Hey Everyone!
Man has it been a crazy journey! Whoo! So I am actually in an internet cafe right now and I am a little rushed for time so I won't be able to make a very epic blog but I will do my best to update you on what I have been doing.
So after I got back from SUIS camp on the 19th we had our first and one of the last breaks. I got to go to the largest mall in the Southern hemisphere. Not as fun as it sounds. Not that cool when it's a beautiful day and you are inside, BUT I did get to go on two short hikes in the reservation near our base. Saw some awesome waterfalls, zebra, and other legendary sites. But then on the 23rd we were off again.
We spent the 23rd - 28th at Careline Crisis Center in Assagay which is a Christian owned and operated rehabilitation center. It was actually very hard to be spending Christmas away from my family and friends, but it was a good way to build relationships with the people at the crisis center because we were all in the same boat.
On the 29th we went on a 4 day hike with the Careline folks through the transkei. It is definitely in the top list of one of the most beautiful and fun hikes I have ever done! It was a blast. We would hike 15-20ks a day and then spend the night in a village.
One of the places we stayed was next to the ocean and one morning as I looked out I saw 3 pods of 30 + dolphins swimming by and surfing the waves in one day! It was insane!!! Also one of the guys had been surfing and a fisherman called out to him to get out of the water and there were 3 tiger sharks beside him! But he survived so we were all thankful, but wow it was insane!
What was especially cool about the experience was that as we were walking and talking to the guys we were able to listen to their stories and eventually tell them about Jesus. One night we even led a worship session in the hut we were staying in just by leading them in singing! Really was such a blesssing!
We got back from the hike late night on the 1st and we were off again. On the 2nd we got in two land rovers and set off that morning. We actually drove through a place called Sani Pass which is a beautiful no man's land between South Africa and Lesotho. We actually drove from an altitude of 2,900 ft to 9,000 ft!!! It is very mountainous and dry here! I miss my oceans like nobody's business!
We are partnering with a missions organization called One Heart Missions, but we have met people from Operation Mobilization, World Vision, and the Peace Corps. It has been cool to meet new and different people from all over.
It was very over whelming being here, and it reminds me of Mexico with possibly half the people and Besotho and Chinese population. Definitely has been strange not having electricity and being able to contact people either, but I've been using this time to really connect with God and seek His will for my life which is really cool!
We are working with a local church here, and on Sundays we go to church; during the week, we help out at the church's soup kitchen (which actually has had yet to happen because they keep canceling, but as they say TIA "this is Africa" aka African Time). Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays we have a kids club we have been running. We play games, perform dramas (which a group of the kids re-enacted this past Sunday), give a small teaching on Bible verse, and just have fun.Yesterday it was my turn to lead it and I played my first came of cricket! Pretty cool.
Also on Wednesday mornings we have a prison ministry, and finally on Saturday we help out at the church's youth ministry.
But the time in between is then taken up by different things. Like last Thursday, we went to our translator's aunt's funeral. It was 6 hours. I had 4 hours of self reflection, 1 hour walking to the grave yard, and another hour of eating. It was strangely a very joyous time and a time for people to get together. So a funeral would be a misfit word but celebration of life would be better.
In my free time I have been giving guitar lessons to Jacques, Ashleigh, and Kirsten. They gave their first recital last night. I couldn't be prouder! They did very well! But while I am teaching them, I am teaching myself bass guitar.
Pray Requests for me:
- I'm home sick from Florida and South Africa. I miss the ocean and I miss my friends and family. To be honest I never became deeply home sick from Florida when I was in SA because it wasn't that different, and I had friends and a church family to lean on and communication. Here it is VERY different and I am refraining from contacting the outside world too much. So it's kinda hard.
- Protection. We found out that our neighbor's brother was released from prison for his second time for stealing (Side note: it only took him a week to get arrested the second time after being released the first). And he happens to have every key to our base. I don't know how, but he does. So please pray for that.
Thank you everyone for praying and I'm super sorry how rough this has been. I hope next time I write I have more time to edit, and clean it up.
LOTS OF LOVE :D
Shannon
