God uses Abby in a mighty way!

I’m not sure if I can fully put into words the happenings of yesterday. My heart is still so full!

Because we didn’t have class in the AM, we decided to take the whole family out to eNseleni to the Hospice support group meeting. After 7 months of growing friendships out there, it was time for them to see our kids and meet us as a family.

We prepped the girls for what they would see; the building is old and breaking, almost everybody only speaks Zulu, some people might look sick.

The arrival was typical. We greeted people as we made our way to the seats, Abby responded in Zulu and Emily in English. The interaction that I was most interested in though, was the greetings with Alaphina the “head Grandmother” or Gogo as they call it. We had worked for months to gain her approval and for awhile, didn’t know if we would ever get it. She is tall, rough and respected. Alaphina smiled at the kids and greeted them in Zulu (she does speak some English) then we all found our seats. A few minutes later, Abby gets up and heads over to Alaphina (completely surprising Kyle and I, this is not like Abby). She says, “I know a Zulu song” and starts singing one of the songs that has a click in it. Alaphina’s eyes light up and she starts singing with her. They then they start singing another song which Abby knows and Alaphina has a whole group join in. Abby was just beaming. Then after a bit more conversation, Alaphina reaches for Abby and pulls her onto her lap. The rest of the meeting is spent with Abby snuggling down and Alaphina all smiles (not typical). When someone would comment on how much this white girl liked her, she would say, “well, I’m the gogo for this whole area!”

When the meeting came to an end, Alaphina stepped outside and Abby thought she was leaving. Abby ran after her to say goodbye and give her a hug. I think this really touched her because she explained to Abby that she could be her granny here in South Africa.

After the group watched these two interact, they even responded differently to us as we left. Usually, I get one or two hugs as we walk out the door. Today, everybody came to give us a hug. Bringing our children to this HIV support group, we knew would have a big impact. It shows that we are not afraid of them and do not see them as outcasts, but as friends who we want our children to know. We looked forward to our children helping bridge some of the gaps in our cultures and life situations, but never expected this response on the first visit!

Yearning to know Christ

Lily has had the opportunity to volunteer at a daycare for vulnerable children during her stay here. She's gotten to know one of the teachers names Buyi. Buyi started asking some really good questions about the Bible and wanted Lily to explain. So, she started taking her through an evangelistic Bible Study (chronological teaching of the scripture). Buyi's hunger for the Truth has been incredible and God is granting wonderful understanding to her. Buyi wanted to visit our church, so she and Lily made a plan for today and Buyi would stay for lunch. Well, the transport that she had fell through, so she had to take a taxi in to Richards Bay. From church, we went home to chat and have lunch. When she got ready to leave I asked her how much her taxi was because I wanted to give her money for her home trip. R15 was the answer (about $2). We said our goodbyes and Lily took her to the taxi rank. In the vehicle, Buyi says, "I wouldn't have asked for money, but I only have R5 on me. I didn't come just to see you, but to know Christ."
This reduced both Lily and I to tears. Her desire was so strong to learn more about Christ that she willingly came into town knowing that she didn't have enough money to get back. She said she would have looked for a friend that lived in town and asked for R10.
We are earnestly praying that she will continue to understand the scripture and submit her life to Christ.

Kyle's stay in the bush

A Zulu pastor (a friend of a friend) about 2 hours from here has been gracious enough to let us come out and stay with his family to experience more of the Zulu culture and practice the language. Kyle went out for an overnight to check things out and meet Pastor Khuba.
He a great time and we can't wait to go out next month as a family. The area is lush rolling hills, traditional housing, no electricity or indoor plumbing. Cooking is shared by the extended family in a "community" kitchen and it gets REALLY cold there this time of year.

Sewing skirts

I had a little time off class while Lily was helping with the team's Junior Youth Camp. The girls had been begging for me to make them long skirts. Finally got it accomplished!

Manual labor and bleeding hands . . . .

Today was a FANTASTIC day, yet a little painful.
Kyle has been relationship building (the most important part of Zulu culture) with a Pastor named Clement. He lives out in a more rural area and their church hosts 3 little orphan homes. Kyle has had wonderful language learning experiences out there and I couldn't wait to have a chance to go.
Today was my chance!
Clement introduced me to one of the house mothers named Zodwa. She willingly agreed to let me tag along with her for the morning. We started by baking pan bread called jeqe (the "q" is pronounced like a cork popping). She gave me the directions in Zulu and I tried my best to follow them. Because a lot of the Zulu homes don't have ovens, they make bread in a pan with a hollow center that creates steam (hard to explain). While we were waiting for it to cook, we started the laundry . . . by hand. She laughed at me because I knelt down beside the tub and the Zulu women bend over the whole time. I tried that and my hamstrings about gave out on me :) Well, an hour later, my hands were raw and actually bleeding (typing right now is painful)!
But, what I gained from today is incredible. She was such a good language helper; very patient, repeated words, asked questions and let me try.
I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.
Next week I get to learn how to make "fat cake". Sounds good!

More bugs!

I never like to hear, "Heather, you've just got to see this!"
We are always coming across new and interesting bugs . . . and they are BIG.
Not sure what this one is called, but it has a hard shell and rolls into a huge ball when you touch it. Emily thought it was fascinating.

A quick trip to the hills

Saturday we took a quick trip north (about an hour) to enjoy the view. It was a beautifully, cool day . . . a welcomed relief from our South African summer.