CONT. of the Trip. "SABC to Kruger"

The lectureship in Benoni - Johannesburg ended with a banquet. We didn't go to this event and for good reason. That night at the Monte Casino a musical was being performed on stage. The opportunity to see the Broadway rendition of Beauty and the Beast arose and we took it. For only R400 we had third row seats. It was beautiful! Colourful, fun, dramatic, lively, and overall a very enjoyable evening. The Casino was set up like a small village and the theater was accessed by going outside and walking past a big, open square. As we were waiting for the show to begin, I remember sitting on a bench and it started to sprinkle. If I hadn't been prepared to sit through a performance I would have danced in the rain. God made it for our enjoyment just as He made the sunshine. For all you oldies: "I love a rainy night".
The next morning we were packed and ready to go. As soon as Ken, Judy, Barbara and Sandra showed up at the dorms with the van and trailer we got ourselves organized, said our goodbyes, and hit the road. Another lengthy leg of the trip. The windy, mountain sections of road up to Venda (a tribal region in the Limpopo province) were magnificent. The scenery in this country is breathtaking. We planned to go up this way because the church there was celebrating it's 50th Anniversary and Lessons To Live By was going to be distributed to the body as well. When we arrived that Saturday afternoon there as a large tent at the top of a hill down a red-dirt road. They had an interpreter but the regional language was what was predominantly spoken. After 'service' we had a meal cooked in large pots over open fires and watched as some of the older ladies did a traditional drum and dance. The dresses they wore while performing this dance were vibrant and almost identical to one another's. I believe there are some pictures on one of the girls' facebook pages. Check it out.
Mike and I had the pleasure of staying with a family that fed us, bed us, and let us be. Seems like most houses have a family devotional every night. We got to participate in two that night; one at "HQ house" and one at our hosts house. Just a thought and some songs. It's quite fun to sing in a foreign language that you can't speak, read, or understand. God has something for those who try though.
Sunday morning was an affair. The amount of people congregated in one place was just astounding. You see, here in Africa, one of the biggest issues is transport. So, the people who attended (for the most part) were from the area. Quite a few traveled for the festivities too, but that's how it is. Transport is a daily issue and we deal with it as a team and a body here in PE as well. The singing, the sermon, and the fellowship was so encouraging. I was drawing pictures for the children during the lesson (don't tell!) and they loved it. Their faces would brighten if I drew a stick figure of them sitting on a chair outside of a tent. If you want to communicate with those who don't speak good English, just draw pictures. Some kids were rolling tires around to play with and a lot of them didn't care to wear shoes. But why would they? The dirt is so red it destroys the bottom of pants, socks and shoes. I could live there. No doubt, it's a place I would find very warm and comfortable.
Pressing on from Venda to Kruger National Park. This is the largest game park in Southern Africa. It was astounding how many of God's creatures we were able to see. Being in nature has a way of refreshing one's soul. I felt that God touched me while were drove through the park day by day. The opportunity to bond with my teammates was fun too! I shall put together a separate post for Kruger. Get back to me tomorrow :)

My Apology

I'm writing as if I have a fan base, but in fact it's more true to say that I have friends. Thank you for caring enough to read this.

I must say I'm sorry for not writing at all in the last month. I got an external, USB modem that will allow me to reliably connect to the internet on a regular basis and it will be used. Now that I'm "online" I need to catch up with all of my digital communications. Tonight I finished my emails and most of my Facebook. What a relief!

But alas, I owe it to all of you to tell you of my life. It's not my life, but the Lord's. I say this in a completely sober-minded way. It's nice to be allowed to live on this tiny planet that sits in the colossal universe of God's. Every single human that has ever lived has spent the entirety of their short lives on this celestial ball. Beautifully humbling. I'm here because you have allowed yourself to be moved by God and support me. Thank you for that. I'm not just speaking of funding. Thoughts, prayers, notes, rolled eyes, laughs, and tears are all support in my book. Do it your way!

Unfortunately, I won't be finishing the story of our Big Upcountry Trip tonight as I had planned to. It feel like my body doesn't realize how incredibly young it is. It feels strained and my spine is hurting. For about a week now I have had sharp pains in my spinal chord, between my shoulder blades, that has hindered my from looking down or looking up at too great an angle. It hurts and I need to get it taken care of. Uncle Reginald ("Sir Reginald") mentioned going to a chiropractor and I am going to ask him at school tomorrow the number so I can schedule an appointment straight away. That is, if I make it to school.

If I don't make it to school then I'm in a real quandary. Some teachers and Veto, the principal, at Zanoxolo out in Motherwell have asked me to print some exam packets for them since they don't have the equipment, time, or real resources to do it. I'm fine with that and Ken said I could use the RISO (big, bad curriculum printer). Tomorrow I have planned to go after school and print, collate, and staple 4,000 pages. It shouldn't be too bad. There's enough loving people who will volunteer to help. I don't ask it of them though. The last two weeks out there I haven't done anything because of bad communication. I originally was supposed to teach the teachers how to use the donated computers they received. After one session it came to light that some of them knew something of technology and others had never touched a computer, let alone created a Power Point presentation. Haven't gotten there yet. But now that a purpose has arisen I'm glad to step up. So, we'll see if I'm out of commission, what happens.

Love you all, whoever you may be.
KCK

(I sometimes feel "," happy. Let me know what you think all of you grammatical and literary geniuses)