I didn't take a lot of pictures this week, but here's some pictures of me with the Sithole children. Here, I am sitting with Junia & Nthando.
Thabiso, who is in Grade 2
Thembi, who is in Grade 4
Greetings
from Bethesda!
Another week has passed here,
seemingly faster than the one before it. Before I know it, it will be June 21st
and I’ll be flying home, but there’s still a lot to happen between now and
then. This past week saw the Faith BBC & BBC team leave on Thursday
afternoon. Although I only joined them on the tail end of their journey across
South Africa, I am really glad they came and that I was able to make friends
with my brothers and sisters in Christ who reside across America and praise the
Lord that they me it home safely. This goodbye was perhaps the hardest of any
of the teams that have come here during my stay. However, I am sure that it not
be as difficult compared to the goodbye I’ll have to make on the 21st,
but I’m not even going to think about that for now. Things at the school have
been going well with some fun times and funny happenings. I also went to an
enormous shopping mall in Pretoria on Saturday and just got back from a braai this
afternoon. All in all, it was a good week.
At school, I finished up my remaining
lessons in the social studies and natural science. Friday afternoon was a bit
of a mad rush to hand back homework assignments and trying to hunt down
students who had not turned in their homework. With their exams next week, I
wanted to be sure to return their assignments so they could use them to study. It
was a little frustrating at the number of students who did not turn in
assignments and how I could see that it simply decimated their total grade, but
there was nothing I could do about that. As I told last week, I had quite the
experience substituting for the Grade 1 class. This past Tuesday, I subbed for
their teacher from about 9:30 until the end of the day and I had a much
smoother time and I am happy to report that there were many fewer tears. I was
much more laid back this time around and used the school’s peg system much more
effectively. While more of the kids “moved their peg,” I avoided the tears this
time and it was a lot more enjoyable as well. Some of the other highlights of
my week included a brief but funny conversation I had with Rebaone, a boy in the
6th grade who is one of the biggest characters in the school. He
asked if I was going to be coming back for their third term. When I informed
him that I would be going home after this term finished, he said “No, sir. You
must stay.” When I said that I’d want to see my family, his response was “Oh,
sir, you can Skype them. You do already, right?” When I told him that I had not
Skyped them since I’ve been here, he said “Oh, sir! You must Skype them!” I’m
sure that my mom would agree with him:) Some of the other highlights include
the review games we have played, Zoink and another game that was a combination
of jeopardy and dodge ball with a soft foam ball. Both of these games were a
lot of fun and very popular with the students. I hope I can bring these games
into my future classroom. Another funny moment was one that was actually
relayed to me by Tonya about Rudy, one of the sixth grade boys who lives at
Bethesda and whom I truly regard as a friend. He asked Tonya about my Monster
Rehab, an energy drink that I enjoy and it is my caffeine source. When Tonya
told him that it was like a sports drink with caffeine, his next question was “So,
does it have alcohol in it?” Tonya told him that it did not and I guess he was very
relieved to hear that.
On Wednesday night, I had dinner
with my next door neighbors, the Sitholes and several team members. George and
Florah are a remarkable couple and they have always been so kind to me as their
neighbor. It was a lot of fun and I hope we didn’t get their kids too crazy
before their bedtime. Friday night was a continuation of the Batman movies from
the previous Friday. Since the camp was not going on this time, all of the
teenage guys (and those close to that age, with parental permission of course) joined
in and we watched The Dark Knight in
the team center. Counting myself, there were ten guys total and they really
enjoyed the movie. I however followed in the footsteps of my dad and fell
asleep for a good deal of the movie. I guess I was the old man of the group so
it was fitting that I got a 45 minute nap in during that time. But it was a
great time nonetheless.
Saturday was quite the day for me. I
had asked Tonya if it were possible for me to get a haircut because it was
getting pretty long and I was starting to resemble my dad (inside joke:) Sorry,
Dad!). She, Heather, and Melissa were planning to go to Pretoria to a market on
Saturday and they could just drop me off at the mall for several hours. This
mall was absolutely huge! Other than the Mall of America in Minneapolis, I have
never been to a larger shopping mall. I got my hair cut at this place that I
think only black people went to because I was the only white person in there.
But they gave me tea & biscuits and my hair was shampooed and everything,
which I am certainly not used to. The guy who cut my hair was named Felix and
he was from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One thing I noticed about him
was that he had a small swastika tattooed on his forearm, which was really
perplexing, but I wasn’t about to ask about it. I know the swastika was not
exclusively used by the Nazis, but I still found it odd nonetheless. For lunch,
I saw that they had a KFC, which I couldn’t pass up. But they had a South
African chicken restaurant, Licken Chicken, nearby. So I got popcorn chicken
from both places, pulled out my iPod, played one of my favorite songs, “Chicken
Fried” by Zac Brown Band, and enjoyed my meal. And quite frankly, it was no
contest – KFC was much better. While the mall was quite impressive, at the end
of the day, I only spent money on my haircut and food and drinks. But I couldn’t
help think of the enormous gap between the luxuries of this mall and some of
tin shacks I have seen all over the countryside. I know these differences exist
in the US, but I was just struck by the contrast.
In closing, I would to ask for
prayer on several matters. First, the students in grades 4-7 are taking exams
this week. Historically, they haven’t always done well, so I would ask for
prayer that they would prepare as well as they can and trust in the Lord and
have no anxiety while taking the tests. Secondly, the Mixons are heading back
to the states on Tuesday so prayer for their safety would be very much
appreciated. Additionally, both of the vehicle repairs (Tonya’s & the
Mixons’) are still ongoing and it certainly appears that neither will be done
before everyone leaves for the states. Finally, I would ask for prayer wisdom
in determining what God has in mind for me after graduation. It’s been on my
mind a lot of late, but I just want to trust God wherever he takes me and that
I would have the faith and strength to follow Him. I would also ask for
strength to finish strong here at Bethesda. As it says in Acts 20:24 “But I do
not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may
finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to
testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” While my course and ministry should
not end as I leave Bethesda, I do not want to slack off and become complacent
in my remaining days here. As always, thanks for reading and thank you for your
prayers! Have a good one!
In
Christ,
Dan
Lehe
PS: I hope my awesome sister, Jessica Taylor, had a great birthday yesterday! Miss you, Jess!
No comments:
Post a Comment