Visiting and a Pumpkin

While the schools take fall break and time off for Easter we are doing Relationship Evangelism all week. Today was our first day and I think we can all say we were nervous. It was a bit rough with the first couple houses but we did make plans to help them with chores tomorrow. And the last two were very encouraging!
We are a shy group so it was helpful that the lady we met before lunch was more outgoing and very excited to have us visiting. Rather than us having to bring up any conversation and only getting a simple yes and no for answers, she like to share with us about her and the culture. She even asked us questions about America and showed us a music video of Basotho songs. She enjoyed explaining what the songs were about, the traditional clothing they wore, and where the songs were filmed. Before we left she gave us a pumpkin from her garden.

Painting Fun

On Sunday we went to paint a house a lady has let us paint for her. They paint their houses using a traditional design that is known in their family. This design is passed down the generations. We learned one of these designs as she taught us what colors to put where. I can’t say we got it down perfectly the first time, but it was a fun skill to try!

Culture Village and Lesotho

For culture class on Thursday our teacher, Dave, took us to Cultural Village for a tour and experience in the Lesotho culture. There we got to see where the chief and his advisor live, along with the chief’s three wives. Jeremy was dressed up like the chief, even wearing his special hat that only the chief wears. I was dressed up as a Lesotho woman. We learned the differences between the way an unmarried woman wore and a married woman wore. In the picture to the side I am dressed as a married woman.

After the tour we left the country and went into Lesotho. Even though we never really left South Africa we did need our passports to leave SA and enter Lesotho, along with getting back in to SA. The day was very exciting and fun.

Normal LaunchPad Class?

This week I went to LaunchPad expecting anything. “What was going to happen that was unexpected this week.” I wondered. However, it all happened as planned! We arrived early and waited for the kids to get out of school. When all the kids moved out of the class room we went in with our LaunchPad students. We had a classroom, translator, and kids!
Jenna did a review and started this week’s lesson, and then I finished the lesson and transitioned them into small groups. We also collected prayer request from them. We haven’t been able to do small groups and prayer requests since we started this term, so it was a blessing. Reading their prayer request was precious and a great way to get to know them better. We received 21 prayer requests this week. Here are some quotes from their prayer request if you would like to join us in praying for them:
“… that my family will get along…”
“I would like you to pray for my school works to goes to university without any problems please!!! And for my dad to find a good job and my brother (Tselane) to find a good job…”
“I want to know about God and I want to know about Jesus” – Maseko
“I would like you guys to pray for me so that I could go to the USA some day. I’m totally nuts about the place. Thank you…” – Lephoto
“ I really need you to help me with the Bible so that I can walk through God’s ways and I want to make friendship with you…” – Sylvia
Also pray for us interns and staff as we build relationships with these children and point them to God. Pray that we can be a friend to them and that God’s love will flow through us. Thank you.

Wednesday LaunchPad

This morning I woke up feeling dizzy. After breakfast my stomach was sick. I hoped it would go away as the day went on but it only grew worse. Despite my health, I went to help teach LaunchPad without telling anyone how I was feeling. My partner, Jenna, was just recovering from feeling sick so I didn’t want to leave her on her own.
This time we didn’t get a surprise of lots of students and games going on, but rather an empty school. We found out that school let out almost an hour before we arrived because the games were hosted at another school. Our classroom was also locked since the teachers were gone. However, we did find a handful of students waiting outside under a shade roof!
It was striking to see these children willing to wait an hour for us to arrive and teach them about God. We decided to start right then since they waited for so long already. We thought our translator would show up in the next ten minutes so we just did a game and attendance while we waited for her. However, she never did show. I wanted to give up. I was upset with the many other students that didn’t wait for our class and I wasn’t feeling well.
We were able to get another translator to help us. He arrived after I finished half of my lesson. I just hoped they were able to understand most of it. God allowed me to feel good while I taught. This was a big learning experience for me. I learned to not expect a “normal class.” So far every week has been very different. God is a very big God! I can’t try to shape Him, but I can fit into the shape He has for me.

Pray for Health

Please pray for the missionaries on base. We have had staff and interns getting sick. I have felt a little drowsy for a couple days last week but God has kept me healthy. Now I am feeling better but others are continuing to get sick. Please pray that the ones who are sick will get better, that their rest will give them strength, and that the healthy ones will remain healthy even with this sickness in the air. Thank you, I know God wants to heal us.

Paint and Tradition

Today during our Relationship Evangelism time we had a chance to go back and visit a family. They were just starting a painting project so we helped them paint the room they wanted painted. We were excited that we got the chance to do something for someone rather than just visit. Painting was a lot of fun even though we didn’t bring the right clothes. I tried to cover myself with a skirt, Jeremy wore his clothes inside out, and Jenna bravely painted with no protection. Of course I ended up the messiest.
Jeremy got sick in the middle of the job and got a ride back to base. There has been a sickness running around base. Alicia had to take the day off yesterday. The rest of us have just been extra tired and I have been waking up with a little sore throat. Some of the staff feels like it’s the flu. Whatever it is we are praying that God gives us health and strength for everyone.
After our fun painting, we visited a lady but she had to go to a funeral. She did let us pray for her since she has been sick. After we prayed she said she believed she would be healed.
On our way back to the vehicle, we met a young lady with her daughter on her way to work. After discovering that we were from America she wanted to show us where she worked since she made traditional clothes and beads. We decided we could take a quick visit. It was very neat to see all the ladies there hand making lots of traditional clothes and even uniforms for the children in school. The young lady who brought us there dressed up in the traditional skirt and beads that a Zulu woman would wear at her wedding.
Another lady took us upstairs to where they make beads. It was remarkable to see the process in making these beads! It was like a little field trip.

Rest at LaunchPad

When we arrived on Wednesday at Clubview to teach our LaunchPad class we discovered that there was a lot of games going on. Apparently other schools from around were here to compete in games like chess and soccer! It was neat to see the life-sized chess game going on right outside and all the teams in their different colored jerseys. However, this kept a lot of our students from showing up at class.
We decided to just talk with the children that did show up and get to know them better. We also asked questions from last week. It was very nice to relax with the kids. Even though I had prepared my part of the lesson and had a game ready, I didn’t feel ready to teach that day. Jenna, Amy, and I were all tired so getting the chance to hang out with the kids without teaching was a blessing.