Thoughts And Plans

It's the last day of February, tomorrow March begins. It's been one of those days when I've asked myself: "What will happen in the month ahead?" I've also been thinking about my own DTS outreach. It's a year ago, today, when at the end of my DTS, the team began to travel from our debriefing location the town of Paraty on the Atlantic Sea, to the airport in São Paulo, Brazil. It was an amazing elven weeks of outreach and the journey back to the Netherlands was long. The flight from São Paulo to Frankfurt, Germany, was about eleven hours long (one of the longest long haul flights I've ever done, despite having lived in Uganda).

I've been in South Africa for almost eleven months now. It's far longer than I had thought I'd only be here for and I've learnt an awful lot about myself in the space of the last year, I can tell you that. I've been so grateful to be back in Africa. I know it's not Uganda, but it's Africa none the less. There's something about Africa that is so deeply beautiful. Like the impala in the photo, they'd came into our garden last week. The young ones were playing whilst their mothers grazed. It was lovely watching them. The friendly, curiosity of the warthogs has also been incredible. They love the attention they get when my father scratches their faces. They can be quite demanding when it comes to getting water, though. One mother warthog knocked the birdbath over, in attempt to get human attention, which she knew would bring the water for her and her piglets.

On more serious matters, it's been almost a year and a half since I left Uganda. I've never spent so long away from my home country and there's times when I dearly miss the people, the Kampala traffic and the way of life there. In particular, I miss my little dash hound, Bessie. I know that by the time I left Kampala, there were a few things I knew I wouldn't miss! Like haggling over public transport, motorbike drivers who ignored the traffic lights and being oggled at by men who saw me as a means to get money and visas to the west.

I'm still not sure what the future holds. However it may be starting to come together slowly. Over the last few weeks I've been working on a YWAM application and I have a Skype interview (as part of the application process) with a YWAM base in London, England on Monday. I've applied to join their Basic Leadership School (BLS), which starts in April. The BLS is a training school for perspective leaders, which runs alongside the DTS. The BLS students are usually part of DTS staffing team, with some extra things that they need to do. I haven't said anything about it until now because I wasn't sure if I'd even be doing a BLS or where I'd end up doing it. Honestly, I'm really looking forward to being a part of this and I'm praying it works out.

I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Beating About The Bush?

"No news is good news." I've never liked this statement, for some reason. I've always been a person who likes to know where I stand. No matter if the news is good or bad, I prefer knowing, but I think that's what God is working on, in my life, right now. He wants me to trust Him no matter what the future holds. Walking the walk, through the mists I can't see through. The only way forwards is holding the hand of my Lord and knowing, in my heart, that He will guide me through this uncertain time.

It's Sunday night. The end of another weekend. I'm still waiting for answers and knowing that time is slipping quietly by. Two weeks tomorrow, I might well be on a plane, leaving South Africa for another adventure in another part of the world, or I might be staying in Hoedspruit for another South African adventure to come my way.

It's been ten months since I arrived in South Africa. I've gone through a lot of change since arriving here. My hair is longer (good news for some people) and my natural color has almost completely returned (also really good news for some). I've lost quite a bit of weight and, somehow, I hope I've gained some wisdom, thanks to the insight of my parents and close friends.

On the topic of friends, I've been fortunate to Skype some of my dear friends, over the last few weeks. Friends I've made during my DTS, my time in boarding school and from my homeschooling days back when I wore my hair in French braids and wore dresses a lot of the time. Even though our conversations were totally dependent on Internet speed in town, and the lowvelt weather, it was great being able to talk about who we've become. I am ever so grateful with some of the people The Lord has brought into my life. Not only the people I met before moving to South Africa but also those who I've met since I got off the plane in that morning in April last year.

Hopefully I'll know more about the future soon!

Reflections

A Giant Gecko

"The world's still the same, there's just a lot less in it." Capt. Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: At The World's End.

The world is a big place, even though the speed of technological advance is making the world seem a lot smaller, the edges of the map have long since been filled in. But what about the people? There are still people who live within the four courners of the globe. They, too, have a right to know the truth... The full equation, the problem of sin and the answer that is Jesus Christ.

We don't have to go to some fancy missions school on the other side of the planet. Maybe our mission field is our town, or our street? Here's a challenge for you, maybe you should just smile at everyone who walks past. Maybe it's choosing to reach out to someone who's new, or you don't know. The possibilities are endless. We have been blessed, isn't it about time we bless others?

I was fortunate to grown up in a missionary family, in Uganda, East Africa. Not a lot of others get that opportunity. I was also extremely blessed to go to Brazil with an amazing team. One thing that I'll never forget is the heart broken man we met when we were there.

We first met this man within the first few days after arriving in São Paulo (a city of twenty four million people). We were paining a slum and he was helping us with mixing the paint, with his four young children running around and his wife nearby. After Christmas we went back to hear the painful news that this man's wife had been killed on Christmas Eve. We were shocked, but what made it even more shocking was that three of his four children had been taken away from him and he had only his oldest with him. We wanted to help. So we went round. After a while, and a bit of an argument between the man and the lady who's project we were working with, he let us in. The man we saw wasn't the same man. He was broken and angry, trying to drown his grief by drinking and using drugs. The place was a mess and the task seemed overwhelming. We couldn't walk five feet into his little place without having to climb over something, but we set to work. Two days later, we'd completely tidied his little house up. The community had rallied round to help. This man had also changed so much. When we came back a few days after we'd finished helping with the cleaning and tidying up of his little place, we were pleased to find this man had all his kids back and he wanted to come off the drugs and the alcohol.

Even if you can't touch someone's life by tidying up their home, maybe you have been given an idea that you can use to change someone else's life. You don't know could happen when you take a risk, but nothing will happen if you don't do anything.

The Rains Have Come

The moon last night

The sun is a ball of white hot light high in the bright blue sky. The heat pounds down, shimmering off the ground, leaving water mirages on the tar roads, which are impossible to walk on, even with shoes because the heat seeps through the soles of your shoes. The temperature must be somewhere in the mid forties (Celsius). This is a typical summer's day for South Africa's lowvelt. It'll be like this for a few days, then it'll break, and the cooler weather will return with the rain.

When the rain does come, the black clouds roll in fast and angry. Sometimes, within an hour, the clear sky with have turned dark and rain would be falling in torrents. I've always loved the sound of the rain on the roof and against the windows. I've been lulled to sleep by the thunder and the rattle of the windows, the flash the lightening fills me with anticipation. The clouds chancing each other around the sky doesn't frighten me.

This summer hasn't been as hot as last year. I think it's barely pushed the mid-forties. Last year the heat was well into the fifties. The heat can be a bit of a nuisance, but I am glad it's raining again.

Just like the rain has brought a new season to this area of South Africa, changes and a new season may well be approaching in my life... I'll keep you posted.

Life In The Lowvelt

No worries. This isn't another boring update about what is or isn't happening in regarding what's going may or may not take place in the near future. This is a brief look into what life is like for me and my family in South Africa.

The days are getting longer as the middle of summer goes by. Light flushes the sky as early as 4:30 and stays until after 7 o'clock in the evening. In winter, the days are far shorter. With my brother, Caleb, being in a nature based South African school, his days start really early, too. Depending on the homework he still needs to do, he'll crawl out of his bed as early as 5 a.m. His desire to keep up and do better than the others in his class never fails to impress me.

Usually, I'm the last one up in the morning, as my parents get up at the same time as Caleb. My tasks involve the housework and the laundry. You may wonder why I do this and the answer is simple. I want to give my parents the opportunity to do what God has called them to do without having to do the endless amount of ironing and cleaning. When I leave they may have to get someone to come in once or twice a week.

The afternoons are hot, too hot to doing anything beyond staying inside under the air con and the fans. We don't have a dip pool, so using that isn't an option to cool down. During the winter months, I used to walk into town in the afternoons, now that's not an option because the heat is too much to deal with. There's also the risk of running into the lions or the leopard that call this estate home as well.

It's incredible seeing the change in the bush around the house. In October, before the rains started, the whole lowvelt was dry and desert like, now the greens are almost overwhelming. The temperature, as I've mentioned before have gone up too. Though Hoedspruit can experience a fifteen degree drop or rise in less than twelve hours. One morning we'll be in t-shirts, shorts, and sandels, and by that evening we'll be in trousers and sweaters. The weather is that crazy.

My parents have been extensively involved with different ministries in one of the churches here. My mum has also been working with a friend of hers who runs a counseling centre. Mum worked for a number of years as a counsellor, both with my father and bofore she met him. Whilst my father has been helping run a youth group, and a whole load of other things.

Until the next time.

There To Be Seen

Turbulent waters are difficult to forge. When the waves seem to be looming over the boat and dark clouds are too low, stretching from horizon to horizon. I've been hanging onto God because otherwise I'll see the waves and the dark clouds heavy with rain, like Peter did when he jumped out the boat at the sight of Jesus coming towards him. The uncertainty of not knowing exactly what's happening next is really difficult to live with. I'm one of those people who finds it easier going forwards when the road, at least with the next step, is clear. But you know what, I still choose to have faith that what God has spoken out over me is truth. He has a plan and a future for me.

On the other side of the coin, there is the excitement of what's going to happen next, even though it's still unknown. This excitement grips me from within, vibrating along my bones and resound in my chest and my head. At night when I try to fall asleep, I can't because sleep eludes me. Being a thinker, I find myself pondering my future and praying about the decisions I need to make. The position I find myself in was unseen and I'm ever so grateful that I know God and follow Him, I'm also ever so grateful for my parents. They're full of wise advise.

The last few days have involved me contacting different YWAM bases about their DTSs and BLSs (Basic Leadership School). I want to go where God wants me to go and as I send each email I've been praying over them. I that know I'm going be serving the Lord somewhere in Europe, as this has been confirmed a number of times, by different people, some of whom know nothing about me. I won't post exactly where I'll be going until I know for sure myself. It's all Father's hands. I trust that He'll sort things out before my South African visa expires in April.

In the visa department, I have to leave South Africa, properly, because I've applied for the second visa extension since I visited Swaziland at the end of last year. I was only given 30 days that time. So I have to leave South Africa... They won't allow me apply for another extension whilst I'm still in the country, and expect me to leave before my extension runs out. So, no stress in this regard.

Hopefully the next post will have more news about what'll happening next, what I'll be doing and where I'll be going.