Heatwave vs Snowstorm

Privacy.....such a simple word that I never thought could mean so much. Maybe it's the fact that I share a room with 9 other girls, maybe it's the fact that all 10 of us share the same bathroom, maybe it's the fact that our only free time is at night and we can't wonder off alone or maybe it's the fact that no matter where I am on base there is always someone within 10 feet of me. Either way it has started to become frustrating to me. The correct definition for privacy here should be putting in your headphones and ignoring the 20 people around you as best you can. It is overwhelming at times and I find my patience running thin, so I take a deep breath and put my headphones in or just walk away for a little bit. We had a free weekend and some of our leaders were gone house sitting. Some people on my team and the Swiss outreach team that is here went to town and to the mall. So our base was relatively quiet and it was so nice and relaxing.

While everyone over in the states is having a hay day with all the snow, we are over here having a heat wave. For the past three days the temperature has been in the high 90's, yesterday it was 38C which is 100F!! The heat has been taking all our energy away but our pool here helps. There is at least 15 people in the pool every afternoon. But Praise God it rained, or should I say stormed like crazy, last night and today it is much cooler. Hopefully it will continue to get cooler because Summer is almost over and sweating all night as you try to sleep isn't the most comfortable situation to be in. P.S. I am completely jealous about the snow, can't say I have ever seen that much in Texas. Plus my yahoo home page says it snowed in 49 states in one day! That is just unbelievable to me.

Well Happy Valentines Day to everyone! I am not the biggest Valentines Day fan but it has been a good day so far. The guys on our team are so sweet...we woke up this morning to flowers on the table in the pavillion with a note that said:

To all the DTS girls/ladies.
Please Know and Understand that you are precious daughters of Christ.
His Love for you is unconditional and everlasting.
Please take a flower each as a gift from God saying: I LOVE YOU!

How sweet and thoughtful of them. And I am happy to be God's Valentine :) And to top off this lovely Valentines day we have tacos for dinner tonight! My favorite meal here and we get it every Sunday night. Normally it's community night where we have worship and games, however our leaders have a meeting tonight (and they did last week too)so we are gonna have our own worship service tonight. Well I hope everyone has a Happy Valentines Day and don't forget on this day that represents love, God's love for us is uncondtional. He is the greatest Valentine we could have because no matter what we have done or what we will do he loves us the same today, yesterday and tomorrow!

The Beauty Salon is Now Open

Welcome to the beauty salon.

On Thursday we have community outreach where we go to a community by our base and help with a feeding program. The children there are sooooo excited to see us that when they see our truck pull up they come running out to us and swarm us. Immediately they want to hold your hand or want a hug or just to walk with you. Most of them are pretty young so they know very little English. Sometimes it's hard to communicate with them but they don't care they just need love and attention. After they ate on Thursday they decided they wanted to braid our hair....not just one of us all of us. Some girls didn't like it but I love when people play with my hair so I let them go for it. It was relaxing until they would start fighting over my hair. haha But we had such a good time just sitting with them, playing games and singing. I can't wait to go back this week.

We have community outreach Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and sometimes Saturdays. Monday is a feeding program in another community that I can't spell. We normally just call it Cabo for short. The children at this feeding program are more shy and reserved then the children in Dwaleni. It takes awhile for them to warm up to us and by the time they do we have to leave. Last Monday while we were waiting on the children to show up we went next door to this lady's house who runs a daycare and we played with all the little toddlers. Again they came running at us when we walked up and just wanted hugs and hugs and love and attention. There is only one lady running the daycare with about 20 children. So I'm sure they don't get the attention they need. Wednesday we went to a bible study for the teenagers in Mbosweni. They don't really talk when we are around and it was kind of tough getting involved. However from now on Wednesdays we are going to this place run by Iris Ministries, called Michael's Childrens Home. (We went there this past Saturday) It is a small base where they take in orphans or abused children. They put them in couples homes so it is more family based and they get lots of love and support. We helped them paint, play with the children, build a playground and help dig holes for a prayer hut. It was wonderful and I can't wait to go again Wednesday. All the people there are so kind and thankful for the work we did for them.

Class hasn't started this week because we don't have a speaker yet. So today we did creative expression and painted. I am beginning to like the creative expression days, even though I'm not that great of an artist. This weeks lesson is the Character and Nature of God. Please be praying this week goes well, because last weeks class didn't go as excitingly as I had hoped. A lot of people on our team were disappointed, but I know God has a lot in store for us so this week can only get better!!!

Just for Fun

So I thought I would just have some fun with this blog and talk about a few little things. Number 1...you will never believe what I found in South Africa?!?! Dr Pepper!!! I mean seriously I was thrilled. I even didn't care that it cost double the price of a Coke. I learned this little secret from some fellow Texans who live on the base. Apparently they can't live without them and knew exactly where to find them, so during small group yesterday we made a special trip just so I could get some. I got 3 to be exact. And I am going to cherish them. So I know everyone has been so worried and excited about all the snake stories. So I have a special one just for ya'll. After church on Sunday we had all sat down to eat lunch. There was some commotion going on with the guys over by some stairs that are by the kitchen.....much to my suprise and luck there was a snake sunbathing on the steps. I went over to see it and just for you I got my camera and took a picture of our little friend.

There he is just for the world to see. I even watched them kill him but no I did not take a picture of that. They cut off his head with a shovel, Thank the Lord. Our leader said he has never seen a snake like this one before so we have no clue what kind it is? But he's gone now so no worries.

And finally for the best story of all. Today we found out where we are going on outreach. So April 12th my team and I will be leaving for Zambia!!! It is bush country, there are no real cities just villages with maybe a shop or two in it. The houses are made from mud and grass bricks and grass roofs. The food probably won't be the best and we may be sleeping in tents. I can honestly say I couldn't be more thrilled about this. I'm ready to experience it in all it's glory. We will be there for 4 weeks and then we are going to Johannesburg for 3 weeks. We will be working with an orphan ministry feeding them and building houses for them. So exciting! In between we may just have time to stop off at Victoria Falls, the biggest waterfall in Africa. That would be amazing. Well it's way past my bed time. I hope everyone is doing great and I love to read your comments so keep them coming!

What Matters to Me, Matters to God

Just take a moment to think about that. We are always so busy thinking that we need to think, pray and carry out our lives by what matters to God; sometimes ignoring what matters to us. Now don’t get me wrong, what matters to God is the most important. However, the parts of our lives that matter the most to us, they matter to God too. He is our father; he loves us more than anyone. So if something is important to us isn’t it also important to him? I just love thinking about that.

Well the first official week of DTS has come and gone. It flew by fast. Our teacher for the week set the bar extremely high. She is an amazing woman of God and his light shines so evident through her. During our last class yesterday she just took time to pray for each one of us and speak great things over our lives. It was a blessing to the fullest. We had two separate movie nights this week, one was a movie for class….A Bug’s Life :). And we let the guys pick the movie for last night, they picked Shallow Hal. I guess that’s what happens when you let boys pick out a movie. Today was supposed to be VBS (Vacation Bible School) at the church we go to in the community. The outreach team from Orlando that is here was going to run it and we were just going to help. However, because it was raining it got cancelled. So instead of VBS we did a prayer walk around the community. I was in a group with Stanley one of the leaders, and Kacy. We would just go to random houses and start talking to the people there. (Actually Stanley did all the talking because we couldn't understand) He translated for us though and it was interesting to hear the people's stories. They all let us pray for them except for the first lady who's house we went to. She was a "traditional healer" which is something kind of like a witch doctor I believe. She was not feeling very well but the minute Stanley asked her if we could pray for her she became very scared and asked us to leave. "Healers" only believe in their traditions and that does not correlate with God at all. Stanley said they fear God and prayer. We left her yard when she asked us but we stood on the road and said a prayer for her. When we got back to the church we had a chance to play with the children before coming back to base. Tonight is testimony night. We are all going to give our own personal testimonies, which might take awhile with 15 of us but it will be interesting! Monday starts our Father Heart of God week in class. Apparently it is one of the most emotional weeks at DTS. So hopefully we will prepare ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally for what is to come. Me, I'm rather excited about it actually. Well that's all for now...everyone eat some good American (or Mexican) food for me!!!!

Who Needs Electricity These Days Anyways?

So today was just another day in South Africa. (It is so exciting to be able to say that). We started full classes this week so I have been a busy, busy bee. Breakfast is at 7 in the morning and after that we pretty much have something to do all day with breaks only for tea, lunch and dinner. This week has been even busier because we have had night classes also, so we aren’t finished until 8:30 pm. By the time night classes are over everyone is exhausted. But our speaker is amazing; she keeps everyone awake and interacting. Our topic this week is Worldview; how different people interpret, view and value the world. My favorite quote of the day was, “The Word of God becomes flesh and blood and moves into the neighborhood.” Meaning we are Christ to people who don’t know him. We represent him and we need to be showing people who he is, loving them, caring for them, meeting their needs.

Yesterday we were supposed to go feed the children in the community however there was a very bad storm so we couldn’t go. I have never heard thunder that loud in my life. It was so bad the electricity went out for a good 9 – 10 hours. But apparently that is nothing new because the electricity goes off all the time here. We just learn to function without it. So apparently on base yesterday they found a puffater (I don’t know how to spell it). It is a type of snake, the type of snake that is one of the top 10 poisonous in the world. And it was a baby one, which is even more deadly than an adult. It is so deadly that they have to bury it because if you even step on its bones the poison will get into your body. I luckily was not around to see this, but they did kill it! Unlucky for you that I wasn’t around because then I could have taken a picture of it for you to see.

So while we are here we have 5 books we have to read. I am already finished with the first one. It was called Is That Really You, God? by Loren Cunningham. It is the story of how YWAM got started and is pretty interesting. I was kind of disappointed though because I thought (from the title) it was going to be a book on hearing God’s voice. I started our next book but it is so boring I can barely make myself read it. Ha. Well that’s about all the interesting things I have to share for this week. My dad said I need to update this about twice a week, and not the beginning and the end of the week. If I don’t he is just going to find me on other people’s blogs (which I love). So this is just for him :)

P.S. More pictures coming soon and maybe even a video I took at church!

God's Parade of Marvelous Creatures

So I have officially been initiated into Africa, or that’s what everyone calls it here. Back home we normally just call it a stomach bug. Apparently everyone gets it around the first week or two that they are here, adjusting to the water, food and atmosphere, etc. I got it Wednesday night and it was very disappointing because we were going to have Braii (barbeque) chicken for dinner. Needless to say I didn’t eat anything for dinner or breakfast or lunch the next day. I am almost back to normal I suppose, I couldn’t fully enjoy the McDonalds we had today though. That’s right I said it, we had McDonald’s today for lunch and it tasted…almost the same. Close enough for me to be glad I wasn’t eating our base food :). Here are some pictures of our base, I know my family has been dying to see these.

Our base sign :)

Where I live

Our Classroom with paintings that one of our leaders, Anneke, painted

Most of the girls on my team, from left to right...
Shayla, Kelly, Breanna, Me, Marcella, Pinkie (in front), Laney (in back)

So besides the sickness, orientation week went well. Kinda slow. Just basics about what we are going to be doing and the culture, etc. Monday starts full swing of classes, community outreaches and work duties from 8 am – 6pm. My work duty is kitchen clean up or prep, but I think I might do clean up every week because then I will have free time from 4-6 instead of prepping for dinner. I’m sure my family is in shock right now, considering I just said I would rather do dishes everyday then prepare food. On Thursday we actually had a chance to go into the villages and visit the places we would be doing community outreach at. They are two different houses where we will go and feed children in the afternoons. I couldn’t enjoy interacting with the kids because I was still sick and it was very hot so hopefully this week I can have a good time with the children. Yesterday we went to Kruger National Park on a Safari. Before we went into the park one of our leaders, Rich, prayed that God would parade his marvelous creatures for us to see. And that is exactly what happened. We saw lions, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, elephants, rhinos, water buffalo, wild dogs, hyenas, impalas, baboons, monkeys, bats, crocodile, and hippos. Here are a few of the animals that came out to greet us.

We also went swimming while at the park so I have a nice little tan going. That’s right Kyli, be jealous. Haha. And to end our wonderful day we went out for pizza, it was delicious. We are really roughing it over here as you can tell. Well that’s all for tonight. Tomorrow is church and Monday starts our first official week and guest speaker. Please keep praying for my team that God will guide us as our weeks progress and there are quite a few people here not feeling well so please pray for healing and protection for everyone at our base. Thank ya’ll for all your love and support.

Sanbona (Hello) from Africa!!

I have now been in Africa for three days! It is so breathtakingly beautiful that I may never leave. My new home is up in the mountains surrounded by trees. Can you say amazing? We have a birds eye view of all the villages around us. I live in a room with 9 other girls, there are 5 bunk beds and one bathroom! We were the first to arrive so luckily we got to settle in and pick our beds. There is a DTS team from Orlando doing their outreach here, 30 of them altogether. So I have been spending a lot of time with them playing cards and talking just waiting on everyone else to arrive. It has kind of been boring because we have had nothing to do the past couple of days so I am thrilled that everything started today. We had our welcome braii (barbeque) off base at one of the leader’s house. Their house was beautiful and the food was delicious, it was a good time getting to know everyone now that we are all here. There are 15 of us altogether, 10 girls and 5 guys….
Meet My Team: The Americans – Kacy is 25 from Alvin, Texas and has her masters in marriage and family therapy. Rebekah is 21 from Plano, Texas and has her associates in musical theater. Kelly is 19 from Pennsylvania and has taken one semester of college, neither of her parents are Christians yet here she is, Amazing. Breanna is 18 from Washington fresh out of high school and already home sick. Michael is, well I’m not exactly sure how old Michael is but he’s from North Carolina and is an electrician and honey bee worker.
The Africans – Pinkie is 20 from South Africa, she is an orphan herself, I hope to learn more about her story very soon! Laney is turning 23 next month, and I don’t know much about her yet. Mongoleeso or Mongo as we call him is 22 from Capetown and has a degree in marketing and advertising. Lenon, is quiet but he danced today at church and I really enjoyed watching him open up. Leonard is even more quiet than Lenon he has been here a whole day and I haven’t heard him say more than 5 words, hopefully that will change soon.
The Swedish – Elizabeth is 28 and is a nurse, that’s all I know about her for now. Manuel is 27 and showed up with his friends yesterday, they have been traveling all around South Africa.
The Canadians – Shayla is 18 and has a great personality; she just got here today so we are just getting to know her. Last but not least is Marcella she is 21 and has extended family that lives just 5 minutes away.
Today was also church! We went in the village, it was just a plain small building with a lot of windows. The orphans attend the church and they are beautiful. I absolutely loved the church because someone just starts singing a song and then everyone chimes in, there is no music but their voices are so beautiful and harmonized it sounds like music. By the time our three months is up here I will hopefully know all the songs. Lenon and Mongo said we needed to join in and dance with them next week, so maybe I will. I loved church because the people here love God so much, you can feel his presence when your there. We start orientation week tomorrow, I can’t wait for God to move in me and all of my teammates. I may have pictures soon, it’s just hard because we pay for internet by data. So uploading pictures may cost me quite a bit of money. I will see what I can do. Please be praying for me and my team, that God brings us closer to him than ever before. Pray that we may touch these people’s lives and be a blessing to them and the orphans and that they see God in us in every thing we do. I absolutely love it here :)

Oh yeah…..there is apparently a black mamba snake on base somewhere so pray I do not see it or you might hear me scream all the way back in the states. (A black mamba is one of the most poisonous snakes in the world!!!!!)