Holding Hands

from Katherine
When we were in America I told many of my friends about my 2 1/2 year old friend Azola. When Azola first came to the Pre School we were the very first white people he had ever seen. He was terrified of us!

One day last month his granny came early to school and I was the only teacher there. I promised her that Azola and I would be fine, took him in my arms and she left. We were not fine! Azola was screaming at the top of his lungs and thrashing about. I needed to start breakfast and help was not on the way. I finally put Azola down and promised he could stay on his side of the room and I would stay on my side. He watched me closely to make sure I stayed where I was supposed to!

This week as we began a new school year, Azola came up and held my hand. My heart sang!

A Mosquito in the Bedroom

from Elliott
I saw a sign in a local shop recently that captured a sense of empowerment that is crucial for those in ministry confronted with what may seem to be insurmountable problems in their area of ministry. It read:

       "Do not think that you are too small to make a difference, imagine the power of one mosquito who finds its way into your bedroom at night"

That really spoke to me since we have to open the windows in our flat, especially at night, due to our lack of air conditioning. There is a real trade off in the hot, rainy season with its significant mosquito population - a cooling breeze or minimize the presence of mosquitoes?   

But if we think beyond our personal comfort it does suggest that we do not have to be the size of an elephant to create attention or to impact someone else. In fact, that minute mosquito can get our full attention simply by buzzing about our head for a short period of time. Of course, that is negative attention which does not help much in ministry.

It was Helen Keller who said: "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each worker."

It seems like in our western culture that we are prone to idolize our heroes and praise them for doing great things. Unfortunately, it ends up being an excuse for the regular folk to accomplish very little or not even make an attempt. After all we are not that powerful...

One thing we have found here is the impact seemingly minor gestures can have. Things like acknowledging the presence of a typically marginalized person while walking down the road, smiling at a child, inquiring genuinely as to the well-being of a widow in your midst and then being willing to hear the answer, offering a person with a heavy load a ride in your vehicle, etc. The list goes on...but it is not just in South Africa it is everywhere and each of us has the power to make a difference. When done with the love of Christ, the impact is immeasurable.

Home

from Katherine

We arrived ‘home’ in South Africa after spending five weeks at ‘home’ in America. We stayed with dear friends and family who promised that we did not smell like fish after staying with them longer than 4 or 5 days!

I have heard the expression that “home is where you hang your hat.”  Well we have hats in South Africa to protect us from the sun and we hang them on hooks in our flat when the sun goes down. Does that make Africa home?

No, I think it is more than hats, its hearts. You see, when the plane touched down in America; we were excited to see friends and family, to tell of our ministry experiences over the past year, to show our photographs of the people and places where we are in ministry and beautiful South Africa.

When we returned to our ‘new’ home in South Africa we were equally excited to see friends and our ministry team.

Now I know that my heart can have two homes!