Yikes! Over a Month????!!!!!

Okay, wow - I can't believe is has been over a month since I wrote here - for those of you who have checked and not seen anything new - sorry! I'll try to do better. Its hard to think of what to write, so much has transpired in the past month - so my writing has little to do with nothing happening and much to do with a lot happening and my not taking the time to sit down and write. nuf said about that...what are the headlines?

Since the end of June...

The last week of June, there was a team here from Sprinhill Baptist in Charlottesville, Virginia - they did a Holiday Bible Club at Troyeville (aka VBS). It was a great team - I really enjoyed the time they were here. Russell (another Venturer working for Door of Hope and Troyeville) and I shared driving responsibilities for the team - we used the VBMB South African van - what a great thing to have over here - saves money and is very convenient. Went to the Lion and Rhino park again with the team - was my 4th time, I think. It was pretty cool, though because we went on a Saturday and I got to see them feeding the carnivores - wild dogs, white lions and cheetahs - got to see things I hadn't seen before. If this blogger tool were any good, I'd be posting pictures of that visit, but alas...it is not - perhaps I need to reconsider blogger.com - there are frequently times when I can't post pictures. Went to Carnivores Restaurant with the team - was my second time there - funny how you go see animals and then go and eat them. Tried not to eat as much this time - can get a bit overloaded on meat!

After the Virginia team left, I got busy with my project for Door of Hope International - a new ministry that will be resource provider/helper to others who are working to help orphans or vulnerable children. My project was to work with a church in Houston Texas who committed to purchasing clothing and shoes for all 61 kids at the Touch Life Centre. They sent over the money and I got to spend it - sounds fun, right? Not really - had to measure little feet and get sizes for all the kids. Many thanks to the TLC staff for helping me get sizes! I kept spreadsheets of all the data - thankful for my EDS days and learning to use those valuable tools!

I must have been to every Ackermans and PEP (inexpensive clothing stores) within a 20 KM radius of our apartment - some several times - I was able to get every child socks, underwear, jeans, a shirt, tennis shoes, and for the guys - jackets and for the girls - track suits. Couldn't find many jackets for the girls, why the track suits. That was interesting - why could I find jackets for boys and not for girls? Don't both get cold? Strange.

Oh yeah - need another picture - boo for blogger!!! I picked up a new-to-me ca on July 10th. oh yeah - more changes/news - Amber left for home on July 7th - that was not fun, losing one of my Virginia buddies - its strange being here without her - she was here almost since I was, so we shared a lot of SA experiences. Okay...I digress...on July 10th...oh yeah, now I know why I digress :) We turned in the long term lease (purchase/buy-back) car Amber drove and used that money plus some I had saved to buy Kate's car. Now I have a 2005 Renault Clio to drive - don't think they have those in the states - its red and a nice car- A/C, CD player, remote, elec windows/locks - manual transmission -everything I would want in a car here. The Mazda I was driving belonged to our friends Peter and Yvonne - it was a great car, but was a 2door and no A/C and no CD player - I keep moving up in the world with my cars - better than moving down, I guess. Anyway - its a nice little car and I'm enjoying it. Sara is now driving the Mazda - we turned in her longterm lease(purchase-buyback) car last week.

I was about to tell you about the Texas team coming, but would have completely missed telling you about my trip to Drakensburg (east of Joburg in the Kwazulu Natal province) - to the mountains. (ideal spot for more pix, but blogger blues) I went abseiling - which is a lot like repelling, but you don't bounce along the cliff face - you just lower yourself down in the air once you've backed off the cliff - yep - I backed off a cliff - that was hard! The few steps down on the cliff to get to the edge were really hard. I did ask the Lord to give me courage and calmness and God did - thanks! It was okay once I was airborne - let out the rope and had a safety rope - so it was not back lowering myself down. There were six of us - 4 from Virginia (2 college students volunteering at DoH and Russell and me) and 2 from NC Baptist (one from NC and one from GA - both with collegiate missions too). We stayed at the Amphitheatre Backpackers Lodge - was a decent place to stay. Met some folks from UVa Med School - small world! One of the girls was from Mechanicsville - micro world!

Went to LeSotho one day for a tour of a remote mountainous village - that was interesting - got to hear about the LeSotho history. Saw drawings that were supposedly ancient cave drawings from the early bushmen or San people - the first inhabitants of the country. The roads were very rough - was a very rural farming community. Saw a sangoma or healer - he didn't seem to be one like a witch doctor - more of a natural healer - at least from what he said. Many of the natives here do believe the spirits of ancestors are active and they can seek them for help or try to drive evil spirits away - so its something I stay away from.

The last day in Drakensburg, we went on a big hike. The guide said it was of medium difficulty and I guess it was if high difficulty means you're rock climbing with ropes and stuff. I was worried about being able to make it - a 12 Km hike up to the top of a mountain. I expressed my concern to the guide the day before while we were in LeSotho and also to my team - wondering if it would be wise for me to go since I know I'm not in shape and am at least twice as old as all the guys in my group (Yep, I'm most likely their parents' age...ugghhhhh!). Anyway, the guide and my friends encouraged me to go for it, so I did. I was tough! There was one part where we had to climb up a steep incline - climging up and over rocks - many times on all fours to get up to the top - was kind of a crevice in the side of the mountain. I was the last one up - had to stop a lot to catch my breath - high altitude, lack of cardio fitness, age, all those things combined to make it a tough climb for me. The guide, Garreth, was very patient and stuck with me the whole time - encouragine me. I finally made it - was fine once I got to the top - it was spectacular. We were high up and could see down in the valleys. Had lunch at the top. I am thankful to my friend Colton for carrying my backpack - it was like a community pack with several lunches and waters inside - but still - it was wonderful that he was willing to carry it all day.

After lunch, we went to see one of the tallest waterfalls in the world - its also one of the smallest :) Coming back down the mountain, we had to climb down chain ladders attached to the cliff face - 2 of them! It was very scary coming down them, but at least we had something to hold onto. I am thankful that I didn't have any trouble with my knees like I have in the past (Kauai, New Hampshire, Yosemite hikes with my friend Renee) - maybe my knees are in better shape than the were over 15 years ago! That would be good. I was glad after the fact that I did the trip, but it was hard!!! Maybe one day blogger will cooperate and I'll be able to post some pics - maybe do what Amber did and put them on another site with a link.

Okay, now onto the Texas team. They came to TLC and gave out the clothing for the kids - also had arranged for large food parcels to be delivered so they could be given to each family. It was very generous and a nice thing for the TLC families - there was a short program and team for everyone - was like organized chaos - but was good.

On July 29th, I left for Capetown for a week. The Texas team was going down to celebrate the official opening of a new baby house in Cape Town - it is one of the Door of Hope International projects. The Texas church is planning to kind of 'adopt' the house and provide resources and hopefully future volunteers. They have already contribute a lot of funding to purchase furnishings for the place. Also went with Cheryl to visit her relatives and friends - was nice to meet new folks and make new friends. Enjoyed her cousins that we stayed with. Was also nice to be in a different city for a bit and get out of the regular routine. Spent a few hours with the kids at the house - was interesting - the kids are in pairs - 2 infants, 2 toddlers, 2 two year olds, 2 six year olds - I spent the most time with the 2's and 6's - reading books, playing with a ball, etc. Saw the need for more toys and books, so hopefully Cheryl's cousin will be able to get donations from her church and clients to help with that.

Got back from Cape Town this morning - Sara picked me up then we went to McDonalds for lunch - typical Americans!

Oh yeah, almost forgot - Sara moved out - she is living with Kelly (a SA staffer at DOH) at the volunteer flat at the DOH baby house. Carmen and Brent (Cheryl's daughter and husband) and their 2 year old son live here now with me. Carmen is pregnant and her baby has some health issues, so it was important for them to move to Joburg for the baby - it made sense for them to live here in the flat the Allen's own until they could get a house here, so... my new roomies. I have a TV in my room, so I spend quite a bit of time here - but its cool. I'm going over to Sara's tonight to watch the season finale of Biggest Loser - I've already seen it - many reruns here, but its better than Isidingo or 7 deLaan or any other shows in Zulu, Afrikaans, Twsana or whatever.

Whew... that was long, but I think I'm all caught up - will have later posts with updates on youth and children and worship at Troyeville - lots going on. Hopefully one day there will be pictures too! For now...cheers!