March 31, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
In Africa!
_April 26: Yay! An update!_
_(This blog post will be updated as I have a chance to get on the Internet here in southern Africa… the latest changes will always be at the end of the post, marked by a new section number.)_
h2. Part 1
Well I made it to Africa Thursday afternoon (local time) and have had a blast so far. The time change was a bit hard to overcome, but we’ve settled into it just time. We’ve had several meetings with our “African missionaries”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441211520/in/set-72157600011289600/, and it’s interesting for me (as a lower level headquarters staff person) to see just how much of the international work is conducted both on the local level and on the international level. I can’t exactly go into what all we’ve done and talked about, but it’s been very enlightening.
To give an idea of what we’ve done, Thursday we arrived around 2:15 pm local time (or +2 GMT and +6 EDT), came to the hotel for a bit, then had interviews with our local missionaries. We eventually got back to the hotel at midnight (6 PM EDT) but since we’d been up for over 32 hours, we were quite tired. Friday we held a meeting with our missionaries in the morning, and then in the afternoon we dropped people off to their respective transports, then to a gentleman’s house for dinner. Today (Saturday) we went to check on our “Mozambique visas”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/426774809/in/set-72157600011289600/ but found that they weren’t valid now (due to our trip being delayed a week). We went to the Union Building in Pretoria (the South African equivalent to the White House) but it was closed, so we went to a lion park and saw some hyenas, cheetahs, gazelle, ostriches, “giraffes”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441213984/in/set-72157600011289600/, and (of course) “lions”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441214890/in/set-72157600011289600/ (seen “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215058/in/set-72157600011289600/, “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215162/in/set-72157600011289600/, “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215216/in/set-72157600011289600/, and most definitely “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215255/in/set-72157600011289600/). I got to pet a “lion cub”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441214705/in/set-72157600011289600/ and got up close and personal (in the safety of the car) to some full grown lions. Afterwards we went to the “Voortrekker Monument”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441219107/in/set-72157600011289600/, a massive monument that ‘commemorates’ the Dutch pioneers who came to southern Africa and made war with the native Zulu tribes — and were victorious. This monument was built commemorating what, in the Afrikaners’ mind, is the most important event in South African history. It’s interesting to see, in action, how history is written by those in power. This monument is not very popular to most South Africans (the majority being black) as evidenced by there being no black tourists there, and the majority of white tourists there speaking Afrikaans (a derivative language of Dutch). The monument is, literally, a celebration of the apartheid era. After that visit, we went to an amazing restaurant named “Carnivore”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441217599/in/set-72157600011289600/. They serve a wide variety of meat and game meats that are constantly changing such as impala, kudu, crocodile as well as more normal meats such as pork, chicken and beef.
So basically that’s been our trip thus far…. three days down, 7 more to go! I appreciate both your prayer and financial support… without it, I wouldn’t be here!
h2. Part 2
On Sunday we went to one of our missionary’s church plants. It was a small group, but quite an encouragement to both them and us about the work being done there. It was an awesome time of heartfelt worship! Marty got up and preached, and all I did was walk around and take pictures. Afterwards, we just rested a lot and had dinner with the missionary.
Monday we traveled to Kruger National Park (all the way in the eastern part of the country), but due to a few wrong turns, got there about an hour before closing time. So we looked for a little place to stay and found a very nice bed and breakfast to stay at for the night. The next day we went into the park and drove around for a while whilst taking in the area and all the animals! We saw some impala, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, baboons, zebras, wild pig, and all sorts of other things! After that, we left for Swaziland, which was just a few hours away. After a successful border crossing, we went into the capital of Mbabane, and stayed at another sort of B&B (which just happened to be owned by one of the princesses!).
The next day, we traveled with one of our Swazi missionaries who is lovingly called Auntie Seko by the populace. Yup, that’s right, the populace… EVERYONE knows who she is! She’s been ministering in the small kingdom of Swaziland for 30 years, so we wouldn’t be surprised if even the king knew who she was. We went to a local primary school where her assistant ministers, and the assistant (Martha) taught a Gospel lesson right there in front of the entire school! Marty also spoke to all the kids — it was interesting to watch them looking at this strange white guy that spoke all weird. 
After that we just went and did a lot of touristy things that Auntie Seko wanted us to do to show us her country. The entire place is totally beautiful, nestled snuggly in the Drakensberg mountains. We then went to a Bible club she runs near another school. It’s amazing to watch her teach! If you met her, you’d come across this very soft-spoken and meek lady, but once you get her in front of the kids, she’s very energetic.
The next day, Wednesday, we went to another school that Auntie Seko ministers at way up high in the mountains. Again, it was wonderful to see all the children paying attention to the Gospel lesson.
After that was over, we decided to head back to Joberg and see if we couldn’t bump our flight up a day. Fortunately we were able to, and got back a day earlier than planned. All in all, it was a great trip, and very tiring. It was awesome to see, however, the energy and speed at which our missionaries there go when it comes to telling people about Christ and His love for us!
Filed under travel Permalink · No Comments »