Update from March 23 - April 12

So much has happened this past month I’m not sure where to begin exactly. It has been a real challenge schedule wise and due to the circumstance of me being without my computer for a couple weeks (more on this in another blog) to keep you updated on what is going on. The following is my attempt to remember what has happened over the last month.

Week of March 23

I decided to spend Easter in Tooseng. However, I could have stayed at the farm and spent Easter with the other missionary volunteers, I really wanted to experience Easter in the village. I had a wonderful time spending Easter in Tooseng with my new family there. Many of Mavis’ family returned to Tooseng for the holiday weekend. I was able to meet 3 of her 4 children. We had a special dinner with all her family on Good Friday. I didn’t spend Easter at a church service, but instead spent it with my new friends and family having a wonderful time in fellowship together. That morning the Lord and I had our own time. It was so special. It was such an intimate time with my Savior. I really cherish that morning and the fellowship I had with my Father. It was unlike any other Easter I’ve had and I have to admit it was probably the most special, just because of the alone time I set aside for me and Jesus.

On Tuesday, I returned to the farm for meetings to prepare for a Letter Writing Conference. I won’t go into too many details about what this is because it will mostly bore you. The part that I had in the conference was that I am the coordinator for putting together a letter writing campaign between mentors and orphans. The conference was very useful in how you should take information, statistics about where children are in their lives, how they perceive the world, and then shape that into a program that reaches them. A lot of the information was about program development. Most of it did not apply to what I am doing here, but I took away what is useful to me and it will help me in the future.

The end of the week I had meetings with Jan & Jenny who have been heading up the orphan care project. I had been waiting and waiting to talk with them and pick their brains about all sorts of things and about Mavis and Tooseng in particular. They have know Mavis and worked with her for over a year. So, their wisdom was much needed.

Week of March 30

I spent the week in Tooseng. I arrived on Tuesday and went to the health clinic to meet with the head nurse, Mary. We had three medical students in Polokwane doing and internship and they wanted to visit the village and the clinic there. So, I was arranging those details with her to make sure it would be okay for the students to come and see the clinic. The rest of the week was really just continuing to build relationships with the women volunteering at the project and learning more Sotho.

On Thursday, I drove to Polokwane, about an hour away from Tooseng, to pick up the med students and bring them to the village. They had a wonderful time visiting the village and the medical clinic and seeing the kids at the project. They were able to be there during lunch time to see all the children being fed. I asked the ladies to teach them some words in Sotho that would help them in the clinic. The girls thought that was really awesome to learn that.

On Friday, several people from Life Church in Oklahoma came to Tooseng to visit the project, along with Doc and Jacques. While they were there Doc, Jacques, Mavis and I had a very important meeting. The week previous Mavis had brought up some concerns she had with her and RaGs relationship. I took those issues to Doc and Jacques and earlier in the week I was to meet with her to inform her of what they said. The week was soooo busy that we hadn’t had a chance to meet. So, when Doc and Jacques came on Friday we decided to just have a face to face meeting. That way she and Jacques could speak directly without going through a third party (me). It was obvious during this meeting the relationship between Mavis and RaG was at a serious juncture where the future of our relationship was going to be decided. Mavis was having a meeting the next day with her board and the elders of the village. She said she would bring to them what was said in the meeting and then she would let me know the following week when I returned to Tooseng what the results of the meeting were.

On Saturday, I went to a funeral early in the morning. Every week that I have been in Tooseng, there have been one to two funerals every Saturday. (more on this in another blog). Then after the funeral two of the teenage boys from the project took me on a tour of the village. I had asked them the day before if they would show me around because basically I had just been on the maid dirt road in the village because that is where the center is located and then the house I stay in is just on the next road over. The village supposedly has 6,000 people in it so obviously there was a lot I hadn’t seen. It was such a wonderful day, the sun was shining and the people were beautiful. The boys were teaching me Sotho as we walked along and I was teaching them English and answering their questions about America. We walked around the village for three hours. It was one of my best days there, just seeing the village and interacting with the people. As we walked, we greeted those we passed….may of them were surprised the white girl could greet them in their language. They love that! A couple of people we walked by even invited us over to sit down and have cool drink (that is what pop or soda is called here).
When I returned back to the house Mavis asked me if I was received well as we walked around. I said yes people were very pleasant and some of them even invited us over for cool drink. She was very impressed with that. I think she was surprised by the warm reception I was getting. I was surprised….I mean I am my Daddy’s favorite one, so why wouldn’t I get their favor too. Duh!

Week of April 6

I was at the Shikwaru for four days this week. I was trying to get back to Tooseng by Tuesday, to deliver Kids Against Hunger food parcels to the workers, but African time got in my way. I realized on my way home from Tooseng last week that my back license plate fell off, nowhere to be found. So, my plan was to go into town on Monday to get the new plate. Well, the first place I went to did not have something they needed to make it. We went to the other shop that could do it only to find that they were closed. Of course. So, the following day I went back into town to the second shop to get my new number plate (this is what they call license plates) made. Oh yes, and I went to a store to buy the boys in Tooseng two new soccer balls and a pump. Klaus (one of the volunteers at the project) is staring a soccer club for the boys.

On Thursday, I drove back to Tooseng, greeted everyone at the project, and gave Klaus and the boys the new soccer balls and pump. They were sooooo excited!!!!!!!!!
After the last meal at the project we headed down the street to the office so I could drop off the extra food parcels and then we handed out the food parcel bags and bags of maize to the orphan children who we are helping in the project. They have quite a good system of keeping track of what child is getting what. As each child came to get their goods they marked off their names from a register that they keep. Mavis had been gone all week in Johannesburg trying to get supplies and she just returned late Thursday evening. Obviously, we had yet to have a meeting to find out what the conclusion of the meeting was that she had with her board and the elders of the village.

On Friday, I drove Mavis’s friend to Polokwane, and in the meantime, Jerry arrived in Tooseng for a visit and was hoping to do a short bible study or something with the ladies at the project. Well, Jerry found Mavis and she told him that the relationship between the project and RaG was ending. This is what had been decided when she met with the board and the elders. On my drive back from Polokwane to Tooseng Jerry phoned me and told me of the news. Needless to say I was quite shocked. I cried most of the way home. Just thinking of how I was building these really great relationships and now the next day was going to be my last day there. When I arrived back in Tooseng I met up with Mavis and we talked. We were both very sad that I was going to be leaving. She did NOT want me to go, she called me her “best gal.” We both said that is seemed as if we had known each other for years and been a part of each other’s family. I understood that the vision that she has for the project and the vision that RaG had for the project were on two different paths, and since RaG was just a partner coming in to help her it is not really our show to run.

So…….now what….living and ministering in this community was to be my main purpose here besides working on the Sponsorship program for the orphans. Well, I know Daddy has a plan even if this didn’t work out. When it comes right down to it, my presence there brought out some issues that Mavis didn’t really want uncovered. Some of the things she was doing, although not illegal and maybe not completely unethical, was in conflict to the agreement of support that was made between she and RaG. With me living in the community it was no longer possible for her to “do what she wanted” with the supplies we were providing.

Saturday I had a very nice last day in Tooseng, saying goodbye to friends and promising to come back and visit soon. I will truly miss my new family and friends there, but I know God is still working and has a plan.
I am glad that next week I will have a week of ministry in Rustenburg with the vision clinics. This is always a wonderful time of ministry with much fruit.