Hospice, Cynergy, and birthday fun

This week has been a nice balance of work and play. The week started out slowly, doing basically nothing on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday was also pretty relaxed, though we did head to the Hospice in the morning. The place hasn't changed much since the last time I was there. It's still filled with precious people with heartbreaking stories. I loved having the opportunity to encourage, chat with, listen to, and pray with the people there. I went with Laura, Steve, and Jim. When we got there, we were greeted by Josephine, who lead us around. It amazes me how much something as simple as a listening ear or a smile means to these people. Unfortunately, my visiting was cut a bit short. As we were praying over a woman named Faith who has elephantiasis, I got horribly sick. I don't know if it was some sort of spiritual attack (I felt perfectly fine until I started praying) or food poisoning or what, but it wasn't fun. I dragged myself along as we visited with a few more people, including a man with gangrene in his leg and a woman who arrived earlier that day. She was understandably upset and frightened. But praise the Lord! As Steve and Josephine were talking with her, she accepted Christ into her heart. Praise the Lord!

I spent the rest of the week in the school with Nikki and Reagan. Wednesday we were supposed to give two assessments, but one school didn't have paper and the other didn't have ink. The schools that I'm working in are very unorganized; not having supplies the first day or week for that matter is quite common, as is not having teachers come to class and having students switching around both classes and schools. It's chaotic to say the least. Since we couldn't give the assessments, we graded some from another school instead. The results were discouraging. It was quite the (uncommon) feat for a student to score 10 out of 30 on the spelling portion, and the comprehension portion was even worse. The students are far behind, but have so much potential to learn. I can't wait to see how much they'll improve by the end of the year. I feel so privileged that I get to help them along the way.
Later, Nikki and Reagan showed me other schools in the area so I could get a better understanding of the government schools in Riger Park. When we picked up their daughter from her private school, Reagan gave me a private tour. It was a super nice school; tons better than Holland High. The campus was huge with beautiful landscaping and buildings. It looked more like a nice college campus than a K-12 girls' school. The school offered tons of extracurriculars, from art to music to sports to ballet to anything you could think of. The school was adequately staffed not only with teachers but also sports coaches, physical therapists, speech therapists, counselors, etc. Tuition: 4,800USD/yr. Then we drove around a charter high school, which reminded me a lot of Holland High. It was nice, but not extravagent. Tuition: 600 USD/yr. Then you have the government schools: unorganized, unpredicatble, violent (though the violence has decreased greatly since Cynergy started working in the schools), poor (both financially and in quality of education; a second grader at a private school is more literate than a fourth grader in a government school). The government school offers no extracurriculars, nor can they afford music, art, or athletics in their curriculum. It's simply the very basics.

Thursday I helped give an assessment to a class of fourth graders. They were adorable! They still had their innocence, and were so excited to have us in their classroom. They were so sweet! I can't wait to work with them more.
Friday I gave an assessment to a class of 8th graders. Night and day difference from the fourth graders. They were much more disrespectful and cared less about their education and more about their friends, which seemed pretty typical high schooler to me. Nikki informed me otherwise. Apparently disrespect is a HUGE problem in the schools and in the kids as they enter into "the real world". It's more than just a teenage stage. Though not as well behaved as the younger students, the assessment went well and the students were obedient to my instructions. Unfortunately, the assessment results weren't any better than those of the younger students.

During a conversation after the assessment, Nikki said something that was extremely reassuring. Coming into this, I couldn't wait to work with the fourth graders. I love young kids! The high schoolers were a different story. Being not much older then high school myself, I was concerned how they would respond to me, worried that they wouldn't respect me and walk all over me. But Nikki unknowingly reassured me. She talked about how, though the students loved her and Reagan, they wouldn't go to the couple first for life advice. Rather, they'd go to their peers, to LaKita (Nikki's 19 yr old sister) or me. Whoa. I was reminded that I wasn't here to be a boss or supervisor of these students, but their friend. I'd gain their respect just as I had gained respect from my friends, not through authority but through relationship. And the students that I've met in the Legend program are definately friendly! Tehe.

Friday night was a ton of fun! Jeff and Sarah treated me as well as Nikki and Reagan to dinner for my birthday. Afterward, we went to Nikki and Reagan's house for cake, ice cream, and poker (Jeff taught me how to play). It was a blast! Secretly, it was nice to have them making a fuss over me. Tehe. I was touched when LaKita, who I'd only met the day before, got me a birthday gift. It was a good day. Tehe. Most of all, I loved getting to hang out with Nikki, Reagan, Jeff, and Sarah on a fun rather than work basis. It was awesome getting to know them more and goof off with them. And I loved coming home to find a dozen people on skype waiting to wish me a happy birthday. Tehe. It was great catching up with so many people, even if our 8 way chat was a bit confusing. Tehe. Oh, I miss you guys!
Yesterday was really relaxed; today has been as well. Yesterday I experienced my first South African braai. It's basically a barbaque: grilling meat, various salads, sitting, chatting, eating outside, playing games. It was fun, though a bit awkward at times as I didn't really know anywho. Overall though, it was good. This morning we went to a church called His People. It was great! It was really diverse and similiar to church at home, though more charamatic.

Praise the Lord:
-For the woman at the Hospice accepting Christ
-For an incredible birthday
-For healing me from whatever I had earlier this week
-For keeping me safe
-For beautiful sunsets
-For relationships that He's building
-For tasty coffee (tehe)
-For peace
-For encouragement
-For Nikki and Reagan and the amazing way God has blessed Cynergy
-For Laura, Jeff, and Sarah
-For Josephine and her huge heart

Please pray:
-For the people at the Hospice. Please pray for healing, both physcially and emotionally. Pray that their families don't abandon them. Pray that the patients aren't lonely. Pray that they are overwhelmed with love and joy.
-For Josephine. This woman amazes me! She does so much in the Hospice! But her work is very trying. Constantly being around sickness and death is tiring. Pray that God strengthens her and encourages her. Pray that she is surrounded by loved ones who will lift her up daily.
-For the poor. It's extremely difficult to see men, women, and children begging on the streets for money (which is more common than not) and not give to all of them (the task is far too great, plus we don't want to enable them nor do we want to become a target known to have extra money (which we already are to a degree since we're white; sad but true)
-For safety on the roads (both for the Vox team and the people of South Africa in general). Yesterday as we were driving to a movie, we saw a horrible accident. Apparently, one car ran a robot (traffic light), t-boning another car causing it to spin out of control and hit two pedestrians (neither of which survived). This is just one of (though the worst of) the many accidents that I've seen in the short time that I've been here.
-For health and safety. Being sick last week wasn't the greatest, and now Laura is sick (though with some sinus thing; thankfully it isn't what I had). Please pray that she heals quickly and that the rest of us get/stay healthy. Pray that God continues to keep us safe as we work, travel, and play as well.
-That God fills me with courage and confidence so I'm able to take the initiative that I need to.
-That God continues to help me form and build relationships here. Pray that I'm able to get plugged into a godly community, and soon.
-That God continues to lead and guide me for the sake of His name
-For spiritual strength and wisdom
-For Reagan's sister who just had surgery to remove a brain tumor. She's still in ICU. Pray for a full recovery.
-For a dear friend of mine back in the States. She's going through a nasty divorce, which will be finalized on the 1st. Please pray for her and her family. Pray that God overwhelms them with love, peace,strength, and joy. Pray that they can feel God's arms wrapped tightly around them. Pray that God reveals His plan in all of this.


A few of the dogs on the seminary campus. Flopsy/Alloy (depends who you ask) and Happy. We just got another dog named Peanut (a "sausage" dog) who is adorable! Pretty sure he's my favorite. Every time I walk outside, he runs up to me and rolls over on his back for a belly rub. Tehe. So cute!