Field Service: Completed!

The last two and a half weeks have been incredibly eventful. We finished up onboarding, traveled to South Africa (with a brief stop in London), completed our field service and are now packing up to head to the ship. I’ll try and cover each of these things, but I mostly want to focus on the field service, because it was quite the experience. [Sorry for the overload of pictures, I think they tell the story better than I do - also thank you onboarding team for being so diligent in your picture taking because I am not!]

To graduate from onboarding we had to present our final project, which Liz and I chose to do together. We made a puzzle in the shape of a cross with different pieces representing the new aspects of God that He had revealed to us during this time, and the empty space showing how much more we had to learn. The two main aspects I felt that God revealed to me were Friend (a personal God) and Communicator. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you’ll understand why. That Wednesday we began our long journey to Africa. One neat thing was that we had a 12 hour layover in London, so some of us chose to go out and explore briefly (after having not slept the night before). We figured out the underground and visited Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (where we got to see where William Wilberforce is buried), the eye and Buckingham Palace (I was very amused that there is a gate for both Canada and Australia – no gate for you America). We also went to Kings Cross station and visited platform 9 and ¾ (from Harry Potter), which was pretty amusing.

   

After several flights and car rides, we arrived at our temporary home, late Friday night. It was an old air force base in the Drakensburg mountains. It was freezing. Coming from the super hot Texas weather, it was quite a shock to our systems, especially when early this week it began to rain and the mountains were covered in snow. Who ever thought we would see snow in Africa? But the base has a big room with a nice fireplace so we gathered there daily to warm up. The first Saturday we were taken on a tour of the various sites we would be working at, and on Sunday we split up the group to go to three different churches. We all had very different experiences. Two groups went to small ‘house’ type churches, where there were between 8 and 12 people (not including us). I was in one of those groups. Two members of our group shared their testimonies (which was amazing!), our leader Stephan preached, and we participated in a lot of spontaneous worship (in Zulu and English). Their worship is so unreal – they all have amazing voices and are so passionate and engaged. We were all thinking how lovely it must sound to God. They prayed for us and commissioned us in a sense. The third group went to a big church, with over a hundred people, and I think their experience was a bit different.

         

Then came the work week. There were many different tasks to be done. The teachers went to a school and helped to teach. The nurses (and physiotherapist) went on home visits, providing care where they could. They were accompanied by some of our team who were designated as prayer people and they prayed over the people they visited. Our nutritionist met with various groups and patients and developed a nutrition plan for them. Our videographer/designer helped her design a beautiful poster in Zulu, showing which foods they should consume to have a healthy diet (and how much). Our photographers took many pictures and printed some out to give to the people they had visited. We had some people gifted with computers who helped fix operating systems, customize things and teach basic computer skills. The kids helped to paint window frames (to keep them from rusting) and played with the Zulu children who were around. Some people helped to build several shelving units to clean up a storage area at one of the sites.

And then there was the group of unskilled manual labourers (of which I was a part of). We spent the entire week at one site, completing many projects. We dug many, many holes and trenches. We dug holes for fence posts and put up a beautiful fence. We dug out a path between two buildings and dug out the entire front of the building to fill both of those with gravel (so that when it rained the mud wouldn't flood into the house). One of our main tasks was to build a playground that would be indestructible – apparently they like to destroy things there. We built several play areas with tires which were then bolted together, rebarbed into the ground and cemented in. The tires also got painted bright, beautiful colours to make it all look amazing. As we finished off this project on the last day, about 20 children were pressed up against the fence, watching us. 

At one of the nearby houses, there was a lady who used a walker and her husband was in a wheelchair. They weren’t able to get out of their house, so we were tasked with building them a ramp. They had a ramp in place but it was very uneven and very steep. So we destroyed the old ramp, and built a new one. Our carpenter had a big hand in making the ramp perfect for what they needed. We also cemented in some poles and set up a beautiful clothesline for her. We got a chance to come in and pray for them as well. On Friday evening, we heard that the husband was in very rough shape and might not make it much longer. However, on Saturday, we drove by and saw that he had come down the ramp and was sitting outside. That was amazing to see. 

Tiffany worked so hard to dig this rock
loose - it was a team effort to get it out
of the hole!

On Saturday, we capped off our week by going to the home of Sophie, the amazing lady who runs the place that we were helping to fix up. It’s meant to be a safe place for the whole community. A place where children can come play, a place where people can get food, they can talk to social workers to help them with various paperwork and legal things, and just get general counsel. We marched around the property seven times while singing and were able to pray over each corner of the property. She invited us to her home and we had a wonderful time eating, playing soccer and praying over her and another lady named Betsy, who runs the place that the others were working at. We also got to go to a game reserve earlier in the day and saw some giraffes and zebras, among other things (you can tell I get way more excited about people than animals, but some people really loved it).

This time was definitely filled with it’s challenges, but I really believe that God was using each and everything to teach us and strengthen us. It was very cold, the work was back breaking and we were on missionary rations in terms of food (which I definitely struggled with the most). About midway through the week, I came across Psalm 23 and the first line says “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” I couldn’t move past that one line. I shared this with the team during my devotion and asked, do we really believe this? Do we think that God cares about the small details? Proverbs 30:8-9 says “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Jesus tells us to ask God for our daily bread, just for what I need today. God will provide everything He knows what I need in this moment, this hour, this day, this week, this month, this year, forever. God was using this time to teach me how to have empathy for those who get up everyday and work so hard, yet have nothing to eat. He was teaching me that I am strong in Him. He was teaching me to rely on Him for everything, which includes the physical. God made me aware of the devil’s lies (that I don’t have everything I need) and now I am better able to combat them. 

I’m posting this now that we’ve arrived on the ship, which will be my home for at least the next two years. I’m very grateful for everything God has been teaching me and all the experience I’ve been having, but I am very happy to finally be on the ship and I’m ready for the next part of this journey. I’ll try and write more about this week and share it in a few days, before we sail!

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 
~ Titus 2:11-14

When we went to the game reserve a random guy asked us to shout "Save our rhinos" so he could use it to promote his cause.

Onboarding Week 5: Basic Training

In this exercise we had to work as a team to get close enough
to the fire so that someone could turn off the gas.

This week we were stretched physically, getting to participate in some really interesting basic training. This included firefighting and at sea survival. For the firefighting part, we got fully dressed up in bunker gear, included SCBA’s (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) and got to fight real fires. We used various extinguishers to put out different classes of fire; we put out a gas fire using a fire hose and teamwork; we entered a smoke filled container and had to save ‘Buck’ the 160lb mannequin; and we entered the same container when it was on fire, pretending to put out a 700 degree fire with a fire hose in teams of two (they didn’t want to have to reset the fire every time). It was very hot, but tons of fun! God blessed us with a cool windy day so that we didn’t roast too much. I feel way more prepared in the case of a fire, even if I don’t get put on a fire team.

These were the immersion suits that we
had to wear - look at the hands!

On Friday night, we went to the local pool and practiced things like flipping a 12 person life raft right side up; throwing the sea anchor from the life raft and getting in and out of it wearing life jackets; putting on the immersion suits (which are insane) in under 2 minutes and practicing various techniques such as swimming together on our backs, huddling around an injured person and getting in the life raft with those suits on (which was so difficult). The immersion suits are like giant teletubby suits that keep you warm in the water and help you float but also fill up with water making it very difficult to maneuver or swim. They basically give you paws for hands which can add to the helpless claustrophobic feeling, but I understand why you would want one on. You wouldn’t survive more than a few minutes in cold water without a suit on. Both of these practical tests were great team building exercises and there was lots of encouraging and laughing going on.

In exchange for braiding my hair, I had
to feed Windsor clementines. Teamwork!

The whole week seemed to pass in a blur. On Monday, we went to a large Independence Day celebration and played some Frisbee, enjoyed snow cones and watched a nice fireworks show. The property that it was hosted on is owned by an organization called Fatherheart that houses pregnant single women and helps them through the process, loving them and giving them hope. Wednesday, everyone kindly sang me happy birthday many, many, many times and they surprised me with a cookie cake and a beautiful card. It was great to receive messages from everyone back home too! Thursday we had some people over and had an awesome night playing all kinds of silly games. We played a drawing version of telephone which was hilarious, and a game that combined charades/word association, as well as something called Man Bites Dog, where you make up ridiculous headlines. There was a huge group of us playing, from all different ages, including kids. Times like that are so precious to me.

One new thing: Some new people arrived last Sunday and I love how quickly they became part of the group. It feels like they’ve been with us forever. That’s what happens when you spend all your time together. They have come just for basic training and most of them will be heading to the ship before us. On Wednesday we leave for our field service in South Africa, and I’m not sure what the internet will be like so you may not hear from me for a few weeks!

One thing I felt God was telling me: I think that one way to observe how much you trust God is to see what your initial reaction is to something unexpected. I got thrown a bit of a curveball this week (that may turn out to be nothing) and my initial reaction was to freak out and think through every possible outcome. I went in a hundred different directions at once. Thankfully I soon managed to take a deep breath and go before God in prayer. He quickly reminded me that trusting Him means trusting Him in ALL things, not just when things are easy. I was able to lift the whole situation up to God and am now (mostly) content to sit and wait to see how it plays out, trusting that His ways are good. However, I’ve spent some time reflecting on my initial reaction. I want to come to a place where that initial instinct is to trust God. I know I’ve got a long way to go, and that this journey never ends. I am so thankful that we serve a gracious God who picks us back up every time we fall. 

But I trust in your unfailing love;

    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
- Psalm 13:5-6

Our whole Basic Training team getting ready to do battle!

Onboarding Week 4: Cultural Differences

We were divided into groups and told to draw values and
symbols of where we came from. I was the only Canadian
but thankfully Kevin helped me out!

This week was so busy, I’m not sure where to start! This was our last week of classroom learning and it was focused on cultural differences. Much of it was very helpful, such as knowing that when warm cultures say yes, it means I will think about it. The relationship is more important than the truth, and they don’t want to disappoint by saying no. We also talked about how these differences impact our views of money and that in African cultures, asking others for money (especially those of better means) is very normal, even expected. It conveys that that person has a higher status. The biggest takeaway from this week was just acknowledging that others are seeing things through a completely different lens and that their lens isn't wrong, its just different. What cultural baggage are you willing to shed in order to better fit into another culture?

Wilco was tribal leader based on the fact that he had 10 'wives'.

We did some interesting simulations to drive this point home. One was called the Loona tribe simulation. This was hilarious. 1/3 of the group was taken outside and told they were missionaries coming to share the gospel with a tribe. The rest of us were part of the Loona tribe. We received new names (I was RuJa), had our own language, underwent a tribal makeover and learned our history. Our tribe believed that God used to walk amongst us but then an old lady hit him over the head and he left. When he left, he sent evil spirits to our village and we were very scared of them. We wanted God to come back. When the ‘missionaries’ came in, they were clearly overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds (we played the part well!) and couldn’t figure out how to communicate with us. They left for a bit and then came back. You could tell they had discussed strategy and had figured out the language a bit. They asked us to teach them, so we did. Once we could communicate, they tried to explain Jesus in terms we would understand. Some of them did a better job than the others. It was a really interesting simulation, showing not just the importance of language, but also of understanding their history and cultural view before sharing your own. It’s really important to come in humble, as a learner and observer.

Playing cards when everyone has different rules!

Another simulation was one that involved cards. Each table received a set of rules and the person who won moved up a table and the person who lost moved down a table. You couldn’t speak. We soon realized that each table had a different set of rules. Some people didn’t realize this and would get upset or frustrated, assuming that they were right, even though they were new to the table. Some people just observed until they understood the new rules. I found it interesting that even though at times the table had more new people than original people, the rules of the table stayed the same. It was a good way to demonstrate the different reactions people have when encountering a new culture. We all view life with a different set of cultural rules and have no idea what everyone else’s rules are.

We had to complete our maritime safety course (which talked
about pirates) and then decided to watch Captain Phillips.

Three new things: 1) We have final projects we have to complete and our videographer Kat is (of course) doing a video. She asked to film me floating in the pool. Let me tell you, I’m the worst ‘actress’ because I constantly break out into laughter. At one point she asked me to open my eyes bigger and I gave her crazy eyes. We laughed for so long. I have no idea what she’s doing with the footage but if I make it big I’ll let you know. It was cool to see her in her work mode. 2) For our last small group meeting, Erin took us to dairy queen. We had some amazing laughs, shared how we were feeling and then prayed for each other. That was pretty neat. 3) They are getting us prepared for sharing our testimony at church in South Africa, so I got the opportunity to share my testimony with the group, while also having it translated into another language. Then they gave me some feedback about some changes to make. It was an interesting exercise.

One thing I observed: Spending Canada Day in the US was definitely unique. I had a lot of people asking me, what exactly is Canada Day? Like what are you celebrating? Is it like Independence day? It was pretty funny. But they were also very sweet too, some wearing red, I got a card and lots of ‘Happy Canada Day!’ comments. Tonight we are going to see fireworks for the 4^th of July so I will just have to pretend that they are for Canada too!

One thing I felt God was telling me: This week we also talked a lot about the lies that we tell ourselves or allow the devil to tell us, and we tried to identify some of those lies in our lives. One of the examples was this: Your value only comes from what you can produce. When you stop producing, you are worthless. When I’m sinning, I have no worth. I think this is one that a lot of us fall into. The lie that came to mind for me was very similar: I have to earn God being proud of me, I have to DO things for the Kingdom. He isn’t proud of me just for who I am. Both of these are obviously not true. God created us and loves us for us. There is nothing we can DO to earn His love. Our works are like filthy rags to Him. What He wants is obedience. For us to choose to walk in His ways. In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis is writing as a devil mentoring a younger demon and at one point he says: Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s (God’s) will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys. This is what we are striving for. That when we can’t sense God, we can’t feel Him, we don’t understand why these things are happening, that in those moments, we would still obey His will. That we would still trust that His ways are good. God wants us to be one with Him, but also ourselves. What a beautiful thought. 

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. - 1 Timothy 1:15-17

Getting together to pray for our field service in Winterton, South Africa.