This is long!

Dear Friends,  (I sent a similiar letter to our family.)

This will probably be way too long so feel free to hit the delete key at any time.   

We love South Africa....the friendliness of the people, the sunshine, the palm trees, new plants, unusual birds and the new culture.    It is exciting, overwhleming and even disorienting...all at once.

We have been called to serve in a suburb of Richards Bay, South Africa.   Richards Bay is an industrial city and a large seaport on the Indian Ocean.   It is the hottest area in our mission---which means it is very hot.   The week before we arrived it was 110 degrees plus humidity.    Richards Bay is known for its heat and humidity and Sandy is known for being a wimp in the heat and humidity but I will adjust.   The Lord has blessed me and we have had 3 cooler days since we arrived.  Feb. is the hottest month.   We have learned that it begins to cool down in April!

We actually live a "gated community"!   True.   However, every home is gated.   Every home has a concrete or brick wall 7 feet tall surrounding the house, 18 inches of electrical wire on top of that, and a metal gate that slides open electronically (that works something like a garage door opener) to allow you and your car into the driveway.    We have a key ring with so many keys...those long, round keys that look like they open a treasure chest.    Everything has so many locks.   In Colorado I hated keys and had a key pad on our garage so I didn't have to mess with keys.    But I am learning.   We even have locks on our bedroom closet door.   We have a white wrought iron locked gate across our side garage door and a locked wooden door inside of that.   

We live in this suburb (a mixture of white (60%), black and Indian).   We live here, but we actually work with the people in 5 different townships.   Each township is 25-45 minutes away. Townships are towns or villages where most of the black people live.  They were established during Apartheid and still are prevalent today.   Most are filled with people in  poverty and need.    We don't live in the townships for safety reasons.    Our church is very concerned about our safety.    Several  years ago, 2 young sister missionaries were raped and beaten so the security is increased even more (although they even had strict rules then).    Many/most of our young missionaries have been robbed...but never hurt.   Last week they were robbed at knifepoint.

South Africa is different from Western Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, etc.).    It is more developed in the cities because of the great infrastructure developed here during Apartheid.   Also, when the blacks were given their independence they allowed the whites to stay.   So South Africa is economically better off that many other countries.    That being said, the biggest challenges in South Africa are:

POVERTY, CRIME, UNEMPLOYMENT and AIDS.    Each one of these is a HUGE problem impacting every aspect of life.   South Africa has the highest percentage of AIDS of anywhere in the world.   The needs are so great in each of these areas.

We have 3 areas of responsibility. 
 1.   We are responsible for 10 young missionaries working in this area (arranging housing for them, watching over them to make sure they are doing well physically and spiritually).   These are 18 and 19 year old men from USA, Malaysia, and Africa.    Most are away from home for the first time and are in a very foreign culture...even those from other areas of Africa.   Just think of any 18 year old young men you know!

2.   We are supervising 5 congregations in the 5 townships...training members, fellowshipping them, loving them.

3.   We are working in those 5 communities to help raise their quality of life and standard of living for everyone.      We have a program we are learning called:   Self Reliance.     Helping them become self reliant has so many components and obstacles.    We try to help them identify the best path for them to become self sufficient,   They must choose their "path".  

We have 3 ways to help them:

EDUCATION, OR FIND A JOB, OR START A SMALL BUSINESS   

 I am so impressed with these programs.    However, it is not easy for them to make any of these changes.   Culture and tradition are very formidable  obstacles.    Previous to arriving, I would have thought that education is the key to everything.   However, that is not the case.   Actually, starting a business is often the best path....but it is a hard path.    We are here to teach, train, cheerlead, help with government issues etc.   But they are to do the work.    They have classes once a week and homework each day.  

As you know, I am a tad bit impatient  so this is challenging for me to work at this very, very, very slow pace.    So I am learning as much as they are....at least I am being humbled by the Lord and hopefully I will learn.    It is as hard for me to change as for them!!!!!

We are so happy to be involved in trying to improve their lives.

A few differences:

I mentioned that unemployment is huge (less than 5 % are employed in our townships).   So we are amazed at some creative approaches to employment.    In parking lots, there are men in orange vests standing in each area.    As you pull in, they wave frantically to try to get you to come to "their" area of the parking lot.   Then they wave you into a parking spot (although there are empty spots everywhere).   Then when you come out to get into your car, they direct you on how to back out.   ( I am not a good driver but I have never had trouble backing out of a parking space in a large lot).   Then they expect a tip...which we gladly give them.    Who would have thought?:    Earn money by helping people back out of a parking spot!

The gas stations are like the good ole days in the USA.   You cannot pump your own gas....you guessed it...you tip them for pumping.

Walking into the grocery store we saw monkeys scurrying between the cars.   They were large and some had babies hanging on them!   I was mesmerized and watched for a while.    However, we have been warned that many carry rabies, so we admire from a distance. 

 Robot means traffic light,  biscuit means cookie, jelly means jello.

Again, along the lines of safety.    We are supposed to drive with our car doors locked at all times.    We keep forgetting.  Here criminals have something that they carry in their pants pocket (so you can't see)  that jams your car door locks and prevents you from locking the door---they approach the car to ask a question and rob you or carjack.    If you have the doors locked in advance, they can't open the door.  

Language:   We heard everyone speaks English...wrong.   This is Zulu land and Zulu is their first language.    Not only is the language difficult, but they use tongue clicks and unique noises.    When they do speak English, it is very hard for me to understand.    It isn't our English OR English from England/Australia.    I might understand 1 in 10 words.   This is heart breaking for me because I want to call them by name and I want to truly communicate with them.   Larry keeps telling me to be patient--that we will learn.   Of course, I want to communicate TODAY. (Patience!)

Stores:    Here everything is in a mall--that's right a mall!   Who would have guessed in Africa???   The grocery stores, electricity and ultility companies, phone companies, repair places, eating places, etc. are all in the mall.     It is for safety.    Everything is enclosed and there is security at every entrance...I have no idea how they keep it safe...the guards are not armed and look like they are 16 years old.   The mall closes at 6 PM.   Every safe place closes BEFORE dark.

Electricity:   Electricity is scarce and very expensive.    The first day we arrived at our "boarding" (place where you live) we noticed a box on the wall.   A few hours later a light was blinking.   We read the label and found out our electricity was about to run out.    We discoveredt we had to drive to the mall (15-20 minutes away) and purchase it.    We hurried and then had to wait a long time to buy it.   We came home and relaxed.    Then we noticed the light was still flashing.   We thought it might take a while to register.   But then  we noticed the numbers going down and down.    We found our land lady and she told us we had to enter the code into our box in a certain way.   We completed it just in time.  Whew!   Getting your electricity turned back on is a long process here.       They have regular blackout and we just purchased our candles and flashlights. 

TIA means THIS IS AFRICA.    We hear  TIA alot.    We struggled to get the internet for 5 days.    Larry would call and be on hold for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.   They would take the information from him and say they would transfer him to a tech.   When they transferred him, he would get cut off.    He repeted this all day.   The next day it happened again so we jumped in the car and drove to the office.    After waiting a long time, they told us to go home and call on the phone.   We explained what happened and they said TIA.  

We have a basic cell phone that calls but not a camera or smart phone, etc. It is provided by the church.     Same process as the internet. 

Sunday we went to church and listened to a mix of Zulu and English and tried our best to get the gist of what they were saying.   Afterwards we were invited to dinner by the Branch President/Pastor.    His home was very humble and would fit in our dining room.   There was no place to sit down.   But we sat outside under a mango tree...isn't that awesome.   They picked 2 mangoes and insisted we eat them right there.   So with the entire family watching (they did not eat) we ate 2 mangoes.   Then for dinner we had chicken, which I love.   I took a bite and my eyes watered...it was so spicy hot I thought I would cry.   There was no water or anything to drink.   I smiled and said it was delicious!   I am not a germophobe but even I was alarmed when we cut lettuce in the same place with the raw chicken and raw chicken juice was on everything.     These people were so humble, so loving.   What a blessing it was to be in their home.     We have a lot to learn from these wonderful people.

This is just a small sketch of our lives so far.   We feel so grateful to be here and hope we can serve them and the Lord in this part of the world.     I apologize for the essay!     I want to say so much more, but we just had a group of missionaries who arrived and Larry said I need to get busy and feed them!   I don't know what we have but I must find/make lunch.

I love you all.

Sandy