Molweni! Hello! I’m once again back at the keyboard and back at GLA in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa after a rather “off grid” kind of month in the Zithulele community of the Transkei. It was a busy month packed full of activity, new people and new adventures. There were times that our busy schedule made the days begin to feel rather long, and life always necessarily easy or comfortable. Nonetheless, it was so great to be a part of the ways that the Lord is at work in Zithulele. We were certainly once again blessed by the community around us, even though we always arrive with the intent of serving within the community. Funny how that works! I typically try to write an update every couple of weeks, but I’m now looking at a full month’s worth of stories and background to pack into this update as a result of leaving my phone and computer back in Jeffrey’s Bay for the duration of our trip. So settle in and enjoy the read!
I’ll begin by trying to set the scene of Zithulele and much of the Transkei in general. The area is very rural, with rolling hills and steep river valleys. Things are quite green due to suitably fertile soils and an adequate amount of rain. The homes littered throughout the countryside consist of traditionally constructed circular African huts. Most all of them are made of mud bricks, with a plaster covering to protect against the rain and elements. The floors of the huts are actually formed from a cow manure and water mixture which becomes hardened when dried, and then covered with some vinyl sheeting. Each homestay contains a small plot of farmland with a fence surrounding it’s borders, which provides an area to grow some crops and make gardens to help provide a food source for the families. Sheep, cattle, goats, mules and pigs have free roam of the land around them, which also explains the need for fences around family properties. The animals typically come back into their places to spend the night, but are then again turned loose each morning to graze along the roads and wherever they please.
The beautiful Zithulele countryside.
We quickly adapted to the local lifestyle as we joined right into a Xhosa family homestay which had two extra huts available for rent for visitors such as ourselves. Isaac and myself were originally planning to pitch our tents for the month, leaving the huts to the ladies, but they thankfully had two other spaces available inside a couple of other buildings. Ike and I claimed spots on the floor of a small room, while Oom Paul and Tannie Engela settled into the other space. Our homestay was settled atop a high hill, with a beautiful view of the ocean as the Zithulele community is located near the coast. I think the view definitely made up for the lack of modern amenities that we encountered! We had no electricity at the homestay, which meant no refrigerator, a limit to any perishable foods, and headlamps at night. Water from a well or a kitchen sink with a tap were also non-existent. The huts in the area are built with thatch roofs to provide for some insulation value, but most all of them have sheets of corrugated metal laid over top of the thatch roof to catch rain water from rain gutters fastened to the ends. The rain water is then deposited into large poly tanks for water storage. Our water supply for everything from drinking to showering to washing dishes and clothes came from rain water storage tanks. One thing that didn’t require water, however, where our long drop toilets. Those just took a scoop of sawdust down the hole to keep the smell to a minimum and help with the composting process! There were also a multitude of farm animals who made their way into our yard each evening. We’d play a game of hop scotch to avoid the cow patties and piles of sheep poop on the way to the bathrooms and shower area each time. Life at the homestay was definitely a change that came with it’s share of difficulties, but we made it through, and I think it really helped us better understand the surrounding people and the way that they do life from day to day. I think some of us actually enjoyed roughing it a little bit!
The 5 ladies of our WR team in front of their hut. The 4 South African ladies from the Global program stayed in a similar hut with the kitchen area inside as well.
Throughout the Monday-Friday work week, our team split up each day to help out in a variety of different places within the multifaceted Zithulele community. We’d start each day bright and early together, grabbing some breakfast and packing pb&j’s for our lunches. We’d often leave the homestay around 7am or not to long after, depending on whether we’d make the 45 minute hike into town or Oom Paul would give us a lift with his land cruiser. The drive from the homestay with the cruiser would still take about 30 minutes as the two track dirt “road” was pretty rough with it’s fair share of washouts and potholes, making for some slow going. We’d still all gladly hop in the bed and on the roof rack of the cruiser as it saved quite a bit of energy from hiking up and down the hills to get to town. I should also use the word “town” rather loosely as the center of Zithulele involves not much more than an asphalt road with a power line following beside, along with a grocery/ essentials shop, a number of non-profit government organization (NGO) offices/ buildings, the mission hospital and a number of homes.
So what were we actually up to during our month in Zithulele!? Well, that answer would be quite different depending on which person from our team you’d ask! For Isaac and myself, we were given a set of power tools and were able to have some fun doing guy stuff throughout the month. We went to work on a whole bunch of woodworking projects for a big community library makeover. The timing of our arrival was perfect, as the library remodel project was running very behind schedule and in need of some extra help. I’d by no means consider myself a professional carpenter, but Ike has made a career of building everything from cabinets to pole sheds for long enough that we made a pretty great team between the two of us! We cut and assembled somewhere around a dozen bookshelves from either new lumber or from old bookshelves that we reconstructed to better fit the new plan for the library. We also got into some more technical woodwork as we fit semicircular benches containing built in storage bins against the rounded wall on one end of the library. On the opposite rounded end of the library, we cut another semicircular work desk to fix against the wall. It was fun putting our heads together to measure out and cut the radius of the semicircle wall into our plywood sheets with a jigsaw. Of course, the walls of the library were a stretch from a perfect radius, so we then scribed the lumber and recut for a custom fit against the walls. I think we were both pretty proud of the way those turned out! It didn’t take to long before our brains were computing in the millimeters and centimeters on the tape measure rather than inches and feet. I think we must have pushed those saws a distance that could span the whole of Zithulele and zipped in box after box of screws with our Makita cordless drill.
The project manager for the Library remodel, and the mastermind behind the vision of the space, was our new friend, Jeremy. Before beginning our work at the library, Jeremy showed us 3D plans that he created on his MacBook using Sketchup software. Ike and I were always impressed with Jeremy’s ideas to bring neat features and touches to the library’s space. He certainly has a gift for thinking outside the box. He traced a rocket ship into our last sheet of plywood to fasten to the wall and display books with their front covers facing out. He also drew clouds into some of the leftover scrap wood for us to cut out and serve the same purpose. We enclosed an area underneath the stairwell to the upper loft of the library, with doors cut into the little space to be utilized for puppet shows. We also built shoeboxes and backpack racks on the front stoop of the library to help keep the space clean and tidy. Ike and I worked together on the library with our teammates Isabel and Hannah K, who helped paint the entire exterior of the library, along with a few coats of paint on all of our woodworking projects, about as quickly as we’d get them assembled. It was fun a lot of fun working together with them and a couple other local guys that were hired to help paint as well.
Jeremy sharing the vision for the Library with us in the beginning.
Our work area was usually out in the open, so we’d often have some young spectators come visit after school. They’d often get quite involved, and it was sometimes difficult to read the tape measure with a small head blocking the line of sight between my eyes and the tape measure! Oom Paul is also checking up on us here.
Isabel and Hannah working hard to finish up the exterior of the library while some of the hired guys work on painting the shoeboxes that Ike and I built.
An accurate depiction of Hannah just being Hannah. Often times singing or saying something funny. We love her!
Jeremy sketching up his rocket ship bookshelf idea.
Dream Team
The end result! The puppet show booth is located under the stairwell to the loft, and the bookshelves on the left have some fun roof structures attached to them as the Library has been named, “The house of reading”. (Or at least I think that’s the translation)
The storage bench along the curved wall was a trick to get set just right, but it really maximizes on space with lots of room in the removable bins underneath.
The highlight of the job for me. Ike jigged all the clouds out of scrap wood while I got the honor of cutting the rocket ship shelf.
Aside from staying busy at the library, Ike and I also helped take care of a few maintenance things at some of the other NGO offices and buildings. We re-hung some doors to get them to latch properly, did a couple of drywall patch and paint jobs, dug a trench to bury conduit and power cable from one building to another, fulfilled some other kitchen cabinet, desk and table building requests, and helped to get a leaky roof sealed up. We got to put our power tools to rest and have some fun one Friday, however, as we got to be involved in a sport/ track and field kind of day that the ladies helping at the school organized for the students. The kids had an absolute blast doing the different races and relays that were planned out for them. Truth be told, I think us volunteers had just as much fun!
Some of the races included a sack race, a potato on a spoon relay and a race to full up a water bucket with cups.
Sammy going for gold
A few ladies from our team helped out at the Christian school each day, aside from the sport day that we all joined in to participate. They assisted in the classrooms, did some substitute teaching and also got to do a couple of educational class trips to the ocean. There’s another NGO in Zithulele called Axium Education, where others helped in tutoring and sorting through book donations. One of the NGO’s that our team also slotted in with was titled Sihamba Sonke, which translates to, “walking together”. The mission at Sihamba Sonke is “to support local mentors to live inspiring lives and raise up the next generation of value-driven and purposeful leaders who will then do the same”. They offer different training workshops to develop skills for running small businesses, teach computer skills classes in their solar computer lab, and train people to use proper, sustainable agricultural practices. They also do what they can to help build community. On Wednesday evenings, we joined in for the Sihamba Sonke community chess game night. They’ve found a neat way to relate Christian values to each of the different chess pieces and in the end are able to share the gospel message through a game of chess. Following chess each Wednesday evening, we’d have some songs prepared for a time of worship together. Ruan, the founder of Sihamba Sonke, then concluded the night with a group Bible study.
On Tuesday evenings, we were scheduled for family nights. Our team split up into two’s and three’s to offer babysitting services to families that work in the hospital and at the school. I’d say that Ike and I hit the jackpot for our Tuesday night outings. For our first Tuesday evening, we got to hang out with a young doctor, Gerhardt, who’s doing his com serv year at the Zithulele mission hospital. There was no babysitting involved, and we were actually spoiled with a cruise down to the coast for a cookout and a fun time hanging out with Gerhardt and a few of his friends. The remaining 3 Tuesday nights, Ike and I were adopted into the home of Zirk and Charne, with their 3 boys, Jonathan, Samuel, and Daniel. Zirk and Charne come from Cape Town, and have been renting out their home there for the past year and a half to live in their own African hut in the Zitulele community. Zirk was the main man in charge of our teams scheduling for the month, slotting us in where we could best be of service. Zirk also helps out where he can with the NGO’s as well, apart from managing his Cape Town architecture business on the side. Charne helps at the Christian school where Jonathan and Samuel attend, while Daniel attends preschool at Axuim Education. Zirk and Charne welcomed us into their home with such incredible hospitality. They took us up on our babysitting offer and made some time for a date night on the first Tuesday evening, but spent the remaining two Tuesday evenings to hang out and have dinner with Ike and myself. They’ve done quite a fine job renovating their little home with some nice modern touches. Ike and I would bring clean clothes along with us on Tuesdays and take advantage of their warm shower to clean off after our work days. We had a lot of fun hanging out, playing games and getting to know Zirk, Charne, and the boys. They treated us to some great meals, and were so intentional in building relationships with Ike and me. They were such a blessing to us, and we could really tell how they genuinely cared for us, really taking interest in our lives.
Ike and I with Zirk, Charne and their 3 boys in front of their home. They also had a fun litter of puppies!
If you’re still tracking with me at this point in the blog, you’ll probably understand what I meant when I wrote about how this month was a busy one! Luckily, we were able to take advantage of some of the beauty of the Zithulele countryside over our weekends. On our first Saturday, a group of us took a hike to a place on the coast called, “hole in the wall”. We spent much of the day swimming in the ocean there and enjoying the natural beauty of the surrounding cliffs. It was spectacular. The following two Friday evenings, a bunch of us hiked with our tents about a half hour down to Lubanzi beach to camp overnight. We enjoyed campfires together in the evenings, pretty sunrises over the ocean, along with multiple swims and games of ultimate frisbee on the beach! It made for some great weekend relaxation, and we only had to share the beaches with a few cows who also apparently enjoy hanging out on the beach. I guess they refer to the stretch of South African coastline as the wild coast for a reason!
The view of hole in the wall from above
The warmer Indian ocean water was quite nice!
The wild coast..
Our Friday night camp spot at Lubanzi beach. Just a 30 minute hike from our homestay.
Adrian and Julian are about 3 months into a year that they plan to spend working for Sihamba Sonke. We became great friends with them and they ended up joining us for our second Friday night campout.
On Sundays, we gathered together in a building on the hospital grounds for church together with families of the hospital and school community. We prepared songs for Sunday morning worship as well as Wednesday evenings. I brought my guitar along, thinking that I might have some free time to practice, but we really stepped up to the plate in helping out so much with worship. Luckily, Clarissa and Une were able to help me out with the music! They each play ukulele and Clarissa also brought a second guitar along to play with me a few times. We also had some great vocal leads with Hannah Kraus, Isabel and Rachel helping out. There were times that it felt like a mad dash to get songs prepared, and there were certainly times where I messed up and played the wrong chords, but I really enjoyed the opportunity to help with worship. Jesus is certainly worthy of it all!
I feel like I could continue to share stories about more people and experiences that we encountered throughout our month in Zithulele, but we’re more than 2,600 words into this thing by now and I should probably start wrapping it up. However, I can’t end without expressing some gratitude to Oom Paul and Tannie Engela, who felt like they adopted us as their very own grandchildren for the month. They’ve worked as missionaries in Mozambique for nearly 20 years, and were a big help to us in Zithulele. Tannie Engela was our saving grace, keeping us alive as she organized our dinners nearly every night with only a couple of gas cook burners to work with. She’s the kind of woman who somehow can’t possibly make food that doesn’t taste good. She also always made enough to encourage second and even third helpings. Oom Paul is an unshakeable rock, with an attitude that can’t possibly go bad. He was our encourager, and always found ways to keep our spirits up and keep us laughing. Oom Paul and Tannie Engela actually now reside in Jeffrey’s Bay as well. They’ve already welcomed us to their home since we’ve returned back, and I foresee many more visits in the remaining couple of weeks we have here.
Zithulele was definitely a month consisting of tangible service where we worked physically with our hands. Ministry doesn’t always necessarily look like preaching and teaching, and I’m quite alright with that. It felt good for me to apply my abilities and be put to work for the month, and I know Ike felt the same right there with me. We were pretty well able to finish up with the library makeover before bidding our goodbyes. It excites me so much to think about those bookshelves being stocked up, and the children of the community having such an improved space to read, learn, and develop themselves. All glory to God!
One last shoutout and thank you to Isabel, Hannah Kraus, and Hannah Hughes for lending me all the photos I used to share with you all. As I said before, I left my phone and computer back in J-bay for the month. It was a great way to promote my mind and body being in the same place together at the same time and I really enjoyed being disconnected. The only real pitfall of the scenario was being without a camera while living in a place where one can hardly take a bad photo. I guess I also missed not having a calculator in my pocket to quickly figure measurements, but my mental math was probably in need of some practice anyhow!
Looking forward, my team and I will be flying out and beginning the journey back home on the 19th of this month. Until then, we’re planning to spend the remaining two weeks here in J-bay, helping out at the beats and books after school program once again. It’s going to be a bittersweet end to this wild ride of a journey. There have certainly been memories made throughout the 9 months I’ve been blessed with in venturing out into the nations. With the same emotion, however, I feel that I’m ready and excited to be back home. I’m very much looking forward to being back with my family, and even though I’m more than 8,000 miles away right now, I’ve still got the itch to get out into the fields for the 2021 planting season after seeing green grass at home through facetime calls the last couple of days.
As always, thanks for reading and thank you for your prayers! There were times this past month that I just felt the Lord giving me strength to persevere beyond my own capabilities, and I just knew that there must people must be praying for me!
See many of you soon! God Bless!
