Conference and Listening

Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve updated. Well, not too long but I guess a lot has been going on here. So…sorry in advance that this will be a long one again!

On March 7^th, we started receiving our guests for the NieuCommunities conference, and they were all here by March 9^th. This began 3 days of service on the part of the apprentices. We were allowed to attend the conference when we were able to…as it was held in our house…but we had odd jobs to attend to as well, like babysitting and getting lunch prepared. I was on the transportation team so I got to put my driving skills to the test! I made countless runs to the airport between arrivals and departures. I also drove some of the conference attendees around town throughout the afternoons. I can’t believe that just 2 months ago I was picked up from the airport and everything was so foreign! Now I can get there and back no problem! Except for the time I turned out of the gas station onto the wrong side of the road!!! It took me a couple of seconds to realize why it felt so wrong to be in that lane…yet so right at the same time! I guess the car turning onto that road into my lane clued me in real fast! Luckily, I was able to get out of that one with no problems. I think that’s the only main flaw in my South African driving record so far!

Hosting the NieuCommunities conference was awesome! It was such a bonus…and blessing… for us apprentices that it happened to fall on our year and in South Africa. We got to see the bigger picture of CRM and NieuCommunities and get a good feel for the bigger family that we are apart of. We met some amazing people and got to hear some great stories. Some of the men and women working for CRM have been at this for awhile and not all of their stories are good ones. One of the main themes of the conference was that we are all called to be Apprentices of Jesus and that this comes with a cost. It really made me think. What will my cost be? Will I be ready to pay it? What will my future hold? Sometimes it makes me really excited to see what’s ahead in following God on this journey and other times I’m scared. But, I just keeping taking this one step at a time. Right now, I am in South Africa still enjoying every second of the journey I am currently on…well, almost every second. The president of CRM was at our conference and gave a wonderful talk about suffering and the cost of following the Cross. One thing he gave us to think about was, “If I had been spared ____________, I would have missed out on God’s best for my life.” That’s an interesting statement to think about. I had a really difficult last year of teaching, but if I had been spared it I wouldn’t be where I am right now. Has there been a tough time in your life that you can now see as something God has used for good?

Although the conference was good, I did have a few days of feeling really down. I wasn’t sure why though…which can be very frustrating. I am still learning to listen to God more and work through those times. My usual routine is to just push past those times and not think through them. It’s tough to get down to the root of things sometimes! I think one of the things making me sad at odd times is just feeling homesick from time to time and really missing my family and friends! Another thing that upset me was that Petunia, the woman I spoke of last time, lost a sister very suddenly last week. This was the 4^th sibling she has lost! There are now 3 of them left! Please pray for their family that they would find comfort in God through this time of confusion and pain.

Next week we will be concluding our Listening posture. It’s been a great 6 weeks, though pretty tough at times. In the beginning, I felt like I was truly emptied so that I could be built back up the way God wanted. I started out feeling like I had nothing to offer and I constantly focused on what I did wrong instead of seeing areas in which I was gifted or maybe just needed to work on. That was tough! Now, I am beginning to see more and more how God has gifted me…thanks to a bunch of personality tests we have taken (among other things)! Although they can be draining they are very insightful! One of the main verses I continue to hold onto is Psalm 139, especially the part about being wonderfully made. I now see that God has made me just as he wants me. I don’t need to be jealous of other’s gifts in my community. I have something unique to offer. The other great part is that I am definitely beginning to feel more bold and courageous through His strength. When we read a book on spiritual temperaments I scored high in the Activist category but I was only medium-low in the practicing of it. I think a part of that was not feeling worthy, that I didn’t have anything to offer, or that I wasn’t a leader in that way. Now I feel like God can use me and I have the courage to take some steps I may not have in the past.

Because of these feelings, I am much more excited to start my ministry work. I am going back to talk with the girls’ home in downtown Pretoria called the Lerato House…which I know I have spoken of before. I really feel like this is where God is calling me. I am also excited to get involved with the anti-trafficking movement, which the Lerato House is apart of. Human trafficking hurts my heart so much and I want to be apart of stopping it! So, as we exit the Listening posture we will enter the Submerging posture and really dive into our ministries. I look forward to giving you updates soon on how things go in that area!

Today began our celebration of Easter. For Holy Thursday we celebrated the Last Supper with the traditional Sedar meal. It was really interesting as I had never done that before. I recommend everyone celebrating this at least once! It’s really fun to remember where we all came from as a Christian community by looking at Jewish history/traditions. Tomorrow we will be having a Good Friday service at Pangani (my home) as well as a day of reflection on Saturday and an Easter service on Sunday morning…followed by a community breakfast. It should be a wonderful weekend! I pray that you all encounter Jesus in a special way throughout this Easter weekend.

Here in South Africa we are entering into Fall. From last Thursday night through yesterday (wed.) we had pouring down rain and really cold weather! It was crazy! Just \ days before we had hot, beautiful weather. Because of that rain though, Fall has set in. We had a gorgeous day today but it wasn’t too hot out, which was really nice! Winter might be a bit tough here since there is no central heating, but I think this Southerner will survive.

Ok, I think that’s all I have…for now. Thanks so much for reading and keeping up with me…if you are still reading. I hope all is well on your end of the world!

Much love and prayers!

manda

Sunday in South Africa

Today was my second church experience in South Africa, the first one being on Ash Wednesday. I have been anxious to try some of the churches around here to find one that might fit. I have a feeling I might do some church hopping this year, but that's ok for now. Today's experience was quite different from the norm. But, it reminded me of the church service I went to the last time I was in South Africa, so that was neat.

We went to Beaula Tabernacle Church, which is in the township Soshanguve. The service was quite lively...but very hot!!! It was indoors but the sun just beats down on this church and there is not much reprieve from the heat! (But it didn't affect the people and their spirits one bit!) The people at this church, which is fairly new, are wonderful! They had all the guests stand up and introduce themselves and then they played this song and everyone went around to give you hugs. I absolutely loved how welcoming they were! It gives you a great image of what church should be like. You could tell that all cared for each other like family. They all helped take care of the children...you never knew who was the mom of who! :) They also announced that they were having wedding showers for different couples. What a community! I could tell that these people loved the Lord whole heartedly! You couldn't help but feel lifted up upon leaving that place of worship!

There were five of us who went with our friends Luc and Petunia (and two of their guests). Luc was on staff with NieuCommunities the past few years and has recently moved over to InnerChange, which is another organization of CRM. (click on InnerChange to learn more.) It's a ministry that is focused on the poor and lives in and among them. Luc and Petunia have been married a couple of years and have 2 daughters, Moskey and Bahati. Luc is actually a refugee from the Congo and Petunia is from South Africa. They are an amazing family with a huge heart for God and His people. I know God is going to do amazing things through them as they join the InnerChange "family". They are actually starting the ministry here in South Africa so the team is just them. I believe they are having some apprentices come soon, so hopefully the team will be growing larger! If you have a desire to support this group or Luc personally, let me know! Luc and Petunia currently live in a house on Pangani's property, but they will be moving to Soshanguve very soon. They will be missed very much!!! However, it's going to be awesome to have InnerChange and NieuCommunites both in South Africa! I think it will make a great team!

Personally, things continue to go well. There are times when I really miss my friends and family still, but I truly love the people I am getting the chance to do life with right now. I am still trying to seek God with my all. I am finally getting better at spending some time alone and with God. It's hard to get that time when there are so many people around! You really have to make an effort! I am still praying about my place of ministry but still feel called to the Lerato House for Girls. I will hopefully get to go back and visit next week. Please pray for me in that area and that I would heed to God's calling.

I hope all is well on the other side of the world! I would love any prayer requests from you as well!

Much love and prayers!

manda :)

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 :)