Wellness prayers

hey again...forgot to mention that i would love some prayers for health! i am fighting laryngitis right now (2nd time in almost 3 months time!). i felt a little sick on Thursday but nothing too bad. Then, by Friday night i could tell i was losing my voice, even though i didn't feel sick. not sure what that's all about. Maybe it's my body's way of telling me to get some sleep! I have been staying up way too late recently! but, i guess i better monitor that if it happens again in the near future.

I also have a horrible tooth ache. i ended up going to the dentist and i have an infection in the bone under one tooth. it's quite painful! i am on an antibiotic and pain medication. i can only eat on one side of my mouth because it hurts too badly to bite down on that side. the dentist mentioned that if nothing ended up helping it would have to be pulled, because i have already had a root canal/crown on that particular tooth so there's really nothing else to do. So...prayers against that! i would hate to have that happen!

that's all for now. thanks!!!!

much love!

manda

The Beauty of God's creation

So, we went camping this weekend. We are about 1 hour and 30 minutes away from a Game ranch/park named Pilanesberg. They have a big camping ground next to the park where you can go on Game drives (safaris). We drove around on the way in, 2 times on Saturday, and on the way out. Unfortunately, we didn't see as many animals as we hoped for. They were quite sparse and if we saw some they were by themselves and not in herds. I saw some giraffe, warthogs, rhinos, zebras (from really far away) wildebeest, hippos (just the very tops) and a few others small things. The giraffe were the coolest by far because they were really close to the car.

The best part about the trip was the scenery! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! The mountain ranges were huge and seemed neverending. Seeing such amazing sites makes me love God even more. Pictures can't even being to capture the beauty of it all. But...i tried. He is an amazing Creator!

Even though I am not a huge fan of camping, it was a fun weekend. It was a good time of bonding, relaxing, and braaing (said with a long i). I think South Africans like to braai more than Americans like to BBQ. Truly!!!

Driving on the Left Side...Listening to God...Ministry

Well, it’s been over a month since I arrived in South Africa! Time has truly flown by!! It was going so slowly at first, but now I can’t believe we have been here that long! I still really love being here! It’s crazy to not be at home at times and I miss my family and friends, but this place is definitely starting to feel like home. Probably because we are doing all our own grocery shopping/cooking now and getting around town a lot better. Can you believe I am actually used to driving on the left side of the road/right side of the car???? All the cars here are manual too so I had to get used to shifting with my left hand as well. For some reason, driving here is really fun! :) I am having to get used to crazy birds and animal sounds as well...especially at night. Those are constant reminder that I am not in Alpharetta! :) Being here in general continues to amaze me though, and I praise God that He has allowed me to be apart to take this journey with Him.

I am not sure I even know where to begin sharing. I guess I will update you on our schedule. We are about to finish our first full week since orientation ended. The mornings are dedicated to our “training”. We have discussions about different topics, we are reading a book by Henri Nouwen on Spiritual Directions (which is GREAT!), we have a time to “check-in” and pray together, and talk about spiritual disciplines. The afternoons/late mornings and all day Thursdays, are dedicated to ministry work. The year is broken up into 6 six week learning postures. We are in the listening posture right now. It’s a great time of learning to listen to God, others, and ourselves. I feel a strong need right now to listen to me/my heart…which sometimes feels selfish. But, sometimes I feel like I don’t know my own voice or understand my feelings so how can I hear God’s? I have been meditating a lot on Psalm 139 (it’s a GREAT one! see the link), especially the part that says “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” I know I am not alone in this, but there are definitely times when I tend to focus too much on what I do wrong instead of praising God for the gifts he has given me and focusing on the good. We are creations of God! I keep thinking that if I put myself down, then I am putting down a creation of God. Makes you really think when it’s put that way! :) I am also trying hard to hear God’s voice in all circumstances and really hear what He’s trying to tell me, especially in regards to what ministry I am to be apart of. We all so desire to hear God's voice but do we take the time to listen? It's hard!!!

These past weeks we have been visiting more ministries and hearing more about what they do. I went back to Home of Joy and got to play with the kids. It was a good time, but I am not sure that is where God is leading me. Today, we went back to the Tshwane Leadership Foundation. (Tshwane and Pretoria are the same thing…for some reason they have decided to change the name of the city! How confusing!!!) This is an organization that is working with churches and communities for urban transformation. It’s located downtown in Pretoria (about 20 minutes from us). I really feel God possibly calling me back to this place. They have 2 things I was interested in most. One is called The Potters House which is a shelter for women in crisis…for a variety of reasons like abuse, prostitution, and sex-trafficking. They do a lot of outreach to meet the women who are in need and still living on the streets. The other thing I was interested in was the Lerato House. This is a girls’ home for girls ages 13-18 who are in crisis for the same reasons as the women. They are amazing organizations and I am praying about whether God would have me go back and work with the girls or the women. I would love some prayers of guidance in this area. Where would God have me serve this year??? (we make our full commitments at the end of the listening posture.)

Another great part about today was our last stop on the “tour” of ministries with TLF. It was to Inkululeko Community Centre. It’s basically a day care centre for low-income families. The kids were adorable! When the 8 of us walked through the gates they came running and screaming and jumped into our arms!!! It was hilarious! They kept calling us all teacher and wanted to show us everything! We went inside after a bit of playing and watched them all in their dance classes. So cute!!! Andrew (another apprentice) and I were dancing along with them in one of the classes. That kinda got them all riled up though so I am not sure if the teachers liked it. :)

Interesting Books I am reading right now…or trying to read.
The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter III (great book about living in community...as we are doing...and a main foundational book for NieuCommunities
Spiritual Direction by Henri Nouwen
A long night’s Damage by Eugene de Kock (i might read this one)
Around Africa on My Bicycle by Riaan Manser. I actually just got this one at the store today because it looked really interesting!! This guy rides his bike around the entire continent of Africa! He is from Pretoria…where I am! :)

Well…I will definitely be trying to update more often as this turned out to be quite long. Sorry! Thanks for keeping up with me though! You are all in my prayers!

Much Love,

manda :)

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday has been really cool this year! This morning we had prayer and worship and we watched a Nooma video (these are videos by a paster named Rob Bell from Michigan...I think.) Anyway. It was a great way to start the Lenten season. We had been meditating on some verses in Ephesians...4:17-5:2 since Monday as well. We made a goal to be ready by today with some thoughts on how we were going to approach this season of Lent. We were challenged to think of things we want to give up, things we want to continue, things we want to stop doing, or even things we want to add to our lives. It was really neat to hear what people felt called to do during this time and to be able to walk through this season with my community. After we did all of this we placed ashes on each other's forheads and had communion. It was a totally different type of service than I grew up with in the Catholic church but very cool! I am really excited that we are celebrating this Lenten season intentionally as a community so we will be prepared for Easter.

Tonight, I am actually taking a few of the other apprentices to the local Catholic church for their Ash Wednesday service. It's been fun to have others so excited about it attending it. I think some wish they could have a quick "lesson" on what to do. :) Maybe I will have to brief them on the way in the car! :)

I guess that's really been all that's gone on this week. It's been a pretty laid back week so far...thanksfully!! In the coming weeks we will be getting into our normal routines...except that we won't have our ministry commitments in place yet. We will still be visiting lots of different organizations/people around town and praying about where God would have us serve this year. I am looking forward to more of a routine but i can already tell that our time here will be busy! :)

Chat with y'all soon!

Much Love and Prayers,

manda

Faith...Cricket...Apartheid

Once again, not sure where to begin this blog post. We have had another jam packed week. Time seems to continue standing still here. I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks! In one sense, i feel like i know this place and these people so much, and in another i am wondering where in the world i am and who these people are! :) seriously though, the fact that i get along so well with the other apprentices and the staff has been what's really pulled me through this time of transition. We did some team building activiting at at game ranch not far from here which was fun. I have done some of the activities before but it was still fun with a new group. It's starting to feel more like a home here. I still really miss friends and family, but i am thankful that things have been going so well here.

I continue to be blown away by the amazing faith displayed by those who live in such desperate places. We met more folks from the township this week, Comfort and Paster Samson. They gave us a picture of hope in the township. They are on fire for the Lord and want to see change. They continue to fight for what the hope and believe in...Our Lord and Savior, Jesus! They are amazing. I can't even being to express what it was like to meet them. As is evident here. :) We also met Maria, who lives in Pretoria North. She runs an AIDS agency that provides counseling and does advocacy and awareness. She has been HIV positive for 18 years!!! She is beautiful!! She says one of the hardest things they are dealing with is that people won't accept their "status"...meaning not accepting the fact that they might be HIV positive or have AIDS. It's a really sad cycle that continues to go on and on. It's often times really difficult to hear all these stories but it also excites me to some degree. I am so excited that I get to be here and be apart of all that's happening to change this nation. I thank the Lord constantly for this opportunity.

We also had the chance to go to the Apartheid Museum. That is really tough place to walk through, but amazing. It tells the story of the long struggle this nation went through, and continues to go through. I am amazed that South Africa went through something kind of similiar to what the US went through during the Civil Rights Movement. So sad that we couldn't learn from each other. If you haven't read up the Aparthied you should. It's a rich piece of history...and very sad. I think we all remember when Nelson Mandela was freed from prison...but do you know why he was in there and why he was let out? Sorry...maybe the teacher in me is coming out. :) I expect a research paper from each of you in one week time. :)

We ended this week with our first international cricket match. Very cool! In that, I am not at all referring to the weather! It was extremely HOT!!! We had lawn seats, which are really fun, but the sun just beats down on you! There was no relief expect for the slight breezes that occasionally came in or if you left the stadium to walk around the outside for a bit. But, I think I a have most of the cricket rules down...and there are a lot! It was cool to see it first hand and really get to know the game. I enjoyed it a lot...despite the heat and the fact that one teams inning took 4 hours!!!!!!!! They only have 2 innings...one hitting and one defensive for each side. They have to get through alloted outs or balls thrown to them before their hitting inning is up. But, that takes a really long time! It rained when South Africa had just been up for a bit. So...some of hit the road. We were hot and tired! The coolest part was that it was their best player's, Shaun Pollock, last game.

Ok, I guess that's all for this edition. Love and prayers!

manda :)