I am now back in the States from leading the FYM 2008-2009 year. It was a year that i will never forget. Here are some pictures from my time in Africa. Enjoy.
The Whole Africa Awakening Team 2009.
Dee and My Small group.
Africa Awakening Leaders.
My two amazing co-leaders Chelsea and Dee Dee.
Port Elizabeth 2009 Team (Kevin King missing)
This is what it looks like. Eating spaghetti off a tarp.
All of the PE girls celebrating Valentrick day, our version of Valentines day.
House Olympics team picture
Praying for and Worshiping God for the City of Port Elizabeth. God is the God of this city.
Team picture after Cops and Robbers in the Park.
Road Trip to Cape Town.
The final family of Nine.
Debrief in Atlanta. (Thanks Mama Buller and Rachel for blessing us with your visit.)
It was a year of challenges and blessings. Thanks everyone for every prayer you said for me and my team. Know that they had power.
I stated at the end of my last blog that our team is flying home Monday. Yes this is earlier than planned but sometimes God has his timing. I have realized that more lately in the past three weeks than ever before. When I got the call that Sarah had died (I was in Swaziland at the time) all I could do was ask- why? I mean she was over here serving the Lord and doing great things, how could God take her? But over the past three weeks I have realized that God knows all and turns tragedy like Sarah dying into something good. I know that people will know Christ thru this more deeply. I can honestly say it has already made me pray more.
The week after Sarah died three of our students were sent home to have time with their families. They were hit hard by everything and we as their leaders and team couldn't give them what they needed most. Now with a team of nine, 6 students and 3 leaders we were all at a loss of what was next. So with some advice by friends we took the next week and went to Cape Town for some debriefing time and relaxing with God. Tom and Cindy Sipling opened up their house and poured into our team. It was a good time to get in tune with our dad and see what he had for us in the coming weeks.
We came back from the week and had a team meeting complete with Tag (our leader in the office) on skype to see where people stood and what the Lord had for our team. In the end we all felt peace that our time here in PE is done. That we have come and done what the Lord has for us and now its time to go home.
So the past week has been packing and sorting and giving away and cleaning. We fly back on Monday. I will be in Ga for a few days to see my friends at AIM then on the 1st I will make it back to Michigan. I am excited to see everyone but please be patient with me and know that it will take me a little bit to settle in and be ready to see people.
So I have been unable to put the last few weeks into words. My co-leader Chelsea did a great job. So the following is a blog that she posted last week.
April 5th I received a call from one of my students telling me that there was an accident. Three of my students along with a local South African friend were driving in a car from Port Elizabeth to Jeffreys Bay for the day. They only made it as far as Greenbushes. The tire on the car blew out and the car flipped over twice. My immediate reaction was to get in the car and start driving. The Jeffreys Bay leaders, two of my best friends, and I were in Port Alfred for the weekend. Frantically we packed are things and jumped in the van. Words could not even come out of our mouths. I phoned the office back in the states, so that they were aware. Death was never even a thought in my mind. During the two-hour drive phones were ringing like crazy with updates and questions. For a short period we lost service in our phones. The first call I received after being out for a few minutes, was from one of my co-leaders. Sarah Buller died in the hospital that afternoon, within two hours of the accident. I felt frozen, thinking that she was joking. Could this really be happening? Did she really just die?
The next few hours and days were a blur. I began to hate the ring of my phone anticipating more bad news. At home we had nine very broken students and three very lost leaders. How can a family truly recover from something like this? This is a loss like no other.
Sarah was supposed to turn nineteen Wednesday April 8, three days after the accident. She was only eighteen years old and she came to Africa to serve the Lord. On her birthday we had a memorial to remember who Sarah was, and she blessed our lives and the lives of others. One of the students shared about what Sarah meant to him. Of the many things he shared he remembered how as a team we just read the book "Don't Waste Your Life". He stated that Sarah didn't waste hers. How many of us will die, and others around us will know without a doubt that we didn't waste our lives?
Dwight and Peggy Buller have been the two people that have given me the strength in this situation to continue to trust and praise the Lord. Sarah's parents are like no one I have ever met. Their hearts are larger than any of ours. So large that just a few years ago they adopted four children from Guatemala, while they already had five of their own. After the death of their oldest daughter they were checking to make sure that Sarah's team and family in Port Elizabeth were doing okay. In this time I am learning to praise Him in the storm, because Dwight and Peggy can do it. I am so thankful to have had the privilege of meeting the Bullers only a few weeks earlier when they came to visit Sarah.
Sarah is a girl that I will never forget. Her impact was great while she was here in Africa. One afternoon after the accident three of us leaders stopped by one of Sarah's ministries called Isithembiso. It is a transition home for babies and toddlers who have been abused and abandoned. Agnus is the main caretaker of these children. There was a bond that had formed between Sarah and Agnus. Sarah was not a girl of many words, but Agnus felt her presence. When we broke the news to Agnus that afternoon she could barely hold herself together. Her tears made me so proud of the way that Sarah reached out to Agnus. Agnus came to South Africa about a year ago, from Zimbabwe to make money for her family, and her daughter. She lives at Isithembiso with the babies and does not have a life out of the home. Volunteers come in and out of the home and most of them want to hold the cute babies, but Sarah reached out to Agnus and she touched her heart. In Sarah's quiet way she knew how to reach peoples hearts. She reached mine and I am blessed to have been a part of her last year on this earth.
I promise to write a blog soon with my own words but at this time I am struggling to find them. I will be returning to America on Tuesday. Our team decided after praying for a week that we dont have what we need to finish up the year. The Lords time is different than ours. Pray as we say our good byes to our friends here and to each other. Good byes are always hard when you have been living in a community like we have. I love you all and thanks for your prayers and support.
So While in Swaziland last week I went to the button ministry with Jillian, Mary and Caroline. Its located at a youth center. There are about 10 women who work three days a week (I believe) making buttons. They make them out of clay found here in Swazi. The goal with the buttons is to sell them to businesses and individuals and create a profit. It's a very cool Idea.
Once inside the building one of the button makers, Bongiwei, took me under her wing and taught me how to make the buttons. So I pounded the clay, rolled it out. She even had me initial it. Then we had to wait for the clay to dry then pressed a pattern into it so that the buttons would be a little more creative than plain. So once I got that art down. Which in the beginning I wasn't to good at it. And every time I did something and it didn't turn out she would say "Sorry, Sorry". Which made me smile. She didn't speak to much English but enough that I could understand her. So from the printing of the patterns on the clay we cut out the buttons. And then waited for it to dry. While the clay dried we sanded other buttons that were already dry.
It was neat to sit there are chat with the ladies. But more than that it was cool to hear them chatting with each other and laughing. They certainly had fun. Yeah they were also tired but like every other African they do what needs to be done before they stop and complain or take a nap. It was nice to see what some ministry is like in Swazi for the team. I know that the Lord is moving there and that our FYM team is making a difference in that country. Its really cool to see in person.
Everyone is probably wondering what is next for me I spent the last 3 years doing mission work both in the states and in Africa. There has been a lot that I have learned and a lot that God is still teaching me. This year with leading the FYM trip I have realized that I have been going non-stop since the fall of 2006 (that is when I first came to Africa). Which means there really hasn't been time to put all that he has taught me to use. To know that I can do this thing called life and succeed. Its like I have been in training for the last three years.
SO...
Next year I will be ...
Going back to school to get a culinary degree.
I am really excited about this next season in my life. I know that God has big plans for me and am excited to see how he will use this culinary degree. I have been accepted to Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan. Just found out this week. They have a culinary program in which I can get my associates in culinary arts and I can also get a business degree too. My hope with this is that I will be able to come back here to Africa and to open up a shop and hire those who cant find work or those who want to learn a skill. I LOVE cooking. Especially baking. Just ask any of the teams I have been on. I am always in the kitchen baking or helping with dinner. I like to think that I got my joy of cooking from my Grandma who has cooked all her life and taught my sister and I how.
Now yeah this my be a shock for a lot of you. No I am not done with missions particularly with Africa. I know that I will be brought back here one day, hopefully to live. But for now the Lord has me back in Michigan. I am excited to be closer to home and my family.
Please pray that the rest of this year will finish strong. That the Lord will keep teaching our team how to love like he does. That I can say my good-byes in May to my kids at Ithemba and have them understand that even though I am leaving them again that I do love them. And safety this next week while I am taking a holiday in Swaziland visiting the team up there and relaxing.
I want to say thank you to all of you who have financially supported me this year. I have reached my goal for support. Know that without all of you I wouldn't have been able to be here with my team. It has been a hard but rewarding year.
If you would like to keep supporting missions and being a part of changing Africa, one of my co-leaders Dee Dee is lacking in support. Her blog is deedeehuey.myadventures.org. Please check it out and pray about supporting her. She needs about $2000 more. She was with us last semester in Jeffreys and didn't plan of coming back but the Lord brought her back to us and for that we are very thankful. Dee has been a huge part of this trip and we wouldn't be able to lead without her. Besides doing all of our finances and discipling 3 of our girls. She has a heart that is huge and joyful. She is always laughing and keeping us laughing. If you feel that you would like to support Dee Dee please send AIM the checks for her instead of me.
A quick update on how it is going here in PE. Chelsea had off last week. Which ment that Dee and I were on our own leading. We got a taste of what it would be like if only 2 of us were leading our team. After last week I am very thankful that there are three of us. We each have different giftings, strengths and weaknesses and somehow balance each other out. There wasn't anything to big happen. It was more in the little things that I missed her. But we are back together this week.
We recently looked at the calendar and figured out that there are about 15 days of normal ministry for us here in PE. We have a week of spring break and a week of outreach in which we will be away from our ministries. Because of this realization the team is making goals and taking another look at their ministries and seeing what they would like to do before it is all thru and they have to say good-bye. Please pray that the students wont check out (I fear that some of them are starting to) but will go into ministry each and everyday like it's the last time that they have to make a impact and show God to this city.
There is just under two months left for us here in Port Elizabeth. In these last two weeks our team has had to say good-bye to 2 of our team members. For both of them this season was over and the Lord has things for them at home. Their time here came to an end and they have something back home that needs them. For both it is friends and family.
It makes me think about the end of the trip and how our team will all part ways and go on to the next thing. This is something that I have done many times with many teams but it never gets easier. You live with people for 9 months and you get attached and learn to love them no matter how different they are form you. Which makes the end of a season in life a little bitter sweet. Bitter because you have to leave people and possibly a place to move on to new things. Sweet because there is a new adventure ahead of you.
I pray that these next two months can be filled with great memories for my them both in ministry but with each other. That we wont back away from getting to know each other more but push forward and know that time is short. I pray that the Lord will use us in this city to change it and turn it back toward him. And that the Passion that we had in the beginning would return and not leave.
Posted in AIM Locations by Rebecca Arnold on 3/13/2009
Sorry that it has been a couple weeks since my last blog. But life as a FYM leader is busy so I haven't had time to sit down and write one. But now I find myself with a quiet afternoon with the house all to myself.
This morning we went to a Elderly home. There are 21 people living there in cottages who are still able to do everything for themselves. Then in the Frail area there are 24 who need more help. We were partnered off with a old person of our very own. That is what the matron said as she "auctioned" us off. Some of us stayed in and chatted others took a walk around the gardens. Leah and I both not to sure about old people shared a lady who is older and couldn't hear. We walked around the garden with her. Well she was in the wheel chair but we walked. Then took her back inside where she sat and listened to Kevin sing and play his guitar. Then one of the ladies that works there took me on a tour of the place to see how its run. I ended up in the Kitchen helping with lunch. I cut chicken, carrots and cabbage all the while talking with the cook and a couple of the ladies that work there about life in South Africa verse life in America. It was a lot of fun.
The other day well yesterday morning was my first visit to the beach here in PE. We went during our Discipleship time to spend some time with the Lord on our own. It was beautiful. For the first little bit I climbed up on some of the rocks and just watched the waves crash and look out over the ocean. It is so beautiful. Some times I cant believe that the Lord has brought me here of all places.
This past weekend our team was able to experience life in the township in a way that none of us had before. We spent the night. There is a church (Holy Spirit Church) in Walmer Township that hosted us. Two of us were adopted into each home for the evening. You probably are wondering is that safe? Why would you want to do that? And many more questions. Well believe me when I say I had a bunch of questions. I wondered if it was safe. We stayed Saturday night and then went to church in the morning with them. With all my experience in the township I knew that Saturday was the one day to stay away from it. You see there is a lot of drinking that goes on because it's the end of the week. The following is what I saw, experienced and felt during this experience.
So when we started to plan this I truthfully didn't want to do it and wasn't excited at all. But I am a leader and couldn't let my team know or see how I was really feeling because they might follow suite. So I faked excitement and battled with lots of emotions. Saturday afternoon came and we all met with one of our contacts Pastor Timba and his family to answer questions and head out. We arrived at the church and for about an hour we sang songs and worshiped. Then they split us off and introduced us to our host families. I stayed with Sarah Buller at one of the elders houses, His name is Wiseman.
Once I parked the Kombi (our van) in a safe garage Sarah and I began our half hour walk to our house. Wiseman drove his car with our bags to his house. All his nieces and nephews and other people our age walked with us. It was a nice walk. We were able to get to know them. Lots of questions were asked from how old we were to if there were black people in my town. Half way to the house a couple of drunk boys came up to us and started to cling. Luckily the girls we were with knew them and got them away.
So now we are at the house. No it wasn't a shack. It was a government home. Really nice. We talked and watched TV for a little bit. Then went with Wiseman to get petrol and electricity. This whole first couple of hours I was trying to calm all my nerves down and be okay with all that was happening. We got back to the house and talked with Wiseman's wife. Im sorry I don't remember her name. Then came dinner. It consisted of dry Milipop (its like cream of wheat) potatoes, carrots, lamb, of which was all cooked together for a long time making it very tender. I had to let out a little sigh of relief when there wasn't anything weird or gross put in front of me. Some of my teammates I later learned had sour milk and oats. Dinner was filled with more getting to know each other conversation. After dinner we watched some more television this time a soccer game was on. Then we headed to bed but not before the whole house prayed.
Sarah and I stayed in their 12 year old sons' room. He stayed in the living room on a mattress. Bed routine wasn't to different from normal except that instead of a sink to wash our faces in it was a basin on the ground. Which gave Sarah and I a couple laughs. Falling asleep wasn't to bad. I was afraid that it was going to be really noisy. But really the only noise was about 20 dogs barking. Once we got use to it sleep happened quickly. About 3am I woke up to absolutely no sound at all. It was dead silent. A little eerie.
Sarah and I woke up around 7 and got ready for church then breakfast. Which was oatmeal and this homemade bread. The bread Mrs. Wiseman made on a tin bucked with a fire underneath. It was really cool. After breakfast the family got ready for church which included telling us that we needed baths. Well more like telling sarah that she doesn't know how to take a bath. It was a little funny. Once every one was ready we headed to church. Church was filled with singing and dancing. They really can worship. Then after church we headed back to our house in Parsons Hill. Then had fun telling each other stories and laughing.
It was a really good experience and I am really glad that we did it and have a better idea of how all our friends who live in townships live and how life is for them.
talked and watched TV for a little bit. Then went with Wiseman to get petrol and electricity. This whole first couple of hours I was trying to calm all my nerves down and be okay with all that was happening. We got back to the house and talked with Wiseman's wife. Im sorry I don't remember her name. Then came dinner. It consisted of dry Milipop (its like cream of wheat) potatoes, carrots, lamb, of which was all cooked together for a long time making it very tender. I had to let out a little sigh of relief when there wasn't anything weird or gross put in front of me. Some of my teammates I later learned had sour milk and oats. Dinner was filled with more getting to know each other conversation. After dinner we watched some more television this time a soccer game was on. Then we headed to bed but not before the whole house prayed. 
Sarah and I stayed in their 12 year old sons' room. He stayed in the living room on a mattress. Bed routine wasn't to different from normal except that instead of a sink to wash our faces in it was a basin on the ground. Which gave Sarah and I a couple laughs. Falling asleep wasn't to bad. I was afraid that it was going to be really noisy. But really the only noise was about 20 dogs barking. Once we got use to it sleep happened quickly. About 3am I woke up to absolutely no sound at all. It was dead silent. A little eerie. 
Sarah and I woke up around 7 and got ready for church then breakfast. Which was oatmeal and this homemade bread. The bread Mrs. Wiseman made on a tin bucked with a fire underneath. It was really cool. After breakfast the family got ready for church which included telling us that we needed baths. Well more like telling sarah that she doesn't know how to take a bath. It was a little funny. Once every one was ready we headed to church. Church was filled with singing and dancing. They really can worship. Then after church we headed back to our house in Parsons Hill. Then had fun telling each other stories and laughing. 
