Coffee with Kea at Caffe Rossini. (28 April)

Another soccer game at Peter Mokaba Stadium. (1 May)

I sent my brother, sister-in-law, and niece a small package with a few South African goodies. After standing in line for near on thirty / forty-five minutes at the post office, I couldn’t help but take a photo of the finished product with all the postage. I told Colby (my brother) that I was sending him a package of veggies. His response? “Isn’t that illegal?” Haha. (3 May)

Xitsonga exam numero uno. (4 May)

In addition to his responsibilities with SM one of my co-workers, Josh, is playing rugby with a local club here in Polokwane. Most of the staff and some friends from CBC went to one of the local games to cheer him on. (5 May)Saturday (5 May) on the way to Josh’s rugby game the land across the street was alight and was burning. Later that night when I came home I saw that it had also over taken the field beside the house, but wasn’t able to see the  full extent until the next morning on my way to church. My flat is another ten feet to the left. Yikes. Close call. (6 May)

Our weekly Monday teammeeting. The outreaches are just around the corner! We’re excited to host eleven churches over seven outreaches into Mozambique to partner with the local church. As you can see David is cheesin’ things up for the camera. (7 May)

Stopped by the grocery store to buy this week’s worth of fruit and veggies. Notice that gnarly check out line. (11 May)

Many friends have sent packages my way and for that I am so grateful. Each package has been a blessing. One of the families from my program at the YMCA sent me a package last week. I absolutely loved my job at the Y, especially the kids and families that I was privileged to get to know. A big shout-out to the Howards for the sweet cards (and treats)!

I heard some of the guys talking about making koeksisters last week and asked if I could join in on the fun. Saturday (12 May) was d-day for the trial run. The best way I can describe them is kind of like a braided donut deep fried, then dipped in cold syrup. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a decent photo of the finished product, but let’s just say that there were none left by the end of the night.

Stinkin’ cute kid. Nikki brought baby Noah by the office to say hello. He’s growing like a weed! (14 May)

One of the signs on our way… next up: Punda Maria. (16 April)

Welcome to Kruger National Park! (16 April)

That’s exactly what it looks like…. a dead baby elephant. Gross but kind of cool, hey? It’s been sitting on the welcome counter at the Punda Maria Gate for years. (16 April)

The Saturday after we returned from Mozambique, I took one of the high schoolers from the CBC youth out for lunch and a movie. I’m thankful for all those who poured into my life while I was in middle/high school, what an impact they made on my life. One of the perks of living and working in both South Africa and Mozambique is that I get to meet and build relationships not only with the local church in Mozy, but in South Africa as well. What a privilege! (21 April)

My next door neighbors, Joseph and Welheminah, just recently got a puppy. They’ve named him Petey after the dog in The Little Rascals movie. He’s a rascal alright. (20 April)

How fun is this crayon art? Thanks Pinterest! (23 April)

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to go help some friends out for the day at their office. Mike and Kea are the owners of Capricorn Taxidermy here in Polokwane. Their workshop is so neat! The work they do is out of this world, as I’m sure you can tell from this photo. Check them out on Twitter: @capricorntaxide or on Facebook. (24 April)

Dark and rainy morning last week on the way through downtown Polokwane at 5:15am on the way to the gym. (23 April)

Sunset on the Farm from my front porch. Another reminder of what a privilege it is to serve here in South Africa. (23 April)

Before moving to South Africa I think the last time I paid to go see a movie in the theatre was in Turkey two years ago. I despise paying an arm and a leg just to see a stinkin’ movie when I can just wait and get it on Redbox. Well, although Redbox hasn’t made it to South Africa yet, going to the theatre is is pretty cheap. Typically going to a movie runs about $5 and only $2.50 on Tuesdays (because I have a movie card). Hellloooooo cheap entertainment! The month of April is patched together by public holidays, so although I’ve been doing some work from home, I took a couple of days off this weekend and just enjoyed life. Here is a photo from dinner on Friday at the Mall of the North here in Polokwane. (27 April)

I’m in the process of working on my newsletter, so if you’re not on the list and would like to be, let me know! I hope yall have had a great week.

~

We left the Mission Farm (where I live) Monday morning around 430a, then stopped by the Raley’s to meet the rest of the guys. We were on the road out of town by 530a. I tried sleeping, but decided to write Jen an email on my BlackBerry instead. Kind of like how I decided to Skype with Anne Marie the night before for an hour instead of packing, but I regret neither. I needed to talk to them. I needed to share about my week. I needed that community. Like I said, I regret nothing except for maybe not fixing that second travel mug of coffee . Jay-Z said it best, “It’s a hard knock life.”

We had a two and a half hour drive to where we were planning on picking up Derrick and Annah. Derrick and his wife Sarah  are on staff at Samaria Mission and Annah often serves as a translator. Derrick and my dad have been friends since the first time that dad came on outreach, which I’m guessing was somewhere around 2000/2001-ish. Derrick calls my dad his water-headed baby, thus he refers to me as his granddaughter, so I am a “Chauke”. I’m thankful for all of the relationships that I’ve been able to build with folks here over the previous summers spent serving as a short-termer. These relationships have made my transition to living in a new culture so much easier than they would be otherwise. For those of you who have lived overseas or even up and moved to a new area, you know that building a new community of friends isn’t easy and is often awkward. Thankfully, I have several strong friendships here and as far the relationships that I’m still working on… well, let’s just say that I thrive in awkward situations.

Back to the trip. Thankfully I fell asleep for about an hour before we stopped in Malemulele to pick up Derrick and Annah. Once we left Malemulele, we headed towards Kruger National Park which would eventually lead us to the Pafuri Border Gate on the Mozambican border.  After stopping on the South African side and enjoying our last bit of running water and running toilets for the week, we headed over to the Mozambican side. The Mozambican side always takes more time to get through. You see, on the SA side, there is electricity, computers, and paved roads. Whereas, on the Mozy side there is little to no electricity, your visas are recorded in huge books that span the entire width of the desk, and all the roads are basically oxen trails. (Helloooo, anyone up for a game of Oregon Trail?)

Visa form in Portugees for Mozambique. Although the Mozambican’s in this area of the country speak Xitsonga, Mozambique is a former Portugese colony, so all government affairs take place in Portugese.

Each month there are two training hubs. When the river is low enough there is one on each side of the Limpopo River. Thankfully this month, there is very little water so it is easy to cross. Mark, Darren, Member, and Josh were all going to Dumela and Gordon, Derrick, Wlliam, Doug, Debbie, Annah, and myself were all going to Xikumbane. Those of us who were going to Xikumbane followed the other guys to the river to make sure they didn’t get stuck and that they would make it across.

The bakkie (pick up truck) stuck in the sand on the outskirts of the Limpopo River.

On the way, the bakkie (pick up) that I was in got stuck in the soft sand because the tyres hadn’t been deflated. Since there was’t anything I could do at the moment to assist, I went to check out the river. My Chaos kept weighing my feet down, so I shed those suckers and just went barefoot. I’m not going to lie, the sand was hot but it felt great to be back in Mozy.

Cows coming to drink in the Limpopo. Notice the kids playing in the water. Not going to lie, it was pretty hot and I would’ve loved to have joined them.

Earlier when we were at the Punda Maria gate at Kruger, Gordon (SM’s administrator and resident business genius) said that since my dad isn’t here he is going to be in charge of any discussions concerning labola. Haha, I consented of course. Later Gordon, Derrick, and I discussed what I would actually be worth if a guy had to pay labola. Gordon said thirty cows, whereas Derrick said at least forty since I am a “Chauke”.

Derrick counting how many cows were at the river. 

Back to the river… the guys made it across safety thus we made a u-ey (if that isn’t a word, it should be) to make it back to the “main road”. If you’ve been to Mozy you I use that term very loosely. As we drove through the yellow fever tree forest, so many memories came flooding back. I thought about the time in 2006 when Roelof and I had to move camp from Dumela to Salani and how many trips we had to make. I also thought about the time that Brent, Roelof, Derrick, and I had to move camp from Dumela to Kunguma in preparation for the Westmoreland/West Cramerton outreach. It was just the four of us. We started packing up at 5a, didn’t finish til 8p or 9p that night, then had to drive to Kunguma in the dark. Pretty sure that was the stretch of time when I went without a shower for five days.

More than just those memories, I thought about how much I have learned in my years of serving overseas. Not only the practical things like deflating tyres, cooking for large groups of people, and the endless lessons in cross-cultural interactions, but the spiritual impact as well. This, my friends, is where the Lord nurtured and grew my heart to see all peoples come to have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. After years of saying “no way” to college, I had a conversation with someone who had come on outreach and that conversation led me to consider going to school.

I’m actually typing this on my iPad as we make our way down the oxen trail (sorry for the spelling errors), listening to my coffee shop playlist. Said playlist is made up of some of my favorite songs that would play when I would spend hours upon countless hours studying or writing papers at everyone’s favorite downtown Wake Forest coffee shop (and one of my former places of employment), the Wake Forest Coffee Company, affectionately called the WaFoCoCo.

Out of all the trips that I’ve made up and down this dusty road, this is the first that I can think of that I’ve been able to enjoy the air con. I’m thankful too, because it’s a blazing 39(c) degrees outside. God clearly has a sense of humor because, lemme tell you, I hate hot weather with a passion, but he’s got me here and loving it. Currently the sky is a perfect Carolina blue with a few clouds that look like animals made out of cotton balls. The side of the road is decorated with the yellow trunks if the Yellow Fever trees, which contrast perfectly with the dusty brown ground and the parched green from the shrubs.

So funny story, when we stopped in Matsillie to deliver the orphan food. When we were at Pastor Robert’s house one of the guys from the village made himself known. To what I can gather he is in his early 50s and is clearly mentally disabled. He was greeted with hugs, smiles, and jovial jokes! The local church there has taken it upon themselves to make sure that he is taken care of. What an awesome picture of the Gospel in action. This chap came over and was trying to negotiate with Gordon a price for labola so that he could marry me. Ha! You know, there isn’t anything on the horizon so I’ve got to keep my options open. (Before someone reads too much into that line and I get in trouble, know that I’m joking. Well, joking about considering that guy, but not about getting into trouble. Seems I’m always on someone’s short list for one thing or another. Gotta “brush ya shoulders off”. I may as well continue with the Jay-Z quotes while I’m at it. He’s such a philosopher.) We ended up making it to Xikumbane around 5p and had camp set up shortly thereafter.

Lunch day two: pap and soya. 

Rolled outta my tent this morning around 630 and desperately needed coffee, but the kitchen quarters of the base camp hadn’t been unlocked yet. Eventually we got that taken care of and the kettle was boiling soon thereafter. Breakfast was toast and coffee, which has pretty much been my breakfast each morning here recently. Thank goodness for my AeroPress. Thanks to this little thing I can take it anywhere and have delicious coffee and not the instant coffee that seems to follow me everywhere I go.

One of the pastors taking notes during training.

For leadership training, the guys attend all day. They gather and eat breakfast, then start around 8a. They will break for lunch then carry on until 4p. They are currently working their way through the book of Romans using New Tribes Mission’s Firm Foundations material. There are leaders here from numerous surrounding villages. Robert from Matellie, Pedro from Panhame, Albert, Earnest, Fortinato, Amos, and from Xikumbane. They make such a sacrifice to leave their villages and travel here for the two days. We wish their wives could attend each day, but know that is just not practical as someone has to be home to watch the kids and look after the fields. Debbie and I are excited to begin teaching the ladies this afternoon. Our purpose of being here is to teach the ladies, so that they may teach the other ladies and begin teaching the children This is key for us to further the process of sustainable church planting.

Mass grave in Ngala from the Mozambican civil war. 

Once breakfast was over the guys began their session at 8a sharp. I had nothing to do until around roughly 1030a when Doug, Debbie, Gordon, and I were going to cross the river and go to Ngala to deliver the orphan food to the church there. It’s around this time when the guys finish their first lesson of the day and break for tea and coffee. I decided to use this time to review my lessons for this afternoon and complete a few checklists of things that I need to accomplish once I get back to the office on Friday. A woman’s work is never done.

Along the way to Ngala to deliver the orphan food we passed a mass grave and several bombed out buildings that are left over from the civil war that for all practical purposes completely decimated the majority of this province along with the rest of the country. The pastor in Xikumbane, Albert, his father is one of the hundreds buried there. It’s another heart-breaking reminder of war.

The Baptist church in Ngala, Mozambique.

The ladies gathered in Xikumbane. 

We had eleven ladies gather yesterday and today in Xikumbane. These are ladies from several of the surrounding villages, who are interested in learning how to better teach the women and children in their local churches. Sustainable church planting and leadership. BAM. I love it. Anyway, the first day of teaching Debbie covered a lot of the important introduction information. It’s crucial for them to have this information about the how and why the Bible was put together before beginning the story of creation. We seek to build a foundation with this info so that they will not only comprehend what’s being taught, but understand it as well. On day two, I taught the first through third days of creation and Debbie finished us off right with the fourth and fifth days. When we return in May, we’ll pick up where we left off with the sixth day of creation.

This is the sign across the road from Guudu’s house.

Thursday morning on the way out we stopped in Xitsutswuni (pronounced shit-shoot-sweeny) to deliver some food to Guudu, who is one of the guys that the Mission assists. (He’s blind and can’t fully provide for he and his family.) Now for those of you who might be offended at the pronunciation of the village, don’t be ridiculous..

Sign on the South African side of the Pafuri Border Post.

On the way out we drove through Kruger National Park and had lunch at one of the picnic spots. Sir Mix A Lot, where you at?

~

Until next time yall…

An entire asile dedicated to instant coffee. Shame.When I lived in in the States I subscribed to this ‘deal-a-day’ kind of thing called GroopDealz. I bought several cheap-o handmade items from them over the last couple of years. My favorite item was a $7 silver necklace with a (fake) pearl and an oak leaf. It’s super simple, but I love it and wear it often because it reminds me of my favorite city, Raleigh, which is affectionally known as the City of Oaks. Anyway, back to my story… a friend posted a link on Facebook to that particular  day’s deal and I immediately thought, “I can totally make that!” So the above photo is one of many that I created. It’s not the exact same as the one from the deal, but as they say in Thailand it’s “same same but different”. It works for me, I mean hellooooo it was freeeee(!!) and I got to choose the colors to go with my flat. It’s the little things in life you know?

Speaking of free crafts, look at this wall of paint samples. Oh the creative possibilities! I hit the jackpot yall! Stay tuned…

After three months I finally got to Skype with my brother Colby, sister-in-law Kristin, and my niece Addy who is almost three years old. Is she not the cutest thing you ever did see?

Although we have weekly team meetings each Monday, on Thursday (12 April) we had our first outreach planning meeting of the year. Alicia took this photo, but I snagged it to add for this edition. We’re all looking forward to the outreaches and the churches that we’ll be serving alongside. What a blessing to have so many partnerships with those who are equally passionate about the Gospel! 

My fellow southern, NASCAR lovin’ friend Erin sent me a super sweet birthday card! Ryan Gosling even made an appearance!

Saturday morning, Gena and I headed downtown to get material for a bedding bag. Seeing that while we’re on outreach we’re camping in the villages, thus we’ve got to carry all of our bedding into Mozambique. It gets pretty chilly at night, so we make sure to take enough to stay warm, which requires a pretty hefty bag. Gena is so talented when it comes to creating things with a needle and thread (along with numerous other talents). She’s such a blessing to all of us who serve with SM and for me, is a constant reminder that all of us can use our gifts to further the Gospel. Anyway, one of the stores we went to had an entire wall of vinyl with so many fun colors. The prices are so reasonable, I think somewhere around R25-R40 ($3.15-$5.05) a meter. Pretty sure that vinyl would make a sweet messenger bag one day. Just sayin’.

After venturing downtown, I stopped by Nikki’s to drink sweet tea and see baby Noah!

~~~

We’re leaving bright and early tomorrow morning at 430a for leadership training in Mozambique. I will be co-teaching the ladies. Since this is the first month that we’ve been able to go in and teach the ladies we will start in the beginning with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Debbie will cover the intro along with the first and second lesson and I will cover the third and fourth. Will you join me in praying for our time this week? Pray for strong relationships to be made. Pray that these ladies would have a heart to learn about God’s word… and not only learn the Word, but share God’s Word with their families and friends. Our goal is to train up leaders to take over, basically we want to work ourselves out of a job. Hopefully I won’t forget to pack my camera battery in the morning so I can post a few photos upon return on Thursday.

Chat soon!

The Scoop!

When? Saturday, 14 April

Time? 5pm – until all the fishies are gone

 How much? $8.50 a plate, with all proceeds going towards yours truly

Where? Lowesville Cafe ->
1610 S. Hwy 16 in Lowesville, right over the Lincoln/Gaston county line (aka, my stomping grounds)

Thank you friends.

@zachmmullis, @jason_wright, & @kinglouie3

@annemaroo

FaceTime with @jwmoss & @chrisljohnston.

Finally reunited with @crwingo!

@jenneiman

@jbr0die

Happy April to you, my three faithful blog readers. April is one of my favorite months. Why, you may be asking? It’s my birthday month! That’s right, this Sunday, 8 April I’ll be 26!

But most importantly, it’s the month that we as Christ followers celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ! For me this week leading up to Easter Sunday is a time to reflect on just how much Jesus loves us. Good Friday is a day to remember that Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins. Christ died for us. I am so humbled each time I remember what Christ did for me on the cross. For me he died. For you he died. The Saviour of the world died on a cross for us. I know I’ve said it a billion times already, but it’s not something that ever get old. You see death didn’t win, as three days later he overcame death and arose from the grave and is now sitting at the right hand of God! How exciting is that?!

If you’re in Raleigh and don’t have a church home, may I suggest you check out Vintage 21? V21 is my home church and I am so thankful for their love of the city of Raleigh! Each year V21 hosts the biggest and best Easter egg hunt in all of the world! (I might have taken that too far, but whatever.) Word on the street is that there is going to be something like 60,000 eggs at Raleigh: Easter this year. That’s right. 60,000. Ridiculous, right? The event will be on Saturday at Halifax Mall from 10-2. Take your chillrens out thurr and join V21 in loving the city well. Then on Sunday, join them at Memorial Auditorium at 11am to celebrate the risen Saviour!

In other news, all is well here in Polokwane. Between work with SM and everyday life, I am staying busy and loving it. (I’ve never been one to sit around and twiddle my thumbs.) We at SM are entering into our busiest season filled with teams from the States and all over South Africa who are coming to join us on short-term outreach into Mozambique. As a staff, we are also all actively involved in learning Xitsonga. I have throughly enjoyed learning another language and it really is true what they say! Once you’ve learned one language (other than your native tongue), it really is easier to keep adding more! I will include more in my newsletter next week, but I will be joining the guys for this month’s leadership training in Mozambique. Debbie and I will be at the training hub in Xicumbane and will begin walking with the ladies through The Firm Foundations material from New Tribes Mission. This material is awesome. If you’ve never read it, please look it up. For those in a tribal, two-thirds world setting it is perfect for chronological Bible storying. Can someone please tell me why more churches in the States don’t use Creation-to-Christ (C2C) curriculum?

I’ve opted to just cover the highlights in the latest edition of “this week(s) in photos”. After all, that’s what people really want to see anyway right? There are a few things that I’ve got in the works for this little ditty that we call a blog, but we’ll see how those things pan out in the warsh. (Yes, I spelled it like that purposely… that’s how we say things in the South yall.)

]]> http://hranderson.com/easter-celebrations/feed/ 1 http://hranderson.com/week-in-photos-19-march-2-april/ http://hranderson.com/week-in-photos-19-march-2-april/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:24:30 +0000 Hannah Anderson http://hranderson.com/?p=877

Joseph, one of the lecturers at Christ Seminary, and his wife Welheminah live next door and they have a little one named Tikfah (with a little girl due in June). Tikfah will often come on over and make himself at home with the neon letter on my fridge. He’s too cute for his own good I tell you. (19 March)

Together with Nikki’s best friend Kea, I co-hosted a baby shower for Nikki here at the farm. I’m not sure if you can tell from the photo, but there were streamers everywhere. Now, I grew up with streamers for birthdays and such, but they were always inside or nicely hung from one corner of the house to a tree or whatnot. As I began decorating Saturday morning (24 March) for the shower, Sharyn and Kea just said to throw them into the tree. Yall, I felt like I was back in high school rolling someone’s yard with toilet paper!

And there’s the mother-to-be with her mother. What a cute pregnant lady hey? (24 March)

Last weekend we had a lot of rain. I took this photo last Friday (30 March) in front of the church. It was a downpour that actually began flooding the front parking lot! The rain was a welcome addition to the weekend as it cooled things down a bit… and plus, who doesn’t love a good rain shower?

Saturday, 31 March, we at Samaria Mission hosted our 5th annual Golf Day Fundraiser. This annual event raises awareness of SM within the community and raises funds for the general running of the Mission, especially since all who serve are self-funded. We really enjoy building relationships with those who participate. We’re blessed with a great community of businesses in and around Polokwane who participate each year.

Member, along with a few volunteers from Christ Baptist, were put in charge of the braai. I overheard several of the golfers remarking just how delicious the boerewors tasted, and I must agree, they were some of the best that I’ve ever had! (31 March)

The Golf Day Fundraiser was played at the University of Limpopo‘s campus in Mankweng, which is about twenty miles outside of Polokwane. We had to hike up a mountain (literally) to get to Hole #1. Hello, how awesome is this view? (31 March)

After returning from the Golf Day Fundraiser I had the opportunity to go to a football match. Tickets were only R40 ($5)! I tagged along with the Vaughan boys to game, which was held at Peter Mokaba Stadium. The Kaizer Chiefs were playing a local club called the Black Leopards, which are from Venda, but you wouldn’t have known that there was a local club playing because everyone was cheering for the Chiefs. The Chiefs won 4-0. (31 March)

Sunday, 1 April, Nikki invited me over to meet baby Noah. He was sleeping, so I got to visit with Gabriel and Nikki, which is always refreshing. I’m so thankful for such great friends here in Polokwane. Check out this latte that Gabriel made. I almost didn’t want to drink it because it was so pretty.

Monday, 2 April, after our weekly team meeting I hung out with my friend Kea. She and her husband Mike own Capricorn Taxidermy here in Polokwane. It was really cool to finally tour their facility and see all the great they do. (I want that giraffe!) Also, my mother doesn’t know this yet, but with Kea’s help I finally dyed my hair a couple of shades darker! I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but finally decided to follow Nike’s advice and just do it. I really like the outcome too! I’ll post photos at some point.

Until next time yall!

Driving home on Wednesday night, 14 March.

Thursday night, 15 March, the Vaughans were so gracious to allow me to tag along and join them for dinner. We went to a friend’s house for dinner with another couple in the church who were moving this weekend. Sharyn cooked Oxtail Stew for the special occasion. I’m not sure about you, but I had never heard of Oxtail Stew, much less tasted it. Honestly, I didn’t even know that people ate the thing, but ya learn something new everyday I guess. The stew was delicious and I now understand why it’s considered a delicacy.

Xitsonga vocab with coffee of course (16 March).

A better look into our language lessons. Member graduated from Christ Seminary and is also on staff here at SM. He is Shangaan, thus Xitsonga is his heart language. Not only is he teaching all of the staff Xitsonga, but he is translating the teaching materials from English to Xitsonga for our work in Mozambique. Needless to say he’s a busy guy. We’re so thankful to be able to serve alongside him.

That’s right, the prize for first letter goes to my dear friends Andrew and Jody! These two love birds are getting married in May and were kind enough to include me on their invite list even though they know I won’t be able to attend. I’m thankful for friends who still include me in their lives although I’m on the other side of the world.

Friday, 16 March a few of us got together to celebrate Nikki’s birthday. We’ve been friends since I was 7 and she was 8, but her family moved to South Africa a few years later and we’ve kept in touch ever since. Doesn’t that pizza look amazing? Well, I’m happy to report that it was just as tasty as you’re thinking.

Saw this at a friend’s house today! Any guesses as to what it is? It’s a samovar of course!

This was the view from the house where I ate lunch today. Isn’t that just fabulous? Nothing better than a Carolina Blue sky.