The cultural experiences keep on coming

Sarah and I went to Potter's House tonight for the last time. Well, Sarah will probably take her parents to visit there in a few weeks, but I'm headed back to California in a little under 2 weeks. Anyway. It was quite a night.

We were running late because on the way, we stopped at the store to buy dessert. We were a little worried we'd miss dinner--it's usually around 6:30, and we didn't get there until 7:00. No need for worry--we hadn't even come close to missing dinner. We got there just in time for a meeting on obtaining housing. The meeting went till 8:30. THEN they served dinner. We were asked to go ahead and dish up the milk tart we'd brought for dessert--on the plates with the rest of dinner. They said we should put the milk tart on top of the pap, so it wouldn't get in the gravy. Ok. It was a bit strange, but it worked.

Once the milk tart was dished up, we waited for the rest of dinner to be served. Sarah was in the middle of a conversation and didn't immediately notice what was being spooned onto the plates. I watched closely for her reaction. I was rewarded by witnessing her doing a very obvious double-take. Because, well...here's a visual aid:



They're also known as "runaways," but yes, that's a chicken foot. Mmmmm.

After dinner, we made the rounds, saying goodbyes and giving out contact info. The evening concluded with one woman asking for our mailing addresses in America because she wanted to send us a package. Actually, her exact words were: "I will send you the Vanity Fair bras." She went on to ask for our bra sizes. Aaaaaand, then we went home.

Attempt at a weekly update

I posted on the community blog yesterday, and just in case you don't keep up with us over there, I thought I'd link to it here.

This week marks the beginning of our last posture (Entrusting), which means I have only six weeks left here in South Africa. It's been pouring rain on our tin roof almost every night, and the jacaranda trees are bursting into bloom--lush greens and purples are everywhere. It's beautiful and I don't want to leave.

Many weekly updates, all in one post!

The past weeks since I updated this blog in any substantive manner have been packed full of experiences. I'm just going to put it all out here, and you can read what you like, as I've included handy subheadings. =)

Building and Pizza

While Dayna's team was here building a house for one of Granny's neighbors, I spent many hours out in Sosh with the team and the family. I didn't do a whole lot of building, and our usual times with the family were mostly taken over by the building project, but those days were a rich time of deepening relationships and hanging out together. And getting to see Granny sing a song about pizza. Seriously, not to be missed. It includes air guitar.

A Funeral

One of these days included a lot more than a building project. Martha, a friend of Granny's family, passed away from AIDS on July 6th. The family invited me, Sarah, Doug, and Dayna's team to attend the funeral on a Wednesday morning. Visiting the cemetery for the service brought home the reality of the death toll here, as we drove past grave after grave piled with fresh dirt. At the same time, the voices lifted in song were a reminder of the hope that still lives in this place.

A New Home

Later that same afternoon, Doug, Sarah and I took a few of the family to visit a friend, Elena, who now has a new home in another block of Soshanguve. Elena has struggled to find permanent housing for herself and her two sons for a long time now. A family back in California sent money for a home for her, and Granny's family helped her to purchase a pre-made tin shack. Elena was able to put up her new house next to the home of her "uncle"--not a relative, but the brother of the woman who raised Elena. Elena was so proud to be able to welcome us into her new home and offer us cooldrink (soda).

Interviews and Writing Stories

Over the past few weeks, Sarah and I have begun to present our writing project to the various women we're working with--at Potter's House, and in Soshanguve. This past Thursday, Sarah and I had our first interview with Minnie, one of the women at Potter's House. She said over and over how honored she was that we wanted to hear about her life and write her story to share with others.

Sharing Lives

As part of sharing our lives with Granny's family and hearing their stories, we've been preparing to share life timelines with each other. Just like our Bible study plans, this hasn't always worked out with the timing we'd hoped for. This past Wednesday, Sarah and I planned to share our timelines with the women. We asked Carissa to come with us and hang out with the kids during this time, to minimize distractions. But...Emily was busy at her house with builders, and they wanted us to wait until we could all be together.

Impromptu Bible Study

Instead, Annah asked if we could study just a few verses or a chapter of the Bible together. I didn't have anything prepared, and hadn't even brought my Bible! Annah found Bibles for all of us, and we were off, reading the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4. This was similar to the previous Wednesday, when Doug asked me as we walked into Granny's if I'd like to lead the Bible study...so there I was, discussing Ruth 3-4 with Emily, Sophia, Sylvester, and Doug. Times like these make me feel like I'm on a really bumpy ride over which I have no control whatsoever. But I'm loving it.

More of the Meetings, Less of the Timelines & Bible Study

On Friday this week, we went out a little early to meet with a friend, Doris, to talk with her about our writing project to see if she'd be interested in being part of things. Her first reaction was to take us to visit her friend Mpho and present the idea to her so that she could be part of it as well. Then we went to Granny's to meet with the women and share our timelines together...except again, it was a busy Friday and that didn't happen.

But, as Sarah and I sat and had tea, a friend of the family named Queen stopped by. Annah had invited her to hear our timelines but also to hear about our writing project. We had a great conversation with her and she was really excited to hear about NC and about the InnerChange team coming next week. We invited her to come be part of things, and we're hoping that will work out. So. Friday: no timeline sharing. No Bible study. But: some great conversations with Doris and Granny and Annah and Christinah and two new friends.

Meanwhile, Back at Pangani

We're finishing up the "Contending" posture in our curriculum, and are therefore 2/3 through the year. I've had some great times with the community this past week, being prayed for in some of the stuff that God's working on with me. The InnerChange team arrives tomorrow, and we'll spend time with them sharing our experiences in Soshanguve. We'll also take part with the exploration the team will be undertaking as they look at establishing a team in Sosh in the future. It'll be an exciting though busy time...and just afterwards will be our final week off. Four of us will be heading to Mozambique to hang out on the beach for a week. And stay in huts. Can't forget the staying in huts.

This has been scattered and long. Sorry. Hmm, this is what my monthly updates usually look like. Guess that's what happens when I don't update for weeks on end...

When the exotic becomes familiar

We've been talking a lot about "Kingdom Realities" lately, something I've written about here a little bit. In our worship time on Monday morning, we looked at a lot of the kingdom parables in Matthew, and then Arthur asked us to take a walk around Pangani, looking for pictures of or metaphors for the Kingdom of God.

As I walked along the bottom of the property, I heard a strange noise and looked up to see that it was a bird (called a Hadeda) that had landed on our neighbor's tin roof. I glanced at the bird and continued walking, then stopped as I realized how weird it was that this exotic-looking bird was now a totally normal sight to me--like seeing a sparrow at home. And that's where I found my kingdom metaphor for the morning.

The Kingdom of God is when the exotic becomes familiar. I've been thinking about how God's Kingdom is about making wrongs right--it's the way things should be, the way God intended for them to be. The reality we live in most of the time is not that way. There's injustice, death, suffering, sickness, poverty, AIDS. But as God's kingdom is realized, we contend against these things. As we participate in God's kingdom becoming a reality, we see justice, mercy, comfort, hope, relief, healing, and abundance. These things are not ordinary. All too often, they're unfamiliar. But when we truly participate in God's kingdom, these things become reality. Just like the Hadeda on our neighbor's roof...it's not exotic anymore. It's familiar, and I see it every day. If I take the time to glance upwards.

It's not about the Bible study after all

On Friday, I headed out to Sosh with Doug, having three objectives in mind. I was planning to read and discuss the second half of the book of Ruth with the women. Doug needed to meet with Emily and Anna and a friend, Alena, to talk about some money that had been sent from America to help Alena build a house. We also wanted to take our friend Doris to meet and visit with Martha, who's very ill with HIV/AIDS. We left early, allowing time for all of the above to happen. Or so we thought...

As it turned out, Doris wasn't available until later in the afternoon, so we planned to do Bible study first off--Doug with the guys, and me with the women. But we had to track down people first. It was laundry day, and both Emily and Anna were busy with that. Anna kept sending text messages to Sophia to tell her to come home so we could read the Bible.

Doug finally did gather the guys and they started their Bible study. Meanwhile, the women all seemed busy with something else, coming in and out, taking care of other things. I grew uneasy about whether we'd have time to read together, and uncertain as to when I should get started. As we waited for Sophia to come home, I suggested that we plan the outing we've been talking about for months. And we did! The women were so excited to plan a day for all of us to just relax together--with no kids. As they put it, "Sisters and Mothers Only!"

The afternoon wore on, and I could hear the guys outside, having their Bible discussion. Meanwhile, I was sitting inside listening as Emily and Anna talked with Alena (in Sotho, of course) about the money for her house. Hearing Emily with Alena, hearing her taking leadership, trying to make sure that the situation was handled the best way for Alena and that the money was actually used for a house and not spent carelessly...it was then that I realized this was more important at that moment than studying Ruth and checking off one more objective from my agenda for the afternoon. Yes, studying the Bible is important, but on Friday, building relationships, planning time we could be together, helping others in the neighborhood--those are what God had for the afternoon, rather than reading chapters 3-4 of Ruth.

Doug and the guys finished their study and came inside, and when Doug asked how our study had gone, I was able to answer quite cheerfully that we hadn't even started. He had heard back from Doris and she was on her way home, so while we waited for her to arrive, I went outside and watched the kids dancing as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky.

At the beginning of June, we had a guy stay with us at Pangani for about a week as part of a year-long pilgrimage he's in the middle of. He's been blogging daily, reflecting on his journeys and the communities of faith he's visiting along the way. As I watched this group of neighborhood kids dance, David's post about visiting Granny's house popped into my mind. David commented that he felt like dancing at Granny's looked like heaven.

This week, we've begun reading Dallas Willard's book The Divine Conspiracy. In it, he discusses Jesus' proclamation that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand--present, here with us, a reality in which we can participate. As I watched the kids at Granny's hanging out together, dancing in the afternoon sun, laughing, and so full of life, I couldn't help but think that this isn't just like heaven...it's the kingdom of heaven. Granny's house is a place where I see God and His kingdom, here and now. And as we left Granny's at dusk and traveled to Block EE to visit Martha (without Doris after all)--Emily and Anna taking us to help bring comfort to a friend who is suffering--I saw the kingdom of heaven in action. And that's what it's really about, after all.

Well At Home

My time in Sosh on Wednesday was a little different than normal. (Although, I'm beginning to see that every trip to Sosh is "a little different.") Doug's former youth pastor and family were visiting from America this week, so they all came out to Granny's to meet the family and see the ministry Doug's been doing there. Since there were six of us headed to Sosh, in cars that seated five, I ended up driving by myself. (I had forgotten how much I love driving alone on the highway...that was fun.)

I stopped by Emily's house first to give her and various others a ride over to Granny's. We arrived at Granny's a little while before Doug and his friends, so when they walked in the door, I was sitting on the couch talking and laughing with the family. Before too long, Doug invited his friends to walk around Block KK and see a bit of Soshanguve. I was going to stay and talk, but Sophia and Anna and many of the others said "Let's go, too!" So I did. We walked around and visited several families and friends that Doug knows in the neighborhood--some of them now my friends as well. What made me laugh was that I felt such a part of the family, so at home just hanging back, talking with friends. Similarly, when we all headed over to Emily's just before sunset, to take a look at the site for the community garden, Doug was showing his friends around, and I was quite at home inside talking with Anna and Christinah and Emily.

One of the first things Emily said to me when I arrived at her house on Friday was: "Barbara, on Wednesday, you were well at home." This made me smile. I feel the same way.

Global Awareness Experience

This past Sunday night, we invited 50-some people to Pangani for what we called a "Global Awareness Experience." This event allowed attenders to have a taste (bad pun) of the ways people live and eat worldwide. Our invitations were purposefully vague--not knowing what to expect helped everyone think more about what was happening as the night played out. As people arrived, they were asked to draw a number that would determine where they sat for the meal. Each table represented a different economic class, and the number of people seated at each table represented the approximate percentage of people who live at that level worldwide.

















Table One: Three people sat here and enjoyed a three-course meal, served by a waiter. They enjoyed salad, steak, roast potatoes, and green beans, followed by chocolate mousse for dessert. Cloth napkins, a color-coordinated tablecloth, nice dishes, and candlelight completed the experience. They sat apart from the other tables and enjoyed their delicious gourmet meal as all the other tables looked on. Although some wanted to share their food with others who had less, they were told by their waiter: "This isn't that kind of restaurant."























Table Two: This table of ten enjoyed a family-style spaghetti dinner, with french bread and salad, and bottles of soda to share. They ate from regular plates with plain flatware and used paper napkins.

















Table Three: No tablecloth and no fancy dishes here...our table had a meal of rice & beans, which we ate from plastic plates. The sixteen of us had clean water to drink from our plastic cups and we each had our own bowl or plate, plus a fork.


















Table Four: Here is where the term "table" becomes negotiable. This group of 14 ate rice from a common bowl, and had dirty water to drink from a few cups (there weren't enough for everyone to have their own). Some at this table became a little bitter, and attempted to steal food from Table One. (They were reprimanded by the waiter.)























Table Five: yet again, not exactly a table. Six people gathered around this wastebasket fire and scavenged food from a trash can. Later in the evening, they began to beg food from the other tables. They actually ended up eating better than our table did, enjoying scraps of steak and potatoes leftover from Table One (these they dug out of the trash) and whole plates of spaghetti that were shared by Table Two.

Going into the evening, I was nervous about how things would play out. When I invite people to an event, I feel responsible for how things go for them--I want to make sure they have a positive experience. I'd invited several women from Soshanguve, and I let them know that this wasn't going to be a usual meal. The vagueness of the invitation made me wonder--and worry a bit--about how they would react. Admittedly, I was a little nervous that I would end up at Table Five--but I was more nervous that my guests would land there and have a bad experience.

My fellow apprentice Sarah and I picked up Emily and Winnie and brought them to Pangani, and when we arrived, everyone but Winnie drew Table Three. Winnie drew Table Five. I worried about her having to scavenge her meal from a trash can, but as it turned out, she ate better than I did and had a great time hanging out with the "homeless" people in her group!

The evening turned a lot of expectations upside down for most of us. Sitting at Table Three meant that I had a fairly filling, if plain meal. It meant that I had some food left to share with those who had less. However, Table Five didn't want our extra rice--they preferred leftover spaghetti from Table Two. I'm used to having something to offer to those less fortunate than myself, and it was strange to feel as if what I had wasn't good enough to be shared.

At the end of the meal (which wasn't really much of a meal for some), we gathered in two groups to discuss the evening and our reactions to it. The goal of the event was to get all of us to think more deeply about how things actually are in the world, where we fit within that bigger picture, and to experience a bit of what life is like in different economic classes. Ultimately, we all were asked to consider what we can and should do with the awareness we gained from the experience.

As we talked in smaller groups at the conclusion of the night, I was again struck by the overwhelming generosity of my friends from Soshanguve. Their economic level is probably closest to the Table Three group. Emily and I talked a lot about how she wishes their family had more--not so they could live like Table Two or Table One, but so that they could better help others who have less. She talked about how hard it is to not be able to help in the ways she would like. And we talked about how important it is to help in the ways we can.

What are the ways you can share what you have with others around you?

Movie Memories

This afternoon, a bunch of us went to see the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. As the movie ended and the credits came up on the screen, the closing music suddenly brought back memories of when I watched the first Pirates movie in the theater. I started thinking back on where I've been when I've seen each of the three movies in the series. (Ok, this sounds a little cheesy, but just go with me.)

Pirates 1:
July, 2003. Denver, Colorado. I went to see it with four girls who'd become my good friends during a program in publishing at the University of Denver. I was just finishing up the program and anticipating the beginning of my career in the publishing industry. I had no idea where the next few months and years would lead. They ended up leading to a job in the Bay area, where I was for the second Pirates movie...

Pirates 2:
June, 2006. Palo Alto, California. I went to see it with my roommate Joyce and some of her friends. I was questioning career decisions in the midst of changes at work, and rethinking life direction in general. I was also in the middle of the application process for NieuCommunities, which led to me coming to South Africa for ten months, where I am now for the third Pirates movie...

Pirates 3:
May, 2007. Pretoria, South Africa. I went to see the movie today with apprentices, staff, kids, and friends--to celebrate the birthday of Kyle, one of the staff kids. I'm in the middle of this year of exploring a calling to mission, and again have no idea where the coming months and years will lead.

I've always had a thing for looking back. I'll often pull out old journals and look back at "a year ago today," to see where I was, what I was doing, what I was thinking about, what God was doing in my life. Well, a year ago at this time, I was right here in South Africa. I came here for two weeks on a "Road Trip," hoping to further explore a calling to mission and to see if this place and this organization was something God might be calling me to.

Coming full circle--on Monday, five Road Trippers will arrive here at Pangani, for a 2-week experience of their own. The next two weeks are going to be really, really busy, since we're keeping up with all our usual community and ministry activities. Sometimes we'll join in with the Road Trip activities, sometimes they'll join in with our ministries and apprenticeship learning conversations. And sometimes both will be going on simultaneously. I'm looking forward to this time--to seeing the ways God will work in the lives of the those who will be here for the Road Trip. At the same time, I'm looking back at my time here last year, thinking back on all that God did in my heart and life during that time, all the things that added up to bring me back here, to where I am now.

A common question among the apprentices in the past few weeks has been: "What do you think you'll do at the end of the year?" Pretty much universally, the answer for all of us has been: "I have no idea." Ok, we have some ideas. But none of us know for sure. That kind of unknown quantity always unsettles me. But this week, I've been surprisingly contented with, and even excited about the unknown.

I think one reason I like looking back so much is that it helps me to see glimpses of how things fit together. When I reflect on all of the pieces God has put together so far in order to bring me here, it gives me hope in the moving forward. I know that where I'll be a year from now is in His hands and that He's drawing me there even now, though I can't yet see exactly what or where "there" is.

And I wonder: will there be a fourth Pirates movie? Where will I be then?!

Inviting and Being Invited

This is the first week of our inviting posture, so one of the things we've been talking about is inviting as a way of moving deeper in relationships here. We're planning an event we're calling a "Global Awareness Experience"--it's designed to help those who attend gain a better awareness of different levels of poverty in the world. We were challenged on Tuesday morning to start inviting people to this event--people already connected with our NC community, people we work with in ministry, and others we've met in the area. I'd decided to invite some of the women from Granny's family, and was hoping to talk with them in person on Wednesday. But instead, we were challenged to do the inviting on Tuesday afternoon, mostly so we could talk about the process in our conversation on Wednesday morning. This meant I needed to do my inviting over the phone.

1. I really don't like talking on the phone, unless it's someone I know really well.
2. Making a phone call myself is even higher on the list of things I don't like to do.
3. Communicating over the phone is even harder when there's a language/accent barrier.
4. There are some aspects of this dinner/event that are better experienced than explained beforehand, so giving details was going to be complicated already.
5. Sigh.

It was late afternoon on Tuesday before I talked myself into picking up the phone and making some calls. I called Emily's cell phone, and invited her and her husband Solomon to come to the event, trying to explain what we would be doing without explaining too much. When I asked if she thought they'd be able to come, she said "I will try my best!" I asked her to talk about it with Solomon and let me know on Wednesday what they thought about coming, and she said, "I have no problems!" =)

The next afternoon, I was out at Granny's as usual, and when Emily had to leave a little early, she asked me to walk with her to the corner. She asked about the event, saying she couldn't understand me very well on the phone the day before. I explained things a little more, and she said she would like to come. On the walk back to Granny's, I invited Anna (who I'd tried to get hold of on the phone the day before, with no success). She also said she'd like to come, and we decided that she'd maybe bring her sister Christinah as well, come by taxi, and that I'd drive them home afterwards.

We ended up not doing the usual Bible study on Wednesday, since we'd gotten there later than normal. Since we were just hanging out, I had more time to talk one-on-one with several of the women that I've been getting to know. Sarah and I were talking with Sophia, one of Anna's daughters, when Sophia said to me, "I heard that you are looking for women to study the Bible with." Doug usually meets with several of the guys on Fridays to read the Bible together, and I've been talking with him about doing a Bible study or just meeting with the women in the family at the same time on Fridays. I'd also mentioned something to Emily and Anna about this earlier in the evening, saying we'd have to talk about what we could do together while Doug was off with the guys. I guess word travels fast. =) Sophia pointed to herself and said, "Me and Champagne. We want to read the Bible with you." (Champagne is another of Granny's older granddaughters.) Then a little later, Anna called me aside and said that Sophia and Champagne wanted to come to the Global Awareness event as well--would it be ok if they came, too? I told her of course!

As I left Granny's that evening, I realized that in this first week focused on inviting, I ended up being the recipient of invitations, far more than being the one doing the inviting. I'm often reticent in extending invitations, wondering whether my invitation is wanted or welcomed. I've started to see the other side of it--I know how welcomed it makes me feel when others invite me into their lives, and I want to make others feel welcomed in this way, too. God's been teaching me this in many ways, but this week especially I've seen these tentative invitations of mine be warmly accepted by Granny's family as they embrace me and invite me into their lives as well.

A Day in the Life

I've had a few people ask me what a typical day here is like. I don't think there is such a thing as a typical day, really, but here goes!

Wednesday, April 11th

I wake up just in time to get ready and grab a mug of tea before our community check-in time at 8:30am. We have a couple of visitors from the CRM office in town for the next 10 days--Peter and Lori. They introduce themselves before we split off into two groups of about six each. We each share a little about what's been going on in our lives the past week, and take time to pray for each other. Usually, we would follow the check-in time with a "conversation" (our learning/discussion times together), but these times have been abbreviated this week as we're taking time to focus on a project observing culture in more depth.

After hanging my laundry on the clothesline (Wednesday is laundry day for Pangani Room 4), I settle onto the couch in the coffee house to get some writing done. I keep getting interrupted with conversations, and as much fun as talking to people is, there are some things I want to sort out in writing, so I move outside to the stoep (patio). I have a little time to write before Sarah tracks me down and we start talking about our writing project ideas. This leads to a long chat about diving into culture and ministry and relationships here. My writing is abandoned as I explore some of these issues more deeply in conversation with a friend. We are interrupted periodically when the dogs, Chippy and Jessie, come over and beg for attention. And sometimes, they drool on us. Eeew.

Sarah and I continue to talk over lunch (leftover biltong salad--go ahead; look it up!), then I drag another load of wet laundry out to the clothesline. I'm not sure where the rest of the afternoon goes--I try to get some reading done, but end up talking more with other apprentices--this is the danger of hanging out in Pangani's common areas during the day!

At 3:00, five of us head out to Soshanguve: Doug, Peter, Katie, Sarah, and me. We drop Katie off at the Home of Joy, an orphanage for AIDS-affected children. The rest of us travel to Block KK, where we stop at Emily's house. Emily is one of Granny's daughters, and we're going to give her a ride over to Granny's house. Peter asks to take a few pictures, and Doug shows him where they plan to start a community garden behind Emily's house. We take a look at the handmade pillows and shoes that the family is selling in front of the house. There are also some snacks for sale, and one of us finally asks a question I'd been wondering for a while: what are the little plastic bags of rocks for? Emily and her friend Francine explain that people snack on these. I think we all wonder briefly if this is an instance of "play a trick on the white person." Both Emily and Francine make faces when we ask if they like to eat them, but Emily insists that we have a taste. They're soft clay-ey rocks and sure enough, you can nibble little chunks off and chew on the powdery rock dust. It tastes pretty much like you’d expect a rock to taste; it's kind of like eating dirt, actually.

Sarah and I talk to Francine and eventually wander down the road to visit her home. She invites us in and pours us some cooldrink (Coke, in this case). We talk a little bit about her life, and she shows us pictures of her children and her white wedding--and her husband, from whom she is separated. She says that he looked nice on the outside, but that the inside was not so nice.

The afternoon is wearing on, but Doug encourages us to stay and visit with Francine while he and Peter walk to Granny's with one of the boys. We leave soon after they do, and drive to Granny's with Francine, Emily, and Emily's daughter Michelle. It's an interesting drive. A couple of the dirt roads are blocked by bulldozers and large piles of dirt because the city is in the middle of the slow process of putting in a sewage line. We wind our way through an alternate route, Sarah doing her best to keep the car out of the worst of the holes and bumps in the road. We arrive at Granny's just minutes before Alex shows up with Doug and Peter.

Granny and the family welcome us warmly--Anna calling me by my African name, Lerato. After we spend some time chatting, the family gets out their Bibles and Doug starts asking some questions about what they all thought and felt after watching The Passion of the Christ on Good Friday. We combine this discussion with reading and talking about the account of the crucifixion in the book of Luke. The Bible passage is read in English and then Sotho, and Doug asks questions as we read each section. We finish our time together in prayer, and have some time to talk a little bit more before we head back to Pretoria North.

Back home, I grab a quick dinner and then Sarah, Katie and I head for the lounge and watch the latest episode of Lost. (The third season just started up here about a month ago.) Afterwards, I retire to the coffeehouse--now a much quieter place, since the staff have gone home and it's just us apprentices around Pangani. It starts raining outside and Sarah and I put aside our reading for a few minutes to go outside and play in the rainstorm. But I do finally finish the next chapter of Sub-merge in preparation for Thursday’s book discussion and then call it a day and head for bed.


There you have just one day out of one of my weeks. A small slice of life here...

Being Among

This week, it's my turn to post on the community blog. Rather than come up with two separate posts, I'm just going to direct you to this link. Enjoy!

Braai

A couple of people have asked me questions about the weekly braai here at Pangani. And I'm finally answering! The braai is the current form of NC's "regular God-centered inclusive-of-others ministry together." In other words, it's what we do together on a regular basis to intentionally invite others outside of NC to come along and experience & know God better.













Braai means barbecue in Afrikaans--and that's pretty much what we do. At about 3:30pm, people start arriving, and we fire up the braai. Each of the NC-ers brings a side dish to share, and there's also the amazing freshly baked braai bread. Mmmm. When the coals are ready, we braai the meat (everyone brings their own). Afrikaners really like meat. Lots of meat. We embrace this aspect of the culture here:


















As we braai and eat, there's a lot of time to hang out with each other as well as get to know the guests that have come for the week. We usually have a pretty eclectic crowd, with a random mix of Americans, white South Africans from Pretoria North, poor blacks from the townships, international students from the universities nearby, and the list goes on! Here is a (not-so-eclectic picture) of the hanging out time.












After the meal, we gather for a time of connecting with God. Our "God time" looks different each week. Last week, Luc led us as we each shared a song that helps us especially to connect with ourselves and with God. Last night, Daleen led a "lectio divina" (or spiritual reading) on Psalm 46. This part of the evening is designed to provide a way for each person to connect with God regardless of where they are spiritually--believing, seeking, or maybe even just here for the food. =) After the God time, we finish off the evening with coffee & tea, and usually dessert as well. And there you have our braai!

Right now, we're taking a closer look at the braai and how it works as our "regular God-centered inclusive-of-others ministry together." We may be changing things up a bit as the year goes on. Please be in prayer for us as we seek how best to do this ministry together and invite others into what God is doing in our midst.

Prayer...and another blog

I feel like I've very much settled into a pattern here. Our weeks consist of worship and prayer and some meals shared together, learning through book and Bible discussions and training conversations, and of course there are personal errands and chores around the house. We're each exploring different areas of ministry, and spending time hanging out as a team. I know this pattern will change as we move into the rest of the year and get involved in ministry. But right now, it's nice to have a sense of home and community, and know that will form a foundation for the rest of the year.

As to my own decision process on ministry involvement, I'm still praying and thinking along the same lines I mentioned last week. I'm feeling more and more that God is leading me towards ministry in Soshanguve, and I'm seeking a personal calling for what that might look like for me. And, I'm trying to take advantage of the three weeks remaining in our listening posture to be attentive to what God is doing and find peace in that process.

In the past week, God's been teaching me a lot about prayer, through both of the books we're reading together as a group. I'm seeing new aspects of prayer I hadn't thought about or really absorbed before. The following quote is from a book by Henri Nouwen:

"Prayer, therefore, is not introspection. It does not look inward but outward. Introspection easily can entangle us in the labyrinth of inward-looking analysis of our own ideas, feelings, and mental processes and can lead to paralyzing worries, self-absorption, and despair. Prayer is an outward, careful attentiveness to the One who invites us to an unceasing conversation." (p. 62)

For someone like me who's prone to a lot of introspection and over-thinking things, this was really helpful. Prayer isn't first of all about me--it isn't about self-analysis or even me talking to God. It's about me being attentive to what God is saying.

If you're interested in some of what we're learning together, here are the titles of the books we're working through right now:
Spiritual Direction, Henri Nouwen
Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster

I'm really enjoying reading these and talking about them with the group. If you're inclined to pick these up and read a bit, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And, as a conclusion to this somewhat scattered update (I've been migrating from computer to computer--can you tell?), I'd like to direct you to yet another blog. (Because two of my own apparently isn't enough.) We've set up a team blog so that our friends & supporters can get to know our community as a whole, as well as catch a glimpse of life & mission here from many different perspectives. Each week, there'll be a post by a different team member. Go and check it out here!

Decisions

Even though I have another four weeks to explore areas of ministry here, this past week I've found myself in the midst of a lot of thoughts and analysis about where I feel drawn to serve. NC is really encouraging us to take time to listen to where God is leading, and I'm still in that process. This brings up a lot of questions for me as to guidance and exactly how to hear/listen to God's voice. I'm prone to analyze everything, but in this instance, I think God may be nudging me to listen to my heart as well as my head. (What a novel idea.)

Last week, I shared about spending some time in Soshanguve and my excitement about what God's been doing there. This past week, I had the opportunity to visit a couple of women's shelters in downtown Pretoria, as well as to again spend a little time out in Soshanguve.

On Wednesday, Sarah, Carissa, and I drove downtown to a women's shelter called Potter's House. We met with one of the social workers there and she showed us around the facility and introduced us to some of the women. I didn't have too much time to really connect with any of the women past mere introductions, but I did feel drawn to these women and being part of their journey.

Friday morning I was out in Soshanguve, again with Sarah and Carissa, to do an assembly at Uthando Primary School. There were about 400-500 kids and we did the assembly in a courtyard/playground outside. I read the story of the lost sheep, and Sarah and Carissa provided the accompanying actions (the kids loved baa-ing along with the story every time we said "sheep"). A first for me was presenting a story through a translator! Though the kids know some English, most speak other languages (Sotho, Zulu, Tswana, and others) at home, and learn both their home language and English at school.

On Friday afternoon, the same three of us went downtown to visit Lerato House, a shelter for teenage girls there. Apparently there was some confusion about our appointment, because no-one expected us...and they had another group coming soon after we got there. So we're setting up another time to go back next week.

As we left Lerato, even though we'd had very little time there, Sarah and Carissa were both really excited to imagine doing ministry there. Meanwhile, I was caught up in getting us back on the road home. Sarah asked me what I was thinking and feeling about Lerato, and I said something to the effect of "I'm just trying to figure out how to drive!" Which was true. But I was also wondering where my heart was, and feeling a little left out of the excitement. As I prayed about all of this later on, I realized that the excitement that Sarah and Carissa were feeling about Lerato was the same excitement I had felt last week on the way home from Soshanguve. Hmm.

I do want to spend more time at Lerato--to actually hang out with some of the girls, to get a better sense in my head about what ministry, for me, could look like there. That's something I need to think about a bit more as I consider Potter's House as well. At the same time, I'm not sure what ministry in Soshanguve would look like for me, either.

My heart has been for the townships--in large part because of some of the social justice/reconciliation issues that have been on my heart. The black people in the townships are largely ignored by the white population here, so much so that when we've gone out there, little kids in the street will often stare and point and smile and shout "Makua!" which basically means "white people!" We're a curiosity. People are so warm and welcoming and thankful just for us being here and hanging out with them. It's amazing to see just how much difference mere presence makes. At the same time, I want to be more than just present. I don't know yet what, specifically, my vision is for serving here. I know I want to work with women, either one-on-one or in smaller groups, but that's pretty vague, and I'm not sure what form that should take.

Lots to think about, lots to pray about. The not knowing is unsettling to me. It's weird to not be able to imagine what the rest of my time here will look like. I'm trying to take things as they come, to see what God brings to me and to listen to Him in that. That's not easy for a planner like me. But it's good.

Out of orientation and onward!

My third week in South Africa has concluded, and with it, our orientation time. Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday morning were spent in a time of reflection, solitude, and prayer--to look back on the past three weeks as well as to the year ahead. We celebrated with a Mexican Fiesta last night (organized by the apprentices), and had a time of commissioning at tonight's braai.

I'm excited to jump into our first six-week "learning posture" tomorrow--the year will be made up of six of these. Our first posture is "Listening," during which we'll focus on listening to God, ourselves, and the culture around us. On the ministry side of things, these next six weeks will be spent exploring different opportunities for ministry and seeking out where we might serve for the remainder of our time here. Though I'm a bit impatient to jump into ministry, I'm looking forward to seeing where the next six weeks take me.

In other news, over the past week I've plunged more deeply into culture here by driving a lot. I was very proud of my solo grocery-shopping trip on Thursday, during which I had no problems driving on the correct side of the road. Until yesterday, when Sarah had to stop me--twice--from turning onto the wrong side of the road. Sigh. Interesting fact, to counterbalance my not-so-talented driving: in South Africa, a traffic light is called a robot. No one seems to be sure why. But there you go. That's all for this week. Stay tuned. =)

Week #2 concludes

You’ll be happy to know that it's not rainy today, so I’m anticipating that I’ll be able to write an update without incident. (I can feel your excitement.)

This past week, I’ve started to feel a little more settled--I think I’m moving from feeling like a visitor (as on the two weeks I was here in May) to being more at home here. The upcoming week will be our last week of orientation, and our schedule will more closely resemble what our usual schedule will look like during the year. It’ll be nice to have a little more room in the day for things like...breathing. =)

This past week has been full of a lot of team building-type stuff, as well as many discussions on culture, culture shock, and worldview, as we start to anticipate engaging more fully with the culture here in South Africa. Though we've done a few service projects, we've had a lot of team interaction as well. It's been a challenge for me as I’ve started observing more closely how I interact with others in a team setting. I always hated group projects. =) This will be a year of living together in close community, and it’s been both difficult and rewarding for me thus far as I start to see in deeper ways what living out the whole “body of Christ” thing can look like.

I'm not going to give a play-by-play of the week--hopefully the daily photos will give you some idea of the past week--but I will say that I drove here for the first time on Friday. Yes, on the other side of the road and the other side of the car. Go me.

Week #1

Note to self:
When writing weekly updates, it is best to avoid doing so during a thunderstorm, as inevitably, lightning will strike (literally) and not only knock out the power, but also short out your power cord, preventing you from posting said weekly update. An additional side effect of said thunderstorm and lightning strike may be that the Pangani modem and/or router will fail, and then prevent further access to the Internet for the remainder of the weekend.

(There's my excuse for this being late.)

It's Sunday, and I'm at the conclusion of my first full week in Pretoria. This past week has been a great time of getting to know the team as well as absorbing some local culture and getting the lay of the land, so to speak.

Our mornings usually start off with a communion time. This doesn’t always mean literal bread-and-juice communion, but rather a time for communion with God through worship in different forms. We’ve had many team discussions, exploring aspects of culture here, some bits of philosophy of mission, and just generally orienting ourselves here in Pretoria.

We’ve also ventured out from Pangani quite a bit, with trips to the Voortrekker Monument and Pretoria Community Ministries’ sites (all kinds of urban ministry from an AIDS hospice to a homeless center), and a picnic at the Union Buildings. And, the five of us apprentices were set loose on Pretoria North one afternoon for a scavenger hunt. They made us drive and navigate our way around Pretoria North on our own...aaaa! To be truthful, I haven’t driven yet. Two others of our team volunteered...and so I was off the hook. I suppose my day will come soon enough. (Further note: I drove this week. Woo!)

Another big component of my time here so far has been made up of just getting to know the team here--both staff and fellow apprentices. By way of introduction: Carissa, my roommate, is 23 and is from Illinois. Sarah’s 27 and hails from Oregon (she’s my fellow non-morning person). Tyler, the lone male apprentice, turned 23 on Friday, and he’s from Texas. And Katie (I met her on last year’s road trip) is 27 and also from California. Our staff coaches are Arthur & Melissa (from Fresno, CA), Luc (from the Congo), Doug (from Michigan), and Bryan & Daleen (from Visalia, CA, and Pretoria, SA, respectively). (Bryan’s actually on sabbatical for the next few months, but he’s still joining us for the fun stuff!)

The week concluded with a day of hanging out at Sun City, a resort-type location that’s a 1 ½ hour drive from Pretoria. I had a great time relaxing and spending time with the group, though hanging out on a fake beach at the edge of a chlorine pseudo-ocean still seems a bit odd to me. =) Today we visited a local Methodist church and witnessed a nice big rainstorm (alluded to above), just before our evening braai (smaller this week and indoors because of the wetness outside!). Perhaps next weekend my online time will not be curbed by the interference of lightning and power outages.

Thank you to those who are praying and emailing and keeping me in your thoughts. I miss home and friends and it’s good to hear from you all!

Arrival in South Africa

Yes, indeed....I'm here! I arrived in South Africa safely yesterday morning. I'm now settling into life at Pangani, a hundred-year-old guesthouse in Pretoria North that serves as the hub of our learning and community for the year. It's home for us participants, as well as a few of the staff. There are four other participants here with me--Carissa, Katie, Sarah, and Tyler--plus five staff members who will be working with us as mentors and teachers throughout the year.

Although we sort of began with a dinner and game night last night (Apples to Apples!), our official kickoff will be tonight with the Sunday night braai--a BBQ which NC holds weekly as a time to welcome those we meet in and around Pretoria, and to learn together as a community. And, of course, to eat! We start orientation in earnest tomorrow, and this will run for about three weeks.

As noted before, I'll be updating the blog weekly and posting daily photos when I can. That said, during the next three weeks of orientation, I won't have much time to focus on email and other things Internet--I'll only be online on the weekends during this time. Daily photos will probably continue to be posted in batches and backdated--but that doesn't mean I won't be taking plenty of pictures. You'll just have to be patient. =)

I'm excited to be here and to dive into all there is to learn and experience during my time here. I appreciate all of you back home and around the world who have played a part in my journey here--and in all that God has done and continues to do as I seek to follow Him more fully. Keep in touch and don't be strangers!


Small note: If you're getting my email updates, you'll notice that I totally plagiarized myself and the above is pretty much the same as the email I sent out about 10 minutes ago. If you're not getting email updates, and would like to, please email me using the handy "email me" link in the sidebar, and I'll add you to the list.