TAKE AND EAT

MAUNDY THURSDAY

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying,“Take and eat; this is my body.”

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the^[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

  When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 26:26-30

On Thursday, Maundy Thursday, I had the very humble privilege to bring food staples to 9 families in Shongweni, South Africa.

 This is the house of family 'A'. We also painted the interior of this home earlier in the week.

My ministry partner, Ginger, with the Gogo (grandmother) who is caring for her orphaned granddaughter and the food we brought.  A two burner hotplate, 10kg of potatoes, sugar beans, rice, sugar, oil and mealie meal.

The Gogo was so overcome with joy that she cried and cried.  Pictured with Jessica Harrison who is here for a week with her husband and son on a short-term mission trip and also the provider of the food.

Gogo and one of her children.

Scott Harrison practicing carrying the rice & beans on his head like the Zulu women.

We walked and walked and walked today carrying the food. Remember that this is called the Valley of 1,000 hills.  Here is our group walking.

Here is the home of family 'B'.

With 12 children they get extra food; two bags of potatoes, two bottles of oil...

Happy, happy mother of 12.

Shongweni, the most beautiful place on the planet.

                                                                                                                     Ginger and Alex Harrison.

 Very common sight: Mr. Goat.

The combi was very loaded with all the food.

Children playing.

Oh do they ever love having their picture taken and then looking at the image.

I found the love of my life...

Kittens at the home of family 'C'.  So little and so cute.  

This woman obviously had had a stroke and was affected on the left side.  

See the tiny kitten at her feet?  I picked one kitten up and she asked if I liked the kitten.  I said yes.  She said TAKE IT. 

So many houses, so many needs...

The roof of the above woman.

Bye new friends.

Woman of family 'D'  This woman wasn't home when we arrived.  We sent some children to find her.  She came running, all out of breath.  She is raising 12 grandchildren, 4 whom are orphans.  Her home is pitiful.

 We prayed at each home, all taking a turn.

Most Zulu families live in kinda 'compounds'.  Several dwellings on one plot of land.  At this compound, there were countless children and several adults.  I wasn't sure who the identified family was who was to receive the food.  This is family 'E'.

here comes more food...

love and pictures all around

The most beautiful children in the world!

snot and all

Family 'F' is 4 teenagers who are orphans without a caregiver.  They are raising themselves.  They too got extra food and a 2 burner hotplate. 

We painted these walls white earlier in the week. This girl is in grade 12.

Family 'G'.  This Gogo was just sitting in the dirt in a little hole.

We always left the food outside on the dirt.  I need to ask Pastor Thwala why we couldn't bring the food into the house.

Ginger sharing the Love of Jesus.

 Thank God for the Harrison's and their heart to want to purchase all this food for these desperate families.  Many told us that there was NO food in the house.

We had to wait for the woman, she was off getting water.  The wheelbarrow is old and all busted up and held together with wire.  The weight of the wheelbarrow was more than Jessica or I could left and this woman hauled water up and down these hills.  Lord have mercy.

This is the woman who received the food.  Zulu's put mud on their face to keep the sun off.

 I stood and held hands with this lovely woman during the prayer.  She squeezed my hand so hard I thought she might break a bone.  She was so, so grateful for the food.

This boy is an orphan being raised by his Gogo.  This is family 'H'.

Food makes people grateful.

His Gogo isn't well.

Circle up to pray.

The sister is about the size of the bag of mealie meal.

Food makes people happy.

 We were running out of time... this took all day.  Family 'I'.

Again, circle up, hold hands and thank and praise our loving Heavenly Father for His provision of food.

On the first Maundy Thursday, Jesus shared a meal with His disciples.  Maundy Thursday 2012 Jesus again shared a meal with the amazing people of Shongweni.

Photography Class Homework #1

Just before I left for South Africa I bought a Canon Power Shot 30SX IS.  Why I don't know... I've never owned a nice camera before, I know nothing of photography and I knew I would  never read the owners manual.  In addition South Africa is a very dangerous place and I don't want to be seen in public with this expensive camera around my neck.

Flash forward 8 months and my supervisor suggestion that I find an interest outside of missions and that I ought to make my own friends.

Saturday, March 3rd while walking in the 'mall', I saw that the Hillcrest Camera Club was having a display and had information about joining their club.  I almost shouted, EUREKA.  

Problem solved... new friends and at last I can learn a thing or two about photography.

The next meeting was a mere 4 days away on Tuesday, March 6th.  I learned at that meeting that one member was offering photography classes.  I was thrilled - camera club and classes, just like getting a double scoop of ice cream.

So here are the pictures I took for my homework.

#1.  Mr. Cow  This shot was to be using the 1/3 rule.  I got good marks for having his eye (what you are to focus on when shooting animals and people) on the 1/3 mark.  I got mark down on that fact that he should be moved up and over so more of the grass is in front of him, instead of behind him.  Like he is looking/ going somewhere.

#2.  This picture was to be something that lead your eye to the subject.  Didn't really have an end point by your eye is lead to the middle.  This is the road I walk down every morning and UP every afternoon.  It may not look steep but believe me, it is VERY steep.

#3.  This shot was to be framing the subject.  Here two boys are playing with the the ball on the church aisle. 

#4.  We were to take 5 pictures of the same object from different angles.  Now I wanted all the pictures that I took to be about South Africa or Shongweni, where I serve.  I choose Tennis Biscuits because they are so delicious and wonderful.  This first shot is called the establishing shot.

This is the back of the biscuit.

Fun detail.

This shot served two purposes because one picture was to be about texture and lighting. 

#5. This shot was to use your 'tele' lens and see what the background looks like.  Tele is what the instruction calls the telephoto lens. 

I printing this one to bring to class just because I love it so much.  This grandmother (Gogo) was skipping rope at the Gogo olympics.  Just look at her height.  

Last night was my second class and I better get busy with this weeks homework.

Let's Get Dirty ~ Birthday Tree Planting

Let's Get Dirty

Tired of being clean, sick of being proper
I wanna live among the beggars
And dig out in the dirt
Step outside the walls we built to protect us
Don't be afraid to get some mud on your face

Come on, come on everybody
Come on, come on and serve someone

[chorus]
Let's get dirty, let's get used
No matter where you come from
If you're beaten up or bruised
Let's get foolish - let's get free
Free to be the one thing you were meant to be
Let's get dirty

Song by: Audio Adrenaline

Friday, December 16, 2011 ten native trees were donated to our creche at Shongweni.

The trees sat in this spot: December, January, February.  Nothing happens very fast in South Africa... Being America and wanting to get these into the ground, I contacted my son, Jake Beale who is working on his Master's degree in Forestry at Virginia Tech.

Jake Beale

Jake sent me several emails with detailed instructions on how to plant each tree along with a description of each tree, the type and how big it should grow to be.

Monday, February 27th, my 53rd birthday the day arrived to plant these darlings.  Ginger had a great idea, rather than us two do all the digging why not get some help.

We work closely with the Hillcrest AIDS Center and they have a wonderful horticulture department where they grow and sell every imaginable plant and tree.

Ready, Set, Go

We have a soccer field as part of our ministry and it was decided to plant 5 trees around the playing field.  I can just picture hot, tired soccer players resting under the shade of these trees in a few years :)

Okay, okay maybe the men did more actual digging than I did but someone had to take the pictures.

The ground was rock hard and it is summer here and very hot.

Making sure the hole is big enough.

The Hillcrest AIDS Center had this truck donated to them from Daimler Chrysler.  Thank you Daimler Chrysler.  Ginger and I got a ride home, which was a wonderful thing since we were so dirty and riding on the combi for an hour would not have been pleasant for us or the others on the combi.  Bonus was I haven't rode in the back of a truck in 40 years.

This is our rain water catchment: a Jojo.

Two trees went over by the chicken run ~ part of the community economic development program.  Soon the ladies will have shade.

 The last few trees went outside of the fence.

 Working all over the campus.

The children enjoyed watching us work.

The weeds/grass is as tall as the tree.

It was so hot even the children sat to play instead of running around.

What is it about boys and tools?  The little boys were enthralled.

Adding water to the compost.  Which by the way I carried the bag of compose on my head around the campus, the way good Zulu women carry all heavy objects.

Next came the planting of the garden, another community economic development program.  The men brought us our requested: carrots, cabbage, spinach and beets.

 Getting the planting beds ready, did I mention how hot it was?

My birthday and I was so happy to see Buzz Lightyear on my special day.

As is customary in the Zulu culture, food is always included in any social occasion.  The men joined us for the lunch we serve the children.  Today being Monday meant the menu was chicken and rice with a gravy.

This little angel is fell and busted up her forehead.  She milked the injury all the way and asked to be fed.

Birthday dinner out with my ministry team.  (L) Shara, Ginger, Me with gifts, Julia. We went to Ocean Basket were I got my usual: Fish and Chips for 39 Rand $5.64.  I brought the ketchup from America with me for the chips.

Great day, great birthday. The trees finally got planted and are doing well.  I enjoyed the sunshine and manual labor.  I'm not so much a paperwork kinda girl.  I much prefer to get dirty while serving the Lord.