Happy Holiday

School is on holiday for a week and a half. We thought it would be fun to have a couple soccer clubs to give the kids something to do. We are also going to be visiting our girls at their homes to meet with them and their parents. Please pray that God would open doors for us to share the Good News. Pray for us to continue to build relationships with our girls.

The kids love to play soccer... they basically run around the field as a group chasing the ibola (ball). I'm not sure if they understand the concept of positions but it doesn't matter because they have a good time. They do have some awesome foot skills.

The girls got tired of playing so we decided to move off the field after getting yelled at for just standing around talking during the game. I enjoyed spending time with them on the sidelines.

Johannah, Jabulile and Zanele are sweet girls that attend Sunday School at Faith Baptist Church.

Heritage Day Pt. 3

We were invited by our friend, the Deputy Principal at one of our schools where we do Girls Club to go to her church in Soweto for a cultural day celebration. Of course Amber and I gladly accepted the invitation!

I am so amazed with how hospitable and generous the people of South Africa are. She took us to the bakery to buy scones (20 of them) to send home with us! She is so sweet and such a joy to be around. We hope to spend more time with her.

The program included dancing by different people groups such as the Sotho, Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Venda, and Tsonga. There was a time of worship which was wonderful as we sang in multiple languages... a taste of Heaven when every tribe, tongue and nation will be worshipping God. There was a good speaker who talked about culture and how God built into each culture something that points to Himself.

Let me add that I am NOT a dancer... but this was like a huge dance party. It was awesome. I just try to imitate them because they know how to move!

This is a traditional Tsonga dance... performed by little girls.

Heritage Day Pt. 2

This week is full of many cultural experiences and we are loving it! We were invited to Hector Peterson Primary School for their celebration of heritage.

This is a sweet lady that we have built a friendship with since beginning our Girls Club two weeks ago. If you look closely on the tray, you will see that we partook in tea, ingwyna (fat cakes which are basically funnel cakes) and snoek (fish). This is considered a breakfast food. They told us that the snoek is "nice" but that you must wash your hands with soap and chew gum to get rid of the fishy smell. Fun times!

Children love getting their picture taken. When the camera comes out they all run towards you and say "shoot me." How can you resist these sweet faces?

These girls were a lot of fun. They kept on insisting that I dance but would laugh when I broke out some of my moves... not sure why? I attempted to do vuma which is a popular dance here and got a few laughs. So, I asked them to teach me and then taught me how to "cut the cake." Amber and I are going to work on a routine for the talent show we will have at our last Girls Club meeting. They're not ready for that!!

Africans can dance! Even the little kids can break it down...

Heritage Day

24 September is a public holiday on which South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions. South Africa is known as a "rainbow nation" which was coined to describe the nation after apartheid rule officially ended with the first fully democratic election in 1994.

We were invited to Obed Messiane Primary to celebrate Heritage Day and support our grade 7 girls from Girls Club. These are a few of our girls who danced. They were shocked to see us but ran up with excitement to greet us.

We were announced by the MC (master of ceremony) as guests from the States and treated with honor the whole day. We were seated with the other teachers where we had a good view of the performance. Teachers kept telling the children in front of us to hlalapantsi (sit) so that we could see.

There was singing and dancing representing many different cultures. Both girls and boys of all different ages participated. It was fun to experience traditional dancing and dress. I'm so thankful they didn't ask us to jiva (dance).

We were then invited to have a traditional African meal with the teachers. We were given a choice as to what we wanted to eat... (1) samp and tripe or (2) pap and chicken. But at first they used the Zulu word for tripe therefore we were not sure what they were offering. Then as they were explaining what it was they said tripe and that it was intestines. They brought us a plate with samp and tripe to try it as 30 teachers were looking to see our reaction. When asked what we thought, we said that it was pretty good but decided we would try chicken and pap. I think they were a little sad we didn't choose tripe.

Please check Amber's blog to hear about our contribution to lunch... American cultural food.

On the far right is Lize who is one of the two women helping us with Girls Club. All the teachers were in traditional clothing, which included Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Sotho, Tswana and Nigerian. They loved our South African skirts!

I'm thankful for this opportunity to spend time with the teachers of Obed Messiane and celebrate Heritage Day with them. They were so welcoming and appreciative of our support! Please be praying that they will allow us to continue with Girls Club next year. Our girls will finish school in December and a new group of Grade 7 will begin in January. Pray also that we would be able to continue to develop relationships with the teachers and share the love of Christ.

This is one of the videos of the children dancing... Zulu style!

Umbuzo

We currently have Girls Club with Grade 7 girls in 4 different schools. We have begun to develop friendships with them where they feel comfortable talking with us. This is an answer to prayer so thank you for lifting us up!

We want Girls Club to be a place where the girls can come and ask questions that they may not be able to ask anyone else. Some of these girls do not have parents or mothers to teach them.

We have created a question box where girls can write on slips of paper questions they have that they do not want to ask in front of everyone. This allows for us to address the question to the group.

Umbuzo or Question:

1. I don't like to talk to much because people don't love you and boy want to sleep with you. I don't know why.
   
2. Why people hate you when you do good things.
3. What happens when a person had raped you if you don't report him.
   
4. What is your dad don't love you.
   
5. What if you are pregnant how could you tell mom you can choose to tell your mom or could tell your teacher
6. I know that God always answer prayer but sometimes why when things are tough God does not help? Why does God sometimes do things that makes us really really sad?
7. Lets say you have a mother who always stay drunk what would you do
   
8. Why I don't have parents. Why God have to take my parents away from me.
   
9. Why does boy like to tease girls or beat them?
   
10. If you want to love god what do you have to do.
11. What will you do when your father beats you own mother
12. What do I do if my parents want to divorce each other because of my fathers behavior?
13. I love God and I want people to know about him. I want God to make me a person who love him and work for him.
    

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for the girls safety as they live in a very dangerous place.
   
2. Pray that these girls would repent and believe in the Father. And that they would understand how much He loves them and wants to take care of them.
3. Pray that the Lord would give us the wisdom and words to say to address these difficult issues.
   
4. Pray that we would find our strength and shelter in the Lord as I am feeling overwhelmed with the task ahead of us!

2nd Saturday

On the 2nd Saturday of the month, we pick a block in Soweto and pass out Challenge newspapers. This newspaper has stories of people whose lives have been changed by Jesus. We have met many people who are now faithful members of Faith Baptist Church through passing out these newspapers.

This is Karabo... he is one of my best buds! He usually comes out to help us pass out papers. He does a great job and is so enthusiastic (don't let the serious face fool you). We challenged him to learn John 3:16 on Wednesday and he said it Saturday in exchange for a sweetie. Doesn't hurt to offer children an incentive, nay?

These boys were just hanging out reading the newspaper, which is primarily in English but has a section in Zulu and Afrikaans. Students begin learning English in primary school. We find that in a group of children, there is usually one spokesperson who will translate for the other children. One of the many reasons I want to learn Zulu is to be able to understand it when children gather around me speaking and laughing... while you have no idea what they are saying.

As we walk around, I practice my Zulu by greeting children and asking their names. I love it because immediately they smile so big and laugh. I always give them sharp which is the pushing of the thumbs together as a form of what's up or goodbye. These are just a few of the kids I met and played with.

We had the opportunity to walk around with Lihle and Sibongile. They helped us find the homes of girls from our Girls Club so we could invite them to church. It is so encouraging to see nationals excited about telling others about Jesus in their own community. I love them both dearly (oh and of course Amber)!

Ko Ko

Ko Ko: This phrase is used instead of actually knocking when entering someone's yard or house.

On Thursdays, we go and meet with people that have visited church or that we have met who seem interested in learning more about God. We have also begun to meet with the families of the girls from our Girls Club.

These are two of our really good friends, Sibongile and Tracy (the mama of the baby I'm holding). Sibongile went visiting with us and was our translator. Zulu is coming along slowly but I try to use some of the words I do now in every conversation.

I enjoy having cultural experiences... so we decided to get a soda from Stokie's Tuck Shop. I was able to ask how much (malini) a drink was in Zulu. You can find these tuck shops on most streets in Soweto, where people have turned their homes into a shop for income. This was a very nice one.

After visiting, we had time for lunch before Girls Club. We went to get Bunny Chow, which I have wanted for a long time. We found a place on the side of the road and were excited to try this very popular South African food.

I always have a good time talking with people. Everyone is so welcoming! Most times people are shocked to see abamlungu (white people) in Soweto but are always friendly and interested in talking with us.

Bunny Chow was created by indentured Indian labourers who were brought by the British from India in the 19th century to work the sugar cane plantations in Durban. South Africa in fact has the largest population of people of Indian descent outside of India in the world (i.e. born in South Africa and not migrant).

Indians created Bunny Chow as a way for their lunches to be transported conveniently as they worked in the fields. Basically, Bunny Chow is a hollowed out loaf of bread (quarter, half or full loaf) filled with all different toppings. The one that we ate had chips (fries), ham, egg and Vienna sausage. It was bangin!

Spring is Here

1 September was the first day of Spring! The weather was beautiful... 26 C (77 F) with a slight breeze. I'm so thankful that it is warming up and we are leaving the winter months behind us.

Well, we learned something new about South African culture. We had Girls Club at Lehae Primary. The girls had a good time as we talked about Adam & Eve and how women are valuable to God as they are created in His image. We then had our topic time where we talked about hygiene and other girl stuff.  As it was time for us to go outside and play netball or soccer, some of the girls began to leave quickly. We asked why and they explained the significance of 1 Sept. They pointed to some guys with buckets standing outside the school fence who were waiting for them. To celebrate the 1st day of spring, children fill up buckets of water and dump it on each other. 

I wanted to be a part of this experience so I told the girls I would walk home with them so maybe the boys would be less likely to get them. Amber drove in the car beside us to help block but it didn't work. Some girls made it home dry but a few were less fortunate. I'm just excited that I got to be a part of the culture in this way which the girls loved. One boy teased with pretending to throw the bucket at me but thankfully he didn't follow through with it.

Keep in mind there is not much water available but these boys found a water pipe to fill up their buckets. The next day in Snake Park there was no water... I wonder if Spring Day played a part in that?

As we drove around, it brought joy to my heart to see children running around carefree and having a good time which is not always the case. These children face many hardships so to be able to see them smiling is a blessing!

I thought this was just for small kids but young adults joined in the festivities. We saw many students in their uniforms walking home from school chased down, cornered and soaking wet. 

I know English and I can read!

Never thought I would be teaching in Africa... but here I am.

When we were talking to the principal and a teacher at Mayibuye Primary, we explained that we would like to help the school in whatever way was needed. The teacher asked what we were qualified to do and our Bossman said, "well, they know English." So, that pretty much sums up how we got into teaching 3 classes of English Reading skills for Grade 7 girls in Snake Park, Soweto. 

We have two parts to our class period. The first part includes teaching English skills through practical application. We have worked on writing bios and how to follow and read a recipe. The second part includes reading a passage from the Bible.

This past week we had fun making edible playdough. We had the girls work together in groups of six reading a recipe. They did a great job and had a good time!

I read in Matthew 3 about John the Baptist preparing the way and the baptism of Jesus.

The girls did a great job listening... some made Jesus, John the Baptist with his belt, the dove coming down from Heaven and the water that Jesus was baptized in.

Girls love to sing and dance here. So, after we had finished our lesson one of the girls asked if she could sing a song for us. I love listening to them... they have the most beautiful voices!!