Happy 4th of July!

Hello again!!

Happy fourth!! Even though I'm living with Africans, Dutch and British people we are still going to celebrate our independance day! I'm cooking hamburgers tonight and chocolate cookies for dessert. Too bad there isn't any watermelon or fireworks.

So community service. The kids are still out of school because of the World Cup so I'm still trying to coordinate activities for all 54 kids. Last week I took the older kids to the community to some of our housemother's homes so that they could see how many of their friends from school live and function. We had a list of chores for the kids to do so that they have some experience before they have to live there when they grow up. Rehoboth is blessed with such wonderful facilities, people and abundant food so many of the kids don't remember what it was like to be hungry or to live in such poverty. Here is a little of what we saw and did:

Here's where they live.

Here's B fetching water from the community tap.

Here's the fire burning sugar cane and trash.

This little boy from the community cut his heel open with the rusty can. The adults said, "sorry boy." That was it. No tetnis shot, no crying. The dirt was his bandaide.

This is one of our house mother's houses with one of her sister's kids. He looked that sad the whole time and doesn't talk.

This is one of the house moms in her home with another nephew.

Here's N,N, and N practicing our balancing before getting the water.

Here I am making a total fool out of myself. I had this baby on my back for at least an hour or two. He conked out pretty fast so he was even heavier. Haibo!

Even more thankful for my washing machine.

I can't say that I was surprised by the inhumane living conditions. It's a photo straight from National Geographic or a "sponsor-a-child" commercial. It is exactly how everyone pictures Africa minus the lions and elephants running around in the background. :)

People watched me walk around with a Zulu baby strapped to my back with a towel and watched the dumb "umlungu" drop her bucket off her head over and over. I fumbled over my few phrases and words in Zulu while they chuckled at me. I carried that baby on my back on Thursday. Today is Sunday and my back is still sore.

No, I wasn't surprised that the only running water in the community was a mile uphill. I wasn't surprised that 3 generations of women and children lived in a one room shack without proper locks, beds, or chairs. I wasn't surprised that the kids played games with a ball made out of plastic bags and rusted cans. I wasn't surprised that all of the fathers/husbands had abandoned their families. I was surprised at how hopeless I felt for the community. No one is dreaming American dreams. I couldn't see a way to break the cycle of poverty, disease and crime without being ridiculously idealistic. I wonder what its like to grow up knowing that this is the best its going to get. No way out.

After I came home I began to think through all of the times that the Bible tells us to trust in Him or not to worry. I've always taken comfort in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. "Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, be he said to me, 'My grace is sufficeint for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong." After this week though, I don't think that I really understand how radical those verses were from Paul to the church in Corinth. Here are a few examples of my real life stuggles, worries, weaknesses etc:

1. Stuggle: Sick. My hair clogged the shower drain again. I'm gonna gag if I have to pull it out with a clothes hanger.

2. Worry: What if I don't get married until I'm 30!!

3. Weakness: My hand shape wasn't perfect in my Sign Language video so I made a C even though I spent so much time practicing that dang story.

4. Struggle and weakness: I don't have enough time to do everything. I want to stay and play Signs with BRH but I have 3 tests tomorrow.

Here are a few of their struggles:

1. Stuggle: I don't have a shower. No one in my community has a shower.

2. Worry: I have HIV and so does my baby. I don't have money for ARVs and would lose my job if they knew my status.

3. Weakness: I just walked with a baby on my back 10 miles to go to town so that I could buy milk.

4. Stuggle: My coworker rapes me every day on the side of the road when we leave work.

It's not that my fears and stuggles aren't real. They are. I guess what I realized this week is that my trust and hope isn't completely in God. It's in other things too. I trust that America will provide me with opportunities. I trust that my dad will never let me go hungry. I trust that my insurance will never leave me without my medication. I trust that my electric gate and three locks on my door will keep me safe. I trust in myself that I can do it. I can figure out the problem or study harder. The people living in these communities do not have anything to trust except for God. It's hard for me to read scripture that tells me not to worry when I have friends that are really sick. It's hard not to worry when I bomb a test. I can't imagine how hard it is to have that faith and trust in God when the stakes are so much higher. My prayer for my last 6 weeks here is to be dependent on God. To learn from the people around me who need faith to keep going.

Love you and miss you!!

-b