Now that we've told you about our fun, here’s what we've been doing the last few days since we began our work. No, we didn't just go to South Africa for vacation. We just did most of our fun things first.
I guess you could say things really got going on Sunday. We showed up at 9, that's when church “starts”. We were the first ones there. Here if you are late, everyone just assumes you are doing something important and will come as soon as you can. In the words of my dad, “I could get used to that!” Here church begins when everyone is there.
It's worth coming to Africa just to hear Zulu singing. The congregation isn't large here but they can sing with more enthusiasm and gusto than congregations twenty times their size. The liturgy is almost the same as ours and is completely sung.
Pastor Thwala had a great sermon on 1 John 1 about forgiveness and walking in the light. First he preached to us in English, then to the people in Zulu. I had hoped he would do that, just to give out team a taste of listening to a sermon they can't understand. Since we had already heard it, we could kinda still follow along as people laughed in the same sports and he used the same jestures.
Monday morning the work began. We are really two teams working on two projects. Since I've spent one day with each, I can tell you about what I've seen accomplished. We've begun our mornings at the build site. We needed help moving several hundred blocks (850 was the total I think) down to the building site from the road--a distance of at least 100 meters.
After enough blocks were moved for the day, the team split up. Half stayed to begin the build and half went to the early childhood center known as the “crèche”. There we would prepare for VBS and then tell the kids a Bible lesson.
The crèche has a total of about 90 kids, from ages 2-6. This project began when Julia was here as a missionary and has been doing very well since then. These kids get to hear a Bible lesson every day and this week we get,to tell it. Monday we got to act out Genesis 1, which was also the lesson in VBS.
Our Vacation Bible School program is more of an after school Bible program since the kids here haven't started their winter break yet and won't for at least another week.
Kids come after school, on African time, of course and we give a lesson, snack and craft. Monday we had 29 kids, Tuesday we had 55 kids. Today the folks down at the crèche began painting some spots and will continue throughout the week. Tuesday our driver, Justice, joined us in our work. He's a wonderful Zulu man and a member of the Anglican Church. Pastor Wing has become a good friend to him.
Of course we're also building a house. There's so much to say about the theory behind the way we're building the house that it will get a separate post later. For now, I'll just tell you about the work.
The house is made of cement blocks like most in Shongweni. It is next to the Machnu family's current house being just a little lower on the hill. The house will be 14 tiers of blocks at the top with a corrugated metal roof. Inside the house has a kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms for a total of 430 square feet.
The first day proved that our team learns quickly as we were thrilled to hear at the crèche the reports of each completed tier. Carl and a local Builder named Phanie, his brother and the son of the family who will receive the house are helping us. Let's just say they know what they are doing when it comes to building and teaching volunteers to build. By the end of Monday 5 were up, by the end of today, nearly 10. The doors and windows are in place and it actually looks like a house!
I am thankful that people have willing to learn, step out of their comfort zone and get dirty. This is happening all over the place for us and we thank God for it.
Tonight marks the middle of my trip. One week ago we were waiting in DC for our flight to South Africa. A week from tonight, we'll be on a plane going home and the rest of the team will already be home. The past week has truly been a joy and the next week brings a lot of hope for things to be accomplished. Here I am #sendme2016
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