Gingersnaps

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”– Walter Winchell

Thank you for joining me on our journey again this year!  Many of you may have followed along last year and learned about why Kurt and I travel to South Africa (annually since 2014).  However, some of you may be reading this blog for the first time.  So let me start by reposting our story of how we got here from the blog  The Journey Begins…                                     

“Why are you in South Africa?”, you may ask.  Well it is a story only God could write…

For many years, I would always joke with people saying that when Kurt retires, he will probably “drag” me to some 3rd World country to be in ministry.  Fast forward, here we are in Knysna, South Africa.  It isn’t 3rd World, but it is definitely 2nd World.

So how did we get here?  After Kurt retired in January 2014, he began to meet with the University of Virginia to learn about their water purification “system” (local potters make porous pots lined with silver), in Limpopo, South Africa.  After meeting with those involved with this project a couple of times, they recommended he go visit the site in order to understand the site work that needed to be designed.  Since he and I decided I would go with him, we thought we would make a vacation out of the trip down (as it would probably be the ONLY time we would ever come to Africa).

One problem, we knew nothing about Africa.  I certainly did not realize how big the continent is compared to North America.  Africa is bigger than China, India, the contiguous U.S. and most of Europe—combined!  So, how do I begin to plan a trip?  I would tap into my resources or as many would call, FRIENDS.

I happened to know only one couple that had ever been to Africa and their trip was to Kenya, not South Africa.  But as God would have it, this couple had just recently met a man who was born and raised in South Africa, but now lives in Augusta, Georgia.  My friend recommended I email his friend to see if he could help me plan an itinerary.  After several emails back and forth with this man I had never met, Kurt decided that this project with UVA was not a good fit. Wow, disappointment.  This man in Georgia has spent so much of his time helping me plan a vacation and now I needed to tell him we were not going to go.  I felt bad to have wasted his time.

God had other plans!  It was now August or so and instead of my new email friend saying oh well, so sorry for you; he said that he was taking a mission team to Knysna, South Africa at the beginning of November and invited us to come with him.  I promptly said “Thank you” but “No Thank You”, we have already allocated that money to be used for something else… that may or may not have been completely true.

My new friend did not take “no” for an answer.  Instead he told me to talk to Kurt and pray about it.  Ugh, why did he have to bring God into this?  I know that if I pray about it, I may have to say “yes”.  Dilemma, do I tell Kurt we’ve been invited?

Yes, I did.  And after much prayer, we decided to join the team. 

Now, it is January 2019 and we have returned to Knysna 6 times over the past 5 years.  We love the people here and have made forever friends.

Last year, we were able to transition the program I launched in 2016 called Girls Talk into the ministry of the local Youth for Christ.  This was a dream come true.  I knew from the start that the program would not be sustainable unless a local organization could oversee it and provide the necessary resources.  At the same time, this provided a full-time professional job for my friend Thokozile, God-size Dreams.

Kurt spent his time teaching basic carpentry skills to young men who did not complete the 9th grade.  To learn about their final project, please read  Opening Their Hearts and Home ).  He will do this again this year with a new group of guys.

So, with all of that said, and just arriving back here 2 days ago, I am not sure what this trip will bring.  Kurt and I  made a trip up to the township this morning to meet with some friends.  We both left a little discouraged to see the circumstances of some of their households.  

I hope to spend time getting to know the stories of more people here again.  I plan to share them with you and give you updates on those you met last year.

As you have seen in the past, however sad or tragic these stories can be, many are so inspirational.  Through it all, our God remains faithful.  ~Tracy Cooper