The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few...
6.07.2005
Day 4
Good news friends! I wrote yesterday's post and hadn't sent it yet to my blog, but one of the prayer requests that I put is that I needed to be able to use my debit card. Praise the Lord! It worked at the casino. I guess casinos do have some value. Anyways, I took a large amount out for this month and hopefully that will cover all expenses for what I need until next week Wednesday we go to Johannesburg (jo-burg (the city named after me)).
MY BIRTHDAY IS IN TWO DAYS!!! We got cake. Vanilla cake. It will be nice.
So on campus, We have orange trees, banana trees, papaya trees, a garden, and aloe plants. We picked some bananas tonight and are going to wait for them to ripen and then see if we picked them at the right time. Esther said that one picks the stalk of bananas while they are still green, before they are ripe. You pick them when they are fully developed and are a light green, not bright green. So we picked ones that weren't bright green, they were more of a lime green color. Hopefully they'll be good! Next thing I want to try is the papaya. Dorcas bought one in the store, but there are some that are growing on campus. There is one that is huge. The only problem: they're high up on the tree, and I can't climb it with a skirt on. Perhaps I can pay one of the kids to climb the tree and pick it for me ;)
Tonight we went to the Cox's place. They'd invited all of the teams and us to come on over for a Hot Dog Braai. My stomach was gurgling and so I ate a piece of our fresh bread about an hour before we left. Oh I love fresh bread! American bread cannot compare! AND IT'S ONLY .60 CENTS!!! Aw man. It's great. Anyway, back on subject: Hot Dog Braai. Umf. Walter was laughing and talking about cold dogs. He said, "Where are the cold dogs? They are not hot yet and so they are not hot dogs, they are cold dogs." English is a funny language. A man named Jim Machuku came over to me during the Braai and asked, "Are you okay? You are standing alone and look like you may be sad." I said, "Oh yes! I am fine. I am not sad. I just don't know many people here and I am not an outspoken person and so I am just standing here." He said, "Oh! That is okay. Yes. It is okay to be a quiet person. Not everyone should be outspoken." After talking to him for a while I asked him where he was from. He said he was from central Africa. I asked what country and he said he was from Zambia. I said, "I'VE BEEN TO ZAMBIA!!!" His face changed with surprise, "Oy?! You've been to Zambia?" I asked him where he was from and he said the northern part. He asked where I was and I said Pemba, visiting Pilgrim wesleyan bible college. He has been there, knows the Cromers and the Choongos. He asked how the Choongos were doing in America since Mayaba wrote her book. I told him how they are doing and that they will return to Zambia soon. He was happy about that. So we talked about Zambia and politics. We talked about how people see Africa as one big place and how some people outside Africa think that the people in Africa are all the same. He said, "But every country is different. There are things I come here and I think, 'Oy, why do they do that? That is silly.' and then I find myself doing the same thing now that I've been here so long." Jim has just graduated from college and is waiting to be assigned somewhere to plant a church. He told me how the wesleyan church in Swaziland needs revival. He says they do not show their love for God like they should and that they need to be the ones making a difference in the HIV/AIDs phenomenon instead of blaming the government. It is true. I was happy to meet a Zambian brother, but while talking to him, I found it terribly hard to not keep eye contact. I'm used to keeping eye contact like we do in the states. I probably seemed so akward because I felt akward, not knowing where to look. I wonder if 'eye contact' means eye to eye or if I just watched their mouth....would watching the mouth be eye contact? I can do that. I do that anyway. Anyway, this is the first conversation that I've had with a 'national' of the opposite gender and so it's the first time I've had to be careful about eye contact. It's not easy being an American outside of America.
I read a book today (that was behind the driver's seat in the car) as we were on the trip to Mbabane, "Safari survival guide", which told about all of these different plants and trees which you could use for certain things that would be very useful. It says inside, "Africa is a harsh place to live if you do not know the land. But once you understand the land, It can be a treasure." I believe it! I'm going to find a book that talks about the different plants/trees and tells about how one can use them. It would be very useful for my own reference while I'm here.
Praise:
-Mathias is healing and seems to be himself.
-Was able to use my debit card to get money!
-God is teaching me new things each day.
-I feel God's protection over my life.
Prayer Request:
-That Mathias would continue to heal completely.
-That God would continue to reveal things to me about myself so that I can better know how to serve Him.
-That the teams would be clear about their educating the students on HIV/AIDs. When I was with them on Monday I noticed them using many words and phrases that I know the students didn't understand and that was frustrating for me to not be able to explain cultural differences to the teams so that they know that many things that they say they need to change the way they say them because otherwise the students don't understand. So, pray for understanding on the students' part.
-Health and safety.
MY BIRTHDAY IS IN TWO DAYS!!! We got cake. Vanilla cake. It will be nice.
So on campus, We have orange trees, banana trees, papaya trees, a garden, and aloe plants. We picked some bananas tonight and are going to wait for them to ripen and then see if we picked them at the right time. Esther said that one picks the stalk of bananas while they are still green, before they are ripe. You pick them when they are fully developed and are a light green, not bright green. So we picked ones that weren't bright green, they were more of a lime green color. Hopefully they'll be good! Next thing I want to try is the papaya. Dorcas bought one in the store, but there are some that are growing on campus. There is one that is huge. The only problem: they're high up on the tree, and I can't climb it with a skirt on. Perhaps I can pay one of the kids to climb the tree and pick it for me ;)
Tonight we went to the Cox's place. They'd invited all of the teams and us to come on over for a Hot Dog Braai. My stomach was gurgling and so I ate a piece of our fresh bread about an hour before we left. Oh I love fresh bread! American bread cannot compare! AND IT'S ONLY .60 CENTS!!! Aw man. It's great. Anyway, back on subject: Hot Dog Braai. Umf. Walter was laughing and talking about cold dogs. He said, "Where are the cold dogs? They are not hot yet and so they are not hot dogs, they are cold dogs." English is a funny language. A man named Jim Machuku came over to me during the Braai and asked, "Are you okay? You are standing alone and look like you may be sad." I said, "Oh yes! I am fine. I am not sad. I just don't know many people here and I am not an outspoken person and so I am just standing here." He said, "Oh! That is okay. Yes. It is okay to be a quiet person. Not everyone should be outspoken." After talking to him for a while I asked him where he was from. He said he was from central Africa. I asked what country and he said he was from Zambia. I said, "I'VE BEEN TO ZAMBIA!!!" His face changed with surprise, "Oy?! You've been to Zambia?" I asked him where he was from and he said the northern part. He asked where I was and I said Pemba, visiting Pilgrim wesleyan bible college. He has been there, knows the Cromers and the Choongos. He asked how the Choongos were doing in America since Mayaba wrote her book. I told him how they are doing and that they will return to Zambia soon. He was happy about that. So we talked about Zambia and politics. We talked about how people see Africa as one big place and how some people outside Africa think that the people in Africa are all the same. He said, "But every country is different. There are things I come here and I think, 'Oy, why do they do that? That is silly.' and then I find myself doing the same thing now that I've been here so long." Jim has just graduated from college and is waiting to be assigned somewhere to plant a church. He told me how the wesleyan church in Swaziland needs revival. He says they do not show their love for God like they should and that they need to be the ones making a difference in the HIV/AIDs phenomenon instead of blaming the government. It is true. I was happy to meet a Zambian brother, but while talking to him, I found it terribly hard to not keep eye contact. I'm used to keeping eye contact like we do in the states. I probably seemed so akward because I felt akward, not knowing where to look. I wonder if 'eye contact' means eye to eye or if I just watched their mouth....would watching the mouth be eye contact? I can do that. I do that anyway. Anyway, this is the first conversation that I've had with a 'national' of the opposite gender and so it's the first time I've had to be careful about eye contact. It's not easy being an American outside of America.
I read a book today (that was behind the driver's seat in the car) as we were on the trip to Mbabane, "Safari survival guide", which told about all of these different plants and trees which you could use for certain things that would be very useful. It says inside, "Africa is a harsh place to live if you do not know the land. But once you understand the land, It can be a treasure." I believe it! I'm going to find a book that talks about the different plants/trees and tells about how one can use them. It would be very useful for my own reference while I'm here.
Praise:
-Mathias is healing and seems to be himself.
-Was able to use my debit card to get money!
-God is teaching me new things each day.
-I feel God's protection over my life.
Prayer Request:
-That Mathias would continue to heal completely.
-That God would continue to reveal things to me about myself so that I can better know how to serve Him.
-That the teams would be clear about their educating the students on HIV/AIDs. When I was with them on Monday I noticed them using many words and phrases that I know the students didn't understand and that was frustrating for me to not be able to explain cultural differences to the teams so that they know that many things that they say they need to change the way they say them because otherwise the students don't understand. So, pray for understanding on the students' part.
-Health and safety.
Posted by: Anonymous / 19:27 
