Where's Waldo?

from Elliott
Some people look at clouds and see shapes of animals or people. We were hiking in the Mkambati Nature Reserve a couple of weeks ago. The coastline was breathtaking, the plantlife amazing, the eland majestic and the waterfalls beautiful. Even the rock outcroppings were interesting.

We had a picnic overlooking one of the waterfalls and I had an eerie feeling...it was like someone was watching us. And then I saw 'him'. Can you see him? Our very own Waldo!

Maybe I have been listening to too much talk of ancestral spirits or maybe I really am becoming part of the culture here.

Some Things Just Translate Easily

from Elliott
Well there weren't any isiXhosa words to confuse me. The message on the side of a house along a road in a remote part of our ministry area was clear. It was in the international language of sport. I think I knew what the resident was saying by the design that he had painted on the side of his one room house. I wonder if Nike would be upset if he had painted it on the outhouse just to the right of the house.

Perhaps he was expressing an affinity for a well know sport franchise or perhaps he was suggesting that he was an athlete of some local regard because just down the dirt road was a sport field Africa style – grass cut by local cows and goats and a rudimentary goal of scrap 2 X 4’s .

It reminded me of one of the talks in the Small Business Development course we offer to budding entry level entrepreneurs. We talk about marketing and branding and we show a series of logos (Nike, Shell, KFC, Puma, McDonalds, etc) without the name and see if the learners can guess the company and the product. Even in the remote rural areas of Africa everyone in the class got the right answers.

Not so sure how I feel about that! I have to admit sport does have a universal appeal. I can think of some other more significant messages that have more eternal consequence that do not seem to have such universal appeal but perhaps that is why God sent us here! We have work to do….   

My Friend Amos

from Katherine
I met my friend Amos at the beach in our town. He washes cars there. Amos is in his 20’s and car washing is how he supports himself and helps out his mom.  Amos charges R30 or about $3. He has a 20 liter bucket, a rag and dish soap and he gets the water from the public showers. Sometimes he will wash the fishing boats or clean fish. He always has a big smile on his face when he gets that job. Perhaps he makes more money or maybe he gets paid with fish.

I have not seen Amos all winter, so I began to watch for him along the road to his house or near his home because he lives near one of my schools. But no Amos.

Yesterday I was walking with a friend near the beach and a young man came to me and said “I have a message for you from Amos.” I was excited that someone had found me that knew about Amos, so I asked “from Amos? What is the message?” The young man said, “I talked to Amos on the phone and he said ‘If you see my white friend from America, tell her I am working in Durban at the Port and I will see them in December.”

I am thrilled for Amos to have a job at the port. It is a step up for a hard working young man. What pride he and his mom must feel! And I have to laugh at my description according to Amos – ‘my white friend from America.’

What Happens When Your Doll Comes To Life?

from Elliott
As we venture into some of the more remote sections of our ministry area, it is not unusual to find young children that appear afraid of us. Often times, we learn that the child had not been exposed to a white person before. It can be a bit disconcerting at first but understandable given the human minds ability to quickly distinguish differences.

We recently heard a different variation of the situation. A woman told us how her young granddaughter responded to the first white person she saw. She was inconsolable and obviously afraid. When they were finally able to comfort her, she told them that she thought that her doll had come to life and that scared her. It turns out that the little girl, like many of the children in the area, had a doll that was white instead of one that appeared more similar to the people that she had known.

When it comes to human nature things always seem to get complicated.  Some suggest that we should be ‘color blind’ and not even notice differences in skin color or other physical features. I have read theories that say that recognizing differences or unfamiliarity occurs in the primal mind which includes the ‘friend or foe’ or ‘fight or flight’ defensive response.  As with many elements of how we are wired, the original design may be fine in and of itself but it is the misuse or lack of control that becomes problematic.

Perhaps instead of trying not to notice differences, it would honor God more if when we did notice differences we simply marvelled at the Creators expression of an infinite array of possibilities.

The Risk of Abbreviating

from Elliott

With so many languages spoken here in South Africa we are sensitive to language uses and always concerned that we are misusing or misunderstanding something. Abbreviations and unusual technical terms can create some challenges or at least give pause for consideration.

We were taking some tables from the Port Edward Methodist Church Hall outside for Youth Group and I found something that gave me pause. On the bottom of the table for identification someone had marked “Meth Church”. I am not sure that has the same connotation it might back in the states! There is even a website in South Africa with the address ‘Meth Church’.  

I wonder if they did make the connection here, what that would mean. Some might think the Church is high on something. Worse yet, due to lack of passion, inactivity or isolation maybe it would be worse if they did not think we were high on something! 

The Hen that Came to Class

from Katherine

Back to school today after a long winter break, yes winter. We are on Day 5 of the Creation Story when God created the fish of the sea and birds of the air. We read the story, The Little Red Hen. It is a great story and all the kids agreed that the little hen’s barnyard friends should have helped because God wants us to help others.

The best part was right as I finished reading the story, a red hen walked into the classroom! She was very calm, considering all the kids in the room, looked around for a minute and walked back out the door. The kids wanted to know if she was ‘The Little Red Hen’ that we were reading about. 

Happy Fourth! Learning to "Cook" the Watermelon?!?!?

from Elliott

Even though it is winter here, we were excited when Elliott’s language helper, Wishwell and wife, Albertina said that they had a watermelon and invited us to come over to “cook the watermelon.” Well, we were certainly curious about why we had to cook the watermelon. We remembered that you could make sweet watermelon pickles with the rind but that is not what they had in mind.

We arrived the next day for the cooking lesson and it started with a language lesson – the word in Xhosa for the melon is mxoxozi. After practicing the pronunciation for just a bit and finally getting the two clicks (‘x’) just right Albertina brought the mxoxozi into the kitchen. While the word seemed new to us, the melon looked just like what we had hoped for – watermelon to celebrate US Independence Day!

With a large knife we began cutting up the melon in slices but the first slice was a surprise. Instead of the expected traditional mouth-watering red sweet inside was a light green material fruity in fragrance but not near as sweet. We sliced it and cut it into chunks and then removed the dark seeds. We then put the chunks into a pot of boiling water and once it had become soft we added some maize meal. As we stirred it in, the mixture began to look something like porridge or cream of wheat!

We served it into bowls and enjoyed mxoxozi for breakfast. With a lightly sweet flavour, light green color and a hint of fruitiness we enjoyed a hot bowl of mxoxozi! What a treat!