Hi,

I was going to post something last week but didn't get to. Last Saturday (1st June) I went to the Royal show with Geri and Shanna. It is a big annual event held in Pietermaritzburg which goes for 10 days. We were there for the second last day so it was very crowded. There were exhibitions and shows, farm animals aswell as a funfair. It was a fun day. I didn't go on any rides, but Shanna went on four. There was also a small snake park there, which was one of the highlights of the day.

I considered rushing home last week to be with the family after hearing about Grandpa's passing, but I felt that this was the right place to be. Though I found it hard at the start of last week, I felt so blessed and all the staff have been really supportive. It felt like a week of deaths - a former foxfire Sanele Dlomo died at the age of 24 and Marne's bird Simba also died (they buried him in the backyard). In addition to doing the order of service for Grandpa's thanksgiving service, I also designed the program for Sanele's funeral which was on Saturday. His friend wrote out the whole program for me in Zulu and asked me to type it out. This was a challenge as I had no idea whether what I was typing made sense or not (fortunately he did come back and check the spelling).

On Sunday I went to City Harvest church with the foxfires. It was a really cold day. We had to wait for 3 hours after church to be picked up. While we were standing on the street, they were picking out possible girlfriends for me from those walking past and then trying to persuade me to go up to them and ask them out. I don't know what it is about Africa, but everyone here is so keen for me to find a girlfriend. It was quite funny.

Shanna at the Royal show

Hi everyone,

There is a lot to write about last weekend so that's why I haven't written about it sooner. So sorry this is such a long blog post. I found Sunday quite encouraging. In the morning I went to GFLC which was a powerful service. We sang and danced to songs such as 'I press towards the mark of the high calling' and 'Wa hamba Nathi'. I have gotten so used to clapping and dancing to songs in church that I think it will be weird going back to Trinity where the worship is so different.

The pastor spoke about being filled with the Holy spirit, in particular the power that comes from receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). He listed 4 things that happen when you receive the Spirit:
1) God attracts people to you, 2) He energises you, 3) He convicts us of sin and 4) He purifies us.

After the sermon there was a long time of quiet praise, a lot of the people (including me) had their hands out to receive the Spirit. I think it was quite emotional and many people went to the front of church while they played the songs 'Come Holy Spirit come' and 'We need your power, we need your strength, come pour it out Lord . . Open heaven . . Open heaven.'

After church Megan (who used to be an intern at AE) drove me and some others into town where we got pizza for lunch, and that was fun. After lunch she drove us to the Harry Gwala Stadium where Angus Buchan was speaking at 2pm. On the way we had to pick up 3 guys and her car was only a 5 seater so 7 of us were squished into her car! I don't think it was legal, we were all hoping there weren't any policemen around. But then again, the road rules here are much less strict than Australia, it is not compulsory to wear a seat belt.

When we got to the stadium we sat on the field quite close to the stage. There was something like 1300 people there, it was very packed. There was a lot of worship. Angus' son performed the song 'New Day' (the theme song for the movie Faith like Potatoes). Angus also spoke about receiving the Spirit and the power that comes with it. He also shared how God had worked in his life and how God continues to use nobodies and turns them into somebodies (like David defeating Goliath). His main point was that nothing is too hard for God.

The only thing disappointing was that his message was quite short, he only spoke for about 20 minutes and then the rest of the afternoon was like an altar call (he asked everyone to come to the front and pray together). This was also quite emotional, there was one lady near me crying very loudly (I was trying not to stare). It was overall a very powerful day and I was reminded me of how much we need Jesus in our lives and how dependant we are on him.

Hi,

So I finally know the exact date I will be coming home. I will be leaving SA on Sunday the 14th July at 1:30 and get in to Melbourne on the Monday evening. I'm in the process of getting my flight booked.

I heard that soon there is another intern coming who will 'replace' me. He is good at video, photography and writing except his design skills aren't up to scratch so Sandi is going to get me to work with him before I leave.

Transport has been kind of a problem here because if I want to go somewhere I usually have to ask someone to pick me up or get a lift, so the other day I enquired about the intern car and whether it is available. So yesterday Darryl, one of the staff members, took me for a test drive. I haven't driven a manual car in like 6 or 7 years so it was rather scary and I was so confused about the gears. I managed to get used to the clutch but a lot of the time I put the car into the wrong gear (eg. gear 2 instead of 4 or 3 instead of 5). The car also stalled A LOT. Anyway, I am going to be getting some more lessons I think next week.

Attached are two brochures I have worked on in the past 2 weeks.

Hi,

So I had a quiet weekend. I worked on a brochure which needed to be done urgently (by today). I will post that on the blog sometime soon.

The foxfires were away this weekend so I was living by myself. My neighbour Marne (who turns 7 this week) was going to sleep over with me on Friday night, but when he came over to my cottage he changed his mind. I think it was because it was so cold inside and he didn't want to sleep in a room by himself (he normally sleeps with Gloria, his granny). He was asking me 'Have I made you sad? Were you looking forward to me sleeping over?' It was sweet. I said for him not to worry about it, if he didn't want to sleep over than he didn't have to.

On Saturday afternoon I watched a movie called 'A Million Colours' which is a love story set during the Apartheid in South Africa. The film was very powerful and realistic. It depicted the brutal ways in which the black community were treated by white people, from being shot to being burnt alive. Even though I was very shocked by the amount of violence, I think it was good for me to see it and learn some South African history and see how times have since Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

Yesterday I went to GFLC (God's Family Life Centre) church again. It is the church that I have gone to the most while I've been here, I think because I have friends go there (who I met last year at the mission) and also I really like the worship, despite the fact that the pastor shouts.
Here are some photos of some of the staff that I work with that I took at a staff retreat we had and a conference last week.

Some of the women that I work with. Sandi (my boss) is the one wearing green.

Tarryn and Danica at a pastor's conference I went to last week

Danica and Annie

The outside of GFLC - yes it is a tent.

Inside of GFLC

Hi everyone,

I struggled this weekend because I felt homesick, especially on Saturday where I didn't have anything to do. I slept in till 10:30 - the latest sleep in I have had here and then I watched some movies. Hloni moved all his stuff out on Saturday night.
I shared in devotion this morning what I was feeling and how I felt homesick, and they prayed for me. I was actually a bit teary. I think I found it hard because everyone was talking about their exciting weekends and how fun Mother's day was and my weekend (apart from going to church) wasn't very good.
On a more happy note, yesterday I went to GFLC church which was fun. It was a Mother's day service, so the sermon was addressed to the all the mothers of the congregation. I had a fun time sitting next to Carmen, who I hadn't seen in a while. She was really getting into the dancing and singing and so I was aswell. One of the songs we sang was 'Lord you are good and your mercy endureth forever'. Some kids from the congregation performed dances (one was to the song 'Deep cries out') and some of them read out poetry to their mums.
I felt really looked after during the service. Carmen introduced me to her friends and relatives, offered me gum and chocolate and asked if I wanted money to put in the collection. It felt like she was my mum. I asked if I could get a picture with her so she took one with her phone, hence why it is so blurry.

Okay,

So the past few days have been very busy and also quite stressful. Last week Sandi, my boss, sent me an email asking me to design an advert recruiting young people for the 2014 Foxfire team. I made a start on it, she didn't give me a deadline but I asked Julian, the foxfire co-ordinator when it needed to be done by and he said by the end of this week.

Then on Monday the printers called Sandi and they needed the advert in 2 hours! Very late notice! So it ended up being a big rush to finish this advert. After I showed it to Sandi, I realised there was a big section of information which I hadn't included so I had to adjust the design to fit the other text. Then she changed her mind about which logo for me to use. I got it done, but not completely happy with it. I think I could have done a better job, considering it is being published in a magazine.
On Monday afternoon Sandi asked me to design a poster for the Global day of Prayer which she wanted by Tuesday 1pm. I didn't want it to be a rushed job so I decided to do it on Monday night and get it out of the way. I'm happier with that result.

Last Friday she asked me to do a small editing job on a video, which of course produced problems, particularly with exporting the video once I had finished.
Over the weekend I also did some designs for a t-shirt (Touching tomorrow today) which Sindiswa asked me to, which I actually enjoyed doing. She thought they looked very creative - I have attached those also. I have a pile of other jobs to do as well so I would appreciate prayer for inspiration.

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who has viewed my blog. It has had over 3000 views since I created it.
Yesterday I went to Grace Generation church where the foxfires performed 2 dances and did some poetry. Julian, the foxfire co-ordinator introduced me as being an intern from Australia and made me stand up and the congregation applauded, it was a bit embarassing. The sermon was short (only 20 minutes), unlike GFLC the church I normally go to where the sermon is about 1 hr long.

In the afternoon Tarryn (I mentioned her in my previous post) picked me up and took me to her house. I played with Shiloh (he is 18 months old). We went to the market where he went on a merry go round and then played at the park. He really liked the slide and also got very attached to the swings - it reminded me of my nephew who seems to spend most of the time on the swings when we go to the park. It was a fun afternoon.

Last night I went next door and as I walked in, Claire (their 18 month old daughter) walked up to me which was a nice surprise. They have been waiting for her to walk by herself and yesterday she finally did (she usually holds my hand or holds onto the furniture). Charne, her mum, said it was like an early birthday present for herself.

The foxfires are living with me which has been good. They keep commenting on my stash of chocolate in the fridge and how it is so tempting. It has been very cold here, especially at nights. It feels like it is winter already. I am still deciding whether or not to stay here longer. I would appreciate prayer about that. Part of me wants to go home in June, but people I've talked to have been surprised that I am leaving so soon and they think I should stay longer until my visa expires.