During this month we’ve experienced ministry in a whole different way. As you’ve seen from past posts of this month, painting has been a large part of minisrty this month. And this last week proved to reinforce that pattern.
All of the Nessa girls’ artistic skills were called into action yet again, as we were commissioned by Lynne Laubscher to paint Noah’s Ark in the nursery of Ella’s preschool. Fortunately, we didn’t have to paint over old horrible artwork in order to begin this project. And the scale of this project was also much smaller than our African safari room the next room down.
I began the project the night before, figuring out which animals would make the cut (we weren’t going to try to fit all of the ones Noah actually fit). Giraffes, lions, buffalo, elephants, zebras, porcupines, and mastiffs. Yup, Sequoia would be represented in Africa. She would leave her mark on a preschool wall. After all, she is an inspiration to Scott and I.
When we pulled up the next morning, we found ourselves surrounded by at least 50 children under the age of 5. These kids come to this place because their parents work, and where they normally would have been left at home alone, or with an older sibling (a 9-10 year old kid), they have a safe haven to come to while their parents earn a living.
The next day, we were off to Trompie’s Eagle Adventures (www.eagleadventures.co.za) where we would be meeting up with a group of 7 pre-teen Taiwanese boys and joining them in a night of camping, inside a cave. This was the same cave we were attempting to investigate the day we met Paul, during his suicide attempt.
That night we cooked boerwors (African sausages, literally translated “farmer’s sausage”) and bread over a campfire. the boys were so tired, they barely stayed awake for their toasted marshmallows. Nessa stayed up and spent time with Peet, their South African guide (Trompie’s friend), and Becky (their Taiwanese teacher). We taught both of them the art of making smores, which neither of them had ever tried before. And we talked about adventure camps, a passion of both Scott’s and Peet’s.
The following morning, we woke up to an overcast day, packed our sleeping bags, and hiked down to the road. Trompie met us with a flatbed truck. We filed in and made our way back to Trompie’s camp. After breakfast Trompie made plans for Nessa to have a competition. Bocce was the game, and my team ran away with a big win. It must be tough for a big man like Trompie to lose.:)
Most of the afternoon the Nessa girls spent time with the Taiwanese boys. They were working on fabric painting, and so Susan (who led that activity), Trompie’s wife, gave us a fabric painting project to do, too. Painting has certainly been a staple of our South African experience. And my drawing skills have truly been honed. As tedious and painstakingly slow artwork can get, it is still a great change of pace from the kind of ministry we have been doing. It’s great to learn where your giftings are. You never know til you try it all, right?
(Scott and I with Trompie and Susan, a possible future contact/ connection for us)
