A Special Friend
Doris and I have been friends since 2007, when Barbara and I came regularly to visit her and took her story for our book of South African women’s stories. Ever since I met her, she has held a special place in my heart. Often, when we travel to Emily’s to pray for Wholesome Bakery on Mondays, we will stop by Doris’s first and sometimes she will accompany us. Doris has been HIV positive for a number of years and has suffered at various times throughout the years. Her most compelling story was when she was nearly on her deathbed, many were praying for her, and she was nursed back to health. Doris has two sons, neither of whom are infected. She has always wanted a little girl, and 5 months ago or so, became pregnant. We all knew she’d be taking a huge risk (and the news came as a surprise to most of us), but Doris is very stubborn and has been through so much that she deeply believes in prayer. Doris’s health has been a bit of a roller coaster since she got pregnant but currently she and her baby are quite healthy. Please continue to pray with us for the health of her and her child. She is too dear to us to have anything happen to her. And I secretly hope for a girl for her as well. . .
Here I sit with Doris on her bed on my latest visit. Her youngest son, Gopolang, took the shot.
Winter Birthdays
July 19th 2009
Some of you are aware that I just had a noteworthy birthday. Three decades to celebrate! That was new for me. It was also my third South African birthday in a row, which meant that it was the middle of winter as opposed to summer. This year we celebrated simply but elegantly, in the Botanical Gardens with a “Bring ‘n Brunch.” Many of my favorite people were there including Lizzy, all four women apprentices (Colletta, Melanie, Busi, and Adrienne), fellow staff Barbara and Dayna, the Wards and the Stewarts, Samantha and daughters, and two friends from Enterprise International (Kat and Sally). I was blessed by this small gathering. It has been quite cold lately, but the sun warmed us that day as we ate yummy brunch food and chocolate cake, and sipped mimosas. Barbara presented me with a lovely book of “30 memories” that friends here and abroad contributed to, complete with emails and photos. I will treasure it always. Here are a few shots from that morning:
A Few from the Brunch Party
Dayna and I in our "fairy party hats"
Barbara and I
July 20th 2009
The following day, another young lady celebrated a very important birthday: Emily’s daughter Lungile turned five years old. Adrienne, Busi and I brought a cake to Emily’s in Block KK of Soshanguve to celebrate. Emily was happy for the reprieve from her bakery work. She invited many of the surrounding neighbors’ kids over and we set up a little party for Lungile. I think she was quite pleased, judging from her cheerful and characteristically catty demeanor. Here’s a few from that day as well:
This is Lungile in All Her Cattiness
Oh Yeah! I am Five!
Me and My Friends. But I am the Queen.
And. . . She’s Back!
I just wanted to let everyone know (everyone being anyone who happens upon my site) that my blog is badly in need of updating. Of course, if you ever visit my site. . . you know that. Just to get you a TAD up to speed: Our 2008 apprenticeship year ended well, with an “eighties- themed” birthday party for staff member Daleen and many farewells among the apprentices, their ministry friends, and us.
In the interim time between apprenticeships, Barbara and I had a South African Christmas, visiting friends in the nearby township of Soshanguve after a slumber party with two girlfriends on Christmas Eve. The two months for me were blessed with much time with Soshanguve friends, especially those in “Granny’s family,” a family of mostly women and children whom we’ve gotten to know well over the years. I have enjoyed praying for Wholesome Bakery on Mondays, a new business venture managed by Granny’s youngest daughter Emily at her house in Block KK. I also enjoyed greatly a trip I took to Port Elizabeth (on the coast) with fellow staff members Barbara, Bryan, Daleen, and Dayna (with her husband Tony), and our good friend who’s been our landlord these past months, Elizabeth.
All in all it’s been a full-but-good two months and now, as we are wrapping up preparations for the new apprenticeship year, I am in that in-between state of readiness, not sure of how all the new changes will feel. Please pray, if you think of me, for my energy level as we begin a three-week-long orientation. And pray for divinely smooth transitions for our new (eight) apprentices and exceptional unity for our staff. I covet prayers right now and will continue to update folks on how to pray.
So there’s the “short” synopsis. I hope to write again soon.
God bless, and stay well!!
Sarah
Portraits
Recently I’ve had the chance to do some portraits for people who have been interested. One set was for the Stewart family, for their yearly family portrait. Unfortunately, I was a bit late to their house so we only had a wedge of sunlight left to work with in the nearby park. Many of them were not so great because of it, but there were a few really cute ones, even if not the ideal- this was one (from left to right, Arthur-Paul, Melissa, Arthur, Iain, and Mairin):
I also had the awesome privilege of helping to fulfill a little dream that my friend Busi has had for a while of doing a certain style of photo for her, dressed in a sheet- kind of like in Roman times. We did some really amazing shots in my backyard, mostly in black and white, but this one was really classic and gives you some idea of the set-up:
It has been fun to get back into photography a bit, especially as I haven’t yet gotten back to my art. But this is a type of art! Portraits, especially like the ones I did for Busi, are my favorite type of photography- it is just an amazing feeling to be able to speak to someone, through the lens of your camera, how beautiful she is. . .
Raining Jacaranda
It is the time of the jacaranda here in Pretoria North, South Africa. The weather is humid, sometimes hot, and the past week or two, has been on the verge of storm. Jacarandas, common to California as well, are in full bloom now, and especially at our “home base” Pangani, the purple blossoms seem to be constantly raining down on us, the ground, and our cars. Here is a photo to give you an idea of the trees, the ominous clouds, and the wind, which has also been rather prevalent. (The other night there was a hint of rain and I nearly rejoiced in full but it was short-lived. We have yet to see a good rain for this season.)
The House on Rus Street
So, I too often (as with many things) chide myself for not posting on here enough. The past few days, I have recognized the unwanted, unprecedented amount of guilt I allow in my life on a daily basis, and today other well-meaning friends helped me to remember that such guilt- well, actually, it is not biblical. There is conviction and remorse and regret that lead to repentance and then moving on. But guilt? It’s mostly manufactured by that little creep some refer to as the devil.
My dilemma: Here I am, sitting in (go figure) “the sitting room” at Pangani, thinking I should just post some pictures on here, and realizing that the most recent, relevant ones I have that I’d like to post are at home on my camera. But my desire to rid myself of my unnecessary guilt in this case has overridden my sense of what’s “reasonable,” (plus, I just feel like writing and posting pics =)) and so I decided: I am just going to post some pictures of something that is quite relevant to my life lately, and actually plays a notable part in my life as of late: the house that I live in on Rus street.
I’ll just try to find some that some of you might find amusing/interesting/worthy of your gaze. They’re not all new pics, but new to many of you. . . and that’s what matters, right?
On another day I’ll bring you into the life that I live outside of my house (I actually do live one) in South Africa as a NieuCommunities staff person doing life and mission with others. But for now, we’ll start with what’s comfortable- what’s “sweet”- with where I reside- where I sleep- begin- rest- do the majority of my thinking and grieving and rejuvinating. And without further adieu. . .
An example of what our garage looked like before we transformed it into a place to park a car and create great art.
Birds of Paradise at our neighbors
Our other neighbors (over the fence behind our yard)
Our grass produced monsters before we got a gardener.
Ma laundry
Our "electricity box" that we recharge every few weeks.
Hose from our ghetto washing machine ("Remember to hook the hose over the sink")
My room, before the final rearrangement ("final" is relative)
Our bathtub and triangular mirror.
Latest Update
Hi friends,
Sorry for not updating sooner! Most of it had to do with the fact that I have been quite busy getting settled and transitioning into this new position as staff with NieuCommunities South Africa (NCSA). It’s amazing when I think about it, all that has happened in the past month and a half since my arrival end of May. Aside from getting to know the apprentices and the usual chaos of regular schedule, hosting guests, attending important events (baby showers, birthdays, and sadly, a funeral of a very dear friend of ours), a staff retreat here, an urban ministry consultation there, starting to see a spiritual director (all of the staff are encouraged to have something of the sort), and visiting our beloved “Granny’s family” in the informal settlement of Soshanguve, Barbara and I have officially moved into a house, bought a car, secured pre-paid cell phones, and are still getting to know the ins and outs of renting a home here, including working out plumbing issues, “recharging” the electricity each month, and trying to stay warm with our space heaters heating one room at a time. Yeah, it’s July, but man, it is “winter” here.
A little background on our house: When I was still back in the States, Barbara had decided on this house to rent from our friend Elizabeth (“Lizzy”)- technically it belongs to her elder brother who is serving in Iraq, so she is standing in as our landlord for a year or so. My favorite part about the house is this: It is on “Rus” Street, directly down the street (1.5k or about 1mi.) from the NCSA headquarters guesthouse, Pangani. A week or so of living in our new house, Barbara informed me that Lizzy had told her “Rus” meant “rest” in Afrikaans. I can’t tell you how much that “sealed the deal” for me as far as our new home went. A major theme for me the past few years has been to listen to God as He calls me to “rest,” and most recently, since transitioning to staff, hearing a clear call from Him that He would like me to be a “Woman of Rest,” who communicates rest to others. Honestly, I still don’t have that particular call figured out yet, but I’m working on it.
Which brings me to what specifically I have been doing for the past month in particular. Soon after I got here, I met with our director Arthur a few times, and he suggested that I take a month as a sort of “Just Arrived” month to work on my personal “settling in” priority list. I jumped at the opportunity, and so for the past four weeks have been focusing on such things like medical and health insurance issues, support and other matters of finance, finding a spiritual mentor and a bible tutor, buying a car and home furnishings, establishing regular time with God, setting up things that are “life-giving” to me such as art and exercise, organizing various folders and information, getting to know the apprentices and engaging in community activities as I can, and working on the “Personal Covenant” that each staff must create, thinking realistically about the commitments I’d like to make in the areas of “Communion,” “Community,” and “Mission,” and dreaming about what my role as staff might look like.
That may sound like a lot, and it has been! It has been exciting too as I have felt the grace of being given this period of time to learn, to focus, and to listen more to God as to what I should do as opposed to other demands or priorities. I’ve mostly appreciated starting to get my emotional and physical health stuff under control, addressing spiritual needs (as I had left the States feeling fairly drained and pretty needy in that area), taking in the culture around me in a fresh new way since last year as an apprentice, finding rest and peace and comfort at our house as we’ve been slowly buying furniture and personalizing little things, and just letting the thought of “I really live here now” soak in. I am so grateful for the time to transition, as I’ve felt a bit unanchored up until now.
I won’t lie to you though, some things have been harder than I expected. Much of this whole experience to me is quite new- probably one of the biggest transitions of my life if not the biggest. For me, it marks a commitment I have made in my heart that is quite large for a lady not completely used to life-altering decisions or commitment in general (turning twenty-nine tomorrow, and yes, still no significant other =)). Identifying oneself in the “missionary” category, no matter how un-traditional it may be, really sets one apart or at least automatically betrays the seriousness of your faith to those who may not have realized what a “big deal” it was to you beforehand, to those you newly meet, and even to those who have known you for years. Also the step from what we call at NieuCommunities “apprentice” to “staff” is more expansive than I expected. I’m not sure if I thought that this time in South Africa I would wake up equipped with all of the gifts and knowledge that a seasoned staff-person has or what, but it’s clearly just not that way. From day 1, God has been shaping me and informing me of my weaknesses, my true strengths, and where I may need to yield in order to work in the area of either of them, and it is not always a pleasant process. But I’ve been reminded that Jesus’ “yoke is easy, and [his] burden is light” (Matthew 11:30), and that has been helping me. Not to mention, a little help from my friends =).
To at least touch on our current apprentices this year and a little Africa update, as I’m sure folks may be curious about both. . .
• The apprentices: Let me just say that we have a very diverse group this year. Ethnically, they are all in the “Caucasian” category, but one is a native South African, one a Canadian, and the rest are spread out over the U.S. (from Florida to Georgia to Virginia Beach to Illinois to California). Four females, and four males (much more balanced than our 4:1 female to male ratio last year). Everyone is quite different in personality but there is a lot of creativity among the group (many musicians, artists, writers, a closet actor, and even a seamstress). There are many natural leaders in the group and blossoming leaders, and each apprentice has a fairly unique Christian background, from charismatic to fundamentalist, so. . . it makes for a lot of diversity! In ministry this year, they are serving refugees from Zimbabwe, girls who are victims of trafficking, developmentally disabled children, kids affected by AIDs in a nearby township, and those who are interested in the “emergent church” conversation, among other things.
• As far as Africa goes, Zimbabwe is much more on the media radar over here than in the States, and for a reason- It is not a tolerable situation there to say the least. Mugabe, the current leader, managed to rig the elections ONCE AGAIN, and the inflation, torture, abuse, and famine is abominable. One of our apprentices, Jody, is there right now just for a few days. He’s staying with the family of Manatseh, a Zimbabwean he’s become very close to (who currently lives at Pangani). Jody hopes to provide assurance to churches that we are actively praying on their behalf, and is open to what God might do during this trip. Manatseh fled Zimbabwe, leaving his kids with relatives, only to come to South Africa when xenophobic (“fear of foreigner”) attacks were being unleashed on refugees and immigrants from other African countries. These attacks are still petering out. And as I mentioned, two of our apprentices work directly with Zimbabwean refugees. So please, do not forget Africa in your prayers.
A Few of My Favorite Things. . .
(to give you some idea of what my life is like here in Pretoria North, South Africa):
• Honeybush peach Lipton herbal tea
• Coming “home” on Rus Street, where we have no internet access to distract us, only a bathtub, thus necessitating a relaxing bath, a huge yard (albeit overgrown with weeds) for laying out in the sun, and a nice “stoep” where I sit on the steps to eat my breakfast in the sun (this is important, as our house is otherwise freezing right now in the middle of winter, and any other shaded area for that matter).
• Ingram’s Camphor Cream for after a bath. I discovered it at the store and it has this lovely fragrance from my childhood that I can’t quite place. Makes me feel at home.
• Traditional rooibos tea
• Spontaneous worship with the very musically-talented apprentices.
• Community meals where we are all together and often many exciting, unexpected guests too.
• Thinking about creating my art space in our garage and converting part of an office at Pangani to a “Creative Space” with the apprentices
• Browsing my beautiful, new study bible that some relatives sent me providentially (sea green, with my name engraved on it) before I left the States.
• Our new space heater- the one that blows out hot air from side to side and actually can heat a room.
• Going to “Cherry on Top” (a local diner with anything you could want on the menu, very Afrikaaner-run) like old times with previous mentor and now fellow staff Melissa
• Hanging out with the Stewart kids (Arthur-Paul, Iain, and Mairin)
• Re-uniting with those I did ministry with last year at the Tshwane Leadership Foundation (TLF) and hearing about their hope and undying zeal to transform the city of Pretoria in the name of Jesus’ love.
• In particular, reuniting with Ezekiel, Vestine, and their kids Frank and Happiness, who work for the housing section and women and children’s shelter of TLF, who are from Rwanda and whom I bonded with especially at the end of last year.
And for those of you who experiment with prayer, Prayer Requests. . .
We are currently in the “Contending” posture (the third posture out of six during the year), which involves praying and standing up for ourselves, one another, and others, with God. It is also a time of learning about and confronting the realities of spiritual warfare, and so if you think of us, you can pray for us especially around the areas of protection, unity, guidance, freedom, and healing from many past and current things. Also prayer for health and general well-being and safety. This posture we are also engaging the disciplines of simplicity, fasting, and confession (they all tie into one another), so please pray for us as many of us are trying to live on less for the month of July, are more vulnerable as we fast from food and other things, and are more vulnerable emotionally as we confess and confide more deeply in one another.
I can also use prayer myself for:
o The motivation and energy to run. The altitude is higher here, which makes it difficult in starting out. Also, I recently had an unexplained allergic reaction during my last run, and it was quite disconcerting. So please pray for health in that area too.
o A stronger sense of myself as I am beginning to define my role here.
o Close peer relationships, and the maintaining of mutual respect.
o Learning appropriate boundaries, in all relationships and situations. (I am currently reading and doing a series with some women here on “Boundaries,” a book by Cloud and Townsend. I highly recommend it).
o Grace towards myself as I grow into things here, and the freedom to be myself.
o That all spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical needs (rather than wants) would be filled.
o Time and space for art.
o Continuing to “keep things simple” in accordance to God’s call for me.
o That my ministry goals would be shaped and redefined with ease and clarity. Making a plan for finishing the book of womens’ stories that Barbara and I are doing.
o Clarity to make right decisions/wisdom.
o That all plumbing and house-related issues would be worked out. Also, that getting the registration for our car would go smoothly.
Last Note: Our car (a ’96 Hyundai Accent) only has a cassette player, so if you feel like sending anything, cassettes of really great music would be my only wish. We do a fair amount of driving and the radio station selections (most of them a mixture of many things) only go so far. Please send to: 106 Emily Hobhouse Ave., Pretoria North 0182 South Africa.
Keep well. And until I post again,
God bless,
Sarah
No wait. Of course. I’ll leave you with some photos.
Me on Front Stoep of Our New Home
My Beloved Rus (means "rest" in Afrikaans) Street on Which Barbara and I Now Live
The Look Lizzy (landlord and dear friend) and I Exchanged at My Birthday Dinner at First Bite of Homemade Chocolate Cake (I had a fabulous birthday by the way, spinster and all)
A Few of My Books
Our New Car (I bought while Barbara was in Vancouver B.C. for a conference)- 1996 Hyundai Accent
NCSA Staff Daleen with Bahati, Our Friends Luc and Petunia's Daughter, at Bahati's First Birthday (Luc and Petunia are on staff with Innerchange, another minstry with CRM, and recently moved to the township of Soshanguve to launch and incarnate that ministry)
Me, Barbara, Winnie, and Melissa at Granny's House for a Small Baby Shower We Had for Winnie, one of Granny's Grandaughters and a New Mom
Like I said, just a few. I’ll post more when I can!
Safe Arrival
Hello, All!
Guess where I am??? You guessed it! South Africa!
I arrived safely yesterday around 7:20am in the Johannesburg airport. Our site director Arthur, his eldest son Arthur-Paul, and one of the apprentices, Chris, picked me up. I was extremely grateful, laden with heavy luggage and somewhat disoriented by the reconstruction of the airport, to have some familiar and soon-to-be-familiar faces greet me, guide me out of the airport, and drive me (back on the left side of the road) to my new home!
God blessed me with needed times of rest on all of my flights, from Portland to Chicago to London to Jo’burg. I even got a couple of hours sleeping on comfy airport chairs in the London Heathrow airport among others who had the same idea.
Since being back at Pangani, the NieuCommunities’ main site and guesthouse where all the apprentices stay (where co-staff Barbara and I are staying until we move into our own place in two weeks), I have felt very wrapped in God’s love. He knows even better than I do what I have left behind, what awaits me in my new life here, all that I feel I must do to wrap up and process things from being in Portland, and all of the new responsibilities that await me as new staff here. And I feel that He is giving me time and space right now, to just adjust, and to be. I appreciate that- more than anything.
Because of this new-felt freedom from God, I am enjoying getting to know the apprentices here this year (eight of them- four guys and four girls), as well as reconnecting with others whom I had known before. And again, I feel God’s grace as I do, reminding me that I have all year to get to know folks and that it’s okay for me to not have the frenetic type of schedule, fitting things in, and daily, weekly, and monthly To-Do lists that I had grown so accustomed to the past few months. (I know I will start writing lists again soon, but God is reminding me right now of their arbitrary nature sometimes).
Right now I am staying at Pangani myself with fellow new staff Barbara in the extra house on the property. In two weeks, though, another couple and their kids are joining our community for the rest of the year and they’ll be staying in this house. So Barbara (who I affectionately refer to as “BJ”) found a place for us (while I was preparing to come in the past few weeks) and we’ll be moving into it on June 12th. It is actually our good friend Elizabeth’s brother’s house that he is renting out for a while (we’ll probably be there about a year). It’s only about a kilometer from Pangani, which is ideal as we will be coming and going there for community activities regularly. I may post pictures of it on here when I have more time!
For now, I’ll give you my mailing address. It is just the address for Pangani, as that is the most convenient place to have mail sent. So if you’d like to write or send me anything, you can mail to here:
106 Emily Hobhouse Ave.
Pretoria North 0182
South Africa
I will be continuing to update you and in the meantime, I am so grateful to all those who sent me off with love from Portland. Stay tuned and many blessings from “across the universe-” okay, just the world, I guess.
Love, Sarah
Quick Update
Just a quick update since I last wrote. I have secured a ticket for Johannesburg for May 29th and am very excited about that. It felt good to make that decisive step and now am continuing with preparations before I leave in three weeks. For those of you who wondered how I came to my decision of not attending the Amahoro conference in Rwanda this year, see my entry below, “May Day: The Verdict.”
I have a little left to raise for my monthly goal (at the time that I’m writing, 20%), and am following up with those who have expressed an interest in giving as well as those who are interested in hearing more in person about my ministry vision for the next couple of years.
As far as Rwanda goes, I know that I can always go back to visit some other day. I also am realizing how much I still have left to process from my last trip there, and what a blessing it was to be able to go last November. I am thankful for that and don’t want to take it for granted. I am continuing to keep in touch with some people I had met there the first time, and I feel that our connections are only growing stronger with time and distance even. If God does call me to return, I will be delighted when it is the right timing.
I want to thank those of you who have been reading about my own story. I am honored that people would be so interested, and it just confirms to me how fascinating we find stories of individuals to be. That was somewhat of a surprise, when I noticed that that is the page that’s getting the most viewing on my blog. I have been deeply blessed by those of you who have commented or were inspired to tell me things about your own lives’ journeys.
Well I will be in touch again when I know what my address in South Africa is. My friend Barbara, ministry partner and fellow new staff-person has been back in Pretoria two weeks and next week will start searching for an apartment for the two of us. Right now she is staying at NieuCommunities’ historic guest house “Pangani,” but I may be joining her someplace else when I return.
More later. Shalom.
Sarah skwoolley.girl@gmail.com (503) 789-8971
May Day: The Verdict
Hello, Friends.
Well, it’s May 1st! Today, if I was going to Rwanda, I was going to buy a ticket. Things don’t always work out as you planned. . .
I did come to a decision yesterday, through a rather intense day of listening to a friend, thinking, praying, and, for maybe the first time in a long time now, letting myself just “be” with God. I came to see that for many reasons, going to the Amahoro conference (which was my plan A in returning to Africa), was not wise at this time. I guess it took the pressure of a deadline for me to finally come to terms with that. It actually has less to do with the level of support I am at and more to do with what God wants to do in and through me before I leave Oregon.
I do want to apologize to those of you who have been tracking and hoping with me up to this point. Those who know me well know how much it was on my heart to go to Rwanda for this conference, and others were very encouraging as I pursued the possibility. Funny thing is, it actually was a possibility. But just because you “can” doesn’t always mean you “should.” Going to Rwanda became too much the focal point and narrow-minded vision for me right now. I was foregoing other relationships, overlooking last preparations I have to do before I leave, and forgetting where I am ultimately going that I want to mentally, physically, and spiritually prepare for- South Africa. It is actually an experience I’d like to write more about someday.
My grandma, wise woman that she is =), wrote me to gently suggest a “plan C,” and I think she was right. Aren’t grandmas always right? The general gist is that God-willing, I will leave for Pretoria, South Africa at the end of the month of May. I should be updating this at least once more before I leave. Although I very much wanted to go to the Amahoro conference in Rwanda, I am also rather relieved and know that I am doing the right thing.
Support-wise, I am doing quite well and feel God prompting me to continue with my progress and connections with people. I will continue to keep in touch and let you know how things pan out. Pretty soon, I’ll be able to post my address in South Africa! Thanks for your prayers, your endless support, and your interest.
Sarah
Email: skwoolley.girl@gmail.com Phone: (503) 789-8971
