One of my friends here has a boil at the moment, which got me thinking of Job. I have named my friend's butt "Little Job" and decided to read the part of Job that talks about his boils. A little random I know, but reading a little further I came across something that I've missed every other time I've read Job. Job's children had just died and he was covered in boils from head to toe...
"When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words." - Job 2:11-13
Sometimes sitting with a friend who is in pain is all you can do...and it's enough.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Two Sisters
Yesterday I went out to Two Sisters, a drop-in centre for orphans, near ASM. The internet has been down so I haven't been able to post pics until now. They are here.
The kids sang some songs and had a bible lesson and then Jacqueline, Portia and I went outside to talk with the teenagers. They were all orphans living with foster parents. We had a question and answer time and I found it really interesting that they were asking the same questions that western kids ask. How do I deal with peer pressure? When can I get a boyfriend? Why do I have to go to school? They really are pretty hard questions to answer.
The question I found myself asking was, what can I do to give these kids a sense of purpose? Some of them are working hard and staying on track, but some are looking for comfort in the wrong places and it will most likely end up killing them.
Overall it was a great experience, and I'll go back if I get the chance.
The kids sang some songs and had a bible lesson and then Jacqueline, Portia and I went outside to talk with the teenagers. They were all orphans living with foster parents. We had a question and answer time and I found it really interesting that they were asking the same questions that western kids ask. How do I deal with peer pressure? When can I get a boyfriend? Why do I have to go to school? They really are pretty hard questions to answer.
The question I found myself asking was, what can I do to give these kids a sense of purpose? Some of them are working hard and staying on track, but some are looking for comfort in the wrong places and it will most likely end up killing them.
Overall it was a great experience, and I'll go back if I get the chance.
Monday, March 23, 2009
CatRat
I forgot to say, two nights ago I saw a rat on the side of the road (near ASM) that was bigger than Merlin (our cat). No joke. I thought it must have been a mongoose or something, but it was a big ass rat. Talk about scary!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Kruger
Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Kruger Park. It was great! We saw a whole bunch of animals and didn't get eaten or trampled by anything. I've put a whole bunch of pics up here. I had a challenging week, in that I haven't been doing much and I still don't know where I'm going or what I'm going to do. So after a bit of a freak out I realised that God has me in a Sabbath Season, a time to rest and just be with Him. I don't know how long it will last, but that's OK. Life was so crazy at home and I was always so busy, it's nice to have a bit of a breather.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Excitement
This Mozambiquan Spitting Cobra was in the prayer room at ASM last night. A group of manly men headed out to kill it, but one of the guys managed to save it before they did. It was only around 30cm long. It certainly added some excitement to the evening!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Camp!
This is what the mountain has looked like in the mornings for the last few days, after it has rained at night.
It's looking like I'm going to stay at ASM for the rest of the term. Today I'm heading to Sikelele with Edrei, Jacqueline, Maresa and Scharl (from ASM) for a youth camp until Monday...1500 kids and only one leader per 50 kids! They're not christian kids either so this could be interesting, but I'm really excited to see what God is up to and looking forward to imparting into the kids.
Please pray for us.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Rain
It bucketed down last night! All the frogs were out, it was great (if you like frogs). This little frog was sitting at my door. I tried to find out what it is, but limited internet speed meant I couldn't. If anyone knows please let me know :)
I'm doing a course this week called Kairos which has been interesting.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Braai
Today I went in to White River for some groceries with Kelly (he's a pastor from North Carolina, USA), Amaranda (one of the staff here) and her son and grandson. There is a place where you can get a 5L water bottle refilled with clean water for just 4 Rand, which works out to about AU60 cents. We had lunch at a cafe and then headed back in the afternoon. It was very pleasant.
Tonight I had my first Braai, which is basically just a BBQ... but with boereworst instead of sausages.
There are more photo's here
Friday, March 06, 2009
Some Quiet
I've had a quiet couple of days.
Yesterday I sat out on the balcony by myself all morning looking at the mountain and just enjoying some space. I'm trying not to fill all my time with "stuff", and here at asm is a great place to catch some chill time.
Later in the afternoon I headed out to K2-Masoyi Home Based Care, a project about 10 minutes away that does a whole heap of stuff including advocating for orphans and vulnerable children. Check out some pics here . It was a bit too late in the day to see much but I hope to get out there again soon.
Today I played guitar with the band for chapel. My fingers are pretty sore...I played for a couple of hours yesterday morning, then a couple in the afternoon, then this morning and I have rehearsal for all night prayer/worship in half an hour. My poor fingers are not used to playing acoustic!
Then I went back to bed, feeling a little headachey...I think the jetlag may be hitting a bit.
Tomorrow I'm heading into White River to shop! Yay!
Yesterday I sat out on the balcony by myself all morning looking at the mountain and just enjoying some space. I'm trying not to fill all my time with "stuff", and here at asm is a great place to catch some chill time.
Later in the afternoon I headed out to K2-Masoyi Home Based Care, a project about 10 minutes away that does a whole heap of stuff including advocating for orphans and vulnerable children. Check out some pics here . It was a bit too late in the day to see much but I hope to get out there again soon.
Today I played guitar with the band for chapel. My fingers are pretty sore...I played for a couple of hours yesterday morning, then a couple in the afternoon, then this morning and I have rehearsal for all night prayer/worship in half an hour. My poor fingers are not used to playing acoustic!
Then I went back to bed, feeling a little headachey...I think the jetlag may be hitting a bit.
Tomorrow I'm heading into White River to shop! Yay!
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Mobile Clinic
Today I went out with the nurses who run a mobile clinic. We went to a banana plantation and set up there where the creche is for the workers' kids. It was a fairly quiet day today. Sometimes the nurses are there from 8:30am-9pm but today they managed to get through all the patients before 1pm. These nurses basically do the job of a doctor, diagnosing and treating patients with a whole range of diseases.
My first few minutes there were a little overwhelming, it's hard to describe what I was feeling, but I think it was mostly compassion. It was so sad and yet they were so beautiful. I had to work very hard to keep myself together.
I got to hold a two month old baby who was brought in by his grandmother, she looked no older than 30. The baby was severely underweight, he had in fact lost weight since his last visit and it turns out his mother has been in hospital for the last three weeks with malaria. They have no money for formula so this tiny baby has been living off soft porridge and water.
ASM has a feeding program for HIV babies, but due to budget constraints they are unable to provide formula for non-HIV babies. The baby's grandmother wanted him tested for HIV as she suspects his mother is infected.
We gave him a bottle to settle him a bit so he could be properly assessed and then he was tested for HIV. Because it's only been three weeks since he was breastfed he could still have his mother's antibodies, so he may return a false positive if she is infected but he is not. The tests showed he could be infected, so he was put on the feeding program, but will have to be re-tested in a month to confirm whether he's HIV infected or not.
There were around 20 kids in the creche, all under the age of five I'd say. I pulled out my guitar after all the patients were seen to and the kids danced around...shaking their little booties. So cute!
Most of the children are malnourished and underweight, so ASM provides vitamin supplements to give them a better chance. They seem pretty happy though.
I also "got" to use my first drop dunny...talk about stinky! There was no door, the dunny was just in a little building around a corner. My thighs got a good work-out but overall I came out of the experience quite well.
I don't know what I'm up to tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to getting out with the nurses again sometime soon.
P.S. Sarah, you're going to LOVE the mission field!
My first few minutes there were a little overwhelming, it's hard to describe what I was feeling, but I think it was mostly compassion. It was so sad and yet they were so beautiful. I had to work very hard to keep myself together.
I got to hold a two month old baby who was brought in by his grandmother, she looked no older than 30. The baby was severely underweight, he had in fact lost weight since his last visit and it turns out his mother has been in hospital for the last three weeks with malaria. They have no money for formula so this tiny baby has been living off soft porridge and water.
ASM has a feeding program for HIV babies, but due to budget constraints they are unable to provide formula for non-HIV babies. The baby's grandmother wanted him tested for HIV as she suspects his mother is infected.
We gave him a bottle to settle him a bit so he could be properly assessed and then he was tested for HIV. Because it's only been three weeks since he was breastfed he could still have his mother's antibodies, so he may return a false positive if she is infected but he is not. The tests showed he could be infected, so he was put on the feeding program, but will have to be re-tested in a month to confirm whether he's HIV infected or not.
There were around 20 kids in the creche, all under the age of five I'd say. I pulled out my guitar after all the patients were seen to and the kids danced around...shaking their little booties. So cute!
Most of the children are malnourished and underweight, so ASM provides vitamin supplements to give them a better chance. They seem pretty happy though.
I also "got" to use my first drop dunny...talk about stinky! There was no door, the dunny was just in a little building around a corner. My thighs got a good work-out but overall I came out of the experience quite well.
I don't know what I'm up to tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to getting out with the nurses again sometime soon.
P.S. Sarah, you're going to LOVE the mission field!
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Day 4
Now that it's daylight I can actually see what's around me! Mountains! It's a good thing I like them :)
I had the worst night sleep so far last night, I think I only got around 2 hours of real sleep but I'm doing OK.
The ASM guys have been very accommodating and I'm allowed to come and go as I please which is great for me. I like to be free!
The internet here is slower than dial up...or so I'm told, so I'm going to have to wait until I have a few hours free to post pics.
I've decided to write my posts on here, but post photo's on my facebook, so I'll just put a link to them on here once they're up. It may take me a few days.
I had the worst night sleep so far last night, I think I only got around 2 hours of real sleep but I'm doing OK.
The ASM guys have been very accommodating and I'm allowed to come and go as I please which is great for me. I like to be free!
The internet here is slower than dial up...or so I'm told, so I'm going to have to wait until I have a few hours free to post pics.
I've decided to write my posts on here, but post photo's on my facebook, so I'll just put a link to them on here once they're up. It may take me a few days.
End of Day 3
I made it safely out of Joburg! Yay! The 5 hour bus ride to White River (where Africa School of Missions is) was AMAZING! The mountains, oh! the mountains! Today I felt like God had created me to love Africa. The beauty of His creation was so breathtaking I had to remind myself to breathe. I tried to take pics but they just don't do any justice. My credit card decided not to work at the Pick n Pay so I hope it's OK... It worked on Saturday... So here I am now at ASM, everyone I've met seems nice. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow has in store.
Johannesburg
28/02/09
Well I made it to Johannesburg! The flight was very non-eventful & seemed about half as long as it should have...and I haven't cried since I left Perth! I woke up this morning to bird calls I've never heard before...it was great! I don't really feel like I'm out of Oz yet except people keep speaking at me in Afrikaans...hehe. And I don't think African bananas are quite as gross as Aussie ones. Thanks to everyone who sent me goodbye messages, sorry I didn't reply. I really do love you!
Well I made it to Johannesburg! The flight was very non-eventful & seemed about half as long as it should have...and I haven't cried since I left Perth! I woke up this morning to bird calls I've never heard before...it was great! I don't really feel like I'm out of Oz yet except people keep speaking at me in Afrikaans...hehe. And I don't think African bananas are quite as gross as Aussie ones. Thanks to everyone who sent me goodbye messages, sorry I didn't reply. I really do love you!
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