a small piece to a BIG PUZZLE

My deepest apologies to you all for how long it has been since we have updated you all with our time in South Africa. We have found internet somewhat difficult to come by. But enough dabbling with the excuses... I will do my best to give a proper update:

Since Themba's (Rob) last update there has be an amazing amount of life occurring here in KwaZulu-Natal (the S.A. province we are in). Between waking up at 8 AM for breakfast and devotions and soapies (soap operas), our full days from 9-4:30, cooking our team meal at the Family Centre and a 5 min walk back to our house... we spend the remainder of our evenings watching DVDs, reading from our massive and extremely intellectual collection of books, journaling, trying to extinguish our mouse problem, sipping on hot drink number 179, playing cards (preferrably, Rook) or sharing our hearts through meaningful conversation. "This isn't a sleep-over, this is life" we do together.

One of the most memorable moments since the last post... (as I contemplate sharing this)... was a robbery that occurred at our ikhaya (home) here in Mpophomeni while we were out one evening. The story is quite lengthy to give you a full explanation but by the end of our night, which ended around 3 AM, we had driven all over Mpophomeni, became further aquainted with the local police force, recovered all of our belongings and shared some of our racing thoughts and emotions with one another. To say it lightly... that was the worst night of sleep that I have gotten since being here. The perpetrator was actually the sister of our landlord, and her boyfriend, so the crime was not at all a random one. Evidently it had been part of their plan to use our home for an evening when they were certain we were out for a night. The whole night probably would not have happened if we had left on our lights on (a way of informing the people you will be back soon). Fortunately Ethembeni helped us respond accordingly to the event by providing us funding to replace the already broken windows and put up "body guards" (essentially, stylish metal fences welded in behind the windows). Though we were shaken from our misperception of the invinceable high horse we were on, we learned many valuable lessons from the experience. Asking God for a confirmation to continue our stay in the township, with safety in mind, we were extremely encouraged to find the protective attitude our staff took, the commradery the community took up, and the amazement for our desire to stay there from one of the local community church members (from a predominantly white congregation). It was enlightening to see how much of an impact our residency was making in the lives of the South Africans. May it be known that we feel very safe and protected by the preceding events and attitudes we observed. As put by Rob, "It was the best and most harmless wake-up call we could have received." There is a fine line between fear and awareness and that is a narrow path us Christians musn't be afraid to walk.

Most of our other excitement has come from a bit more harmless sources. We have dedicated a large majority of our time, food, and resources to help build our relationships with our friends, and local community members. We have been arranging a lot of weekly gatherings, whether it be with the local church pastor's home, using the Family Center to have isikhathi majitha (guy time) with our Zulu brothers, Monday morning breakfasts that we share with all of the staff and volunteers, or heading across the valley to visit our APU friends in their ministry. A huge lesson that God has been teaching me is the impact of your physical presence. Even without words, showing up and acknowledging your brother or sister can be one of the most powerful and validating acts we can do as members in this global community. One of my goals as I practice being present is to speak through action and behavior, rather than through words. With the magnifying glass that this culture serves as this is the moral standard that I continue to strive for: Words express what we know, but actions express what we feel and believe. After reading Philippians 2, and trying to exemplify that passage with this motto in mind puts to perspective the power that we have in acting in our faith and becoming the religion that we study. This is the good news.

(This next paragraph can be read with an English accent if the words are " ".) Since July 4, we have been joined by a "heap" of United Kingdom-ers. There are a total of 12 "quite" friendly "mates" that we have made "proper" friends with since their arrival. It appears that a majority of our time will be spent together so I'm sure that we will have much more relationship and experiences to share together. When we celebrated the 4th with 4 other Enlgish people, I knew that the our relationship was destined to be one that can transend their "pernickety" approach to our American tendencies. Probably one of the most ironic things that I have ever been a part of.

Our time has been flying by and I can't believe that there are only 3 more weeks here in Mpophomeni. In many ways, my special memories of this place have made it difficult to re-enter this ministry as such a small piece of the puzzle. My previous experience was very intentional and intimate with 6 fellow APU friends. Our role last time was a very relational and transactional on many levels of their ministry, almost as if we were helping to make the steam in their engine. This time around, my role, as "the short-term missionary", is a humbling and lowly one. I feel as though I am watching the train fly by. This ministry has picked up so much steam and momentum, that I often stand back and realize that the purpose God has called me back for is to see the strength and faith of people I came to hypothetically bring encouragement to. I will keep searching and striving to inject all of myself into this experience and relationships that I have here. There is no doubt that God has a purpose and plan in his movements through me. However, it is an important reminder to be confronted with the reality that God is in more control of revealing his puzzle than I; just a tiny piece in the mosaic of the "unkulu" Kingdom.