May Update

Hello Everyone,

It's been a while since we've sent out anything, and we're trying something new this time. That is, Dan writing the update. Novel concept, but let's hope it ends there.

About us... The boys have settled into their routines quite nicely now. Academics are not overwhelming and I think they're doing well. After school activities include JC being in a play written by another student, and both boys participating in Netball. That's quite interesting, because traditionally it's more of a girl's sport here, and most boys won't do it for that reason. But, since we don't know the sport, our boys don’t have any of that baggage, and have become quite popular for their trendsetting, even to the point of other boys joining too. Tomorrow, they have their first real match. Jacob tried out an Irish dance class during April, but made the decision that he really doesn't want to continue. Sad for us, but we'll do our best to support him. On the flip-side, he got to play baritone/euphonium in a brass band for Mother's Day! This was at the Rustof Methodist Church, which happens to be walking distance from our house! It was something we discovered after attending a Methodist church carnival-style fundraiser a couple weeks ago. 

They accompanied the hymns and it was magnificent! It was so great to see him up there amongst the adults playing away. A really nice Mother's Day gift for his mama, although that might not continue, either. JC is meeting with a guitar instructor to see whether she is capable of teaching him anything. We'll see if that goes anywhere. And finally, both boys were invited last week to attend a youth group that includes some kids they know from school. They both really enjoyed it, and it seems like they may have found the group with whom they want to continue being involved. That's a joy for us and we think it seems like a very positive place for them to engage. So, we continue to find avenues of involvement for the boys and feel like the effort is paying off. Anything that's helps get us out of this small apartment helps.

Update on us and our work... We’ve continued in Peace Education, but we'll talk more about that next month. Yesterday, Kathryn headed off to Johannesburg with Oscar. They are visiting embassies in Pretoria on Thursday and Friday for the purpose of networking about SADRA and finding opportunities for partnership. Oscar comes back on Sunday, but Kathryn stays to participate in one week of the Mennonite Central Committee created program, Africa Peacebuilding Institute (API). Dan will go up the following week. This is a fantastic initiative which we've been aware of for many years. It used to be held in other locations, but has in recent years been held in SA. It brings together people from many nations who are working in their own ways to build peace in their countries and communities. The whole program is four weeks long, offering four one-week modules. The modules are being led by experienced Africans from multiple countries who have been doing this work for many years. We are really looking forward to this time of connecting with like-minded colleagues and expanding our personal contacts, while bolstering our peacemaking skills. To learn more about API, visit this web page.

http://www.staugustine.ac.za/short-course/applied-ethics-peace-studies/africa-peacebuilding-institute-16th-edition

This week, Dan is leading a workshop for members of the Great Commission. This is a group of pastors of un-affiliated evangelical churches to which Oscar has been a part of for a number of years. He has encouraged them for a long time, and they finally organized it, to hold this workshop to address internal structural conflicts and issues. They managed, however, to schedule it when Oscar is not available. Therefore, I get to lead it. The advantage here, that Oscar has pointed out, is that I'll be able to facilitate without any baggage, being an outsider with no agenda or background knowledge.  I find it a little intimidating and perhaps ironic that I will leading this group of about 40 pastors in their organizational structuring and yearly planning, but when the door opens, and you get pushed through it, then I guess there's no turning back.

About our trip in March - The boys had a school break, and we literally used the entire two+ weeks for an extended road trip. On March 18 we picked the boys up at school, car already fully packed, and took off north to a small town serving mainly as a stopover station, Beaufort West. Stayed there overnight in a little guest house which had two friendly cats, and a parrot aviary in the backyard with birds from all over the world. Leaving the next day, we continued to the town of Cradock to meet Pastor Lawrence Coetzee who leads the small congregation there of the Grace Community Church, one of the Mission Network's long-time partners here in SA. Had a really nice time getting to know him and his family. Dan had the privilege of being invited to deliver a message for the church worship Sunday morning. We won't see these folks very often, but it was great to establish a personal connection.

Moving on after two nights, we continued to another of Mission Network's partners, Bethany Bible School, in Mthatha. Here we were coming to meet Pastor Reuben Mgodeli

 and learn more about his work coordinating the Bible school. He had made some accommodation arrangements for us with his close friend, the Bishop Sithole, who leads a Zionist church... and here's where the most interesting part of the trip began. Being Holy Week, the Zionists were in full praise and worship mode. Part of their beliefs includes honoring ancestors through singing, dancing, incense burning, offerings, and some spiritual cleansing rites. We inadvertently became their honored guests and were centrally included in all these things. Imagine 50 or so people dressed in a variety of colorful robes, squeezed into a round hut, singing and drumming and dancing in circles around a live sheep and chickens in the center. There's more to all this, like Dan & Kathryn being ceremonially re-married the next day, but suffice it to say that we were exposed to some unexpected, in-depth cultural learning and really generous hospitality. An experience we won't soon forget.

Next, we stayed with Andrew and Karen Suderman and their two children Samantha and James in Pietermaritzberg. They are a Canadian family sent via Canada Witness, and have been in SA about 7 years. They have a guest room that all four of us managed to fit into for the next six days. We also met friends of theirs who relate to the Anabaptist Network in SA, and celebrated Easter with them. A couple highlights were playing board games with Andrew, like Settlers of Catan and a secret agent game. We all went to the beach in Durban one day as an outing. We loved our time with them, but it may be one of the last, as Andrew had recently accepted an offer from Eastern Mennonite U to come teach Theology. They will be leaving here the end of August. It's a great opportunity, and I think very good fit for them, but we're still a sad to see them go, as we'd been looking forward to being country colleagues for the coming years. But there will be another family moving here from Canada later this year, so we're excited about getting to know them eventually.

The next part of our journey was more family-oriented, as we actually went to visit Kathryn's cousin Melisa Borror and her family who live in Lesotho, where her husband Kevin is program manager for MAF. They have three kids, of more similar age to our boys, so there was more kid engagement at this stop. We had work reasons for visiting Lesotho as well. In 2014, Oscar did some mediation training with church leaders in Lesotho, so our going there provided an opportunity to reconnect for possible follow-up work. The big event here was Kathryn getting to go to the High Tea hosted by the Queen of Lesotho. That just worked out via a Bible study she attended that Melisa leads, and someone had a ticket available. So she got to hobnob with African royalty. More fun for the rest of us, was our big day out with them to the mountains where we went pony trekking. Such a beautiful setting, and really thrilling, albeit tenderizing, way of seeing it! It was great to establish a connection with these relatives whom we didn't really know before.

Finally, we headed home, with one more stopover. It just happened to work out that we could attempt to meet leaders from another of the Grace Community Churches, this time in Colesberg. We had arranged our own guest house accommodation there, but managed to connect with Pastor BJ Gaiya to share a meal that evening, with his wife and another couple from the church. The next morning he took us around to see the site where they plan to build a church and his garage where they currently worship. Again, folks we won't see regularly, but really wonderful to make face-to-face connections for the future.

We arrived home, safe and well, after over 3500 km on the road, on the night of April 3 pulling in around 7 pm. The boys went back to school the next morning. We could barely have made the trip any longer. We are grateful for our safety and health on the road and greatly enjoyed getting a grand sense of the scenery and history of various parts of our new home country. (See Kathryn’s review of one of our travel books – on the blog – if you haven’t seen it already!)

For those who pray, we invite your prayers for our safety in travel this month, for our work plans in their development, implementation and effectiveness, and for the boys' continued relationships and activities. Thank you for the constant support in thoughts and prayers. We do feel and cherish those. Thank you for even sending gifts! What fun! We think of you, friends, often and love hearing from you. Peace and joy in your journeys.

With love, Dan