on the road again...

Wow...

Proof that I really have gotten behind in blogging: this blog. Well, the updated news is, I'M GETTING MARRIED!!! I won't be on any missionary roads for now - substitute teaching is my mission for now. :) But, I am still open to whatever God has.

Right now, I can't wait to be Mrs. John Thompson!

Kosi Bay…just like home but hotter

Kosi Bay is a remote location in South Africa near the Mozambique border. As the name indicates, it is located on a coastal bay that boasts a breathtaking beach minus the tourism onslaught. Our 1-1/2 hour drives to various schools down the only main paved road (and numerous other off road locations), takes us through herds of cows, goats, flocks of children and women carrying loads on their head. We’ve had many humorous moments with all these “locals” – usually stares as we drive by…a car full of white people! J

We also get to meet some neat people. We are staying at a mission complete with camp-like housing that is run by a wonderful Afrikaans family. Pastor Lourens and Jean have 3 of their wonderful teenagers staying here who have a friendly help to us, as well as their cute dogs Bruno and Luther. We also have some Zulu brothers and sisters who have been working alongside us and befriending us.

We’re looking forward to getting some snorkeling and beach time in on the weekends. It’s nice to be around palms again, make it feel more like home. L

Kosi Bay School Presentations

Our task here for the first 3 weeks of March is to do presentations using the Book of Hope for schools and students of all ages in the area. But our overarching task has been to connect with South African teachers at those schools to offer them a new curriculum that Book of Hope and our partner ministry here, Reaching a Generation, has developed specifically for South African schools.

Historically, the Book of Hope has been promoted as a gift for children, but also a teaching resource for teachers. It even comes with a teacher manual that helps a teacher overseas walk through the Book of Hope (and Scripture!) and teach it as character curriculum and how to deal with life issues.

Now, we additionally offer a curriculum for South African Life Orientation classes. This is a course that is offered to every South African child from kindergarten to high school. It is supposed to cover basic topics such as relationship issues, health issues. Think of it like a health class, personal guidance class, and other random things rolled into one. However, the school board of

South Africa

does not offer a textbook for the course, so teachers are left to come up with lesson plans out of nowhere! So, we have been speaking with the teaching staff at these schools promoting the material and gathering names to have a workshop in the area.

Imagine being able to teach a course that is Biblically based in the public school system – a course that will address the issues of family, health, HIV/AIDS, character, etc. from a Scriptural standpoint. It’s a neat open door. Many have been receptive since this is a rural area and they have few resources. With classroom sizes averaging 50+ children and barely any books to teach from, this has been a welcome resource so far. So keep us in prayer as we speak with educators, that they may be open to this material.

We have also had the opportunity to do more Q&A sessions with high schools. I love these times because you get to be real with them and interact more. I also love how the sessions usually start out with teenagers making fun of us and our accents…but then they end with captivated faces and nodding heads as our team shares more about their own personal struggles. Being transparent becomes crucial here…if I can persuade a kid to give up his crazy lifestyle in pursuit of abstinence or point them towards Christ as the ultimate hope after the effects of that crazy lifestyle, I feel like I have been purposeful here. Teenagers are the same everywhere. And everywhere they need Jesus.

Because It's Africa and Internet is Slow...

 I've decided to post all my blogs in one, minus the pictures (sorry!).

 

Mpumalanga

or Bust… (40, 98, 143, 174, 119, 229, 182, 176, 230)

 

Well, I’ve been here about two weeks…about two weeks of some of the most diverse experiences and people mixed with some of the most heartbreaking and fascinating dynamics of any country I’ve been to.  I’ve seen poverty before, and I’ve seen hopelessness, and I’ve seen twisted philosophies and their effects generations after. But, I’ve never faced desperation like it is here.

 

After spending an ideallic week on a game farm and training with my team of 7 people, I had seen the beautiful creation of God…numerous drives back and forth in the camp left me with numerous citings of giraffe, ostrich, kudu, wart hogs, you name it. It was like a live action Lion King movie…and we weren’t in a zoo. Living under thatched roofs and interacting with the farm staff’s children was peaceful, but it was a stark contrast to the rest of

Africa

. My team is however one of laughs, servanthood, and willingness to be used. It is a blessing.

 

Now we find ourselves in Hazeyview, a small town on the edge of

Kruger

National Park

where all the popular animal types can be found. The drive to get here took us through numerous red clay towns, a few stops for cows and goats in the road, and then up into curvy mountainous roads lined with massive trees and cool air. The smell was amazing. The drive gave this “fear of heights person” a heart attack. J

 

Hazeyview has it’s nice first world mall and grocery store, nicely done-up bungalows available for lodgers, and extreme poverty on the outskirts. Our daily experiences have been visiting schools and doing presentations and interacting with an orphan ministry that is the vision of one white pastor who finally decided to do something about the issues here. Everyday when we come back to our posh little vacation home, which we are blessed to have, I think of how easy and how hard it is to really affect this community for change. And a good deal of the time I feel the legacy of this place overwhelms me…one of pain and oppression.

 

My prayer these days is that God will supernaturally empower the Church to turn their faces to these issues…and the children who go on like zombies without hope.

 

 

*The GPS on Me * I’ll be in Hazeyview until February 28^th when we’ll go 8+ hours south to Kosi Bay on the coast and work there for a couple weeks. Then another 8 hours back up to the middle of the

Mpumalanga

district for a couple weeks and then back to the farm to receive our nest assignment. I spend a lot of time in a stick shift. It’s very hot here. And I appreciate air-conditioned automatics J. Google me sometime, it’s rather fun!

 

 

I Can’t See Their Souls

 

One of the most difficult things about being here is interacting with children. I’ve seen 2 groups, the ones who don’t have much, but who have somehow found reason to smile. And then there are the ones who seem too far gone – like little zombies who vaguely resemble humans.

 

We have been helping out a local orphan ministry but walking through rural shanty towns doing inventory on living conditions of the orphans who come to the center. It’s unbelievable. The worst part of it all is when I bend down to a child’s level to look in their eyes and they turn their face to the ground. Or they stare straight past me.

 

When you hear the stats on what these children have gone through, you wonder how they are still alive…rape, starvation, abandonment, abuse. They have been stripped of dignity, of hope, of love. I’m so sick of stats. I’m so sick of hopeless stats that scream it’s too late. I want to see hope lived out. And the thought that keeps going through my mind is how most of this exists because some random people group came in and oppressed another. I hate it. Jesus help.

 

Apartheid is Dead

 

I was in the grocery store today and I’m pretty sure I was the only white girl. Apartheid is gone J.

 

“It’s Fun” (282, 348, 366)

I do not consider myself an adventure seeker in the extreme sports way. I don’t feel the need to bungy-jump or raft down treacherous rivers, or any of that sort of thing. But I did step out on a limb today (no pun intended) and zip lined off a mountain. If that’s not enough, then add class 3 white-water rafting to the list. With the encouragement of my team, I partook of these activities. I stepped WAY out of character and followed our guide Philemon into the large yellow raft. I saw a python, a crocodile, and we avoided the mythical hippos beneath the murky waters.

 

We came, we saw, I peed my pants.

Um…I freakin’ saw Nelson Mandela

     

 

No, it wasn’t his picture it was him. Imagine randomly showing up to a museum one day and Martin Luther King, Jr. is there. And nobody knows about it because it was a private tour for Mr. King…except that you and your team of interns is right around the corner waiting for a quick glance and a click of the digital camera. Well, we didn’t get to meet Martin Luther King, Jr. (cause he’s dead). But we did see Nelson Mandela touring the

Johannesburg

Apartheid

Museum

a week ago. Random and awesome.

 

Oh, and Apartheid sucks. Imagine a policy that combines one part Holocaust, one part segregation, one part corralling Native Americans on reservations and sprinkle that with a little bit of European nationalism controlled by only 10% of the population.  

South Africa 2009

    This Spring, I'll be spending my time with Book of Hope in South Africa. I'll be gone February 10-May 11 and looking forward to working with my 5 neato interns along with my co-leader Ryan: Jeff, Giovanni, Renee, Lauren, and Hillary. We'll train for a week on a game farm and then head out to the areas of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal to reach the children of South Africa with God's Word. We'll also be participating in essential research projects and looking for creative ways to develop new ministry. We'll come in contact with many who are dealing with the HIV/AIDS issue as well as many who have lost family members to the illness.

Pray for continued unity on our team, for good health, and open doors to really reach the hearts of kids in order to see true transformation in their lives, homes, and communities!

Missin you all already,
Vanessa

COME ON DOWN!

As a child, I aspired to be one of three things: a ballerina, a truck-driver, or a Price is Right model. I perfected the art of “hand-hosting” where I could glide my fingers over basic grocery products, I admired Bob Barker (minus that little sexual harassment charge), and I advocated for pets to be spayed and neutered.  

So, these days as I’m helping to watch my 93 year old Grandmummy, we enjoy watching the Price is Right at 11:00am EST. This show truly makes me happy and I find myself belly laughing on a regular basis. Furthermore, consistent viewing has revealed some basic observations:

 

The Price is Right…

~ relies on man’s innate sense of greed. That’s why Cheryle from Rancho Cucamonga will opt to try and win more money even though she already has $4000 in the personal till.

~ draws upon the basic human psychology of rewards and punishments. Thus the cued dings and chimes when you get something right and the “wa-WA-wa” tones when you get something wrong. Flashy lights also encourage players.

~ is simple. You don’t need a college degree to be on this show.

~ appeals to everyday skills such as being able to properly price out Rice-a-Roni vs. a set of golf clubs.

~ offers the elusive dangling carrot – a chance to win A BRAND NEW CAR!!!!

 

Also a few observations about the type of person the Price is Right recruits for:

Extroverted types

Blue-collar types

African-American women who like to jump a lot

Women who cling to Drew Carey their whole time on stage

People who have some altruistic motive for being on the show (grandmothers in the hospital, supporting their local firehouse, or a “beautiful wife and children” to name a few)

People who wear personalized t-shirts hoping to get on camera

 

However, based on the numerous diabetes and AARP commercials – plus the day timeslot, the viewing demographic appears to be the elderly.

 

A few updated things to note about how the Price is Right has modernized itself:

~ Drew Carey is the host, and he does a pretty darn good job. He still needs to work on his Bob Barker “slick hand” which can easily place price cards in their slots AND manage the mini-microphone at the same time. He’s dropped a few cards on stage in bumbly boy fashion, and that’s unacceptable – the viewers deserve more.

~ Smart Cars can now be won. It’s nice to know the PiR encourages care for the environment.

~ And for those of you who were wondering, there is a new Wii video game for the show.

 

 

James Bond, Snugbury's, and Midget Pigs

What do all these things have in common? They were the events that  made up a really fun Saturday! One of the perks of living in the UK is that we got to see the earlier release of Quantum of Solace. What is it about James Bond...he's a womanizer, he's brooding and pensive, he's a bit elitist, but we love him!

This trip to the "cinema" also afforded me a chance to pose with a rather gaudy salute to America and General Patton...not to mention Charlton Heston to the left.

Snugbury's is a fun dairy farm that makes amazing fresh ice cream. It's like the Ben
and Jerry's of Stoke. They also have
MIDGET PIGS! So random, but so welcomed.

It snows here...

...and sleets and hails and rains and gets dark at 3:30pm! Only one week until I'm back in sunny South Florida. :)

 

Blinkin' Birmingham!

Nope, it's not in Alabama. Birmingham is a historically industrial city in the Midlands of England. For most of you who still think I'm Megan Mitchell on a mission trip to England, this is where she actually helped out. It's affectionately called "The Black Country" - coined by Queen Victoria for the soot-laden buildings in this smokey, hard-working area. And people here are down to earth, hearty, happy souls.

So, it was a pleasure to work with Oakham Evangelical Church and Krunch, a multi-facted ministry in the area. So far, around 200+ Books of Hope were given out in our trips there. We also worked with a ministry called Loaves and Fishes, handing out second-hand furniture, etc. to needy people. And there are many in England...many are immigrants from Middle Eastern, Asian, and African nations. And Birmingham being the 2nd largest city in England, they come...for work...for hope...but many dreams are dashed in their pursuit.

One such visit enabled me to hug, listen and pray with a lady named Sephia. She was an immigrant from Iraq whose husband of 9 years had just left her. She was distraught, alone and hopeless. But to save the day, Steve an his wife Anna had a couch and church for Sephia. We spent time showing her God's word and in her words, when we came, we made the sadness go away. Pray for Sephia as she gets involved in Steve & Anna's church and comes to know Christ like in Isaiah 54:6 "For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," Says your God.

Steve who started this work, is a one-of-a-kind chap and to capture his happy, loving heart, and we were blessed to meet him. This was also the visit where I almost burnt the clutch out on our car, but that's another story.

Cool Drum set at Oakham

My "Coca-Cola slug" sleeping bag...sleepin' in the church!

Playing American football in Sherwood Forest. Well, not really...but this forest was some famous site where soldiers hid out in. Right before this a group dressed as medieval lords passed us by; I think they were playing Dungeons and Dragons. Geeks.

The folks at Krunch and Loaves-n-Fishes

Oh the joys of looking through donated goods!

Lugging Sephia's couch up the elevator to the 12th floor.

Fish n Chips minus the Fish. They put chips on buttered white bread - yum!

 

 

I like this man

Jeremiah was a bullfrog, and Josiah was an abolitionist. Mr. Josiah Wedgewood has gained my respect and admiration...not only for his beautiful pottery, but also for his anti-slavery stance back in the 1800s.

So, this one's for you big guy! Rock on Wedgewood!

P.S. If you're ever looking to buy me a gift, The Queen of Hearts Collection or Harlequin Collection will be well received. :)