Postscript

One of the dreams I developed after we arrived in Africa was to find ways to work together with communications professionals from other organizations.  When the idea first came to mind, I didn’t know where to begin.

I prayed.  I asked God to help me find where these people were.

God answered.

In circumstances I wouldn’t have expected, I started meeting other people who were serving Christian organizations in Africa in a similar way to me.  A better way to say this is that God made some appointments for me…I just didn’t know about them until I showed up!

Near the end of last year, I started checking to see if it would be possible for some of us to meet together–to build relationship, to share knowledge and resources, and to look at ways to coordinate and work together.  At the beginning of May the first meeting happened.  It included people from four organizations who all led teams that gather and distribute publicity information about what their organizations do in Africa.  We hope to meet again and continue to expand the group of participants.

What did we find?  While each of our organizations is different, we all desire to tell stories about how God is at work in Africa.  By working together we can maximize our available resources, potentially increase the quantity of stories told, and be able to tell more stories about how God uses the collaborative work of many different organizations to accomplish his work.

I’m looking forward to what God will do next.  I get excited thinking about it.

Take a look at what these teams are doing:

Africa Stories

YWAM AfriCom

On Field Media

Please pray for God to give us wisdom as we move towards some joint work and explore more possibilities.

Popularity: 27% [?]

We are experiencing a Christmas that is truly in summer this year.  The temperature is rising. Our days our long–sun is going down now around 8pm.  It’s feeling a lot like it does in June back home.

Christmas in summer certainly seems to have it’s benefits even if there isn’t snow! Many people head to the beach or go camping.  It seems like everyone goes outside to have a braai (cook out/barbecue) or a picnic any chance they get.  Many communities and groups have outdoor events.

Our participation in local celebrations began last week when we attended our first church Christmas picnic.

On Saturday we went to an event called Carols by Candlelight.  It was set on the lawn in a botanical garden.  Hundreds of people gathered to first eat a picnic supper and then sing Christmas carols.  Most of the songs were traditional Christmas carols, but we also sang Jingle Bells.  Dashing through the snow? Just doesn’t fit here…

Sunday evening we saw a local church’s Christmas cantata performed at an outdoor public amphitheater.

I think the next thing on my agenda is to have a swim.

Christmas in the summer in South Africa–it’s not too bad!

Popularity: 37% [?]

Africa has a wide-range of foods, and South Africa also has its own collection of unique recipes.  A couple that we’ve come to enjoy here are bobotie and yellow rice served with spicy chili chutney.  We enjoyed it at some people’s homes, and this weekend we made it ourselves for the second time.   Bobotie is like meat loaf but with more flavor variations.  The yellow rice you make to go with it is sweeter than the yellow rice we used to eat at home.  Both are delicious.

Try them. You might like them!

• Bobotie Recipe
• South African Yellow Rice Recipe
• Other South African Recipes

Popularity: 37% [?]

Wonder what Jeff’s remote IT  support looks like?  Here it is.

This was Jeff working on the email account of a colleague in Johannesburg.  She’s a 16 hour drive from us, but her computer is only a millisecond away using remote technology.  He remoted into her computer to see and work on the problem, and talked with her on my cell phone to ask questions about the problem.  This session resolved an issue she was having viewing her sent email.

When a user is not in South Africa, Jeff uses skype to communicate, but remoting into the person’s computer works just the same as it did with our colleague in Johannesburg.  Once he’s gotten permission to access their computer, he can see their screen just as if he’s sitting in front of their computer.

Popularity: 26% [?]

More than 50 people from 26 nations were invited to join a celebration of American Thanksgiving last night that was hosted by an American couple. It was in the YWAM facility next door to our office.

I was craving turkey all week.  We got a nice large helping of turkey, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes, and green beans…with apple crisp for desert.  Yum!  It was a good taste of home and some good fellowship that we both enjoyed.

Popularity: 15% [?]