Wena Unjani

Asking how you are in IsiZulu is as far as I can go. I want to know more!! Today was my first day at my service site-Project Gateway. The morning was long but filled with fun and little kids. There is a Christian school for grades R all the way to 7th that I will be able to work with in the mornings. On our first day I was greeted by tons of little ones coming up and hugging me. I was asking for their names but it was hard to keep up with the amount of kids and the fact the their names are in IsiZulu! Plus some have a click in it which makes it interesting :]. Then I felt

two little hands in my mine pulling me to this huge slanted hill. The children run up and down this 45 degree hill just for kicks during their break. I was kinda spent after the third time... man I need to get into shape again or at least in better condition. But I enjoyed it so much! I know I came to the right place because of the things I will be able to do here. I get to play with these children and talk with them, help the teachers with PE lessons, fix the library, help prepare food and serve it to a community ten minutes away and finally engage with women who come from physically abusive relationships.

I was much more apprehensive about the second part of our day. I got to speak with women who have been hurt by their husbands or boyfriends. I was scared, worrying about what I would say. I just never worked with young women like this before. But it was not as scary as I thought. Many of these women have children so we played with them. One of the hardest thing is that there is the language barrier, which makes things a bit unnerving. But God gave us the courage and it couldn't have happened any way else. I just sat and spoke with a young woman who is a little bit older than I am. She was holding her three month old son who was so cute!! But we chatted for a little bit. The suddenly it was time to go... I really just wanted to stay a little bit longer.

I am at the half way mark and I know I will want more time.

Almost the end

I am starting the last week of my elective classes here in SA. But don't be to worried Mom and Dad! I am still taking three other classes. These past 5 weeks have just blown away. They all are just a pile of great laughs, tears, and knowledge.

Today is Monday, and already it has been such a profound day. This morning while trying to finish up my power point for a Bio presentation, I forgot that I still have to drop my laundry off. As I was walking out of my cottage house I noticed how beautiful today was. Have you ever eaten such a juicy and tasty apple? It was just the most succulent apple ever eaten, this morning felt just like that. The morning air was crisp and so fresh. The warm sun fighting over the night's cold was sweet on my skin. God how unbelievable You are! The whole earth proclaims Your glory. I was quieted, my heart stopped worry about my presentation for a few moments. I was just so overwhelmed at the beauty of this world.

Later in the morning I heard a couple stories from some of the nurses. They get to go out each week into the townships and work in the clinics. Just the stories they told us about was difficult to hear. There was a lady who's daughter didn't come back after one night. They searched for her at different places but couldn't find anything. Then they found her shoes and a puddle of blood in a ditch. Soon after that they found her body, ravaged and stabbed in a field.

What would I say to her if she told me this story. I thought of what my parents would do, how heart broken they would be. But she had such faith in God, knowing that everything will be OK. That no matter what life brings her, she will turn her eyes to the Lord and be comforted.

Melody, the nurse telling this story, said that she never had to grieve like this before . There is a difficult line in wanting to know God's comforting love and having to endure so much pain. She continued to say that she wished that she wasn't born privileged living in America. She wanted to switch places with this woman so she wouldn't have to feel this pain. But God was telling her something- even though the woman was grieving she was comforted by God's love. And never did she feel such comfort as the woman felt.

This is Africa. It is not just a country filled with animals and wilderness. This is a country filled with people who are broken. Just as there are people broken in America. People who live and love. People who struggle to get a day's food. People who are dying from AIDS every day. And I am sitting here in the comfort of my pleasant room- standing right in the middle of it.

Praise be to God. For His glory will be proclaimed.

I am waiting for the day that I get to speak with the people of this beautiful country. This week is the start of something bigger in my life.

D group today was awesome. I am co leading a bible study group with an awesome friend- Rachel!

We have such a great young women in our group. Tonight we finished going through the Minor Prophet Habakkuk. It was such a great study. The injustice that is not dealt with and God's answer to it. And Habakkuk himself waiting on the Lord for the deliverance of God's people. Just a great example of many who wait on the Lord for guidance during difficult times.

What a day this was.

Little bit of everything.

its sunny for three days and then its sprinkling the next day. Oh how strange you are Africa! I think I am starting to feel homesick. I miss the comfort of familiarity. I miss my grandma seeing her bright face in the morning. I miss the things she would make me for lunch or dinner. I miss driving down to my parent's house and seeing the chaos there. I miss everything back home, my best friend, my awesome mentor- my home.

But I am here. So far away and just 9 weeks away from returning.

I hope the days will feel long.

It was about a 3-4 hour bus ride to the historic Blood River and Isandlwana battle fields. It was very intriguing to hear what happened and at the same time standing on the very same ground. Our guide was this old man who seemed to be so frail ready to keel over. He was actually packed with lots of energy. He described what happened at each battle field with such passion and great knowledge. I was trying to keep up with this little man. He would shout in IsiZulu and at times it catch me off guard how chipper and energetic he was. I loved how he was completely passionate about the military history.

On the ride back to AE, I was reading through the History of South Africa textbook, and I began to read about the Segregation and Apartheid eras. There were several points in the text that made me feel so frustrated and angry at the evils and arrogance of man. How much the Blacks were oppressed. Even the ability to provide for themselves were stripped away because their lands were taken. Good paying jobs were practically non-existent for Blacks. This was all happening in the 20th century.

I was thinking how can man do such things in the name of God. It made me think of Hitler and his motivation to clean the world of Jewish people. I came to tears at this point because God gave us the freedom of choice, and that choice can be used for good or evil. And too often evil is disguised as good.

Open up the Heavens

let Your glory fall. Open up the our hearts

That we would know you- Hillsong

That is my prayer for my time here in South Africa. There is a lot of things I left behind- friendships, relationships, an easier life. Now that I have been here for almost a month I look back at how home will be different and how I will be different. I know that there is something big for me here, something that will forever change the way I view myself, the world and my faith in God. I cannot express the anticipation to see what is around the bend.

I was talking with my grandma about my own transformation as a person and especially as a young Christian woman. She told me that there is something amazing about being able to do something like this. I know that in time I will see the beautiful ripple affects that these three months will have on my life. I actually have seen some of those now. That prayer night I wrote about- there was a girl in my group that I knew God kept bringing her name up through out the whole week leading up to that night. I knew I my heart was hard towards her for no reason really... just a misconception of her. I let my pride down and I asked for forgiveness. I am not saying this for my own glory, but honestly that night I felt the Holy Spirit piercing my heart with humility and the drive to just tell her I was sorry.

God You move in mighty ways and I wonder how is it so? You are too vast and amazing for me to understand. I ask that Your glory falls in this place, that my heart would just open to know You and the will in my life.

A day in the life

To spend the day at a Zulu village homestead was pretty awesome. This homestead was about an hour away from the school. It ended up being located in between mountains and a small valley. The whole group was excited and a bit nervous because everyone thought we were just going to be thrown into rural Zululand. One we arrived we were befriended by three amiable and excited dogs. From there we were shown our hut and the grounds. I was placed with five other girls in one big hut. It was so cute inside, it was like a scene from Snow White. When she walks up stairs with the forest animals and notices the little beds. After that I got to explore the village grounds. There was this beautiful lake that glistened when the sun was setting. Our guide who showed us around and gave us great information about the Zulu culture was extremely friendly. Dave was his name. He told us how inventive and resourceful the Zulu people are. The most interesting thing I found out was that they don't kill cattle for the meat but in fact they would just use all of the cattle for many things.

Some of those things were for instance its dung as natural gas and floor polish. He said that since the cattle aren't given hormones but only grass their dung doesn't smell as badly as we are used to. He then showed us these trees that had tons and tons of yellow birds that were flying back and forth with long blades of grass. Turns out that these birds were the males making nests to attract a mate. Then it was up to the female to choose which nest was the best. What was so awesome was how strong and intricate these nests turned out. These male birds made them with only their beaks and grass. I was completely amazed how meticulous they were. After that we were sitting around a camp fire talking about everything and taking pictures. That was relaxing, then they served us a traditional dinner. Dave explained that the women would never eat barbecued meat because they were the child bearers and if something went wrong with the food it could affect the child. We ate pieces of steak and had a vegetable platter. It was good :]

After that we got to see them dance traditional dances and some of the guys from the group learned Zulu dances. The night ended with some sliced oranges and lots of laughter and silliness. The next morning we were showed how to make a traditional pottery. That was extremely sad for me because I was not able to get the right shape of the clay pot. I actually had to try two times and the end product did not look like my example. The whole weekend was awesome, just to learn something about the culture and just relax for a little bit

This is Artie

Hosanna

Tonight was phenomenal. There was a prayer walk for the campus, where all the students gathered and we prayed for different places. Prayer for the dining hall and for the classrooms, chapel, and living areas. It was beautiful, just gathered all together in worship and candle light. The night continued with pieces of scripture in the Beatitudes and what a prayer walk looks like. A time to walk with Christ and purposefully pray for His will in a place. To have His spirit pour into each area for strength and love.

At first I wasn't sure if there were going to be many people since many of us have plenty loads of homework to do. But God was faithful. This night was huge and defining. Earlier today I received some news that shook my world. And I didn't know what to do about it but I needed to cry out- tell someone. There are amazing people surrounding me. I was blessed to be prayed over, and I felt God's work in my heart. And when tonight came I was quieted. My storm was calmed. God speaks, and when He does it is powerful and comforting.

Tonight was pivotal in my walk with Christ. I knew that there were certain people were don't feel comfortable talking with one another, and I read the passage in Ephesians 4: 2-6

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord , one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

I read that out loud, because I knew I was ignoring someone specifically. I was prideful not wanting to talk to her. I was unsure of what she thought of me. This week God has put on my heart to ask for forgiveness- to tell her pride is in my heart withholding love and humility.

I let it go. I asked, and she gave me forgiveness. I knew that I needed to do this because it was something eating away. Something that was not of God. Praise be to Him, Hosanna who gives me strength to be humbled and joyous. I thank you for the undeserved forgiveness and the ability to love.