What a day!

But we made it through without Paul getting sick. I'm thankful.

We left Carletonville before 6:30 a.m. to head for an 8 o'clock service in Johannesburg and only got home around 9:30 at night, so it was a full day.

We really enjoyed the church in Jo'burg. They had so many people that they have three services, each one geared for different people. The 8 o'clock one seemed to cater to older people, while the 10 o'clock one was primarily family groups. The 6:30 p.m. had a majority of singles. The music differed a little for each group. They had also started a church plant and some of their people were gone to support that baby church.

After the morning service we had to shoot up to Pretoria for a conference in the afternoon. Paul only had to preach once, so the kids and I took advantage of free time and went to other meetings while Paul put the seat back in the car and tried to rest a bit.

Josh and I loved our lesson on puppet shows, and I'm very charged to get ours out and in ministry again.

Evangel went to a music lesson and got some ideas to teach to her girls in Cape Town, while Timothy kind of floated between the two.

It took us less than an hour to get to Pretoria following someone, but we got a little panicky on the way back. Gypsy, our GPS, was supposed to guide us, but "she" doesn't know about construction sights, so it took more then an hour to get back to the Jo'burg church. We arrived back at church at 6:28 for the 6:30 service. Ooops. Not a lot of time to set up, but we all pitched in, and they sang a long time anyway, so Paul was ready to preach when it was his turn.

I had 3 near accidents in all that driving, and am VERY thankful that they were misses. One of them left us facing a bunch of grass wondering where the road had gone. Another one was just some slammed on brakes for a stop sign I hadn't seen coming. Got a lot of comments from the back seat on that one. So why was I driving? Two reasons: to help Paul so he can rest and because I've been feeling a little queasy with Paul's driving lately. I wonder why.

Ben and Marietjie McIntyre with their grandson Jonathan at the game park Bufflesvlei.



I'm "cheating" and using a picture from a self drive, game drive, we went on last year in Mokopane.

We've all got Kudu breath this morning which is a novelty. Our hosts, Ben and Marietjie McIntyre have gone way beyond the call of duty in feeding us and doing special things with us. Last night was super special. They took us on a game drive where we saw tons of wild animals---eland, running ostrich, zebra, and my favorite, three giraffe. We even saw reindeer! The reindeer are imported, so that's the first time we've ever seen those in Africa.

However, I couldn't take any pictures as my batteries had gone suddenly and completely dead in the camera. I was frustrated, but later relieved because we all wanted to stand up for the game drive, and I needed both hands to hold on. Evangel had her little video camera, but I'm not sure about putting videos on here.

While we out at Bufflesvlei, that game park, Paul received a wonderful call. A man called to tell us the story of his wife. She was in the Sunday night service and was unsaved. Paul preached "Hands Up" about how Moses had to keep his hands up for the Israelites to win the battle. He taught how we have to keep praying for each other to have success in our Christian life.

Anyway, the Holy Spirit worked in this lady. She picked up one of Paul's DVD's after church from the book table and took it home to start watching. She watched one sermon after another until about midnight! There are 26 on there. Then she got a booklet, I think in Afrikaans, that a pastor had written. She read that and around 2 a.m. was ready to pray with her husband for Jesus to save her. That's wonderful news!

Paul preached in three schools yesterday too. I must say, I've been so worried he's going to get sick again as his schedule gets busier, that I was even afraid to go on the game drive last night. This weekend is very full, but then Monday is totally free for rest so we'll try to keep him healthy til then.

First trip of 2010

Ahh, the perks the Lord provides! Our kids were not thrilled to leave Cape Town for the first long trip of the year, but look what was at the first house where we are to stay for a week! Not only that, our host is an explosives person, just the sort of thing our boys are interested in.
Sunday after church we went for lunch at the game reserve where their daughter lives. This Red Hartebeest has a funny expression.
This Wildebeest seemed to take things pretty seriously.
This mama giraffe suddenly went crazy on the game preserve and had to be shot for running through fences. Only after she was dead did they discover she was expecting the little one. Sad. I guess most expecting moms can sympathize with the "going crazy" feelings.
Our kids are enjoying the extra space in the new car.

Our new (to us) Kia Sedona.

The Youngs are off on their first family road trip of 2010! With great vim and vigor we packed and paid bills and generally ran around like chickens with our heads cut off on Thursday afternoon, to prepare for an early start on Friday. All was going well, until an ATM ate Paul’s credit card!

We’re glad that happened at home, because we had our handy Magic Jack for cheap calls to the States to sort it all out. I was able to get some cash on my card, and we got the rates paid, and James and Gloria have something to live on, and we got to pay a bit on our car insurance, and can pay the rest somewhere along the way.

Next glitch in the plans: I got insomnia. 1:19 saw me awake and aware, and that was the end of sleep for me that night. I think I could have dozed off around 4 when Paul got up, so I gave up trying and started helping. We were on the road at 5:05 a.m. heading to Worchester for Paul’s first two preaching appointments. I won’t mention any names, but one of us was really struggling with gritty eye/grouchy mind syndrome. A long day stretched ahead.

One of our missionary friends, Jonathan DeSeno in Romania, asked where we were going and I teasingly told him, north, of course. Where else can you go from Cape Town? Actually you can also go east, but we did head north, through the impressive Huguenot Tunnel which is about 4 kilometers long and makes me think of Princess Diana about every time we go through it.

Worchester is grape growing territory which has rich farms of vineyards in a rocky valley. The craggy mountains always speak to me of how violent The Flood must have been to have tossed up the earth so high. But I just squinted at them through fat eyes with less than my usual appreciation for their awesome beauty.

We got to the first school early, so Paul had time for another sandwich before he went in. There was a little break before the second one so we went to a brand new mall in between to try to work on the insurance. Paul went to the bank, while the kids and I went to check out some new wheely things that are like a j-board that isn’t connected in the middle. The saleslady made it look easy to glide on, but I wasn’t fooled. It’s way out of my coordination league.

At the second school, I went into a "coma" in the car, while the kids worked (I hope) on their school work, and Paul went in to preach. My coma got interrupted once by a little boy calling, “Tanie” (auntie) very insistently. His top had fallen through the school bars and he wanted me to fetch it for him.
After that school, we really felt “on the way.” My nap had perked me up enough that I could drive and Paul could rest. First stop, the Hex River Valley. I posted pictures of that back in July, I think. We love to stop there and buy grapes, fresh and chilled, from a Padstal (farm shop) with lovely bathrooms.

With grapes and sandwiches for lunch, we had no need to stop until Beaufort West, about 4 hours down the road, but we did stop. There were several construction stops, and once a tractor trailer’s trailer had turned over.

We made it to Colesberg around 6 p.m. and hunted a bit for a place to stay, though not long as we all wanted to get out of the car. Next came a hunt for food. The elderly hotel we were staying in had a limited selection of meals, all delicious looking, but none inexpensive. We decided to walk around to find something more economical.

Colesberg was in Friday-night-celebration mode with many people staggering around drunk already. We found a little fast food joint where we had eaten once before, but it was just closing. They sent us to another restaurant, but after we’d walked awhile in the dark, we decided that the hotel food might not be such a bad idea. It was DELICIOUS when we finally got to tuck into that stuff around 8 p.m.

Our hotel was on a hill, so I wondered if I’d sleep well, in spite of my tiredness, because of the noise of the Kwikka Likka next door, and the shifting of big trucks as they came up or down the hill. Earplugs to the rescue! I popped those in and was unconscious for the better part of 9 hours.

Breakfast was a repeat of the night before. Hotel’s too expensive, walk through the streets, can’t find anything else, back to hotel.

Traveling on the national highways in South Africa, is a lot like traveling on major roads in the USA, but there are some differences. Of course we drive on the opposite side of the road, but some other differences are not so obvious.

1. Yellow line driving is acceptable here. The yellow line is down the side of the road, so people commonly pull over into that area (stopping lane) to let others pass making for a better flow of traffic, though more risky for pedestrians.

2. After someone pulls over like that for you, it is normal to flash the car’s hazard lights at them to thank for the courtesy of pulling over. So nice and proper.

3. There are no rest areas like in the States, but the “Petrol Ports” are very nice. They have gas/diesel, a restaurant, a play area for the kids, and toilets.

Day 2 was peaceful in the car. The kids did book work since they had exchanged Thursday for Saturday as a day off. We crossed out of the Karoo (semi desert), into the Free State (one of South Africa's 9 provinces) which was greener.

Besides written school, the kids are listening to audio lessons from Vision Forum on historic battles. Those CD’s make the kilometers fly by.

Around 4:30 we arrived at the house of Ben and Marietje McIntyre where we are to stay for the week. Ben just called the kids together and lined them up like a captain giving orders. When they were nice and nervous, he pronounced to them, that they must feel free, and feel happy. They are to get drinks without asking. He told them he likes to spoil kids, and he doesn't know how he got so blessed to have this chance to spoil American kids. :-) Very nice!

They have a pool with a long, wet slide into it, so the kids and Paul had a long swim to get the travel kinks out, while I watched and shivered.

Romantic Stories

Today's the day to celebrate romance! I don't know why the 14th of February, exactly, but I'm not complaining! It's a good thing to celebrate.

We have several friends who have such nice romantic stories, I thought I'd share them briefly on here. Our friends the Ronnings, met in prison in Atlanta, Georgia! Now that's a shocking place for missionaries to meet their spouse, but that's the story. Both of them were at an anti-abortion demonstration, and got arrested. They spent a couple of weeks in prison before they were released, and the guards let the men and women in both groups have exercise together each day. One thing led to another, and today they have 4 children and have spent years having missionary adventures in South Africa. Sweet!

The Penley's story was special too. One of the ways Sharon knew Frank was the guy for her, was that he threatened to put her in the lake (or river?) if she did something (I forget what.) She DID something (I forget what.) He didn't throw her in immediately, as they had a church service, but HE DID KEEP HIS WORD. He waited til after church, then carried her out (screaming, I believe) into the water. She was impressed with a fun guy, a crazy kind of guy, who kept his word! One thing led to another, and today they are church planters near Altlanta, with 4 really masculine boys, and 1 feminine little girl who had one of our boys wrapped around her little fingers last time we visited. She has an electric car :-) Maybe a future romance story there.

Dion and Johanneke had and have a romantic story. They met on the Doulos. He's from South Africa, she's from Holland, and they had a ship-board romance as they floated around the world, ministering with OM in different ports that the Doulos visited. One thing led to another, and today they have three kids, some of our kids' best friends, and they're distributors of No Greater Joy materials, which leads to a seriously mushy, wonderful marriage.

And then there's our own romance. It'll be rough to keep that one so short, because I love all the little details. I remember one night when we were living for a short time in Kenya. The electricity went out, so the whole family gathered on our bed with 2 candles nearby, and Paul and I told our kids every juicy detail of our romance. It's a precious memory.

We met one day in South Berwick, Maine (that's why our dog's name is Berwick-in memory of that happy occasion :-). Paul preached in Seacoast Christian School where I was teaching. He asked me to eat out with him, and one thing led to another, for sure. Today we have four children, have traveled to 4 or 5 continents together (depends if you count the Philipines as going to Asia) preaching to people about Jesus and enjoying ourselves. One of my goals for marriage was to laugh a lot, and we do.

Got Milk?

It never fails, I get a lot of comments when I buy a week's worth of milk for our family. We're pretty big milk drinkers, and so I buy a lot at once, and freeze it so that I'm not running to the store every single day.
Until today, the most memorable comment was a lady who looked startled at my 40 or so liters of milk, and asked, "What are you going to do with that? You're not going to drink it are you? It's poison!"

I got under conviction after that one. Not about the milk, of course, but about how this woman could be so ardent about something like the "poison" of milk, and I wasn't that ardent to walk up to total strangers and tell "You're not going to indulge in THAT sin are you? It's poison!"

Today there was another chat at the milk bar. (You can get a deal if you bring your own containers and get them filled, which makes it more obvious when I come with my 3 big bags of plastic stuff.) A man came up and asked, "Are these all yours?" or something like that. We got talking about whether milk is good for you or not, and he told me he had cancer of the tongue, but that he had beaten it. He used to smoke, he said, and someone told him eating KFC could cause cancer.

Phew! I wanted to witness to him so bad. When someone tells you they've had a near brush with death, you want to help make sure he's ready for the next life, and if you know the answers, you want to help.

I don't rememeber my exact words, but I was able to share with him, which felt funny because he was quite a bit older then me, and a man, and so forth, but it went well. He agreed with me! He said Jesus could take away fear of death, but it was special. It was as though he was reminding himself for the first time in a long time. I don't know, but, as always, Cherish's story was a help as I shared about that.

We parted a few minutes after our jugs were filled. I think he bought 4 liters which is, of course, terribly important to the story :-)

shark attack

Wednesday was the first day of "school" after a tremendous Christmas/summer holiday. It was hard to think of it, but we had a good book to start us back off with an interesting beginning.

You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice of men...our plans didn't work out. Proverbs 16:9 says, A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

First of all, Josh got sick during art class, while I was reading the first story of the new year. He stayed sick all day, and all my fine plans went out the window. Besides the usual interruptions, a lady came to get some DVD's to hand out to people. She was bursting with the news that she had seen a shark attack the day before in Fish Hoek, which is about 15 minutes from our house. The shark attacked in shallow water, at about 3:15 in the afternoon, a man who was just standing there. She said he was eaten in 2 bites, and it was horrible. This lady had a renewed vision for how any of us can lose our lives at any moment.

In the evening, Josh had now vomited 9 times. I was getting worried and went to Paul. He gathered the family for prayer, anointing with oil, confessing our sins, the works. From then on, Josh began to improve. He drank a little water and it stayed drunk. He asked for some grapes, and then went out on the porch where it was a little cooler, and fell asleep. I had to move him inside so the mosquitoes wouldn't get him, but otherwise he slept for about 12 hours.

So my school plans were something of a fizzle, but we were all very horrified and impressed by the shark attack. We were reminded of the urgency of spreading the gospel to people who are dying AND we were reminded of God's mercy to heal. Not a bad day of school after all, to learn two big life lessons.

Another funny sign

My Mom and Ariel flew back to America yesterday so I'm a bit blue, but not so blue I can't see the humor in this sign. We saw it in Hout Bay on a little outing with Mom, Ariel, Evangel and me. OK, so it's not hysterically funny, just a little, but nice on a day like this.