Hello all,
I'm back from South Africa. I think that if I had to pick one word to describe the trip, it would be joy. The people in the areas I was in have absolutely nothing and they are so full of joy it's amazing! Children as well as adults with HIV/AIDS, worms, malaria, cataracts so cloudy that you can't tell what colour their eyes are and they're so joyful.
I have pictures of the trip in
my photos section on my myspace page. You can see them if you have a myspace account.
I was able to do a little bit of clowning with the children and adults and they really seemed to enjoy it. One of the things I did is a little thing called "Cause and Effect" my friend steve and I do for fun. You start off by making a raspberry sound and then the next person has to go "OOOH!" then raspberry, then "OOOH" or you can switch it up into different combinations. You keep going to see how far you can get without anyone making the wrong sound when their turn comes.
I was also given two nicknames. "Ntshebe" (pronounced chebbay) it means "beard." The men don't grow their beards there because only Shembites (a cult that mixes ancestor worship with Christianity and a few other tribal beliefs) wear beards. But even the Shembites don't have beards as thick as mine, so when I would pass by, they would say, "Ntshebe! Ntshebe!" and laugh. The children would giggle and dare each other to pull on my beard.
Then an 85 year old woman named Mama Nkosi gave me the nickname "Mahlekehlethini" (pronounced kind of like Mashay Keshay Teeny). She was laughing so hard when she said it she could hardly speak. She finally told me that it means "The laughing forest." The kids heard her and when they would see me coming, they sould say "uMahlekehlethini uyeza!" "The laughing forest is coming!" Then I could chase them and say, "Mahlekehlethini uzokutola!" "The laughing forest is going to get you!" and they would scream and laugh while I chased them.
Even Susan (one of our team members) got laughed at because of her name. Apparently, the Zulu word "sousa" is the word for passing gas. So when Susan would introduse herself and say, "My name is Susan," the whole room would giggle and laugh.
At one point, I was asked to tell my story of how I came to Christ. So I told them about the trouble I used to get into, my drug & alcohol addictions, the period of time I used to sell drugs and things like that. At one point while we were portioning out medications for this trip, I was using a tongue depressor to count pills and portion out powdered meds when It reminded me of my drug dealing days when I would spend hours at a table portioning out speed or cocaine or pot or whatever I was selling at the time. I started to cry when I realized the God had taken something ugly and hurtful that I used to do and used my old "skill" to do the same thing, but in a positive, beautiful way to help people.
So after hearning this, the founders of the ministry we were working with asked me to come back on my own to travel to the townships with them to speak and share my story and how God has changed my life. Drugs and Alcohol are a huge problem with the men there. So, in a little while, I'll be going back for a month, then 3 months, then 6 months and will probably be moving there at least for a few years. But until then, I'll be doing my thing here.
Sorry for the rambling, I'm just really exited about everything. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, jump at the chance. It will change you forever.