Greetings
from South Africa!
One of the projects from my first visit in 2010.
Kids at Bos Plaas Baptist Church.
Getting my workout with the kids at Bos
Plaas Baptist Church.
Laying bricks with the Lee team.
Digging a trench for the driveway project.
What a week it has been! This
past week was so eventful and great while it did not adhere to any of my
predetermined plans. On Monday, the team from Lee University, a Christian
school in Cleveland, Tennessee, arrived and I went through orientation with
them. They have been such a blessing to Bethesda as well as to me personally.
Being 22, no one at Bethesda, staff or any family member, is very close in age
to me, so it was a pleasant relief to have fellow students here with me while I
am still adjusting to life here at Bethesda. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting
to spend time with the kids here and I relished the conversation I had with
young Thabiso about if everything in the world was made of chocolate. But they
were such an encouragement to me with how they conducted themselves while we
worked and when they led the Bible story at New Covenant Baptist Church on
Thursday and the chapel at Japulane Christian Academy on Friday. There has
never been a dull moment with them and I know I will miss them as they head out
next Wednesday.
Specifically, I have not spent
any time in the school yet. The principal, Erens Mahlangu, had a very busy week
and was unable to meet with me until Friday. It looks like Monday will be the
day when I get into the school. Prayer would certainly be appreciated as I am a
bit nervous about this as Japulane is much different from any of the public
schools I have been in to date. Instead of being in the school, I helped out
the Lee team on the project to lay bricks to form a driveway into the Bethesda
property. While I certainly did not expect to be doing anything like this, I
was overjoyed to be swinging a pickaxe, scooping out dirt, and laying bricks.
Growing up on a farm, this kind of work is second nature to me and believe it
or not, I actually enjoy it a lot. It was certainly a nice change of pace for
me as I came from the school year wrapping up at Purdue to here. As Lois (the
team coordinator) noted, God definitely knew what was best for me so I wouldn’t
get burned out and I was able to provide another pair of hands to the driveway
project.
I was also able to interact with
the kids and the families a lot more this week. Whether it was seeing the
children after school at the tutoring or out playing or working with Elvis and
Jack (two of the groundskeepers who are such great men), I am honored to be a part
of the Bethesda community. This week, I went to dinner at two of the families’
homes: the Letswalos and the Shikwambanes. Each provided me a different but
very interesting experience. At the Letswalos, Peter, who works as a chaplain
at a prison in Pretoria, enlightened me about the Zion Christian Church, an
erroneous and sadly popular religion in South Africa as well as other countries
in southern Africa. It was formed in the 1920s when a German missionary had
supposedly led a man to the Lord, but within a month of this conversion, the
missionary needed to return to Germany due to a crisis at home. This new
believer was now without a mentor to disciple him in the faith. He zealously
began to evangelize, but without a solid understanding or foundation in the
Scriptures, he strayed from the Gospel and it became much more man focused as
well as very financially driven. Peter said that it is now practiced by as many
as 9-10 million South Africans. It just goes to show the essential nature of
discipleship to the Christian faith and how our sin nature is always present,
even when we try to good. At the Shikwambane house, two team members from Lee
and I joined them for dinner as well as their family devotions, which consisted
of a couple hymns (one of which was in Tswana. That was interestingJ) and reading from
Leviticus 19. Upon hearing Leviticus, my first thought was “Really?” But Fritz
and Masello did a really good job of explaining the Word to their children and
applying it to their own culture, particularly ancestor worship. It just shows
that 2 Timothy 3:16 is true about the whole Bible, even Leviticus.
I’ve also gone with the Lee team
on several trips to places outside Bethesda. We went to New Covenant Baptist
Church on Thursday and actually went out in pairs with several hospice
caretakers. That was certainly interesting as we went into the homes of many of
their patients, who I believe had HIV/AIDS. Personally, this helped me realize
the individual impact that HIV has on everyone infected with the disease. After
this, we helped the church give elementary age students a meal after school and
the Lee team led a Bible lesson for them as well. On Saturday, we went to Fritz
Shikwambane’s church, Bos Plaas Baptist Church, for a re-opening day for the
church, which resulted in an impromptu vacation Bible school. It was a great
time as about 75 kids got to do songs, crafts, games, and get a snack. I pulled
out my camera and was swarmed by the kids who wanted their picture taken. I
probably took about 60 some pictures today. It was a lot of fun and I hope that
they all return to hear Fritz present the Gospel.
So that’s been the highlights of
my week. As I move forward, I would ask for prayers regarding my time in the
school. This is where the rubber meets the road so to speak and as always for
me, I’m a bit nervous with just adjusting to a different school in a different
culture. Additionally, this week I received my grades for last semester and I
was very pleased with the results. While I definitely put in a lot of hard
work, I honestly lost track of the times I called my mom to ask her to pray for
me when I was at my wit’s end working on a project or studying for an exam, so
to God be the glory! Speaking my mom, Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I love you and
I’ll bring you something special when I return!
Thanks for reading and thank you
for your prayers! Take care and have a great day!
In Christ,
Dan Lehe
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