In the months prior to my departure for South Africa, I often found myself navigating through numerous books and passages of the Bible in search of something I could never properly name. Perhaps I was searching for confirmation that my planned year abroad wasn’t just a contrived plan that would give me something to do for a year, but rather a vital chapter in the overall plot of God’s story for my life. I know I often doubted myself in those days, but there was still that voice in my head telling me to forgo the doubts and believe in the plan and purpose set before me. I’ve never believed in coincidence, and the circumstances that led to my final decision were beyond coincidental.

Well, whatever the reason may be, I found a passage that stayed with me until the day of my departure, and a few weeks ago this passage came to mind again when I started to consider next year and the adventures it may bring. The passage is found in the first book of Jeremiah, verses 4-5 and 7-8:

The word of the Lord came to me:
“I chose you before I formed you in the womb;
I set you apart before you were born.
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
….
Then the Lord said to me:
“Do not say: I am only a youth,
for you will go to everyone I send you to
and speak whatever I tell you.
Do not be afraid of anyone,
for I will be with you to deliver you.”

I may not be Jeremiah, but the message he received years ago found its way into my heart and mind also, vanquishing any doubts I bore that may have prevented my future ministry in South Africa from succeeding.  Since then, I have received glimpses into God’s plan for my life and the journeys that lie in store. Of course, I do not know all of them, but that’s part of the adventure, is it not?

A few weeks ago, God gave me a taste of what is to come, and the certainty of that future has been validated again and again since that initial discovery. God’s plan for next year is this:

In January of 2012, I will be returning to South Africa for a second year.

I wish you all could see the smile on my face and feel the shiver that went down my spine just now. Repeatedly, I am astounded by God, His plans, and His provision.  He has blessed me in so many ways since I left those Virginian shores six months ago, and He continues surprising me with each passing day. I guarantee you, He is sitting up in Heaven right now laughing because, I’m sure, the sheer shock on my face is quite a comical sight to behold. I expected this year in South Africa to be a great experience with a lot of lessons learned and fun stories to write home about, but it has turned into so much more than that.

With each passing month, I find myself amazed at the blessings God rains down upon this place. New buildings spring up from the ground like spring flowers, and new projects appear around each corner. There are so many jobs that need doing and projects I want to be involved in that I simply cannot imagine leaving this place. I’ve recently started staying a few hours after school each Monday and Friday with our two oldest students, helping them with their basic schoolwork in addition to one-on-one writing help. Both girls hope to graduate by the end of next year, and I want to be here for that.  I want to help these girls achieve that goal, which means staying with them until the end of the finish line.

In addition, the Lighthouse project, which provides an education and home to local orphans, is about to reach a major stepping-stone at the end of this year as its main building reaches completion.  The Lighthouse will be able to hold 10+ children per “house,” and I want to be here on the day the current five children in the program (Zwavhudi, Shandukani, Solomon, Faith, and Adi) walk into their new home for the first time.  I’ve become very involved in their lives since I arrived here in January, and God has given me an incredible desire to help and love these kids to the best of my ability. Next year will be the first time they will be living in a real home together, and I don’t want to miss it.

A third project I am involved in is a singular one that requires one of my talents: writing. Shortly after my arrival here, Mr. Palmer and I were discussing a book he was writing, and I offered to help him edit it. Well, one thing led to another, and I am now writing the book, combining both my writing and his into one cohesive entity.  Although I cannot go into full details, I will say that the book revolves around the Shayandima School of Tomorrow and Build the Nations, the organization that leads it. God has been working in this place since the moment it was first thought of, and this book is going to tell the world about it. I’m still in the early stages of writing it, so an additional year here is fairly pivotal.

These are just three of the different projects I want to stay involved in, but there are so many other jobs and activities I want to stick around for.  I could do so much here, and I cannot believe God is giving me the opportunity to see these ideas, plans, and hopes come to fruition. God is truly working in this place and in me, and I’m glad I have all of you to share this with.

As I continue with my life here in South Africa, I hope you all will not only pray for me as I continue to discover God’s plans, but also for the Shayandima School of Tomorrow and the people that are being blessed through this ministry. Lives are being changed daily, whether they be within the school, on mission trips, or in outreach projects. God has great plans for this place, and I’m excited to be a part of it.

Here are some specific projects and needs that can be added to your prayer lists:

• Finances for next year. In addition to flight costs, I’ll also need financial support to provide for daily living expenses, mission trips, etc. Usually, $200 can cover a month’s worth of expenses, while $300 covers a mission trip into a neighbouring country. Of course, other expenses always crop up when you least expect it, so financial support is vital to my mission here as a volunteer.
• Mr. Palmer’s book. Despite the many years I have spent writing, I have never written non-fiction book before.  As such, this is an entirely new writing style for me, and I’m having a bit of trouble bridging the gap between fiction and non-fiction.
• The Lighthouse Project.  The main building is in its final stages of completion, but we’re still waiting for the local governmental to give us the thumbs up to proceed with the plumbing system.  Once given the approval, plans can move forward and, just maybe, the Lighthouse kids can move into their new home that much sooner.
• The Shayandima School of Tomorrow. The school is always looking for volunteers to help with the teaching and office work, particularly in the pre-school. We also need a bus that can be used for both the school and the mission base.

I know God will provide for all of these needs, especially with all of your prayers and support.  You all have kept me going since I arrived here in January, and your support and encouragement have been instrumental.  Thank you so much for all you have done, are doing, and will do. I look forward to sharing all of my South African adventures with you over the next year and a half.

“Lord, I want to feel with Your heart / See the world through Your eyes / I want to be Your hands and feet / I want to live a life that leads / Ready yourselves / Ready yourselves / Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night / … / May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise / Until the whole world hears, Lord we are calling out / Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound / Like voices in the wilderness, we are crying out / And as the day draws near, we sing until the whole world hears”

… “Until the Whole World Hears,” Casting Crowns …

Today is one of those overcast, drizzly sort of days that requires a good book, a hot mug of Starbucks coffee, a warm blanket, and a comfy chair to curl up in. Were I in Virginia right now, I would complete this image with a warm fireplace and snow falling softly on the windowsill. However, my current location in the world does not allow for soft snowflakes settling on your nose. Rather, winters in northern South Africa are a curious affair, for the temperature cannot seem to decide which part of the year it is. The mornings and evenings are cold with a temperature generally around 45-60 degrees Fahrenheit, but the afternoons fall somewhere in the 70s range. (As the day progresses, one tends to find everyone slowly stripping away layers of clothing as the temperature rises.) Honestly, I could get used to this. This sort of winter suits me just fine.

Virginia, on the other hand, currently finds itself in the midst of summer with a bit of celebrating going on today. I only just looked to my calendar to discover that it is, in fact, the Fourth of July, which made me pause in surprise. This is the first truly American holiday I am missing. Not that my family ever did much on this day, but it’s still strange to be separated from the whole thing. I know Mom will be asking Dad to go with her to see the fireworks, but even as he rolls his eyes, he already knows he will be going. Kevin will probably be sitting on the couch with his laptop, smiling to himself because he doesn’t have to go, though chances are he will have to go to work before the day is out anyway. As for my friends, I imagine most of them will be having small celebrations of their own. Again, it really is quite strange to be so far away from it all. No banners in red, white, and blue, or sparklers clutched in a child’s sticky hand, or fireworks lighting the sky, or annoying neighbours determined to celebrate long into the night. (Of course, we have plenty of annoying neighbours here that celebrate anything and everything with loud music at least four times a week, so I would say we’re even.)

Despite my distance from the US and its celebrations, I did realize something the other day that left me flabbergasted, if I may use such a term. In 5 months and (approximately) ten days, I will be returning to the USA.  Um, what!?  Clearly, Time and I are not friends, because he seems to be running away from me without so much as a “Hello, start paying attention.” Honestly, where have the last six months disappeared to? Didn’t I just arrive on a British Airways flight in Johannesburg and move in to my new home in Shayandima? Haven’t I only just started working with these students and teaching Conversational English? People warned me that time moves faster the older you get, but for goodness sake, I’m only twenty-three years old. Why is Time moving so quickly?  Already, half of the year is gone. The 2^nd term ended a little over a week ago on June 24^th, so I’ve now been on holiday for ten days. We have a three-week holiday between Term 2 and 3, and believe me, I am enjoying the freedom.

Term 2 was, in a word, madness. Out of the two months of school, maybe four of those were full school weeks. All manner of holidays (ie. Election Day, Youth Day) peppered the term, leaving us with so many days off that we didn’t know what to do with ourselves.  Classes were difficult to maintain because there were so many lapses from one class to the next, and some of those classes didn’t even meet because they had that specific day off for one reason or another. Conversational English went into a spin for those very reasons, resulting in a very frustrated me. We somehow managed to pull through it all, and we even had two weeks of fun caught at the end of the term: an American team from Georgia came out for a bit of fun and mission work.

Having been the only American on base for the last two months, it was incredibly strange to hear southern accents again. I didn’t know what to think when they first arrived, but all it took was one conversation with these people for every single one of us to be won over. They brought life to the school, and the students loved having them here as much as we (the staff) all did. They hosted classes during the week that played out like a VBS program with Bible lessons, crafts, music, and games. My Mom has always been involved in all manner of VBS programs and children’s churches on Sunday, so I was completely in my element. I’m fairly certain I had more fun than some of the students did. They even brought snacks and candies from the US, which I went ballistic over. For example: One morning as I was sitting in the staff lounge during first break, one of the Americans named Moose (aka Joshua) walked in and asked if he could join me at my table. Once I smiled and nodded, he tossed a bag of Nutter Butters onto the table, said he would be right back, and headed for the kitchenette. My squeal of joy at the sight of those wonderful, peanut buttery cookies stopped him in his tracks.  Needless to say, I enjoyed those tasty little Nutter Butters immensely.

While the American team was here, I was able to join them on a trip to a local church for a mission outreach. I had been to the church once before, but this trip was even better because of the team that was with us. The church building is a single room with worn wooden benches lining the sides. The windows (brand new since my first visit) are covered in newspaper, and the doors are made of a simple, sturdy wood that has yet to be painted. The pastor is an exuberant older man who welcomes each person individually. During praise and worship, he dances about the front of the church clapping his hands and stomping his feet in time with the song’s rhythm. He speaks both Venda and English, so he and a younger man would go back and forth with the translating between the languages. I didn’t know what it meant to truly feel God’s presence in a place until I visited this church. The building isn’t much and the congregation is small, but the love for God that lives and breathes in that space is unbelievable.

A few days after our visit to the church, we headed off to Kruger National Park. This was my first trip to Kruger, so I was just as excited as the visiting Americans. Our first giraffe sighting had me lunging for my camera faster than a cheetah. We saw all manner of animals that day, including elephants, giraffes, zebras, impalas, ostriches, buffalo, kudu, etc. While driving through Kruger, visitors are not allowed to leave their cars unless they are in designated areas, so you spend most of the day driving around, but since you are surrounded by incredible sights and animals, you don’t mind the cramped legs.

I did manage to visit Kruger a second time a little over a week ago with some friends from the base, which was a nice way to start off the holiday. Four girls in a small car surrounded by animals might spell disaster for some, but we had a blast. We had a bunch of great animal sightings (including a zebra crossing the road and a giraffe munching leaves right next to the car) and a very relaxing day. At one point, we stopped off at a rest point and chilled out under a tree for a while. From our location, we could see a herd of elephants and zebras at the nearby watering hole drinking and wandering about the grass. We were also visited by three yellow hornbills (otherwise known as Zazu from The Lion King) that kept hopping around us hoping for some food. They were quite cute and completely unafraid of us.

Since then, life has settled into a quiet, relaxing routine. Most of the base inhabitants have bailed out of town for the holiday, leaving a small group behind to enjoy the solitude. I know “solitude” is not a word typically associated with me and my lifestyle, but you would be surprised.  I thought I would be curled up in a ball rocking back and forth in the corner of the room after a week of this, but I’m actually enjoying myself. There are just enough people here to keep my sociable meter at a good level, and I have enough hobbies and duties to keep me busy. With the available free time and quiet, I’ve finally managed to make some headway on the book I am writing for Mr. Palmer. I was getting frustrated with my inability to write, but as it turns out, all I needed was some solitude, an early morning sun streaming through my window, and a very good friend willing to text me over and over again until she knows I am physically out of bed and sitting at my desk ready to work. (Yes, it takes extreme measures to make sure I am awake in the morning while on holiday. Haha!)  In addition to writing, my spend my days having tea and coffee with friends, watching movies, and scribbling away in my Disney colouring books so kindly sent to me by my parents.

My only qualm with this holiday is the distinct lack of books. With such limited funds, I cannot purchase books for my Kindle, so I’m stuck reading some of the free e-book classics. I’ve always been more of a modern literature reader, so I tend to avoid the classics. However, I suppose this is good for me. I can already hear my English major friends cheering because Kellie is, finally, going to read something from before the 20^th century. I’ll just start with two of my favourite classic writers: Jane Austen and Fyodor Dostoevsky. I might even throw in some Tolstoy and Dumas for good measure. Huzzah!

Still before you now / But I’m not standing still / Move me now according to your will / I am ready for / California / Far from me / Across the desert to the sea / A million miles away to somewhere I don’t know / Lift my feet from where I stand / Down the street, to foreign land / Anywhere you lead me / I will go

… “California,” Avalon …

If I have learned anything since arriving in South Africa four months (and five days) ago, it is this: Life, no matter how hard one may try, refuses to bend to the well-plotted and detailed machinations of humankind.  Life simply moves at a pace all its own, with its own plot twists, frustrations, and tragedies. From this we can gain a scrap of knowledge: Nothing will go according to plan.  Our mission trip to Botswana, for example, became an uncertain adventure of setbacks and recalculated plans as the Lord led us down a path entirely different from the one we had banked on from the get-go:

The adventure began on Monday, March 28, with an expected return in twelve days hence. We packed up the Land Rover and hit the road, stopping for a brief visit in Louis Trichardt for food supplies. Thirty minutes outside the town of LT, the Land Rover suffered a meltdown. The engine was overheating, and we could not move forward. We gave the Landy another thirty minutes to recover before limping back to LT for mechanical aid. The majority of our team spent the day at the garage waiting for the verdict on the Landy’s fate, while Kyle, Nicole, and I went off on a small shopping trip. Hours later, we got the call: the Land Rover was in a worse condition than previously assumed, and it would have to remain in LT for repairs. As such, Mr. Palmer had to return to the mission base in Shayandima, retrieve the 2^nd Land Rover, return to LT to pick the rest of us up, and then drive back to the base to spend the night. The following morning, we tried again and left the base around 6:15AM, heading for the South Africa/Botswana border.

However, the Lord had other plans. The border crossing had flooded, and we would have to drive an additional three hours to reach the next one.  So, we climbed back into the Landy and headed for our new destination. We got through the border without any issues and made it to a friend’s house to stay the night. The next day involved a few hours of driving (and a rather extended detour across dirt roads in search of our friend’s farm) without any mechanical mishaps. Until we arrived, that is. The moment we pulled up to the Smith’s farm, the Land Rover’s clutch gave out. Within two days, we had exhausted two Land Rovers.  From that moment on, we ran into all sorts of car trouble. Jacques and Mr. Palmer would manage to fix the issue at hand, only to reach our next destination and have the same problem return tenfold.

Despite the setbacks, God provided for us in every situation.  We could not serve in the schools and hospitals as we had planned, but we had an enjoyable trip nonetheless. We had the opportunity to travel into Zimbabwe for a two-day trip to see Victoria Falls, and we also explored the flatlands of Botswana, seeing all sorts of elephants, giraffes, and even a zebra. I was such a child whenever we saw one of those animals. From the moment I knew I was going to South Africa, I wanted to see an elephant and giraffe in the wild, and I got to see both up close and in person on this trip. I enjoyed every moment.

The most exciting (and nail-biting) part of the trip came about on our final night on the Smith’s Farm. I had been using the outdoor shower late that night, and since there was no outdoor lighting, I was using candlelight and a torch (flashlight) to see. Finished with my shower, I gathered my towel and toiletries into my hands and headed for the open hall that would take me outside of the bathing area. I awkwardly held my little flashlight in my hand, and just as I was fumbling with my things, the beam from my flashlight shifted up across the floor in front of me. I froze on the spot, staring at the curved stick that spread out before me. I moved the light further up and realized two things: 1) that I was staring at a long snake, and 2) my left foot was less than an inch from the tip of the snake’s tail. I backed up a step and kept my flashlight trained on the snake’s head. It turned to look at me, moving its head back and forth, watching as I backed away. Fortunately, it started slithering away from me and into the other side of the outdoor shower area. I waited for it to move far enough away before running for the house to get Mr. Palmer and Jacques. We never again found the snake, and we still aren’t sure what sort of snake it was. Mrs. Palmer did search a snake book the following day to try and figure which snake I had nearly stepped on, and we did find one that matched the snake I saw. When I saw the snake’s name, I laughed in disbelief: The Black Mamba, one of the most poisonous snakes around. Whether or not that was the type of snake I encountered will never be determined for certain, but I have been told that Black Mamba’s are incredible vicious and usually strike anyone who comes into its territory. So, if I did meet a Black Mamba, then I clearly had a “Daniel-in-the-Lion’s Den” experience. Regardless of the snake’s identity, it’s still a fun story.

Since returning from our adventures in Botswana and Zimbabwe, life has settled into a familiar routine. We started our second school term in April, but with all the holidays we’ve had over the past few weeks, it doesn’t really feel like it. We’re nearly halfway through the term, and we haven’t had a single full week of school. Tomorrow starts our first full five-day school week, and I can only pray we all manage to stay on our feet.

I am teaching Conversational English again, though I am at a greater advantage than I was last term. I now know what to expect in each of my classes (Grades 3 through 6), and I’m drawing up solid lesson plans for each class session that have, so far, panned out rather well. I’ve included a Spelling Bee this term, which will begin its first round on Tuesday. Mom sent me a package with stickers and rewards charts to use (and Swedish Fish, yum!), so I am very excited to include those in this term’s competitions and such.  We are still reading The Tale of Despereaux and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, though I am planning to include scenes from the films as well. I have different ideas up my sleeves, so we will see how this term plays out.

My students are doing very well, and I am getting to know them on a one-on-one basis as well. I have to maintain the “teacher-student” relationship, of course, but it’s nice to know the students personally and be able to interact with them beyond the scope of basic classroom instruction.  I enjoy every moment working in the senior learning center, though I do wish we had a larger number of high school students. Since I’ve started working here, God has clearly revealed which age level I am best with, and that is high school.  Currently, we only have three students who fall under that age level, but I am doing everything I can to aid them. I want to help all my students in every way possible. God placed me here for a reason, and I am not about to squander any opportunities God places before me.

In terms of prayer requests, I do have one that has been weighing on my mind as of late. Although I realize I have only been in SA for four months, I am already looking to next year. I simply ask if you would pray that God would reveal His plans for me next year. I am seriously considering remaining in South Africa for a second year, but that would require a lot of additional financial support. I know God will provide the funds should He want me to remain here, so I am placing my trust in Him to guide me and provide. But of course, prayers are always appreciated, especially on something so important as deciding the future. I am ready and willing to go where He calls me, but I just don’t know in what direction that may be.

Thanks so much for your prayers and continued support, everyone. Your love and encouragement has been incredible over the past few months, and I look forward to sharing with you God’s plan for my future.

Hope you all had a blessed Mother’s Day!

(Love and miss you, Mom! Wish I could have been with you in person!)