Amusing moments...

A few more comical moments arising from cultural differences and living in the country.....

1. Last night I played 'music for the chairs' - the Sotho person introducing the game had mistranslated the title 'musical chairs'!
2. I said I'd love to be 'a fly on the wall' in a friends house. No one had a clue what I meant.
3. This afternoon in a youth planning meeting there was a moment when I was completely lost with what we were talking about. Then I realised that there were 4 of us, all of different nationalities and I was the only one speaking in my first language. No wonder it got confusing!
4. I decided to make a carrot cake for my girls discipleship group, but after substituting practically every ingredient (except carrots) because I couldn't get hold of any of them, it turned out bright yellow with orange carrot bits. It also didn't taste anything like yummy carrot cake, more just like normal sponge cake.
5. Apparently all white people look the same to some Basotho people. And apparently some Basotho people can't hear a difference in European accents - English, Irish, German - we all sound the same! It makes me feel better about how long it takes me to learn people's names here.

The End of Miss Schutz, The Beginning of Mrs Ottewell!

Tomorrow one of my best friends is getting married. Sadly I can't fly back to England and be her bridesmaid :-(

Tally is marrying Tim after a very romantic courtship. I don't know Tim very well, but he is a Godly man who has won Tally's heart through his careful pursuit of her and that's good enough for me! It's such a small world - I actually met Tim in Clarens when he was visiting friends in 2007, before he'd even met Tally! They met after she moved to London to take up a nursing post after graduating.

Tim & Tally - I know you will have a wonderful day & and a fabulous honeymoon! I so wish I could be there to celebrate with you - perhaps we could have a re-enactment in July?! I can't wait to meet the new Mrs Ottewell, and come and see your new home when I'm back.

Tally - you are such a special person, and have been a great friend to me and many others. I love you squillions xxx

General Update on Life in Africa

March/April visitors - Lindsey, Catherine, Laura & Natalie


This last month has been fun. I had some friends come to stay for 2 weeks and as it was Easter holidays here I was free to do lots of touristy things with them which was great. We had a couple of days in Durban and it was lovely to get to see the sea again and go swimming. I'm praying that God will call me to live next to a beach next! (as long as it's not one by the North Sea!!)

Since they left life has been pretty slow. Things are only just getting back to normal after our Masterbuilders Conference. Mapheo half started last week but is back into full swing this week. And all the FYPers were off on a 2 week training block in Cape Town. I hadn't realised how much of my time is taken up with Mapheo and the FYP team until they both weren't happening! So I'm looking forward to a much more hectic week this week.

We had a Mapheo planning meeting this week and it was great to hear some of the ideas Jeremy & Laura have for extending the programme. I won't write about them here as nothing has been finalised yet, but it was a really encouraging time and got my creative juices flowing! This term we are looking at 'gifting and skills'. So we're covering different spiritual gifts and teaching the children some other skills such as sewing, dance, art, cooking, woodwork and sport. The idea is to show that everyone has something which they are good at and to build self-esteem. Most of the children have a very low self-esteem as no one ever encourages them. We also want them to understand that God gives every one of us both spiritual gifts and natural talents.

The beading and craft project I help at is continuing well. I have managed to get 6 agents to sell the stuff in the UK so far (thanks ladies!). The idea is that each month we will post a box of stuff to a different person who will host a Silver Hope Party to sell the items to friends.

I spent the Easter weekend in rural Lesotho. It was the first time I had never stayed overnight there before. It was really fun and very interesting. The life in the rural areas is very different to here eventhough it's just across the border. There is no electricity or plumbing. At the moment there is a water shortage, so families are having to collect water from the pump in the middle of the night as the tap is dry in the morning. Some people have generators, some have solar power, some have gas stoves, but many have nothing but fire. Toilets are 'long drops' although some aren't quite long enough if you know what I mean! The people are very friendly though and I've got to know quite a few people in the church. We were helping with an outreach which meant going out and inviting people to a showing of the Jesus movie in Sesotho. It was great to be able to go out visiting and see more of how people live in the villages. They tend to live in mini compounds of 2 or 3 houses on a plot. It's very 'african'! I also had to go and pick people up from a mountain village I'd never been to before. Really you should have a 4x4 to get there but I just about managed it in the church bakkie. There's not really a road up the hill - you just drive across the bare rock face which is full of pot holes! It was a great weekend.


The church in Tabaholo Lesotho


The top of the rock face which serves as a road

On return from Lesotho I found that my car had broken down again! I had thought the clutch felt funny on the Friday but assumed I was being paranoid. I left my car with an elder from church in return for taking the church bakkie to Lesotho. He then tried to drive it to church in Clarens, but couldn't even get off his drive. When I got in it the clutch cable snapped again. I called a local recommended mechanic to come and look at it. He says that the garage in Bethlehem who've done all the work on it so far had replaced my old broken clutch cable with a used one rather than a new one. He has also found a problem with a little bracket which feeds the cable to the pedal. Plus having paid for 4 litres of oil to be put in the car there's practically nothing left but no sign of a leak. So we can only assume I was ripped off there too! Owning a car here is certainly a challenge! I'm hoping to get it back sometime this week, and then I will decide whether to try and sell it or keep going.

As I'm sure you know, Wednesday (22nd) is voting day in SA. Please pray for a peaceful day and a good outcome. The result is almost certain to bring Zuma into power. As christians we must pray for him that he manages to lead well and move away from the temptations of corruption. The elections are a huge deal here - there are posters everywhere, and people wearing their freebie ANC t-shirts. It's a public holiday to encourage people to vote. The historic vote of 1994 is still incredibly fresh in people's minds.

Sad Stories

Life here seems so much more dramatic in many ways than in England. People's stories are either wondefully pointing you towards Jesus, or just terribly sad. I guess that's the impact of poverty and disease. It's no longer shocking to have no parents - it's more suprising to meet a child who lives with a mum & a dad. Today I heard a story which I'm really struggling to come to terms with.

There's a little boy in Maseru (the capital city of Lesotho) who the Newfrontiers church there have come into contact with. They then called the doctor who is currently in Clarens from the UK for 6 months as the boy was clearly unwell. Dr Peter discovered that he had a cancerous tumour in his leg. His only hope for survival without supernatural healing was to have his leg amputated. That would be bad enough but sadly the boy's family decided to rely on traditional African medicine rather than take him to the hospital for the operation. They kept waiting for the traditional medicine to work and now they've waited too long - the boy has no hope left. And to top it off, Dr Peter was telling me tonight that this is one of the most painful deaths for anyone to endure. He's just a child and he has to deal with all of this. All because his family placed their faith in a lie.

But tonight we heard that he has become a Christian. He has placed his little life into Jesus' hands. Without God's healing he will die within 4 months, but at least now he will go home to his Saviour.

I know I will never understand God's purposes in this life, but it's so hard to hear these stories, meet these people whose lives are so hopeless. I am so thankful that God has saved this little boy but I can't understand why He has allowed this situation to come about.

At the end of the day I have to trust the God I serve, that He truly does see all things and will work all things together for good for those who love Him. This child loves Him, so this must have some good in it somewhere.

You know you're a Brit living in rural Africa when....

1. You ask someone if they are 'hobnobbing with the bigwigs?' and they just stare at you.
2. A friend decides to try out an english phrase so tells you he's here playing the drums because he 'got limbered into it' rather than lumbered with it.
3. You go to a city supermarket and lose all self-control at the sight of all the cheese and leave £10 poorer.
4. You go for a local horse trek and see wild zebra and wild black wilderbeast (but return with flea-infested jeans).
5. You get caught in a crazy storm whilst travelling through Lesotho in the open back of a bakkie so have to take shelter in a tiny village 'shop' while watching the lightning strike the valley in front of you.
6. You were travelling through Lesotho sitting in the open back of a bakkie in the first place. By the way, although it's legal to cram as many people as possible in the truck, it is illegal to balance on the side of it. You must be fully within the vehicle. Sound like a theme park?!
7. The policeman at the border post is reluctant to let you back into SA until you converse with him in Sesotho (those lessons have come in very handy!)
8. You are offered a 'snackwhich' and have to ask for an explanation (a toastie to you and me).
9, You give a fellow english friend your only bar of english chocolate for his 30th birthday, and then get very emotional telling his wife about the sacrifice you've made.
10. You slowly but surely lose your pretty good grasp of world events.
11. Eventhough life is challenging in many ways, you are having a whole heap of fun!