Amazing...

As Christina said we have not been able to blog or communicate because of where we have been staying.  So we will do our best to catch everyone up to date :)

 

This trip has been amazing!  It is more than I imagined it would be.  The Lord gave me unrest and I found peace...He made me uncomfortable in order to bring me comfort.  As always I am amazed by His goodness, love and grace.

 

Our flights here were seamless.  We had one minor hiccup with the luggage.  We had to take Virgin America from LAX to Dulles, then transfer to South African Air for our flight to South Africa.  Virgin is partners with South African Air.  They charged us a fee for two extra bags we were taking with items for the orphanage.  This fee was supposed to carry us through all the way to South Africa.  However, when we arrived at Dulles the lady (who was not kind at all) insisted we had to pay again.  She refused to work with us or the Virgin Air representative who walked all the way over to our terminal to talk to her.  Thankfully we have the Lord on our side and even stubborn ladies can't get past Him :)  We found favor with the man from Virgin America and he refunded our money for the extra bags so that we would not be charged twice.  Go Virgin America!  :)

We arrived at the orphanage after 32 hours of travel...phew!  The orphanage is on a long, bumpy, dirt road.  When we pulled in it was 10:30 at night so everyone was asleep.  We parked in the dirt lot and went to our quarters.  It is a quaint house with a modest kitchen (no running water, no sink, plug in counter top burners), a dining room, living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom without running water...that's right it is washcloth bath time and no flushing toilets :0

The beauty of it all was that it was done up quite well.  The beds were all made with extra blankets for us and the rooms were nice and it was very clean.  Even though they have so little they worked so hard to make us comfortable. 

The next morning we woke up to a rooster...at 3 am.  He is obviously not the smartest rooster since he does not realize he is supposed to wait for the sunrise.  Every morning I have wished Doug Horn was there to put it out of our misery ;)-  We have had a lot of nice quiet time in the mornings thanks to being woken up so early :) 

When we were dressed we walked out of our room to find the most beautiful smiling faces staring back at us.  Christina gave a big smile to them and the kids all lit up, then started giggling and ran away.  No worries though, right away they came back with more friends and we were quickly mobbed by at least 25 children, hugging us and wanting to touch our hair.  I have heard it said "For beautiful hair let a child run their hands through it" well our hair is gorgious now!  :)

The first day Clemet (the man who runs the orphanage and school) asked Christina and I to teach at the school.  It was kind of funny, they just told us to teach...I asked them, "Teach what?" "Anything" was their reply.  We have quickly come to realize that this is much of the South African attitude towards things :) So I asked them for at least some direction and they asked us to teach social science.  We said no problem and got to teaching.  Now the funny thing is, in social science they are learning about maps...of South Africa.  Needless to say Christina and I are well versed in the terrain and provinces of South Africa :)  We had a wonderful time with the children.  After, we cleaned up some glass and rusty nails from the yard (the orphange is built on a space used as a garbage dump in the past).  The children were so ready and willing to help.  Without a word of complaint.  Amazing. 

The next day Christina and I taught at the school while the team went to give the Right Choices course to their various schools.  I will let them tell you more about what happened there :)  Christina and I have been so blessed to spend this time with these kids.  Some of them call us momma and every morning the whole team is greeted with hugs and love.  Life does not get much better than this.  One night we had a girl, Sima, who came to talk with us.  She asked us if we liked it in South Africa.  We told her we loved it.  She found it hard to believe since we were from America.  She looked at me and asked if I felt comfortable here.  Without skipping a beat I said yes.  Then I realized that I trully had felt comfortable since the moment I had arrived.  The Lord has given our entire team comfort and a spirit of peace about the entire trip.  It is trully amazing! 

On our third night here we were able to give out some of the wonderful clothes, shoes and toys we had collected to give them.  I can't tell you the light it brings to your heart when you see a child turning in their only pair of worn-out shoes that are too small for a new pair of shoes that fit them just right.  No whining over color or style, just happy to have shoes.  Oh the joy!  I saw kids take the stuffed animals we gave them and just hold it to their faces...again, oh the joy!  Putting on used clothes, that are new to them, and modeling it for us with huge smiles on their faces...OH THE JOY! 

The next day Christina and I had the priveledge to watch the kids perform.  These children are some of the most talented people I have ever met.  Their voices lift the spirit! Christina said that she imagined Zulu's would be singing in heaven and I must say that I agree with her! These children have joy.  Even in their humble and strained lives they find joy. 

Today we were able to go to a wild game reserve to see some of Africa's wildlife.  We had room in our van so we were able to take 5 of the older kids from the orphanage with us.  Oh, what an incedible day we had.  Seeing the wildlife we saw not only through our eyes for the first time, but also through the eyes of a child...I can't even explain the elation.  We saw giraffes, wart hogs, elephants, wildabeasts and more!  We also had a close encounter with a Rhino! (Imagine my Australian accent)  We look out the back of our van, and there, walking up behind us is a white rhino.  He gets so close we could have reached out and touched him.  He decided he did not like us.  He backed up a bit and stomped his foot on the ground and shook his head, as if to charge.  The children were freaked out, our hearts stopped, we all froze...then thanks be to God the rhino changed his mind and went trotting off into the bush.  Whew!

On our way through the reserve one of the girls asked me why I smiled and laughed so much.  I was caught a little off guard, not realizing that I did. Then when I thought about it I realized that I have been genuinely filled with joy from the moment I arrived here. These children make my heart sing.  This land shows God's majesty in a way I could never have imagined.  I have joy overflowing, so much so that my cheeks hurt!  The girls decided to give me a Zulu name that means "ever smiling" :) I have no idea how to pronounce that name in Zulu much less write it but that is what it means :)  The Lord has done this for me...given me a chance to be ever smiling in His glory with joy overflowing, oh, I pray that I may keep this feeling with me for always!  :)  :)  :)