UNO Game night

• UNO Game Night

One tradition my ministry partner Ginger and I  began a year old was to play the card game UNO with the seminary student at the Lutheran Seminary in Pretoria, South Africa.  The night begins with hugs from Shalom, 4 year old son of student Enoch.

How can one cheap card game make everyone so happy?  Could it be the snacks?  this evening on Wednesday, 15 August I had brought with me American Fritos corn chips and Cheez-its.  I bought everyone's favorite treat: Biltong.  Biltong, is South Africa beef jerky.

The calm before the storm.  Drinking fruit juice.

Let the games begin.

"Easy to pick up... impossible to put down."

• Race to get rid of all your cards.
• Use the action cards against your opponents.
• When you're down to one card, don't forget to yell 'UNO!'

Aerial shot of part of the gang.

It's winter in August - thus all the long sleeves and coats.

Standing is Laura, wife of student Eric.  Robert, Thulani, Prossy, Peter.  Thulani is the smiling chap.

We have to use two decks of cards with this many folks :)  that's a good thing.

Ginger busts out the popcorn!

Even though this is such an easy game, I'm batting 100% of new people wanting to watch a round before diving into the fun.

Paul is in the blue jersey, Enoch is watching TV and the next guy doesn't realize that the object of the game is to get rid of your cards - geeezzzzz just look at that hand full.

Ben, my friend is always so much fun.

 

                                                                Robert is getting serious.

Thulani gets very happy when he is winning, often breaking out in song and dance.

Smile Prossy, we promise to help clean up your lounge.

It takes a while to reshuffle the deck and deal the cards.

UNO 'Fast fun for everyone'

One happy missionary.

Picture with Paul.

Dude, I don't think that many cards is a good thing.

Ginger and Frank (standing) join in the action.

The ceremonial handing over the deck of cards to host Enoch.  We will be back and we will have another great night of Christian fellowship.

I have no earthly idea what today is

 

And there was evening, and there was morning —the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.

Genesis 1:13-15

 Don't ask me what day it is because I don't have an answer for you.



Don't ask me what time it is or what month it is.  I just don't know.

I left America to be a missionary in Ntshongweni, South Africa on September 1, 2011.  That was the last time I had any concept of time.

                                      
I'm  coming to believe that my perception of time is based on external factors.Halloween, was on Monday, October 31 and it came and went without any candy or cute costumed children knocking at my door.  On this day I drove friend Grace Rao to the Jo'burg airport for her return flight to America all without one person telling me, 'Trick or Treat.'

 

That without the physical clues of hour, day, week, month, season, even year; I am lost.

Thanksgiving was of course on Thursday, November 24th.  Where was I on this great day of feasting with family and friends?  Happily participating in the graduation ceremony at the Lutheran Seminary in Pretoria.  It was a special and beautiful day, but it was a day nonetheless which did not help me realize that it was the end of the month of November.

May I just add that with my new home in the Southern Hemisphere, I am living the opposite season that the first 52 years of my life.  So now it's the Advent season, but without Wednesday services and instead of it being Winter; it's late Spring/early Summer.

It's Christmas time without wearing a jacket or seeing Christmas tree lots or lights or any other American commercialism of this sacred holiday.  The Zulu people live beautiful modest lives and gift giving isn't the focus of the Christmas celebration.  Missionaries live on modest stipends and thus gifts aren't the focus of the Christmas celebration. No gifts, no trees, no lights, no candy canes.

I wanted Candy Canes and asked for some to be brought to South Africa from America, but they arrived in January and by then I wasn't interested.  I have to have Candy Canes in DECEMBER or my internal clock is all screwed up.

I enjoyed a lovely Christmas with five other missionaries on the Indian Ocean beach - in the summer, but it just didn't 'feel' like Christmas.

New Years Eve I spent alone in Katelyn Hiett's flat, so without my night being anything special it's hard to believe that it's a new year.  Welcome to 2012.

My months rolls on without me ever realizing that it's nearing the end of the month and my reports and newsletter are due.  It is only but staring at the wall calendar do I know to do my jobs.

My Valentines day was spent traveling back to Hillcrest from a missionary retreat.  My birthday was one of the hottest days on the year: February 27th!  Now, I grew up in southern California, lived in Dallas, Tulsa and Pensacola, Florida so it's not like I'm use to cold February birthdays... but come on frying on my birthday was a bit much.

When it was Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it was beautiful Autumn here accompanied by the falling of leaves and a crispness to the air.

Easter was probably the most difficult of all to wrap my head around.  Being a profession church worker, Lent and then the mad rush of Holy Week leaves me exhausted by the Holy Resurrection of Our Lord on Sunday.  Not this year.  I enjoyed a lovely worship service in Zulu and then a pleasant day traveling to Pretoria for a friends graduation from the University of Pretoria.  Way to go Peter!

No Red, White and Blue for this girl and thus nothing to gage me into the reality that the month is indeed July.

As a Director of Christian Education I prided myself on the attention I gave those in my youth group and geared my ministry around the school year.  The American school year which happens to begin in August.  I can see on facebook all the chatter about everyone going 'back to school' but my heart doesn't believe a word of it.  There is no way in the universe that it's the beginning of the month of September.

I'm so disorientated.  I was actually shocked that I realized that my mother's 85th birthday is in a couple of weeks.  I never know what month I'm in.

Ecclesiastes 3

 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

My Missionary Prayer Card

Zeal Beale,
Serving the Lord in South Africa

Bio

To help support my ministry, please send

tax-deductible 

financial gift to: 

www.lcms.org/beale

Zeal Beale serves in South Africa as a GEO missionary through LCMS World Mission. Zeal works in community-based efforts of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (LCSA) to develop programs that will aid in the spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being of the people living in Shongweni Village. The Shongweni Village Project is an initiative of a local LCSA congregation realized through the help of partners such as the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa, LCMS World Mission and LCMS congregations in the United States. Zeal is an administrator trainer with the Lutheran church’s AIDS Orphans project. In this role, she incorporates HIV/AIDS education and support groups into the programs run for children. She also trains individuals to run self-sustaining programs in the orphanages.

Prior to serving in South Africa, Zeal passionately served as a director of Christian education (DCE) at Grace Lutheran Church in Pensacola, Fla. She earned her DCE certification from Concordia University Texas, Austin. Zeal is originally from Anaheim, Calif. and is mother to two grown children, both of whom are attending graduate school. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in speech pathology and audiology and a degree as an occupational therapy assistant. As a hobby, Zeal enjoys the history, cuisine, culture and architecture of New Orleans.

Prayers

Please pray for Zeal as she serves in South Africa. Zeal asks that you pray that the Lord would protect her and grant her strength, patience and mercy as she carry out her ministry. Ask the Lord to open the hearts of South African people that Zeal works with—so that they might be receptive to the Gospel and eager to apply it to their lives. Finally, give thanks that Zeal has answered the Lord’s call to serve in this time and place.

Laundry Day

Raise your hand if you love doing your family's laundry.  Okay, thanks for being honest, now raise your hand if you loathe laundry day. Probably for most this task isn't confined to a mere one day of the week but to several.

Welcome to laundry day in Ntshongweni, South Africa.  At the end of the property where the Lutheran creche sits is the township tap.

Here the townsfolk must come if they want water.

I know most of my friends collect the water and take it back to their homes... for drinking, bathing and laundry.

Clever, clever, clever using a soda bottle to funnel the water into the containers.

This day, which was actually October 2011, the women come to do the dirty deed; laundry.

At my missionary orientation, which covered two whole weeks, not once was laundry mentioned.  I'm so clueless ... completing this task never crossed my mind.

Well, actually I knew in 18 months I would have to do my laundry but the part about hanging my clothes out on a line I never thought about.  Hanging my dedicates out on a line for all to see - ewwwwwww. Why wasn't this fact brought up?  I might have taken more care in which panties I packed. 

Like I said, all day long you can watch the children, women and men coming to gather their water.

Happy to take a break from this difficult work for a quick picture.

The community knows community.  Maybe we would all enjoy laundry day more if we were working along side our friends?

It can't be easy to be this pregnant and doing such hard work.

Guess what a gallon of water weights? One gallon tips the scales at 8.34 pounds. 

These fine folks are hauling more than one wee gallon - this suckers are huge and heavy.  Plus this beautiful country is nick named: Valley of 1,000 hills.  Yes, hills and heavy water - ouch.

Please don’t EVER complain about doing your laundry with your Kenmore in your laundry room until you’ve done your laundry in Ntshongweni, South Africa.