What a crazy week!

This week has been CRAZY, both in good ways and in some not so good ways.
As usual, most of my week was spent with Nikki and Reagan helping with Cynergy. This week, we continued teaching the learners small letter sounds. Now for the not so usual stuff...

Convo with Reagan
It’s been awesome to see my relationships with Nikki and Reagan grow this week. This couple amazes me! And they have taught me a ton. Tuesday I had an extremely thought provoking conversation with Regan. Their vision for Cynergy isn’t to help kids in South Africa or even Africa, but to help kids worldwide. They want to expand their ministry to Zimbabwe, China, South America, even the States. Thus, Regan and I began discussing what a Cynergy program would look like in the States and what my involvement in it might look like. After throwing out dozens of ideas, Reagan stopped me. He told me that, although he was grateful for the ideas, he brought up the subject because he wanted me to pray and consider what I might do with the things that I’ve learned working with Cynergy. He wanted to make me aware of the possibilities, that it was possible for me to start and run an organization like Cynergy in the States. Whoa! His confidence in me is empowering, and it really got me thinking. This conversation along with other activities that I’ve done with Cynergy, such as the vision page, have got me thinking about my future. Before coming to South Africa, I wanted to do some sort of adoption counseling. After being here a month and being exposed to the learners and their heartache, I realized that I must extend this to counseling vulnerable children, not just orphans. And after this conversation, I wonder if I’m to extend this beyond formal counseling. There are so many options out there that involve my passion for hurting kids; perhaps counseling is only a small venue that I can use to love on these precious kiddos.
I learned something else during my conversation with Reagan. It finally clicked: Cynergy isn’t a reading program. Cynergy is a program that seeks to empower kids that have been told time and time again that they are worthless nobodies who have no future by showing them that they are valuable beyond belief and are capable of fulfilling their dreams, no matter how big or seemingly impossible. They are capable; they can do things greater than they’ve yet imagined. Coincidentally (or rather by God’s planning), this is exactly what I want to do with my life. Wow! Our God is truly amazing!

Convo with Nikki
While discussing a conflict that Cynergy was having with one of its partners, Nikki revealed to me an amazing truth. She told me the she and Reagan pray about every decision that they make before they make it. She was frustrated with this partner because, after praying about the item being discussed, Nikki didn’t have peace about it. I can’t go into a lot of the details of our conversation, but through it I realized a huge cultural difference. In the States, we’re taught to be independent, to be able to stand on our own without anyone’s assistance. I think that this philosophy has overflowed into our relationship with God. As Christians, we are to rely on God for everything, to be completely dependent on Him. This conflicts with our American philosophy of independence. I think (please pardon the generalization) most American Christians pray to God for the “big” thing: what our future career should be, what our family should look like, financial stuff, etc, but rely on our own wisdom for the “little”, every day things. Here, Nikki and Reagan pray about EVERYTHING. And because of it, they have amazing testimonies about things God has done in their lives. Nikki told me that on several occasions, her prayer partners have advised her on things that she had never told them nor anyone else. God simply spoke to the prayer partner, who in turn told Nikki. I think in the States, we have a really bad habit of limiting our God. But our God has no limits! Nikki has really shown me that I need to surrender EVERYTHING to God, to trust Him with it; not to rely on myself for anything, no matter how seemingly small, but to seek God’s will. As the Cynergy saying goes, every decision you make either brings you one step closer or one step further away from your goal. Nikki also helped me realize that I need to spend more time in prayer, both talking and listening to God. After our conversation, I realized how little time I spend in prayer. The Bible says to pray continuously, to pray to God on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Culture Shock
This week I experienced the first of any real culture shock. As usual, Thursday morning I was teaching the grade 4 Afrikaans girls at Lakeside Primary. I love working with these girls! They are eager to learn and obedient. As usual, the class went extremely well. As I was getting the names of the girls who earned gold stars (this week we implemented a reward system of gold stars so that we were focusing on the good of the learners instead of just handing out red cards and focusing on the bad. Now our learners are rewarded and punished in the Cynergy program, just like they are in the real world), one of my learners ran into the classroom (the other girls were lined up outside waiting to go back to their normal classroom) and informed me that one of the girls was crying. She led me outside and to the crying girl, who I took aside to figure out what was wrong. Apparently, Francis, another learner in the class, stole her pen. So I took the first little girl and Francis back inside the classroom to do a bit of conflict resolution. Apparently Francis lent her pen to the first little girl the day before, and the first little girl didn’t bring it to school, so Francis thought it only fair to take her friend’s pen. But the first little girl wasn’t upset because her pen had been taken; she was upset because she knew that if she didn’t have a pen, her teacher would hit her. Corporal punishment is illegal here in SA, but apparently the parents have signed some sort of agreement that allows it. I wish I could explain the look of terror in that little girl’s eyes, wish I could show you her fear. It was absolutely heartbreaking! After explaining the importance of responsibility and returning things that you borrow, I made Francis return the pen and let the first little girl return to class. I proceeded to tell Francis that just because someone did something wrong to her, she didn’t have the right to do something wrong to them. I motioned her over to my bag and told her that I didn’t want her getting in trouble either, so I would borrow her my pen until the next week. A look of relief came across her face until I pulled out the pen. You see, my pen was purple; her teacher would only allow blue. Defeated, fighting tears, she slowly returned to her class knowing far too well what lay ahead of her. It completely broke my heart! I so wish I could have gone in and stopped the teacher, explained the situation to her. But it wouldn’t have helped. It shocks me not only that this children are being hit as punishment (and from the reactions of these girls, it wasn’t a gentle spanking), but that they’re being hit for having the wrong color pen. My greatest concern is for the learners well being, and obviously living in fear of messing up and being severally punished isn’t good for their well being. Frankly, I don’t think many of the teachers here care too much about their students well being, but they do care about how they are viewed as a teacher as it is reflected by their learners progress. If my understanding is correct, if a child is terrified, s/he can’t learn. S/he is too focused on survival to bother with the curriculum. SA already has enough problems in their education system; it can’t afford to have fear added.

Visa: It’s everywhere you want to be yet somehow unattainable
Thursday I went with Laura in attempt to get my visa extended, but the two home affairs that we went to didn’t have an immigration department. Thus, we went again on Friday, but were once again unsuccessful. We were told by Vox that I needed a temporary housing permit, but home affairs told us that I required a worker’s visa, which meant not only did I need my passport and a letter from Vox but also a police clearance and bank statements. Home affairs is rather unorganized, to but it gently. Basically, if we would have talked with someone else, we would have been told that we needed a different document. It’s quite frustrating.

Northwest
My mother's first flight was from GR to Detroit. Unfortunately, her first flight was delayed causing her to miss all of her other flights and thus she won't get her until tonight. I was very disappointed yesterday, but I can't wait to see her today! Only a few more hours!

Praise the Lord!
-For Nikki and Reagan, for all that they're teaching me and the confidence and love that they have for me
-For precious Bianca and her contagious laugh
-For rest
-For health
-For growing me
-For using me
-For my home cell group
-For Laura and her sweet, giving spirit
-For the ability to read and write
-For music
-For amazing friends at home who listen to me when things get crazy here and love me unconditionally
-That I get to see my mom soon
-For the exciting week ahead
-For time to relax
-For cleansing rain
-For encouragement

Please pray:
-For continued safety as my mom flies and that nothing else delays her
-That I learn to pray about everything and surrender to God completely
-For protection over Nikki and Reagan's family and marriage
-That God provides the finances and facilitators that Cynergy needs
-That God protects the precious children here; that He overwhelms them with His love and shows them His truth
-That my visa gets sorted out
-That I have a great, safe, healthy time with my mom this week
-For unity in our team
-That God continues to use me
-For continued health and safety
-That God makes His plan for my future clear and that He guides me in it
-That the educators here see the power that they have to shape the learners and that they have compassion for the learners

*All pictures in this post are from the Legends Study Method workshop this past Saturday