South Africa
- Drank rain water – this was our drinking water for the month, unless you wanted to boil the tap water and wait for it to cool, I took my chances with the rain water
- Swam with wild seals. So cool!
- Named a frog, Trevor, who liked to hang out under Jenna, Melissa, and I’s rain flies. I accidentally kicked Trevor once in the dark…no worries, he was okay.
- Lived in a tent for an entire month
- Had to do a tick check every night before I went to bed
- Had to say, “the monkeys got in the trash again”
- Ridden in the back of one of those police trucks that are enclosed, the ones you see in movies. Our taxi forgot to pick us up so the policemen were gracious enough to take us back to the farm.
- Had the cool place to go be the local gas station.
- Had a Christmas that was literally stripped of all that we usually know and have, but one of the most meaningful Christmas’s ever, though of course I missed my family.
- Taken a 5 hour continuous hike. We went around this peninsula in Plettenburg, it was beautiful!
- Been so angry at the situations some of these children are in.
- Been given such a supernatural love from God for these same children.
Mozambique
- Eaten kudu and lamb. Kudu is sort of these deer, moose, antelope thing, not quite sure. It was really good.
- Had the best cashews that have been roasted right from the tree. You have to roast them first because the cashew fruit is poisonous off the tree. Then you peel them and eat them, yum!
- Held a baby on my back Mozambiquen style. A sturdy piece of fabric around your back and over one shoulder with the cloth under the baby’s bum.
- Preached a sermon. This was a definite Holy Spirit showed up moment. God is made strong in our weaknesses.
- Heard such beautiful singing and music as I have heard at the churches and Bible College in Mozambique. This is all without instruments, just their voices and clapping.
- Cooked in a hut, over a fire set up on the floor. We cut raw chicken, peeled garlic and tomatoes, and cut up onions all sitting on a plastic chair using a water bucket for a table. What these women can do with what they have is amazing.
- Attached reeds to wire to make a house secure for a mother and son whose house fell in on them during a cyclone.
- Slept on the concrete at a border crossing. I’ve learned you can sleep on anything or at any time if you are tired enough.
- Used a squatty potty, I heard that is all they have in Asia so I am getting ready.
- Been to what they call the bush. Out in the middle of nowhere, driving through places that do not have roads. It was beautiful and what you often think of when you think of Africa.
- Seen the signs of malnourishment in children. Orange scalp and big bellies because of worms. It was hard.
Swaziland
- Lived at a children’s home – the children at El Shaddai are a joy.
- Been so cut off from everything. El Shaddai is on top of a mountain and it takes about 30 minutes on a bumpy dirt road to get up and down the mountain. The nearest town is about an hour away.
- Seen such beauty and we've seen some beautiful places. God’s creation is magnificent and speaks of his glory.
- Helped dig a 12 feet hole for a septic tank, or for any reason for that matter.
- Put so many kids to sleep by swinging with them on a swing
- Played a game sort of like jacks that uses 12 rocks and a small hole dug into the dirt. You had to throw up one rock and pull as many rocks out of the hole without looking all while catching the first rock. I was not very good. J But the children always gave me another chance.
- Been so sad not to have regular internet access only because I knew my niece was going to born while we were in Swazi, but thankfully I got to find out that Piper Faith was born healthy and safe!
It is time to now head into our fourth and final continent. I loved Africa but excited for what God’s going to do in Asia!
