skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Today is a holiday, Women's Day, in South Africa. To celebrate, Wimpy (a local restaurant chain) was giving away free coffees to women (and supposedly men who were brave enough to wear heels into the restaurant!). Sarah and I took advantage of the deal and got ourselves a free Wimpy coffee. Yeah for Women's Day!
A new hairdo...African style. Blessing, one of the girls at Refilwe, braided my hair in African fashion with extensions. It was several hours of delightfully painful hair-pulling, but it's fun to try new things. And hair extensions and braiding are a very common thing for African women. Although my hair will not maintain the look for the normal 2-3 months, it is still fun to get the extension experience.
Recently, I was invited to Sister Jean's house for dinner. Jean wanted to have Meredith and I to her house before we left SA, to pray for us and thank us for our time here at Refilwe. Claire and Annatjie were also invited. The evening included a wonderful meal, pictures of the early days of Refilwe with animated stories interspersed (by Jean and Ivonne--the founders of Refilwe), and stomach-cramps due to excessive amounts of laughing! It was a wonderful evening and ended with prayer for Meredith and then myself. I felt truly blessed by the evening and am thankful for the opportunities I've had to interact with these amazing women. They are truly an inspiration! Pictured above: Jean, Claire, myself, Meredith, and Ivonne (Annatjie is behind the camera).
Winter, yes winter...Although not as cold as a PA winter, it would get down to or below freezing during the nights. In the past week, the weather has suddenly changed and is much warmer during the daytime. There was frost on the ground many mornings as I got up to run with Kathryn. And on a normal day, I've been wearing a lot of layers. Typically, two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, a t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, 2 fleeces, gloves, hat, and scarf--and sometimes I was still cold! Many blankets and heavy wool socks at night kept me surviving the cold nights in an unheated house. Despite the cold, the sun almost always came out all day long. Above are pictures of frost on the river banks, frost on some trees, and the layers I have been wearing. I am glad that warmer weather is upon us...BYE BYE Winter!
CHICKEN, without a butt... This has nothing to do with anything, but this rooster wanders around our house all the time and it just makes me laugh. If only it could talk...there has to be a good story here. I just don't know what it is. Thought maybe it would make you chuckle, too!
This past week an American team from Alabama came to work with our homecare workers. They were prepared to assist and teach about the care of the dying, but they did so much more. They went out with our workers into the communities, prayed with people, read books to children, encouraged the homecare workers, etc. We also started doing follow-up visits from the medical team last week. I was overwhelmed by the testimonies that people shared about how they are feeling better, living without pain, and praising God!
We started working in a new area, Video, and I'm excited to do more with that this week. God has brought two new workers from that area who are both committed Christians and ready to share the gospel as they reach their community. Pray that their lives will minister to the other team members. The pictures above are skits that were done during our normal lesson time on Thursdays with Sister Jean. They were learning about different ways to cope with stress.
