Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas, my dear reader!

I'm really grateful that I can celebrate this special day with those I love. Last year I was in Brazil, it was just after the start of my DTS outreach and the first time I'd been away from my family over my birthday and Christmas. It was also the first time I'd celebrated it Dutch style. For the Dutch, Christmas isn't as big a celebration as it is in England or in other countries.

The Kenyan Coast, the Indian Ocean none the less

The Dutch celebrate Saint Nicolas on 5 December. If I'm correct, Saint Nicolas was the patron saint of sailors, and December 5 was his birthday. On his birthday hè decided to give presents to the children of the sailors who were at sea, it spread and so the Dutch will exchange presents on Saint Nicolas's birthday every year. Here's what usually happens. A few weeks before December 5 (or the nearest weekend), everyone will write a few things they like and a few of their hobbies on a piece of paper (along with their name) and put it in a hat. Everyone will pull out some else's name from the hat. The group will have decided how much each will spend on the presents and then they'll go away get their presents and work on their riddles and how to wrap one (or all) the presents to make it look like one of the hobbies of the person it's for. After the 'game' has been played the people will try to figure out who did their surprise. Christmas doesn't usually include exchanging presents (but it depends on the family) but is celebrated in a quiet way.

This year, a dear friend of ours from Hoedspruit, provided us with the opportunity to use her timeshare with a certain resort in the town of Saint Lucia on the Kwazulu-Natal coast. The Indian Ocean in three kilometers away. We've had the most unusual Christmas we've had as a family that I can remember. Usually we will have some decoration up. This year we aren't at home so no decorations but its lovely being with the family.

After many hitches, my visa application is finally with the immigration department and I'm currently waiting to hear whether or not its been approved or not. I'm at peace inside, as I know my Heavenly Father's decision is the right one.

Blessings!

Another Hurdle, Another Lesson

The lowvelt is in bloom!

As Christmas approaches, I still don't have my Australian visa. I've been fighting discouragement, because its been such a long process and its still not finished. I'm constantly discovering that there's forms that I still need to sign, scan and send in. We're hoping and praying that it'll be submitted to the Australian department of immigration before Christmas and that I'll hear whether or not I have my visa by New Year's Eve. When I applied to do my Discipleship Training School last August, the whole application process went by so fast. I think that part of the reason behind that was because I carry a Dutch passport, which means that I don't need to apply for a visa. Getting this visa is a really hurdle for me, but God's timing is perfect and it can be quite difficult sometimes trusting that He'll bring it in at the right time. I know He will.

Two warthog mums and their babies

I must say that being down in South Africa during the summer definitely means that I'm seeing and experiencing the beauty of a hot, wet lowvelt. The rain comes down in torrents, when it does rain, and the sun sends down bolts of heat when the rain isn't falling. When the rain started, everything turned green. Also I've seen a lot of really interesting animals and insects. There's been spiders, pray mantis, dung beetles and a whole host of other creatures coming out. Having grown up in Uganda, these creatures don't bother me, but I just don't like the idea of getting stung by a scorpion, bitten by a spider or having caterpillar hairs in my fingers. I've had caterpillar hairs in my fingers has happened since I've been down here and it wasn't a very pleasant experience as I had to resort to using a knife and tape to scrape and pull all the hairs out. It was an experience I definitely won't forget in a hurry and a lesson well learnt. Don't go sticking your hands into jars, even if you can see what's at the bottom.

Hannah, the chef

Hannah's been back a few days now and is already working as one of the cooks at the place she used to work before she left for France. She's really enjoying catching up with a number of the staff, who are good friends of hers. She's been wearing her Le Cordon Bleu uniform to work, but only the cooking jacket thingy (I have no idea what the professional term for the chef's jacket is) and has spiced it up nicely (i.e. not wearing the trousers or the cap that's part of the uniform but her own stuff). She loves what she does and its great seeing some of the beautiful pieces of 'art' that she cooks up. She'd send photos of what she's cooked back to us at home. World, be warned, Hannah's food is as beautiful as it is tasty.

Caterpillar on the loose

Caleb's finished grade eight, last week, with wonderful results (we got his report card last Monday). He passed all his subjects, including the core subjects (Africaans, English and maths) with flying colours. He decided that failure isn't an option, especially for the core subjects, which if he failed he'd have to redo the year and he did not like the prospect of doing that. For me, it was astonishing to see his dedication to passing this grade. He'd been up at five in the morning, sometimes before that, to study for tests and exams, and he would spend hours, in the evening, working on assignment that were due. We're all so proud of him and what he's been able to achieve since he moved down here with my mum last year.

Do stay posted for more news on what's going on in the little town of Hoedspruit and in my life!

Learning Patience

A tortoise trekking across our garden

Sometimes God keeps confirming things to us so that we can learn something or to encourage us. God has been telling me that I need to wait on Him. Everything will fall into place at the right time, according to His will, His good and perfect plan. I just need to trust that Him, that He'll bring my visa in at the right time, because I'm not sure how long it will take for my visa to be processed. I think it may take a few weeks, but it depends on how many visa applications there are before mine. I'm praying that it comes to the top of the pile extremely fast.

Since the beginning of this month, December, I've remembered, that God, the Lord of my heart, is my vision and I need be totally focused on Him. Just like what the song "Be Thou My Vision" says. I've been listening to this song a lot over the past few weeks and in my opinion, its a very beautiful and stirring song, and is one of my favourites. It was written in honour of St. Patrick (385- 461 AD), who was one of the first missionaries to Ireland. You might have heard it before or you may not have, if not, feel free to look up the words online or search for the song on youtube. I love the song, the words are so moving, so powerful. 

Stoffel of Moholoholo Rehab Centre

Sometimes things don't always go the way we want them to, but God is at work through everything that happens in our lives. Sometimes He allows things to happen in our lives to force us out of our comfort zones, thus giving us more room to grow. Sometimes He asks us to wait, for extended periods of time before He opens the door, so that we can grow in our relationship with Him through the waiting. Its has been a difficult wait for me, because my desire is to go to where He called me, now, Australia, but the last few months, all it seems that I've been busy with is waiting on Him. I'm trusting He'll bring the Australian visa in before my South African one expires on the first day of the new year. Its been a difficult, long wait as I long to get over there, but I know that God wants me to trust Him, trust that His timing is perfect. Over the last year and a bit, a lot has happened in me and though me. I've really grown in who I am and who God made me to be. I once heard someone say that every time a person dies they become extinct. This is because there is no one else on this planet exactly like you or me. God made us all differently, all unique. Its amazing. Its been hard, but I'm finding it easier not comparing myself to others and not making my goals unachievable. I'm a perfectionist and am still in the process of learning not to let that get the better of me as it sometimes causes me to give up what I'm attempting to do because the goals I'm trying to achieve I've put out of my own reach because I want to do it perfectly right away, this is quite a big struggle when it come to my music, for example. I play the violin and I've struggled for years because I've never been able to play a piece perfectly right off. I'm learning to have grace with myself every day, in all aspects of my life (including my music).

A wild dog who also lives at Moholoholo

Since I came down to South Africa, I've been ever so thankful that we're living in such a beautiful area. Hoedspruit is situated on a main road with a number of game farms and nature reserves in the area. For those of you who don't know what a game farm is, its a plot of land where the owner will keep different types of wild animals, mainly for trophy hunting. People will pay to be able to shoot an animal. The shooting of wild animals is a controversial issue. There are those who say that its alright and others who don't agree. I'm not about to throw my oar in and say what I believe about hunting and kulling (when there's too many animals on the land and a few have to be killed as not to over populate the area they're living in). I must say that a few things have changed, for example, my favourite animal. If you'd asked me a year ago, it would have been the dog and the horse would have been tied at the top of my list. Now its honey badger and the wild dog. I still love domestic dogs and horses. However, there's nothing compared to seeing a pack of wild dogs hunting, or a honey badger jumping out of a large rubbish skip and giving everyone a shock. Honey badgers are immune to the bites of dangerous animals (scorpions and snakes). The honey badger is quite an interesting animal, so if you've got the time, search for Stoffel (photographed above) on youtube.com, there's some really funny videos of his break out attempts on there.

Also, in three days time, Hannah, my sister, is back home after six months in Paris, France. She's been at a very prestigious cooking school (Le Cordon Bleu) over there and loving every moment of her time there. She's finished two courses already, and placed in as one of the top students (I don't remember exactly, but I think it was fourth and third respectively). I'm very proud of her and can't wait for to get back.

Patiently Waiting: A Few Notes Of Interest

"Can I Come In?"

I'm still waiting on God. It seems that's He's been asking of me over the last few weeks and months, to wait on Him and His perfect timing.

Things have still been happening whilst I'm waiting on my Heavenly Father.

Its been a week since my teeth were taken out. The swelling has gone done completely. There's no sign at all that I had four teeth pulled out and I'm thankful I had barely any bruises (I had a small, light coloured one, which wasn't noticeable at all, but not nearly as bad as other people I know). I must say that its taken a bit of getting used to, having gaps in the back of my mouth (especially where where the twelve year old molar was taken out as the wisdom tooth is still sitting behind it). Also it's still taking some getting used to not being able to eat hard food, like popcorn and biltong. For those of you who don't know what biltong is, its the South African version of the American jerky, i.e. dried meat strips and, in my opinion, they're very tasty. Due to my sore mouth, I've been eating a lot of yogurt and soup, and though I'm starting to eat more fruit, I end up taking ibuprofen in the afternoons to counter the discomfort I end up feeling in the back of my lower mouth due to whatever I've eaten that has come in contact with the gaps where my teeth were.

(Clockwise from top left), the bush, a leopard
orchid blossoms, warthog piglets, and
a green tree frog

When December started, I got quite a shock at this realisation, because Christmas, and two birthdays (mine and my mum's) are fast approaching. I'll be turning twenty one just days before Christmas. It seems like the last year has flown by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I turned twenty and was enjoying life under a Brazilian sun, now I'll be enjoying life under the African sun I was born under. So much has changed since then. I'm year older and, in many ways, very different and very much changed since then.

Another big thing that's happening is that my beautiful sister, Hannah, is arriving soon in South Africa.  She's been in Paris, at one of the best cooking schools on the planet, since the beginning of June and will be spending Christmas and New Year's with us. She's arriving in nine days time and I'm really looking forwards to seeing her again. We've been roommates almost all our lives so I'm thrilled to be having my old roomie back again after so long! I've missed her a lot since she left!

I'm also still waiting for news about my visa, but I don't expect to hear from them, if I've got it or not for another few weeks. I must say that this visa process has been quite a journey of faith and trust in God, for me. Almost every time I think I've finished the whole process I hear that I need to send another form or photocopy of something in. A really journey of trust! Its the first time in my life, that I can remember, when I've not been able to get a visa at the border when getting into a country and had to send a form (and a whole load of other documents, like a stamped photocopy of my birth certificate) off before knowing if I've got it or not. I've had to trust that God would help me through this and now I'm trusting that He'll bring the visa in, at the right time.

Until next time!