Week 24

Week 24

A Full Sunday

Cassie and I both had off this past Sunday for the last time. We went to Berea with Margie and the three hands on inters at the IMB. Berea is a more traditional African church. Church starts at 9am but we were 6 of about 20 people in the building when the service started. By the end of the service the building was full with about 100 or so people. The service starts out with lots of worship. One lesson we learned quickly the first time we went to Berea is that you don’t stand still when you worship. Worship usually lasts about 45 minutes. Then we have the greeting. First anyone who is at the church for the first time is asked to stand up and be acknowledged. Then we have our greeting time. No one stays in their seats; you all move around and greet everyone. You know it is time to return to your seats when the music for the next song starts. The next song is always ‘The Love of Jesus is So Wonderful’. The entire congregation gets into the song and does the motions. One of the younger guys in the church always gets up front and dances during this song. This is followed by announcements and at the end of announcements all the birthdays for the upcoming week are acknowledged. We do sing happy birthday. Then we have offering time. Whoever is leading the offering time gets up front and says offering time and the congregation responds blessing time. Then the leader says blessing time and we respond with offering time. During the offering a song is played and you go up front to put your offering in the basket. Don’t walk up front though; you must dance! The service ends with the scripture and message. There is so much that I have learned about true worship by going to Berea. This Sunday after church we went to Bruma Market. This is an outdoor market and I was able to get my last few gifts for people at home. It was a fun filled day!

Baby A’s Adoption

On Monday this week one of our big babies left for adoption. Baby A was the entertainment upstairs and we were sad to see him leave but so happy that he was going to meet his forever family. The hand off went very well we were told. We continue to pray for A and his new family. So blessed to have met this little guy!

Apple Pie Party

When I first got here there was a volunteer here from the Netherlands and she made a really good Dutch Apple Pie. We got lessons and the recipe from her before she left and wanted to try it out ourselves. Lisa came over to the flat and Cassie, Katy, Lisa and I tried our hand at the pie. It was a night full of laughs to say the least! Our pie looked nothing like the one we remembered. In fact our pie was not baked in a pie pan because we did not have one big enough. Instead we baked it in a 4-inch high casserole dish! It tasted pretty good but not really like pie. Despite our fail we did have a good time together.

Elephant Sanctuary

On Wednesday morning Margie took some of us to the Elephant Sanctuary about an hour and a half away. We spent an hour and a half up close with the elephants there. We groomed them, took them for a walk, got to feel different parts of them such as their ears, trunk, and tail, fed them and got a big kiss from them! We were also going to pay to ride them but unfortunately some of them were being temperamental and we were not able to do that for safety reasons. It was so neat to be so close to these big creatures. When we walked them we had to put our right hand out and they put their trunk right in your hand. It was a crazy slobbery feeling. I have to say that getting a kiss was my favorite part. They put their trunk right on your check and blow a little air out it at you. It is muddy and messy and tickles so much! Not many can say that they have been kissed by an elephant though.

Goodbye Party

When volunteers leave the management sets up a goodbye party usually during teatime at 10am or during lunch at 2pm. This week we had a goodbye party for Cassie, Margie and me. It is a time to celebrate what happened while we were here and we also get thanked with a small gift. Food is always involved as well. This week we had cheese curls, a party staple around here, lemon pie and milk tart. All was delicious and we were given our send off so to speak. Crazy to think that 6 months is almost up!

Welcome 3 New Small Babies

We got a few new babies this week. On Thursday afternoon Baby L was picked up from the hospital at just 2 days old. Jo, one of the new volunteers, had the honor of giving this little guy his name. He is a healthy baby and I am excited to get to know him a little better in my last few days of work in Small Babies. On Friday two more small babies were picked up. I have not heard names for both of them yet. I work up there again on Tuesday and I am excited to meet them then! So many babies are moving in!

Baby D’s Memorial

Friday at 10am we had a memorial service for Baby D who passed away on Sunday evening. We held it upstairs in the house and not in the memorial garden as it was raining outside. The service started with Pastor Cheryl opening with scripture and a word of prayer. Then Nadane read scripture and a poem. The poem was all about why children have to die and the conclusion was to make heaven a little more beautiful. We moved into singing two songs, Stronger and Amazing Grace Our Chains are Gone. Baby D’s verse was read, Psalm 139:14 and we closed in prayer. It was a 30-minute service. Baby D was a little peanut and capture the hearts of many who came to visit the Baby House. Many tears have been shed but we must continue to remember that she is home and in her Daddy’s arms. We have been incredibly blessed to have been part of her short life here on earth and we rejoice in the day that we will meet again in heaven. You will always be loved and missed Baby D.

Boma Restaurant

On Friday Margie took Cassie, Katy and I and some of the girls from her office to dinner at the Boma. The Boma is a buffet that has lots of different varieties of food and they are also known for having a few game meats as well. They did not have game meat for us that night. It is getting too expensive they told us. It was a pretty cheap buffet at only R115 or about $12ish. The food was all great and it was nice to have a night out as well. We also took this opportunity to say goodbye to Margie as she leaves this Monday. There will never be a way to thank her and express how much she has meant to us while we were here. She is just an incredible woman of the Lord and willing to help out anyone in need. She will be dearly missed!

Odds and Ends

-       This week Cassie and I have started to watch the full series of Anne of Green Gables. We are about half way through it and plan to finish it up this coming week. It has been a perfect ending to our nights this week.

-       Our sticky note calendar gets smaller by the day and Cassie and I get a little more anxious to be home with each piece of paper that we pull down!

-       I have realized that one of the things that I am really going to miss here is teatime. I have grown to LOVE teatime. South Africa loves teatime. It is so important here to take time out of your morning and enjoy a cup of tea. While I have not grown a liking to tea just yet, I do enjoy the break each morning that is more or less required of you. So if I happen to stop everything that I am doing for a few minutes around 10am at home you know I am just taking my tea!

-       Wednesday and Thursday next week I start packing and Friday, Saturday and Sunday mark my last days of work. Monday will be one more day to sleep in and say goodbye before heading to catch that air-o-plane at 6:55pm!

Well I have ONE week left in South Africa. I can’t believe that 6 months have passed in a way. At other times it feels like I have been gone for closer to 6 years. I am getting very anxious to come home and see everyone again. Wednesday and Thursday are my last days off so that is when my suitcases will come out and I will start packing. It won’t be long after that and I will be on the plane home. I am looking forward to making my last week of memories here and loving the babies with millions of hugs and kisses.

See you in a week!

Emily