Home!!!

Hey everyone! As of Wednesday afternoon, I am safely back home! All my flights went well, with only a short delay for several hours in Atlanta. My luggage also made it back with me along with everything inside, which is another praise.

While in Botswana, several girls from the church wanted to braid my hair to make me look "African," so I've included a picture of the result of hours and hours of having to hold still. They braided in extentions too, which is why it might look a little darker, they really didn't have any other color than black and green or purple!

Profile

Can I please just state that I just read my blog profile for the first time since I wrote it like back in September, and I think I must have been officially crazy when I wrote some of those things( Yes - I know you're all thinking "you didn't have to tell us that you're kinda crazy," but now it's official!). I'm talking about the moose fur boots thingy!!! If you haven't read my profile, this probably doesn't make any sense, but that's okay:) I really need get to sleep though right now before I say anything else crazy!!!

P.S. To get to my profile just click on my name at the right hand side of the blog where I tell a little bit about why I'm in Africa.

Fun and Games

     How many times as a child have you played "duck, duck - goose" or something similar to that? Tonight, before the evening Bible study was ready to start, the kids asked me to teach them some games out in the yard. We played "mother, may I?," "red light, green light," and the before mentioned "duck, duck - goose" - for the very first time for the kids!!!! We had so much fun - everyone got in on it, whether they were out in the yard playing with us, or just laughing as they watched from the patio.

     I love the way they sing the hymns as if they're really thinking about what the words mean. It causes me to stop singing the songs from memory and start singing them from my heart.

    Can I say it again? I love Botswana and the people here - I really wish I could stay longer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well. That just means I'll have to come back soon:)

Lessons

What have I learned here in Africa? From life lessons, hard and painful lessons, to small tips and tricks, and rules of the culture… Way too much to put into a blog post – it would have to be more like a whole book, which is actually not a bad idea. Maybe someday you’ll see My African Adventure by Lydia Wilhite on a shelf in a bookstore. For now though I’ll just share a few things that I’ve learned that stand out in my mind at this moment.

~When you’re going to make a cup of coffee in Africa make sure and check for ants in the coffee tin, coffee maker, the spoon you use for the sugar, the sugar bowl, the creamer, and MOST importantly – check in the coffee mug!!! Ants are not very good swimmers, however they do tend to float to the top of your coffee as I learned the hard way;) I really believe that the whole continent Africa is just one giant anthill!

~ If you happen to hear gunshots outside the window, wait until you’re off the phone with your mom to go and check it out – it saves her a few white hairs and a small heart attack!

~ Look before you step – snakes, lizards, spiders, and especially if there are eight dogs on the property (personally, this is the worst next to a snake).

~ Don’t leave your make up bag in sight of your twelve year old cousin when you fall asleep if you don’t want tic-tac-toe or a mustache drawn on your face.

Seriously, now…

~Learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. This one takes a lot of time to learn, but getting out of my comfort zone was one of the best parts of the trip.

~Sometimes the best source of encouragement is to just listen and pray.

~The culture shock is not in what you can see, but in the things you can’t see. Not in the surroundings or the actions of a people, but in the why behind the actions and way of life.

~ Letters, phone calls, and emails became so much more precious to you when you are far away.

~ Hey, life does continue to go on back home – babies are born, birthdays and anniversaries pass, weddings are celebrated, and deaths are mourned. I had to learn that I couldn’t be in two places at once, and to rejoice in where God has lead me, and to “rejoice with those who do rejoice and weep with those who weep” from this side of the ocean.

~ Our God is an awesome creator, and Africa is one of His greatest masterpieces. From the smallest anthill to the most magnificent mountain, or from the Lion to the lizard, He designed them all.

~ LIONS AND ELEPHANTS DO NOT ROAM THE STREETS HERE – THEY ARE ONLY IN THE GAME PARKS, LOL!!!

There are so many more things that I could have included, but as I said, they are too numerous for this post. Our God is a great God!

Fun with Friends

We all had such a fun time on Tuesday! These girls and I went shopping then came back to the Clark's house to practice our special song for this Sunday. When we were done practicing, we had a great time talking and laughing over some coffee and cokes.

Botswana Blessings

Yesterday morning I took the time to look through all the pictures I've taken while in Africa to select which ones would be best for a presentation when I arrive home. Each picture brought back so many wonderful memories from when the shot was taken, and I'd have to say that my camera is probably the single best item I brought with me (perhaps my toothbrush is a close second:)

Just eleven more days in Africa...it's hard to believe that this adventure is almost over, but the only thing that means is that when this one is over a new one can begin! Where should I go next? Peru? Japan? Greenland?

Well, I haven't said much about Botswana yet, so I guess I should while I'm here. Botswana has a much flatter and open landscape than where I was in South Africa. The people are all so very friendly and gracious to me, and it's been sp great getting to know them. Today I met a girl named Blessing, and I think that pretty well sums up what this trip has been - an awesome blessing! I will say the mosquitos are worse over here, but not unbearable.

During the week I helped Mrs. Clark get the things ready for a special Mother's Day lesson in her Sunday School class, which includes about thirty kids ages five to fourteen. In the Sunday morning service held in a preschool building, we sang some hymns and then I sang "In Christ Alone," a song none of them had ever heard before. That night at the Clark's house, we had a Bible study with a core group of Christians, and they begged me to sing the song again. So on Tuesday, some of the girls my age from the church came over and I taught them to sing the song, and we're going to sing it as a group this Sunday. After the Bible study, I served a special Italian style bread that my cousins taught me to make in SA and everyone absolutely loved it!

Tomorrow is Saturday, so I'm planning on just helping out around the house with whatever, and then I'm going to teach Mrs. Clark how to bake rusks. If you don't know what a rusk is - it's a type of crunchy treat that the Africans love to dip in tea or coffee( or melted chocolate is great too!). We're going to make a big batch for after Sunday evening Bible study.

The Clarks are really praying that God would send them someone to work with them here on the field. They desperately want someone who is good with leading music/ singing, and someone who could also work with the youth in this area. This mission would be an amazing experience, and the people are so open and needy. I really love it here, and will be sad when the time comes to say goodbye!

Botswana Border Crossing

A big thank you to all those of you who were praying that the
border crossing into Botswana would go well! Those prayers were
definitely needed and felt! My Uncle drove a Zambian friend and me up
to the border patrol office, and we took our passports up to the right
window along with my extension papers, where we were told that I
couldn’t leave the country because my papers didn’t have a seal on
them from the Polokwane home affairs office, even though it had the
official stamp. They told me if I wanted to cross I had to pay them
R1,000( about $300). This whole time I was praying inside thinking,
“Lord, I only have R20 with me that I was saving as a souvenir from
SA, and we don’t have the airtime on the phone to call my parents to
have them transfer money into my account, if they would even take a
debit card here…. But we can’t just turn around and go back to
Polokwane…”

So, we showed the woman at the desk the receipt for the money I’d
paid in the Polokwane office, and even that didn’t change her mind
(she said we needed to pay it at HER desk). She said the only other
thing we could do was to wait for her superior to arrive, so we went
back to the truck to wait – and pray! Less than fifteen minutes later,
the superior arrived and patiently listened to us explain that we did
exactly what the home affairs officer told us to do and had already
paid the extension money. He then stamped our passports and without a
word let us though. Praise God!

I am having a great time in Botswana, and am looking forward to
participating in their church’s music area, as well as their
children’s class. Mrs. Clark and I are going to be getting some
special things ready for Mother’s Day including a craft for the
children to make and give to their mom.

It was so tough to say goodbye to my family in SA – we’d become
close during the three and a half months I was staying with them, and
I’m going to miss them SO MUCH!!! Their family was such a huge
blessing to me, and the things that I learned and the experiences I
had there, I won’t soon forget.

First Picture: A beautiful hibiscus flower

Second Picture: Sugar cane with mountains in background

Third Picture: Crazy shaped Cycad tree

Fourth Picture: Before hair cut....

Fifth Picture: .... After hair cut. I was able to donate

about 25cm to be used for wigs for cancer patients

Sorrow and Joy

There are many times that God leads us along life's path when we must hold sorrow with one hand and joy with the other. This past week was one of those times. One of the most promising, energetic members of the church work in Polokwane left this world to be with his Savior on Thursday evening. More than a hundred of his many friends and relatives gathered with us for his funeral in the front of our house Sunday morning, then the others went on to the grave side service and I watched the younger children at the house. The Gospel message was clearly presented by my Uncle, and we pray that the death of this man will bring others to the realization that life is very short whether we like to think about it or not. We truly "...sorrow not, even as others which HAVE NO HOPE." as it says in 1Thessalonians 4:13. Do you have hope?

Happy Spring or Happy Fall!

As you celebrate the coming of spring in America, here in South

Africa, many are taking the day off to celebrate Human Rights Day

which is associated with apartide in 1994. I guess if this is the

first day of spring for you, since our seasons are opposite it would

be the first day of fall here. The weather has been fairly warm - I

think yesterday it was 80 F before 10 a.m.

Last week several of us went to a village high school to pass out

Gospel books and invite them to our Sunday village service. I had my

camera with me, so I asked my cousin if it would be alright to take

some pictures (some areas it isn't that safe to take out your camera),

and she said it would be fine. The students loved having their

pictures taken, and many would find a friend to be in the picture too.

They all have to wear uniforms - this village school's colors were

yellow and black. They all looked very neat and orderly in them.

Something else I got to do for the first time last week was do a

personal Bible study with my Aunt at the neighbor's house. I said I'd

go as long as I didn't have to read in Afrikans - everyone laughs at

me when I do and say it sounds more like German! I brought my English

Bible and tried to follow along as well as I could.

Note on Testimony...

When I did my last post at an internet cafe, I feel like I posted too

quickly and should have edited some things that might have seemed

confusing. I want to say that hopefully nothing that was posted about

methods of redirecting the elderly seemed negative. Personally, I feel

bad about the times I could have redirected better way( as I was well

trained to do), and not resorted to making something up that was

untrue. Just wanted to clear that up:)

Salvation Story

Hey Everyone, I just sent this email to my family and I want to share it with you all as well and hope that it is a blessing to you!

Last night I made a big decision, a decision that has taken me a long time to make, but I am so thankful that it's finally made! Let me give you all a little background first, before I tell you about last night.

For the last few years, and maybe more than that, as you well know, I have been wrestling with doubts about my salvation. Did I really say the right things, did I know enough, was I sorry for my sins, etc. It was very easy for me to brush them aside and get busy with work, classes, church activities, texting, and everything else. I would stay up late and get up early so that I would be too tired to have to lie awake and think about eternity. That's probably one of the reasons that I picked up extra shifts at Grand Haven - I didn't have to worry about anything convicting me there, and also there wasn't any time to "be still and know."

You might say "But you had the evidence of a Christian life, Lydia. How can you explain that?" Well, first of all, man looketh on the outward appearance, and only God could see how hard and wayward my heart was. During so many of Pastor Kobernat's messages I would feel the guilt of my sin weighing heavily on me, but was able to ignore it by running around after the service to talk to this person or that person, special music practice, nursing home service, or sometimes helping on the bus route.

When I felt the need to be truly saved coming, I would always try to pull out a memory that I do not have

of me praying a prayer as a five year old not wanting to die in my sleep and go to a burning Hell. It always

worked before, but the other day, I really listened to my heart, which was saying "Even if I didn't really get

saved, God knows that I was sincere, and I'm so good, He wouldn't possibly send me to Hell if I thought I

was saved." I was totally shocked when I realized that I was actually trusting my own goodness to take me

to Heaven. Shouldn't I have known better?

God has been using many things over the years to bring me to this point, but here are just a few of the specific things that God has used to draw me to Himself the past two months:

- Uncle Jerry's messages on sin and salvation. I thought that since the messages were aimed toward the unsaved or newly saved Africans, I wouldn't be able to learn anything from them. I needed to hear the teaching from the book of John, and really listen this time.

- Grading the correspondence courses on the books of John and Romans. It was getting harder and harder for me to ignore the clear plan of salvation, and the fact that I still needed it.

- Drew teasing me about not being saved. Although Drew didn't know it, God really used this even though I didn't like it at the time. Drew and I had a really great talk this morning as I shared with him about getting saved, and after I thanked him for teasing me, he shared his salvation testimony with me too, which was a great blessing.

- Aunt Debbie sharing her testimony with me several weeks after I arrived, little knowing how much the affect her words were having on me as I listened. This morning she told me that she had been praying for my salvation since I got here, which I was very surprised and thankful for to God.

-The recent salvation of Mrs. Connors. This was a very great instrument and encouragement for me to make my own decision to get saved.

-The book Hinds Feet on High Places, which I am still reading. I realized that I was like the main character, Much-Afraid, and needed to be delivered from my fears.

-Derek asking about what we had been getting out of our Bible reading lately...."Um, nothing. I can't even remember what I read much less something I learned and applied." He also mentioned a young man back at their home church who everyone is praying for to get saved. I thought, "Wow, he must not be very good at hiding it...like me."

So, last night, I was trying to read my Bible at the desk in my room, I just wanted to settle the matter, and told myself that if Juli's light was still on in her room, I would go talk to her. It was about eleven p.m. and the light was still on, so I went in and told her that I had been having trouble not really knowing if I was saved or not. She showed me many verses, and at eleven forty-five, I knew what I needed to do. I confessed my sin to God, and asked Jesus to be my personal Savior - I want to live for Him and Him alone now, not the way I think others around me expect me to live.

There are so many things that need to change in my life, but God is already working on me, and I am willing to be worked on:) I am so glad that I no longer have to do things in my own strength and be a "faker" to those around me, and hope that you will rejoice in my decision with me from that side of the ocean. As Dad once said, "Some people will miss Heaven by a mile, and some by a ruler." I am for sure, 100%, that I will go to Heaven someday, and not miss it by a mile or a ruler. Now we can share the same birthday, Dad!

I love you all so much, and am thankful for everything leading up to my salvation that God has been using to bring me to Himself.

~Lydia

Kruger National Park & African Pics

Early last Friday morning, Juli, Dy, Bethany, Uncle Jerry and I hopped in the kombi and headed for Kruger National Park. We left the house a little after 5am, when the sun was just about to peak over the distant mountain ranges. It wasn’t light enough to read, so I drifted off to sleep during the two hours it took to get to the park.

Once inside the park, we met several ladies driving away from a watering hole. They said that there were a few elephants back there, but that they were very aggressive. So we headed towards the watering hole:) We saw about eighteen elephants playing beside and in the small pond, but when we climbed up in to a hide nearby, we realized that there were many more elephants (and they didn’t bother us at all).

Although Kruger is 20,000 square km (about the size of New Jersey), you aren’t allowed out of your vehicle except for certain places where you can get out at your own risk. It’s probably because of all the lions and leopards roaming about, not to mention the wildebeast, cape buffalo, and rhinos (which are said to be the most dangerous of the big five). We didn’t see any rhinos or leopards that day, but here’s a list of what we did see:

~22 vultures

~53 elephants

~MANY impala (I stopped counting after eight large herds)

~1 rock dossie (the Bible calls it a conie)

~9 giraffes

~ 25 cape buffalo

~ 6 hippos

~1 martial eagle

~11 water bucks

~Over 90 wildebeasts

~47 zebras

~20 Chacma baboons

~3 horn bills, one with a snake in it’s mouth!

~14 warthogs

~4 common reedbucks

~1 male lion

~ 8 kudu

~Lots of franklins

~1 bateleur( hawk-like)

~3 vervet monkeys

~1 red tail hawk

~4 maribou storks

~2 turtles

~5 glossy ivis

...as we`ll as many smaller birds and insects including the Lilac-Breasted Roller, African Hoopoe, Cape Glossy Starling, and the Giant Kingfisher.

The land was typically a marula/knob-thorn open tree savanna with delagoa thorn thickets, except for the riverine areas which had larger trees such as the Ebony Jackal-berry and the River Acacia.

My aunt let me borrow her binoculars for the day, and I had a fun time using them out the backseat window of the kombi and yelling “STOP!!!!!!!!” whenever I saw an animal. My favorites were the zebra and the impala, which are both common but still very beautiful animals. The impala’s horns can grow up to 50cm long (20in), and normally will be found in herds of about a hundred, which we definitly saw while we were there. Zebras graze with the impala or wildebeast so they can have more protection from predators. The zebra is also protected from enemies by grouping together so that the enemy is confused by their stripes and can’t pick out single zebras.

Well, that’s all on Kruger for now. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Pool Side Baptism

Last Sunday I was able to watch the first baptism since I've been in

South Africa. Following the afternoon service in Polokwane, we all

went out to my Aunt and Uncle's house where Alfred was baptized. It

wasn't a usual baptism - the small congregation gathered around the

bright blue pool surrounded by a high brick wall draped with palm

trees and colorful flowers. The sun was still burning hot, so I'm

guessing that the water wasn't so bad either. As my Uncle and Alfred

(the man getting baptized) stepped into the pool, we sang a hymn, then

bowed our heads in prayer. Alfred is from Zambia where there is much

more water than SA, so he's a good swimmer and not afraid of the water

as many native Sotho people here are. Anyway, after the baptism,

everyone went inside for a time of fellowship and Pizza:) One of my

new friends from the church in Polokwane is a sweet lady named

Michelle. She is English, and has a great sense of humor - so much fun

to be with.

We visited Kruger National Park last week, but I really want to post

pictures from there, so I'll wait to post about that until a later

date.

Sotho vs. Afrikaans:

The two main languages here in Polokwane are Sotho( the natives'
language), and Afrikaans( the language of the white Dutch/English).
The Afrikaaners and Sothos do not get along in general, and have a
distinct disliking for each others' people. This attitude goes way
back in history, and makes working with either group difficult. The
whites look down on us for working out in the villages, and the blacks
don't trust us because we're the same color as the Afrikaaners. God
has given His life for each one of these South Africans, no matter the
color of their skin.

An African meal:

Here in South Africa, we Americans are eating pretty much the same
kind of food as we do back in the States, except everything is made by
scratch. The white South Africans of Dutch and English descent eat
about the same as us with a few exceptions. The native South Africans
eat a very unhealthy diet with few fruits and vegetables, which is
surprising because they are surrounded by roadside fruit stands and
good garden plots. They will typically have a piece of bread and tea
(usually Joko tea, which is REALLY good!) for breakfast, mealie pop
(corn meal) and a coke for lunch, and then eat a supper of mealie pop
with dip and a side dish right before bed.

Happy Valentine's day!

Here's how my valentines day went: Woke up very early and helped Derek

with breakfast after my morning Bible reading and coffee. We then had

breakfast and Bible time with the whole family, which is always great.

We read in the book of Micah, sang a few songs, and prayed together.

The rest of the morning I hauled brush, cleaned up the pets' mess all

over the yard, made some more coffee, painted a piece of furniture,

helped package up and grade correspondence courses, did a load of

laundry by hand since the washer wasn't working, did some reading and

fell asleep only to be awakened by my cousin Joel using a marker to

draw a green mustache on my face after already writing "Joel says hi"

on my leg. Later we had some of the African guys over for supper and

volleyball which was lots of fun! My cousin Miah was my "valentine"

for the day, haha. I wrote a bunch of stupid poems and stuck them all

over his bunk bed. He in turn, told me that if he had an arrow, he

would stick it through my heart! Oh well, it was a busy but fun day.

I've been very busy in the kitchen the last few days. Lots of the

things I've made are first timers for me, but everyone seems to like

them - lots of seconds and no leftovers! This morning I did coffee

cake and chocolate-chip banana bread which are favorites of all. Some

other missionary guys from Botswana are staying with us tonight and we

just finished our midweek service here at the house with them. There's

nothing like the sound of natural harmony echoing throughout the

house!

A typical Sunday morning Service:

Cows can be heard loudly "mooing" in the background and herds of sheep

and goats graze just outside the windows. The tin roof crackles

noisily with the heat of the morning sun, which is also cooking us

with at least a hundred degree temperatures( if not more) beneath the

roof. I thank God for each small breeze that flows through the tiny

windows which only open at the very top because of the village crime

rate. The singing and preaching are invariably in the Sotho tongue,

which means I can only pick up one or two words occasionally. Sitting

on the hard, wooden bench, I copy out the Sotho verses written on the

walls to keep my mind from wondering or getting sleepy from the heat.

Dyanna, Bethany, and I sing a special( in English), then listen to the

preaching as best we can without knowing the language. After the

service I do my best to listen and converse with limited

Sotho/English/ hand motions with the people from the village.

The afternoon service is in town, and is this time in English. We meet

in a preschool building, so the "auditorium" is adorned with good

behavior charts, lunch menus, and many colorful posters teaching

shapes, types of vehicles, animals, ABC's, and numbers. They moved a

piano into the room, so for the first time we didn't sing acapella.

In the evening, I help my cousin Dyanna pack up over 400

correspondence courses to send out in the post tomorrow.

I took a walk down the dusty road( it hasn't rained for a LONG time)

with my Aunt Debbie and cousin Joel along with "the evil twins" - the

neighbor's tick/flea infested dogs, haha.

We then enjoy rusks and coffee or Joko tea

around the kitchen table with my Uncle and other cousins to finish off the day.

I have finally been relieved of a terrible headache that has been

pounding my head since five AM. I wouldn't have prayed for the grace

to get through the day as much if I hadn't had the headache though, so

it was really a blessing( however a painful one:)

Friday's Fun and Fellowship

Last Friday my Uncle took my two cousins, Bethany, a visitor from

Zambia named Baruch and I on a trip to the third largest canyon in the

world - Blyde River Canyon, as well as several other beautiful spots.

On the three hour drive there I watched as the magnificent mountains

whose tops were covered by the clouds alternating with deep valleys

went past the window of the kombi( van). Hundreds of villages with

hundreds more huts and shacks

housing hundreds more people nestled within the valleys and up the

mountain sides.

How many of these people have never heard of the Gospel and still

worship their ancestors? Sadly, the answer is most of them. It is

impossible for one missionary to go to each of these villages within

his lifetime, however, God wants to use the hand of the believer to

reach the heart of the lost, so that is why my Uncle and his family's

ministry is concentrated on handing out Gospel booklets wherever they

can. Many of these people who they meet in town will travel back to

their own villages, and will take the Gospel literature with them,

this is the way the Gospel is spread faster and farther. After doing

some sight seeing, we went to some very busy downtown areas including

a taxi rink, and handed out close to 600 Gospel booklets. It's still

difficult to get by with only a few Sotho words, but I'm learning.

Besides, it's probably better not to know some of the things the

African guys are calling out to you as you try to give them the

booklets.

Squatter Shacks

Feeding a female kudu at Sondela...
~~~~~

Yesterday my uncle took me and a few of my cousins to a squatter village on the outskirts of Polokwane to pass out Gospel booklets. It was the poorest place I have ever been to. Trash was all over the ground, and was heaped into piles beside the pathway. The "houses" were mostly made of pieces of tin held together by old rusty nails with beer bottle caps for washers to hold the nails in.

I went into one of the shacks which smelled strongly of sweaty bodies that hadn't been washed in a long time, as well as several other not so nice things. Garbage was packed into the dirt floor, and carboard was put up against the tin so that it wouldn't burn them when they touched it( the sun here is so brutal).

The people seem so hopeless, just stuck in this way of living. Only God can offer true hope. Not handouts from the government, or money people send from overseas.

Learning languages

Here in the Northern Province of South Africa, the people mostly

speak Afrikans if they're the whites of Dutch or English descent, and

the people from the villages speak Sotho. I only know a few words in

each so far, but I can't seem to remember which language is which,

haha.

We put together thousands of Gospel booklets, invitations to Bible

studies, and tracts; plus we just got another shipment of Chick tracts

and Bibles in several languages that had to be sorted and organized.

I cooked supper last night and one of the Africans named Alfred

joined us for the meal. He left shortly after feeling very sick with a

high fever. Today he came by again, and I asked if it was my cooking

that made him sick. He said he hadn't been feeling well before he

came over, so I was very relieved. I came over here to help the

Africans, not kill them with my cooking!

"Come and see..."

A few mornings ago as I was reading the Psalms, I came to Psalm 66:5,

"Come and see the works of God..." It's been amazing to see the many

different works of God here in South Africa - the animals here are one

of them. While staying in Sondela for the past week, I saw kudu,

nyala, warthogs, wildebeast, franklin, impala, guinea fowl, and

others. The kudu there were so tame that I could feed them by

hand - they are a beautiful animal!

Today is Saturday so it will be a busy cleaning day for us.

I just pulled a cinnamon coffee cake out of the oven so I've got to go

for now. Remember to take time today to see the works of God around

you wherever you are:)

No internet

For those of you who didn't know, two days after I arrived here in
South Africa, some neighborhood thugs cut the wires to the phone and
internet here, so all we've been able to do is use my Uncle's cell
phone, which is a great blessing to have. The internet service at the
internet cafe in town has been down foe two week as well, so this will
explain my lack of posting to this blog:)
We have been busy with printing ministry and helping with passing out
Gospel booklets, but have had lots of fun playing soccer, volleyball,
and swimming too. Well, I have to go for now, but just wanted to let
everyone know that I haven't been kidnapped or killed by lions yet:)
Hope to post again soon! Please feel free to post comments or
questions you have.

I Love it here!

Two Random Facts

I just wanted to note that there's no such thing as a screen on a window or door here - so my Aunt Debbie said we could either close the window and die of heat, or leave it open and let the bugs eat us all night - one of those hard decisions in life:\

Also, the Africans just finished their "summer vacation" and are now back in school, although my cousins still follow the American school year schedule. They do not have such a thing as a school bus here.

Flight In & First Impressions

I'm here!!!!! So hard to believe, but Bethany and I (as well as all of our luggage - thanks to those who prayed specifically for that) are safely in South Africa. Originally I thought that the flight was literally 22 hours, but I was surprised to learn that we were really only in the air a total of 17 hours because we lost 7 due to the time change. It was weird to eat breakfast on the plane, then eat supper about three hours later, haha.

Leaving my family at the airport in Chicago was pretty tough, but I managed to hold in MOST of my tears. My cousin Dyanna and I are going to try to get the code to unlock my cell phone, as it will not do anything over here, and is frustrating because all I was able to do was send a quick text to my family from my Uncle's phone to let them know we made it here. (By the way, mom, I can't remember your new email address, so if you read this, please email me:).

So the plane ride wasn't too bad - Bethany and I had seats next to each other both times, which was really nice because there were some very, um lets just say, interesting people on the plane. They searched my purse/bag at the airport and dumped everything out of it because they said I had too many books in it, hah. Our flight from Chicago was a little delayed, so we had to grab our stuff and RUN through the airport in Atlanta to make it for our next flight, which was running right on time, of course. We made it just as they were starting to board! The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.

My Aunt, Uncle, and cousins met us at the Johannasburg airport, then we drove in their kombi (Sotho for big van) north for about three hours to their house in Polokwane. I woke up at about four thirty this morning, probably due to the time change, and have no signs of jet lag - so far....

I'll have to take some pictures of their yard and house to post them here. The land is beautiful in it's own way. Definitely not what I expected, but still beautiful. Hilly, and you could even say mountainous in some places, with very short trees and very tall grass, blended together against a back drop of bluish grey mountains and a bright blue sky. I saw some corn on the way home from the airport (which didn't stress me out, Reid;), which I wasn't expecting either. The weather isn't humid really, just overwhelmingly hot, as if you're sitting too close to a fireplace.

I've got to finish this too long already post & go do something worth writing about in my next post, so bye for now:)

One day left in America...

It's about ten our time, and I still have a lot of last minute stuff to wrap up so this will probably be brief, but I just wanted to share a verse I read today from Psalm 46. It says in verse one, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." and in the first part of verse ten, "Be still and know that I am God..." Well, I'm not really in trouble right now, but I need to know that God will be with me and guide me through the different airports tomorrow and Wednseday!

My next post will be from Africa!!!!

More Pics!

My little sister Charity and I will really miss each other! Of course, I'll miss all my brothers and sisters, even the ones who've asked me "If you die while you're over in Africa, can I have some of your money?" Little brothers:)

I'll miss my family, church, home, friends, driving my car, but you know what? I'm excited about going and thank my God for giving me this opportunity! This is going to be an amazing adventure for serving God in a very different place!

Well, I've got to go for now - choir practice will start in a few minutes, and then the evening service after that, so more later...

Two days until I'm on my way!

Our family did a hospital church service after our normal Sunday morning service, so we just got back from that and now I've finally got my laptop to connect to the wireless hot spot here at the church!

I feel like I'm ready to go - just bought some Dramamine for the long plane ride too, although it may turn out that I don't need it. I haven't flown commercially since I was about four years old, but I've been on the Wings as Eagles plane several times for other missions trips in the last couple years.

Okay, that's probly not very interesting to read about, haha, so I'm going to put in a few pictures with this post:)

It's still nice and snowy here in Iowa, but once I get on the plane Tuesday, I probly won't see any snow until next winter sometime( sad, I know!). Oh, well. This picture is obviously me in my backyard wearing my favorite hat that I won't get to take to Africa...well, I could, but I think the Africans would think I'm a little bit crazier than most Americans, haha.

Getting ready to go...

I know, I know - it's been forever since I posted! I have finished my first semester of classes, enjoyed the holidays with my family, and in one week from today will be on my way to Africa! My family will drive me up to O'Hare Airport where I'll be meeting up with Bethany Farnham and her family. Bethany is going to be staying with my uncle and his family for about six weeks I think, so it'll be nice to have a traveling buddy for the way over there.

My suitcases are pretty much packed - just have to make one final trip to Wal-Mart for a couple last minute things before I zip them up, haha. It's not really the space that's a problem - I didn't pack very much, it's the weight limits that are hard to stick to.

Well, can't think of anything else right now to post about... I've got to get busy so bye for now!