...and Ryan changed twice!
(Tuesday, March 21st )

Another big day of soccer…and another rainy morning! But, right around 9am…you guessed it…the rain stopped! AMEN! As we mentioned in our Monday blog, the children were out of school on for a National Holiday. Well, they were out again today because of the same Holiday (the holiday is really today, Tuesday, but they just got a long weekend). With that said, Aaron and Pastor Welcome decided to play a joke on us gullible Americans…at breakfast, Pastor Welcome came up to Nick and told him that the grey colored shirt he was wearing was offensive to the Zulu people on this Holiday and he would have to change. Nick thought that he was joking, but Pastor Welcome became very serious…so Nick went back to his room and changed. Then Pastor Welcome went to Ryan and gave the same him the same story, except saying a white shirt would be offensive to the Zulu people because of Apartheid. When Ryan changed into a brown shirt, he was told to change again! Pastor Welcome also got Wendy, Mike and Becky with this joke. We didn’t really talk to each other about it and it didn’t click that other people were wearing colors we were told to take off. Mike was even hiding a shirt under his raincoat at the soccer field because he didn’t want to offend anyone! At dinner, they finally let us in on the joke…we vowed to get Pastor Welcome back before we leave!

After breakfast, Becky and Wendy were able to go on a little excursion to a community called Hilaruiknulu (Big Forest). The first stop was at Gogomayaba’s, the mother of Luginile, a caretaker at the cottages. Right before they got there, the good ole reliable cumbie got stuck in the mud! JD had to get some help to push it out. When they finally arrived, they met with 20 homecare workers and caretakers who work with children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Celimpilo (Ask For Life) is the name of this focus group. These women have no support from the community, and compiled a list for Barbara of all the resources they need to fight the epidemic. She spoke and encouraged them that they would help as much as possible. Then they served tea and snacks. The second stop was the Zulu village community meeting in the Tribal Council Hall to bring together all the leaders in the community to encourage them in their fight against the AIDS epidmeic. The three visitors from World Vision shared why they were there, the pastor, Moses, preached and there was much singing as there is in all gatherings of Zulu people. Wendy also shared about our group and the work we are doing with Agathos. They served lunch of sandwiches and cheetos and then it was time to go outside to watch the Zulu dancers! The boys went first and danced to drums in their sheepskin costumes. Next came the girls in their beads and bare chests! Definitely a Zulu tradistion that has been passed down from generation to generation. By this time it had stopped raining and the sky cleared to reveal a beautiful view of White Mountain. It was an incredible visit. These people truly love Jesus and believe He is the answer to their problems.

Back at the cottages, the guys headed over to the soccer field to get the games started. While Brian stayed at the field to make sure everything was going smoothly, Nick, Ryan and Mike went back to the cottages for more work. They dug an extremely long trench, inserted some piping, and filled it back in. With the kids anxious for some attention, the guys promised to go on a hike after they were done. This, as it seems, turned out to be a fun experience that led them through mud, rain, shrubbery, more mud, random villages, and even more mud. While on our little hike, Phyllis, Carolyn and Jules (Phyllis is Aaron’s wife, they are the couple from Minnesota who are living here for a year, Carolyn is the mom of the family from Canada who is here for 6 months, and Jules is JD and Barbara’s neice who splits her time as a nurse with Agathos and another orphange) who did a session for the girls about good hygiene that included brushing teeth, bathing, etc.

After dinner, Aaron led our devotion. He shared a touching story about why he was here to serve in Loskop. It really put our entire trip into perspective and really challenged us to take advantage of these last days here. Then, we took some time to pray for Richard, Aaron & Phyllis, and Scott & Carolyn. As long term missionaries (6 months to 1 year) here with Agathos, we felt as if we needed to ask the Lord to do many things for them. It was wonderful to lay hands on them and ask God to bless them with many things. They were very thankful that we took the time to lift them up to the Lord.

We have a CRAZY busy day tomorrow, something of a play day. One more attempt at horseback riding on the game reserve, lunch at JD and Barbara’s, a hike in the Drakensburg Mountains, and then Bible Study at Pastor Welcome’s church. We’re praying for good weather. Off to bed!


* submitted by the team