Sundays in SA

Hello from Sunday evening in SA!

Last night, we enjoyed a meal and fellowship with the Berson's here at the guest house.  We took some time sharing why we came and said "yes" to continuing the Lord's work here in South Africa. Drew also shared with us about how much growth and vision has come from St. Peter Christian College & Bethel Preschool, and the Lord's hand in all of that. It is certainly not finished yet, and the plans that God has for that are just incredible. New buildings are going up, the ground for the clinic has been broken, they're adding a tech building, adding a Grade 10 is in the future, an on-site orphanage, and continuing to bring in businesses that want to rent space on the campus to add to the already existing bakery and laundry businesses. The bakery bakes the bread that they then use at the school, and the cleaners wash some of the uniforms for the learners.  It's an awesome concept and a "win" for all parties. As we were talking, we discussed what a blessing that yesterday was, coming together with the teachers and staff of SPCC for a day of service to God and the school. As I mentioned previously, we hung curtains in the staff workroom, painted the pillars and the gate outside of the school and painted the boardroom and hung curtains at Bethel Preschool. Normally, if we're being honest here, getting up on a Saturday morning and painting is not something I'd be thrilled over. But when you're doing it with people who have so much joy and faith like I've never seen before, it makes it the most enjoyable work for everyone involved. We talked a lot at dinner last night about that very thing...joy and faith. Many people here could look at their situation and think, how? How could there be a God that loves me so deeply? The most beautiful part is they may not have much, but their love for their God is so deep despite it all. It's the most humbling thing to witness. What some people don't understand is that we aren't here for ourselves, to come here, paint some pillars, teach some kids and come home to pat ourselves on the back and say, "look what we did!". No, we get to say, "look what God did!" It's a partnership between God and all of us. We're here to work with the teachers, kids, and people here, to do the work that God has called us to do. And it's an ultimate blessing. 

Sunday has always been my favorite day of the week. Worship, a good meal, time with family, rest and relaxation for the upcoming week. It's a whole new level here in South Africa! This morning, we went to church at St. Peter Confessional Lutheran Church. Church was around 2.5 hours and involved a lot of singing, dancing and just pure JOY! Pastor Khumalo called our group up to the front to be introduced, which turned into an impromptu dance train around the church. A lot of the singing and speaking was done in Zulu, but there were some parts in English and phrases we could pick out. It was all so awesome! The sermon was given by the seminarian currently at St. Peter, Manqoba Zungu. 

After church, we went to lunch with the Berson's, Pastor Khumalo & his family, and the seminarian currently at St. Peter, Manqoba Zungu. We enjoyed a great meal of seafood & sushi and some great conversation and fellowship. When we got back to the hotel, we opened up the 8 suitcases of supplies and sorted through them to get them ready for tomorrow! 

We then joined the Berson's at their home in Middelburg for some more fellowship and time together. It was neat to see where they live! Annalise and I put together a puzzle in her bedroom; girl after my own heart. 

When we came back to the guest house, we lesson planned/worked out our schedule for our first official day at SPCC tomorrow. It feels like the night before the first day of school and it's SO EXCITING!

I can't say it enough, thank you all so much for your prayers and support for this mission here in SA. God is up to amazing things here.

Snapshots from South Africa!

Hi everyone!

Today, I am writing you from our guest house (Del Roza) in Middleburg, South Africa!  The past few  days have been a whirlwind, but we are here, safely, with ALL 16 suitcases and 8+ carry-ons in tow. Thank you Lord for guiding our travels here, and for all of you who prayed for us during the loooooong travel journey. The weather here is chilly in the morning and evening, around 50 degrees or so. The daylight hours have been abnormally warm for a South African winter, hitting about 65-70+ degrees, so it's been very pleasant! Here's a quick recap of the past few days.

Wednesday & Thursday: Our flight left mid-afternoon from O'Hare. I had a lady named Julie for the check-in process. She was very sweet and she wanted to hear all about our trip.  One of my checked bags was 3 pounds overweight and I was fully prepared to redistribute some things, but she winked at me and told us to have a good trip and wished our team the best. #Godsighting!!

We sat on the tarmac for a while in Chicago, waiting for air traffic to clear. Once we got in the air, it was a smooth flight, and we landed around 5:45 in Atlanta, leaving us about 2 hours until boarding our flight to Johannesburg. Melissa & I went in search of a mailbox so she could mail her family letters, which ended up being about a 2.5 mile walk through the entire airport!  Fine by us, since we were going to be sitting for a looooong time!

The plane to Johannesburg was massive with 9 seats to a row, about 60 rows deep (3 sets of 3) and almost completely full, magically minus the seat between Kristin & I in the center set of 3 seats. Our flight took off from Atlanta around 8:15 p.m. and we settled in for 16 hours in the air. Each seat had a TV pre-loaded with movies/music/games, and also a flight tracker and a map. It was very tempting to check it every three seconds to see if we were there yet!  We were served 2 meals and a snack periodically throughout the flight. 16 hours, 3 movies and 5 series of hour-hour and a half naps and a few time zones later, we landed in Johannesburg! We caught the sunset as we were approaching the airport. It was really strange taking off when it was near dark, then landing when it was dark, knowing back home it was noon!

We had to wait in line to clear customs and get our passports stamped for about an hour. I met a lady in line behind me named Velma from Marshall, MI! What a small world. She was very kind and was traveling the area for the next month and a half. We chatted about our favorite Michigan hotspots and that helped pass the time a bit. All of our luggage arrived in tact and we met up with our driver, Knut (kuh-newt). He is originally from Pretoria, South Africa, about an hour and a half from Middleburg, so he will stay with us this week and transport us to and from school, town, stores for supplies, etc.

We loaded up the van & trailer in the chilly 50 degree weather and got on the road to Middelburg! It was about an hour and a half on the road and we were all very eager to get to our beds so we could sleep laying down instead of sitting up in a seat!  But first, we needed a snack. Meals were served at very odd times so our food schedule was a bit out of whack. Stores and restaurants close pretty soon after dark here, which right now is 6:00 p.m. because it's winter, so our food options were limited. We opted for the classic South African cuisine, McDonald's. I hadn't had McDonald's in years, but at that point, anything would have tasted amazing!

We got to our guest house, did a quick tour and called it a night. We are very blessed in our accommodations here! Everyone is so kind, warm & welcoming and our rooms and the landscape are just beautiful. It really looks like something out of the Secret Garden!

Friday: We got up and ate a fantastic breakfast together at the guest house, loaded up on espresso and set off on the short drive to St. Peter Christian College. It was so great to finally see everything in the daylight!  When we got to the school, we said hello to some of the kids and teachers who were outside, and went on a tour. We got see some familiar faces, like Drew & Lindsey Berson & Pastor Khumalo. It was such an amazing feeling finally being at the school and seeing everyone. I spent most of the morning filled with so many emotions because I just couldn't believe we were actually there! We spent the day getting acclimated with the school and loving on the teachers and kids. I got to visit with the 5 classrooms I'll be working with, two Grade R classrooms (kindergarten) and three first grades. I don't think any of us stopped smiling the entire time we were at the school! So.much.joy. #thankyouGod

Bruce Rudi (principal at St. Peter Arlington Heights), Pastor Khumalo & Drew Berson 

Grade R had a birthday celebration for three of them on Friday! 

After school, we had a meeting with the teachers and then went supply shopping for our service project at the school, which we completed this morning. Kristin & I got to sample Iron Brew, a South African soda produced by Coke. It reminded me of the red cream soda that Barq's makes! Then we had dinner at Nando's, a fantastic chicken restaurant that recently made it's U.S. debut near Chicago. We were back to the guest house by 9:00 and were all in bed shortly after, jet lag is no joke!

Today (Saturday): We got to sleep in a little bit and enjoy another nice breakfast at the guest house before we headed off to school for our service project. We put up curtains in the staff work room, painted some things for the walls, moved furniture out to make the space more welcoming and accessible, and then we spent some time painting the pillars and gates out front of the school to give them a fresher look. Another part of our group painted the boardroom at Bethel preschool and hung some curtains in there as well. Some of the teachers and staff joined us in our work and we enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day together, followed by a meal and fellowship. It was such a great day, an amazing experience and so much fun. I'll have more of those photos in my next post! Then we walked around Middleburg with Knut and explored some of the shops. A lot of the stores close at 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and are open for about 2-3 hours or not at all on Sundays, so that the workers can go home and enjoy their weekends! Tonight, we are going to enjoy a dinner at the guest house with the Berson's here in a little while and just enjoy fellowship with them and the rest of our team.

Thank you all for your prayers for our team and our work here! This opportunity is just amazing and I am so thankful to God for it, and for those of you who have supported it and are continuing to with your prayers. 

(The Holy) Spirit, Suitcases, Sunglasses & Spaghetti!

Hello, everyone! 

First and foremost, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you to those of you who have supported this trip through prayers, finances, e-mails/text messages/words/hugs of support and encouragement, donations of supplies, etc. for the Mission to Middleburg. Thank you to my family, church family and friends for all of your help in preparations over these past couple of weeks. I am still in awe from Sunday's service at Our Savior and the prayers, love and support that myself and my team are heading to South Africa with. Thank you Pastor Wangelin & Vicar Hauser for such a special service, and thank you John Horak for the invite to sing with the worship team. My grandmother's church also held a special prayer on Sunday during their service. Thank you for continuing to cover us in prayer as we go!

Today, I am writing to you from a kitchen counter in Palatine, Illinois, where I am staying with the most gracious host family, Bruce & Carol Rudi. Bruce is the principal at St. Peter Lutheran School in Arlington Heights and his wife, Carol, is a teacher there, too. They have generously opened their home to me for a few days while we are preparing for our trip and have been a huge blessing these past couple of days. Thank you, Rudi family! 

We haven't even left the U.S. yet and have already seen God at work in so many ways in our preparations. Keep reading to learn about a few of them and for a (quick...?) recap of the past few days here in Illinois!

 Monday: I got up early to drive to Arlington Heights, Illinois for our mission team meeting at St. Peter. So thankful for no dead-stop traffic near Chicago, even on a Monday morning! I heard the song "Great Are You Lord" multiple times on the radio on my drive there as I continued to flip radio stations. So many times, in fact, that I lost count after 6, I think? That song has a lyric that is repeated quite often throughout, "All the earth will shout Your praise". How fitting, as our mission theme verse for this trip is 1 Chronicles 16:23-24, "Sing to the Lord all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among the peoples." #godsighting

Once we all gathered at St. Peter (in one of the kindergarten classrooms - I felt right at home!!), we began to pack suitcases full of materials for the school and for our lessons for the coming weeks. We each took a suitcase home to use as one of our 2 checked bags allowed on the flight to Africa. Combined, we have a total of 400 pounds of suitcases filled with materials for the school, plus some that we are putting into our personal suitcases and carry-ons. Praise God! 

 After we had all the suitcases packed and weighed, we had a team meeting to go over our schedules, the itinerary and other odds and ends. We have a total of 8 people, 6 adults and 2 students. 

From left to right: Melissa, (me), Allison, Kristin, Matt, Corrine, Griffin & Bruce

The Rudi's had friends staying with them from Texas, Bob and Cheryl, who each happen to be Lutheran school teachers as well (one of them is from Michigan!) so we enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner, conversation and laughs over food and a game of Mexican Train. Went to bed feeling so, so, blessed (and full!).

Tuesday: A finish packing and preparing day. I was at Target

waiting for my turn to checkout and a lady behind me in line said, "You must be a teacher! Thank you so much for all you do." (I'm not sure if it was the puzzles or the pile of bulletin board borders stacked on the belt that gave it away?) I told her I was and I thanked her for her kind words. Her daughter said, "It's too early to be thinking about school!" I laughed and told her that I was actually preparing to leave for a trip to Africa tomorrow (today!) with these supplies for a school there. They then wished our team well and told us to have safe travels and a fulfilling trip. #godsighting

We are taking the staff at the school in Middelburg each a small gift, so we spent some time tonight after dinner putting together the bags and making them as packing-in-tight-spaces-in-our-luggage-friendly as possible. The ladies are each getting a necklace or a pair of earrings, and the men are getting sunglasses! Carol graciously helped cut ribbon to attach to the bags, and we got them all set to go. 

Now: Boarding passes are printed, bags are packed, now to try to sleep before the big day tomorrow!  We leave O'Hare around 1:55 p.m. to Atlanta, then will depart Atlanta around 8:00 pm for our direct flight to Johannesburg . (For those of you wondering, the flight is around 16 hours!) We will arrive in Middelburg around 6:00 p.m. local time (6 hours ahead of Eastern time.)

Prayer Requests: For our team as we prepare for a long day(s) of travel, for the pilots, flight attendants, and all other airline workers, for our driver that will take us to the guest house once we land in South Africa, and for the pastors, students, and staff of St. Peter Christian College in Middleburg as they are two days in to their third term after a month break.  Thank you all so much for your continued prayers for us.

Great are You, Lord! (If you want to take a listen to this great tune, go here or here for two of my favorite versions.)

Kylie