life was truly just about creating ourselves. Life is rather about discovering the great plan that God has for our lives and the joy and fulfillment that comes in serving Him, being made in His image. God’s plan for our lives is so much greater than anything we could think of… it lasts for eternity after all.
Anyway, this post is a little delayed from New Years, but I’m just finally getting around to it. As we start 2009 I have had some time to reflect on 2008 and try to think about what’s going to be different this year. I’m not one for cheap resolutions like above, so there will be none of that, just a few thoughts... although there is a long list of things I need to start doing to better myself; let’s just hope the following idea takes care of the most important ones.
More God, that’s the basic idea of it all really. It is crazy looking back and seeing how God has used me and changed me in the past year. I see that I was often self centered and self serving in many of my thoughts and actions leading up to coming here and in my early time here as well. I even used this trip somewhat as a way to escape things back in LA, like making a decision on what I wanted to do in my work life and get out of a little rut I was going through in my spiritual life. I thought Africa would be fun, a quick fix to my prayer and quiet times, and allow me to step away from the “real world” of work and postpone decisions on my future. Well when I got here, it wasn’t the quick fix for my spiritual life that I had hoped and I definitely didn’t give God the time or credit he deserved. In my time here I’ve used many excuses to try to explain why my God time has been struggling, like that I’m not surrounded by all Christians with the other volunteers, including even in my own house, which makes it harder to keep that focus on God… like I said, excuses. But God used all those things to get me, a prideful sinner, all the way to Africa to serve Him and to show me that there isn’t a quick fix, that I truly have to be in love with God and work at my relationship with him, and to let go of my stranglehold on my life and let God come in and change me. It has definitely been a humbling experience so far. Not much has gone like I planned, but my plan doesn’t matter, God has a better one and I look forward to the rest of it. My prayer is that this year be one that is focused on loving God and spending more time with him. That all I do be glorifying to God and working towards his kingdom. If God is first, everything else will take care of itself, and he will continue to transform me.
I hope that you will join me in this. So remember, slow down, breathe… and PUT GOD FIRST.
“I’m ready now,
Do what you will.”
"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
-----George Bernard Shaw
This month: NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
Well, its that time of the year - lots of promises, good intentions, lots of changes. Change is one of the most difficult things for us to do. For better or worse most of us would rather stay where we are, in that all too comfortable position, than do something different - even when we know it is ultimately better for us to make the change. But if you can see change as a “process” rather than something that happens all at once, it might be a little easier to add or delete something to your routine to help you on your way to a healthier lifestyle.
Do any of these New Year’s Resolutions sound familiar?
*Exercise. If you’ve decided exercise is your new thing for 2009, start slowly and add gradually. That new body you want is not going to happen overnight.
*Lose weight. The average person gains 5lbs between Thanksgiving and the new year. You’ve resolved to diet, but, oh, it is hard. Rather than just another diet, think about making some permanent healthy eating choices - a little at a time. If your thing is too much sugar (or fat, or carbs, or ...) cut back slowly. Think before putting that extra something in your mouth.
*Get organized. Set attainable goals and do a little on a regular basis. The thing to remember, don’t overwhelm yourself with too many changes. That’s a sure way to get stuck. Think in smaller increments and be easy on yourself. Change doesn’t happen overnight.
So remember, slow down, find gratitude in what you have, take time to take care of yourself.......and BREATHE.
Take that very first quote about what life is. What a shallow and empty life we would live if life was truly just about creating ourselves. Life is rather about discovering the great plan that God has for our lives and the joy and fulfillment that comes in serving Him, being made in His image. God’s plan for our lives is so much greater than anything we could think of… it lasts for eternity after all.
Anyway, this post is a little delayed from New Years, but I’m just finally getting around to it. As we start 2009 I have had some time to reflect on 2008 and try to think about what’s going to be different this year. I’m not one for cheap resolutions like above, so there will be none of that, just a few thoughts... although there is a long list of things I need to start doing to better myself; let’s just hope the following idea takes care of the most important ones.
More God, that’s the basic idea of it all really. It is crazy looking back and seeing how God has used me and changed me in the past year. I see that I was often self centered and self serving in many of my thoughts and actions leading up to coming here and in my early time here as well. I even used this trip somewhat as a way to escape things back in LA, like making a decision on what I wanted to do in my work life and get out of a little rut I was going through in my spiritual life. I thought Africa would be fun, a quick fix to my prayer and quiet times, and allow me to step away from the “real world” of work and postpone decisions on my future. Well when I got here, it wasn’t the quick fix for my spiritual life that I had hoped and I definitely didn’t give God the time or credit he deserved. In my time here I’ve used many excuses to try to explain why my God time has been struggling, like that I’m not surrounded by all Christians with the other volunteers, including even in my own house, which makes it harder to keep that focus on God… like I said, excuses. But God used all those things to get me, a prideful sinner, all the way to Africa to serve Him and to show me that there isn’t a quick fix, that I truly have to be in love with God and work at my relationship with him, and to let go of my stranglehold on my life and let God come in and change me. It has definitely been a humbling experience so far. Not much has gone like I planned, but my plan doesn’t matter, God has a better one and I look forward to the rest of it. My prayer is that this year be one that is focused on loving God and spending more time with him. That all I do be glorifying to God and working towards his kingdom. If God is first, everything else will take care of itself, and he will continue to transform me.
I hope that you will join me in this. So remember, slow down, breathe… and PUT GOD FIRST.
“I’m ready now,
Do what you will.”
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sorry, TIA
Hey, so the internet was down at Lily for the last week, which contributed to the lack of recent posts. I mean, for it to only go down for a week is kind of impressive I guess when the phone lines go down for months. But then again, it is via satellite (only way you can get internet living next to a township), so what the heck was wrong?? Good thing restarting the modem for the 30th time finally magically worked, cause Telkom probably wasnt going to make it out for a while. Anyway, I guess the positive side to the internet being down was that I didn't have to feel bad when I finally was able to read my parents emails complaining about me not blogging... jk (seriously though, they write said emails).
So yeah, what has happened in the last few weeks... well for the first story just read Lauren's blog http://laurenpalotay.blogspot.com/2009/01/african-quirk-i-dont-want-to-forget-2.html . It's funnier than I would probably write it and you should check out her site anyway.
Moving on, in recent news I'm now a hero... yep, Mike and I designated each other as heroes after I saved 4 drowning kids and he saved 3 the other day. That's right, Lily has a pool for the kids. The thing has been closed for a while as the filter broke and the pool was nasty, I mean nasty, but finally someone came out and fixed it and we got the parts we needed for the pump and started to clean the thing up a few weeks. Eventually Warren decided that it was clean enough for the kids to swim in. Mike and I thought otherwise, but what the heck, TIA after all; plus I was getting tired of the kids asking about it constantly. So Mike and I got the glorious job of playing lifeguard, and our first shift was the nursery and preschool kids... let me say first off that they were absolutely adorable, but watching them was hard work. Mike and I were standing at mid pool (which is still only a few feet deep) watching about 20 kids in front of us when I heard screams of "Uncle Ben! Uncle Ben!" from the masses of youngsters gathered around the fence looking on. I turned to see what they were pointing at and saw that 2 of the lil ones had somehow slipped passed me and were now fully submerged with their hands flailing overhead. I quickly dove in their direction and after a few short strokes was lifting 2 very scared kids out of the water. Wow, that one was a close call. I was terrified for the rest of the time and for good reason, as Mike and I recorded 4 more saves in the next 30 minutes with the lil kids, all in about 2 feet of water, ha. Anyway, after surviving that adventure we next let in all of the older kids, grade 1 and up... this was a mistake. The unbridled exhilaration of 50 kids unleashed itself on the small pool. It was wall to wall kids. Most of the kids can handle themselves, but I still freaked out every time one of them tried to see how long they could hold their breath. And our hero work was not yet finished as in the madness one kid who couldn't really swim got forced off the wall and into the deep end by the masses. I quickly grabbed his arm from the side and mike jumped in after him as we pulled him out coughing and shaking to safety. I don't think I've ever been so tired as when we finally closed the pool up for the day... I'm joking about the hero stuff of course, but it was one heck of an experience.
In other news, Lily has been hit by some very strong storms in the last few weeks that have caused a decent amount of damage. The winds were very strong and uprooted trees, threw a 20 ft high huge plastic water tank (empty) 100 yards into the side of a house where it shattered, and also ripped the rain gutter off the front of my house, throwing it completely over the house and the security fence 10 ft behind the back. Thankfully the Lord protected all the people at Lily, but please pray that we get some insurance reimbursement to help cover some of the losses. I was bummed I missed both the big storms, as I love storms, but Warren keeps trying to tell me that I should be glad I wasn't around for those.
Oh yeah, and we got in a couple of new volunteers in the last week. Penny from Texas and Julia from Germany. Please pray for them as they get settled in (although Penny has been here before) and pray for our group of volunteers, that we can all get along and grow together in serving Christ.
Hope all is well with YOU. God bless.
So yeah, what has happened in the last few weeks... well for the first story just read Lauren's blog http://laurenpalotay.blogspot.com/2009/01/african-quirk-i-dont-want-to-forget-2.html . It's funnier than I would probably write it and you should check out her site anyway.
Moving on, in recent news I'm now a hero... yep, Mike and I designated each other as heroes after I saved 4 drowning kids and he saved 3 the other day. That's right, Lily has a pool for the kids. The thing has been closed for a while as the filter broke and the pool was nasty, I mean nasty, but finally someone came out and fixed it and we got the parts we needed for the pump and started to clean the thing up a few weeks. Eventually Warren decided that it was clean enough for the kids to swim in. Mike and I thought otherwise, but what the heck, TIA after all; plus I was getting tired of the kids asking about it constantly. So Mike and I got the glorious job of playing lifeguard, and our first shift was the nursery and preschool kids... let me say first off that they were absolutely adorable, but watching them was hard work. Mike and I were standing at mid pool (which is still only a few feet deep) watching about 20 kids in front of us when I heard screams of "Uncle Ben! Uncle Ben!" from the masses of youngsters gathered around the fence looking on. I turned to see what they were pointing at and saw that 2 of the lil ones had somehow slipped passed me and were now fully submerged with their hands flailing overhead. I quickly dove in their direction and after a few short strokes was lifting 2 very scared kids out of the water. Wow, that one was a close call. I was terrified for the rest of the time and for good reason, as Mike and I recorded 4 more saves in the next 30 minutes with the lil kids, all in about 2 feet of water, ha. Anyway, after surviving that adventure we next let in all of the older kids, grade 1 and up... this was a mistake. The unbridled exhilaration of 50 kids unleashed itself on the small pool. It was wall to wall kids. Most of the kids can handle themselves, but I still freaked out every time one of them tried to see how long they could hold their breath. And our hero work was not yet finished as in the madness one kid who couldn't really swim got forced off the wall and into the deep end by the masses. I quickly grabbed his arm from the side and mike jumped in after him as we pulled him out coughing and shaking to safety. I don't think I've ever been so tired as when we finally closed the pool up for the day... I'm joking about the hero stuff of course, but it was one heck of an experience.
In other news, Lily has been hit by some very strong storms in the last few weeks that have caused a decent amount of damage. The winds were very strong and uprooted trees, threw a 20 ft high huge plastic water tank (empty) 100 yards into the side of a house where it shattered, and also ripped the rain gutter off the front of my house, throwing it completely over the house and the security fence 10 ft behind the back. Thankfully the Lord protected all the people at Lily, but please pray that we get some insurance reimbursement to help cover some of the losses. I was bummed I missed both the big storms, as I love storms, but Warren keeps trying to tell me that I should be glad I wasn't around for those.
Oh yeah, and we got in a couple of new volunteers in the last week. Penny from Texas and Julia from Germany. Please pray for them as they get settled in (although Penny has been here before) and pray for our group of volunteers, that we can all get along and grow together in serving Christ.
Hope all is well with YOU. God bless.
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Years Eve
Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all got to do something fun or at least relaxing and enjoyable. New Years Eve is one of those holidays that just always seem to be over hyped and normally is a let down. To be honest with you, this year I was a little worried about the prospect of being at Lily for New Years Eve, just cause I thought the kids would be too crazy and out of hand for it to be enjoyable. But I also didn’t really feel like going out anywhere... not in South Africa, not on a mission trip.
So the compromise was that the other 4 volunteers and I went out to dinner and then came back to Lily for the late night celebrations. What resulted was a good fun night. Back at Lily they had 2 big barbeques going in Phase 2 (the boys half of Lily, where I live). From 11 till after midnight we hung around the barbeques as Warren and Mike helped the Ma’s barbeque food for all of the houses. The kids were really excited to be staying out late for the night and were in high spirits. I had a lot of fun just being goofballs with them, from jumping on the trampoline to racing around phase 2 to just sitting on my front step joking around. Earlier in the day Mike and I had gone and bought a bunch of fireworks from a guy selling them out of his car at one of the local supermarkets. Mike and I set off the fireworks in the middle of phase 2 (for all interested I still have all my limbs, thank you). Anyway, I love shooting off my own fireworks and we had some big ones, so that was fun, but the coolest part was seeing how excited the kids got watching them. Kids have such a passion for life that it seems only they can and it can be very invigorating to be around; New Years Eve was one of those times.
I hope the New Year finds you well. Blessings.
So the compromise was that the other 4 volunteers and I went out to dinner and then came back to Lily for the late night celebrations. What resulted was a good fun night. Back at Lily they had 2 big barbeques going in Phase 2 (the boys half of Lily, where I live). From 11 till after midnight we hung around the barbeques as Warren and Mike helped the Ma’s barbeque food for all of the houses. The kids were really excited to be staying out late for the night and were in high spirits. I had a lot of fun just being goofballs with them, from jumping on the trampoline to racing around phase 2 to just sitting on my front step joking around. Earlier in the day Mike and I had gone and bought a bunch of fireworks from a guy selling them out of his car at one of the local supermarkets. Mike and I set off the fireworks in the middle of phase 2 (for all interested I still have all my limbs, thank you). Anyway, I love shooting off my own fireworks and we had some big ones, so that was fun, but the coolest part was seeing how excited the kids got watching them. Kids have such a passion for life that it seems only they can and it can be very invigorating to be around; New Years Eve was one of those times.
I hope the New Year finds you well. Blessings.
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