October Weeks 9 and 10

^{Week 9}

^{Day 58: Wednesday Oct 3rd}

^{I drove Zeta to the airport at 3:45 in the morning and I was almost in an accident. Somebody was turning right when I had a right of way (phew!). It was my first time driving in the dark and there are some parts of the freeway where there are no lights and I discovered that my high beams don’t work (It sure is scary driving in the dark here). I then turned on the wrong side of the street trying to find parking (Thank goodness there was no traffic!). I even got lost going home and ended up going downtown Cape Town (What a morning this was going to be!). In the afternoon Lucky, Nosipho and I went around Khayelitsha to visit the schools so that I can get familiar with the area and its surroundings. In the evening I met with Richard because I had to give him a gift from Tobi. Richard, Nosipho and I went to get dinner and ended up driving around for 3 hrs lost ! Within the second hour I drove on the wrong side of the road and just wanted to go home after that. The last hour that we were lost was scary because we were in the coloured area in Mitchell’s plain where most of the crime happens! We finally had dinner at Mitchell’s plain mall and a unquestionable guy wanted our meal! Oh man I really felt uncomfortable! Once we got our dinner we just went straight home! What a day of adventure!}

Akhona's family

Phendulwa's family

Nomvelo's Family

^{Day 59: Thursday Oct 4th}

^{Today I shared at devotions my experience from yesterday and how God is always watching over us. I then reviewed the movie called, “Facing the Giant” with Casta because it was our theme for our Youth Worship this next two months. It was a very powerful movie with a great message. I highly recommend watching this movie because it’s talking about facing our big giants of life’s problems and how to overcome them. In the afternoon Lucky, Nosipho and I went again to visit more schools and then went to visit some of my youth at their house. We had a fun time meeting the parents and playing card games.}

Siphe's Family



Nosipho learning powerpoint

^{Day 60: Friday Oct 5th}

^{Did you know that when you buy a car here you don’t need insurance on it! I finally realized I had no insurance and on the third day of me driving my car and after two weeks I finally found a place to get insurance. I only got 3 party insurance with fire and theft because I couldn’t afford anything else. In the afternoon I picked up Lucky and Nosipho and we continued visiting the schools and my youth kids again. Afterwards I taught Nosipho how to do a power point presentation.}

^{Day 61: Saturday Oct 6th}

^{Sarah and I went to observe a Sunday School where we will be helping out in the future. We then went to the Youth Worship to set up for the Movie day to watch Facing the Giants. We had a difficult time getting the old projector set-up and we had over 50 kids waiting to watch the movie. Thank goodness Pastor Jun was here to help us with technical stuff.}

^{Day 62: Sunday Oct 7th}

^{I went to an English Baptist Church today in the Brackenfell area where I live and I was quiet shocked that it was very traditional. They sang lots of hymns, but the preaching was good. I then went to pick up Lucky afterwards and we went to Sunday market with Mphumezi to find some Jimbays. I’ve always wanted to play a instrument, but never had the opportunity to learn (due to laziness and not being coordinated). I bought a Jimbay for Lucky too because he is going to be my teacher (I hope he knows what he’s gotten in to!). After dropping off Lucky at home Mphumezi and I had a great discussion in Women’s roles in the church. He definetly has the traditional point of view! In the evening the girls went out for pizza and a movie called No Reservations. It was a really good time bonding with just the girls.}

^{Day 63: Monday Oct 8th}

^{I picked up Lucky early today from his house because he was bringing his Jimbay to devotions so that we can practice together. There is so much love for music here that everybody can play the jimbay. Man oh man all African people sure do have rythmn! At 11:00pm the couple who owns the mission house arrived all the way from Toronto. This house is like a revolving door. People are always coming and going.}

^{Day 64: Tuesday Oct 9th}

^{I had a bad night sleeping because I had so much pain on my bottom/right gold molar. I cancelled my morning and tried to find a Dentist. When I found one close to my house she charged me double and told me I had an apses tooth. It was going to cost me $3000 rand to fix it and another $3000 rand to fix the gold crown. I then decided to get other opinions and I got a better quote from another dentist for ½ the price. I went on antibiotics right away and had to wait for a week for the infection to clear up before they did anything to the tooth. I was in a lot of pain also; therefore, I ended up taking extra-strength Tylenol for the pain.}

^{Week 10}

^{Day 65: Wednesday Oct 10th}

^{I had a better night sleep, but I am still in pain. I worked at home today and when I went to the internet. My family asked me if I had allowed my renters to keep the furniture that I left in the condo. I was quite alarmed by this question because it sounds like that they have just left and took my furniture with them. This rental company I am dealing with is not the greatest because they also just deposited the last 2 months rent in just this past week. I am now a little worried about my place. In the afternoon I went to visit more preschools and the insurance company phoned me and said that they couldn’t accept my application for 3rd party insurance because I didn’t have a valid license. I now have to get an international license. The pain from my tooth has now reached to my ear. I just feel I am facing so many trials right now and I have no control over it. We ended our evening playing the card game scum with Jeff and Julie the retired couple from Canada.}

^{Day 66: Thursday Oct 11th}

^{Today Sarah followed me to Khayelitsha so that she can get used to her surroundings. After devotions we had a meeting with Casta to talk about the next Youth Worship. Casta decided to go on the Lesotho mission trip for two weeks, which met that Sarah and I were on our own to lead the youth this Saturday. I was in charge of the lesson on prayer and doing the games. Thank goodness I found the book I needed on prayer to do the lesson on at the library.}

^{Day 67: Friday Oct 12th}

^{Jeff, Julie, Sarah and I climbed Lions Head today. Just Sarah and I went to the top because it was too much for Jeff and Julie. We are having a great time with the owners of the house because they keep cooking Korean food for us. I am eating way too much here! Afterwards I spent the rest of the evening preparing for the Youth Worship lesson on Prayer till 1:00 am.}

Happy the Sunday School Teacher









Fish is sharing and Yemkela is translating

^{Day 68: Saturday Oct 13th}

^{We went to help our Sunday School teacher Happy today and she was still in her PJ’s. The school was locked; therefore, we had to do our lesson outside. Happy was doing most of the work and the other helpers were just sitting around watching. I ended up teaching the kids some new songs and helping as much as possible. We then dropped off Happy and Faith to their Sunday School Seminar while Sarah and I set-up for the Youth Worship. Yemkela was also there to help interpute for us. I was quite nervous doing the lesson today because I am not used to dealing with youth, but in the end we had about 60 kids there. I went over time with the lesson, but it went really well.}

^{Day 69: Sunday Oct 14th}

^{I went to the Sunday service at the Baptist Church at 8:00 this morning and then was invited to a Xhosa church at 11:00. The Xhosa church usually starts at 9:30 and it doesn’t end till 1:30. I am glad I came at 11:00. In the afternoon I started to read the book that Pastor Ohm wanted me to read called the Banker to the Poor. He wants our opinion on it because he’s wanting to start this program with the Xhosa people. In the evening we went to the pub to watch the semi-final rugby game against Argentina and South Africa. It was amazing! South Africa won!}

^{Day 70: Monday Oct 15th}

^{I had an appointment with the Dentist this morning at 8:30. He froze my mouth, but couldn’t get the crown off. He then explained to me that most likely that from my symptoms and the x-rays that my tooth problem is due to clenching my teeth at night due to stress and it’s not an apses tooth. WOW! He hit it right on the dot. I am quite stressed about the things that have happened to me this recently and I guess its affecting my body. I didn’t realize how stressed I was. He sent me home with some pain killers and wanted to wait it out for another week to make sure if it was an apses tooth or not. I just went home and read more of the book and tried to relax today.}

^{Day 71: Tuesday Oct 16th}

^{Today I worked on my blog and in the afternoon we are visiting Grace to work on the preschools brochures and have dinner at her house. We had to leave early because our friend Angie had a flat tire and her spare had a hole. I think its common for missionaries to change their tire here very often.}