Life has changed quite a bit since the last time I’ve written, time for an update!
At the beginning of last month my pastor here moved me to Bellville, a suburb about thirty minutes away. It’s still technically Cape Town (the city HUGE, the size of the entire peninsula) and is a bigger urban center than Athlone, where I’ve been living. Haven’t gotten a chance to explore much quite yet, but I have discovered the fantastic chicken place down the street which is enough for now. He has asked me to volunteer now for the Bellville Lutheran Youth Center to help with their program development. It’s fun work that I love doing, I get to organize community outreach, help plan events, and help develop the internal workings of the organization to make it more efficient.
Moving is never easy, and it was very sad leaving my family behind. In some ways it felt like starting all over again because it took a couple weeks before figuring out how to get around without getting lost. I am staying at the center’s youth hostel which is currently being used as student housing. In some ways it feels like being back in college but having people to hang out with all the time has been fun.
A few days a week I also go in to a women’s center nearby to volunteer. They’re a really neat organization and work to empower women in many ways, but primarily economically. Many skills-based and business classes are offered along with educational outreach about parenting and domestic violence. They also host afterschool programs for girls in the local community. The ladies are a feisty, dedicated bunch and it’s been fun spending time with them and hearing their stories.
Throughout all of the big changes I’ve been trying to focus on an outlook of gratitude rather than being overwhelmed by circumstances. Yes, I’m in a new place, starting over, and away from the families I’ve come to love but at the same time I’ve gained an opportunity to learn and connect with a new place. I’m grateful so far for the new friendships, opportunity to witness life at the women’s center, and to walk with the Bellville community for a little while.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed with life when things go out of our control, but living in gratitude reminds us just how fortunate we are no matter our circumstances. It’s a lesson I’m still learning and with grace trying to walk in more each day.
And while I’m sharing in gratitude, let me take a moment to say thank you to each of you following this blog. Thank you for listening, for your support, and for being part of the bigger story spreading God’s love in the world. Sometimes just simply listening is the biggest gift we can give.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
God's World, Our Church
In the view off the height of the mountain, in the smile of Tameron learning to read, in the singing of hymns on Sunday, God is in each of these moments.
I don’t know where I got the idea that God is only in the church. Something about church being called the “House of God” and the beautiful, ethereal sanctuaries we build for Him makes it feel as if the only place He would want to live is in such places. Truthfully though, people didn’t give God a permanent “home” until Solomon came along and stationed his gorgeous temple in the solid ground of Israel’s soil. From there on, the rest is history.
But God is so much bigger than that. He is everywhere. He promises to be with us, through Jesus, “even unto the end of the age.” Wherever we go, He is there. The thought is at once comforting and huge. If God is with us everywhere, then in each moment we have the chance to grow closer to Him and embody the love that He wants most from us.
Living here in South Africa, it’s funny to find that some of my most meaningful “God moments” have happened outside of church services. Athlone Primary North, the school I’ve been helping at, is about as far from looking like a church as you can get. With baby blue walls, a class bell that sounds like a tornado warning, and hundreds of children running around there’s hardly a moment of peace for quiet reflection. There isn’t a meeting place or auditorium, no stained glass. And I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a church with dinosaur posters in the hallways.
Despite all that, God’s love is everywhere inside. If you’ve ever worked with kids, you know that it’s not always easy to show patience and love to them unconditionally, especially when they’re en masse. Put a class of 37 eight and nine year olds together and you’ve got a recipe for chaos. Talk about walking the talk and the challenge of putting God’s love into action. At first it was exhausting giving them the kind of unconditional love that Jesus set the example for us to walk in. But like any muscle, the heart gets stronger with use.
One little girl in particular, Tameron, really gave Ms. Tshivhase and I a hard time. She was loud, wandered the classroom like it was her playground, and had the annoying habit of hitting the kid next to her with her ruler. As if we didn’t have enough crying kids on a daily basis. To be able to give more attention to the rest of the class, Ms. Tshivhase asked me to take Tameron on as my personal project in tutoring and helping her behave. The first time she came to the back of the class to work with me, her frizzy pigtail braids bouncing as she skipped, all I could think was, “here comes trouble.”
It only took a couple of reading sessions with her to break the ice. After reading each word she would snap her head up to look at me with a “did I do that right?” stare. Genuine encouragement became easier to give each time I worked with her and pretty soon, we both looked forward to time together. Getting over my initial prejudices to show her love not only let me experience the joy of showing God’s love in the world but also did wonders to Tameron’s behavior issues. After a couple of weeks she became one of the most dedicated students in the class and even became the week’s Class Captain for good behavior.
On Valentine’s Day a purple, heart-shaped cut out ended up on my desk with “b my valentin?” scrawled messily across it in crayon. Somewhere between “here comes trouble” and that day, God’s love had come between and created something beautiful. For me it was a moment in which God’s love was made tangible, a reminder that we can encounter Him everyday in the most unexpected of places.
Just as God created the world, loves everyone in it, and is everywhere on it, so are we called to show His love wherever we go. Inside and outside of the church, experiencing the love of God can happen in very real ways wherever we find ourselves.
I don’t know where I got the idea that God is only in the church. Something about church being called the “House of God” and the beautiful, ethereal sanctuaries we build for Him makes it feel as if the only place He would want to live is in such places. Truthfully though, people didn’t give God a permanent “home” until Solomon came along and stationed his gorgeous temple in the solid ground of Israel’s soil. From there on, the rest is history.
But God is so much bigger than that. He is everywhere. He promises to be with us, through Jesus, “even unto the end of the age.” Wherever we go, He is there. The thought is at once comforting and huge. If God is with us everywhere, then in each moment we have the chance to grow closer to Him and embody the love that He wants most from us.
Living here in South Africa, it’s funny to find that some of my most meaningful “God moments” have happened outside of church services. Athlone Primary North, the school I’ve been helping at, is about as far from looking like a church as you can get. With baby blue walls, a class bell that sounds like a tornado warning, and hundreds of children running around there’s hardly a moment of peace for quiet reflection. There isn’t a meeting place or auditorium, no stained glass. And I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a church with dinosaur posters in the hallways.
Despite all that, God’s love is everywhere inside. If you’ve ever worked with kids, you know that it’s not always easy to show patience and love to them unconditionally, especially when they’re en masse. Put a class of 37 eight and nine year olds together and you’ve got a recipe for chaos. Talk about walking the talk and the challenge of putting God’s love into action. At first it was exhausting giving them the kind of unconditional love that Jesus set the example for us to walk in. But like any muscle, the heart gets stronger with use.
One little girl in particular, Tameron, really gave Ms. Tshivhase and I a hard time. She was loud, wandered the classroom like it was her playground, and had the annoying habit of hitting the kid next to her with her ruler. As if we didn’t have enough crying kids on a daily basis. To be able to give more attention to the rest of the class, Ms. Tshivhase asked me to take Tameron on as my personal project in tutoring and helping her behave. The first time she came to the back of the class to work with me, her frizzy pigtail braids bouncing as she skipped, all I could think was, “here comes trouble.”
It only took a couple of reading sessions with her to break the ice. After reading each word she would snap her head up to look at me with a “did I do that right?” stare. Genuine encouragement became easier to give each time I worked with her and pretty soon, we both looked forward to time together. Getting over my initial prejudices to show her love not only let me experience the joy of showing God’s love in the world but also did wonders to Tameron’s behavior issues. After a couple of weeks she became one of the most dedicated students in the class and even became the week’s Class Captain for good behavior.
On Valentine’s Day a purple, heart-shaped cut out ended up on my desk with “b my valentin?” scrawled messily across it in crayon. Somewhere between “here comes trouble” and that day, God’s love had come between and created something beautiful. For me it was a moment in which God’s love was made tangible, a reminder that we can encounter Him everyday in the most unexpected of places.
Just as God created the world, loves everyone in it, and is everywhere on it, so are we called to show His love wherever we go. Inside and outside of the church, experiencing the love of God can happen in very real ways wherever we find ourselves.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Of Flower Bonnets and Freedom Fighters
Wind ruffles the peach flower petals in Jenny’s Sunday Best bonnet while elderly Mrs. Matthews sniffles at the breeze. Buttered hot dog rolls and immaculately sliced watermelon are passed across the picnic table with polite offers of soft drinks. The three older women swap recipes for egg salad as the shade tree’s leaves rustle softly overhead. It’s a perfect 28°C on a lazy Thursday afternoon and somehow I’ve found myself in the midst of retired, feisty freedom fighters.
It’d been months since the initial invitation and plans had finally fallen together to spend an afternoon together. Vivian rolled up in her white sedan that had seen better days and cheerfully told me that some of her friends would be joining us as well. By the time Jenny and Mrs. Matthews had squeezed into the car in all their flowery-bonnet-hatted glory, I had quite resigned myself to the idea of a quiet afternoon out with the Golden Girls.
But somewhere between the hard-boiled eggs and puff pastries stories slowly slipped into conversation...
“We hid several of them at the Youth Center, right in plain sight! Disguised as visiting volunteers, they were.”
“I only went to prison for a little while because they kept confusing me with another lady, sent her to prison instead. Poor girl. They didn’t need proof, just wanted to scare people into being quiet.”
“The police knew me by then but thankfully we got away without any raids, they’d have for sure done us in.”
Jenny slyly drops me a wink across and for a moment the strong willed and zealous younger woman shines through. She’s no longer past sixty, but young and passionate and willing to do whatever it takes to fight for what is right. Yet the ordinariness of the three women around me feels like a piece of hope.
If they could change their world, why not us?
Apartheid was ended when everyday people got involved and started standing up against injustice. They had families, careers, homes to lose yet still they did what they knew was right for themselves and their nation. They were inspired by injustice, stood their ground, fought, won, and still managed to make it to glorious retirements full of picnics and friendships and flowery bonnets.
It makes me wonder, how much could our world be changed if each of us found something worth standing up for—and actually did something about it?
Speeding down side streets on the way home, Vivian looks sidelong at me and laughs deeply. Getting caught is no worry.
“They can’t scare me with prison, I’ve already been there!”
A Confession
It’s true. I, Jen Jepsen, the pre-South Africa vegetarian (1.5 years!), reluctantly admit that I have rediscovered my love of barbeque. And hotdogs. And fish ‘n chips. And real hamburgers.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Back to School!
“Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books,
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.”
Forgive the Shakespeare, I just saw A Midsummer Night's Dream on Monday and am still on a Shakespeare kick.
School’s back in session! The kids were more than excited to get their break back in December and it’s sad for all of us to say goodbye to the summer holidays. Overall, I feel pretty darn lucky to get TWO summer breaks in one year. Sounds almost too good to be true, eh?
The last class started out the year in their old classroom which meant getting TONS of hugs from the kids I grew to love over three long months working hard and playing hard with them. When the newest bunch came in there was a weird feeling of “I’m going to love these children soon.” At that point I couldn’t even pronounce all their names (give Sibusiso, Umulo Kiara, Luqmaan, and Kuhle a try) and they were already getting pretty riley with first-day jitters.
By now it’s the third week of school and we’ve already started with the reading assessments and funny songs. Already I’m getting hugs and excited “Jen!”s when I come to the classroom. Handing out all the stickers in class and play with them at breaks has that side effect, it isn’t hard to win kids’ affection.
Here’s a picture of the teacher I work with, Mrs. Tshivhase! She’s a truly inspiring, strong woman single handedly raising her own family of four girls. Working with her has been a true inspiration in the dedication she shows to her students inside and outside of the classroom. Mrs. Tshivhase is a phenomenal teacher and already has me half convinced to become a teacher myself. This photo was taken by me for a book about South African teachers.
Forgive the Shakespeare, I just saw A Midsummer Night's Dream on Monday and am still on a Shakespeare kick.
School’s back in session! The kids were more than excited to get their break back in December and it’s sad for all of us to say goodbye to the summer holidays. Overall, I feel pretty darn lucky to get TWO summer breaks in one year. Sounds almost too good to be true, eh?
The last class started out the year in their old classroom which meant getting TONS of hugs from the kids I grew to love over three long months working hard and playing hard with them. When the newest bunch came in there was a weird feeling of “I’m going to love these children soon.” At that point I couldn’t even pronounce all their names (give Sibusiso, Umulo Kiara, Luqmaan, and Kuhle a try) and they were already getting pretty riley with first-day jitters.
By now it’s the third week of school and we’ve already started with the reading assessments and funny songs. Already I’m getting hugs and excited “Jen!”s when I come to the classroom. Handing out all the stickers in class and play with them at breaks has that side effect, it isn’t hard to win kids’ affection.
Here’s a picture of the teacher I work with, Mrs. Tshivhase! She’s a truly inspiring, strong woman single handedly raising her own family of four girls. Working with her has been a true inspiration in the dedication she shows to her students inside and outside of the classroom. Mrs. Tshivhase is a phenomenal teacher and already has me half convinced to become a teacher myself. This photo was taken by me for a book about South African teachers.
A Second Look at Unemployment
Walking laps around the house for no reason, watching an entire 3 seasons of a TV show, resorting to watching terribly made (yet terribly entertaining) Bollywood movies…. With December summer holidays came a LOT of free time, almost more than I felt like I knew what to do with. In sitting around the house, having little money to go anywhere, going through all the stages of not know what to do with myself set in. I’m “employed” but mandatorily on break during school holiday.
In getting frustrated with all the free time, it got me to thinking about what it is like to be unemployed and to have that much time free on a regular basis. Feeling ready and able to help but having nowhere to go was frustrating. Going through that on a small, temporary scale, it’s hard to even imagine the depth of frustration in having a family to feed/being properly educated/having ambition and simply not being able to get a job.
Unemployment is a rising issue, especially with the economic downturn of the last few years, but it never became personal until coming here. The rates are staggering, reaching almost 80% in some areas. Cape Town hovers between 25-40% which is better but still crushing when you think of its scale. The youth without jobs too often find themselves in trouble which is partly why my neighborhood isn’t safe. Without other means of getting money gangsterism thrives in Cape Flats and feeds off the drug use happening in lower income areas.
The perceptions too often of the “laziness” of people in other countries is also tied up with unemployment. Yes, it’s true that a large percentage of people here don’t have jobs. Yes, they do often sit at home because of that or find themselves sitting in the streets for lack of better things to do. But it’s sobering to realize that it’s not cultural “laziness” but a lack of a place to go and work. It has nothing with lack of desire to work. Hearing the stories of people wanting to work but stuck in unemployment brings a whole new face to the issue.
In getting frustrated with all the free time, it got me to thinking about what it is like to be unemployed and to have that much time free on a regular basis. Feeling ready and able to help but having nowhere to go was frustrating. Going through that on a small, temporary scale, it’s hard to even imagine the depth of frustration in having a family to feed/being properly educated/having ambition and simply not being able to get a job.
Unemployment is a rising issue, especially with the economic downturn of the last few years, but it never became personal until coming here. The rates are staggering, reaching almost 80% in some areas. Cape Town hovers between 25-40% which is better but still crushing when you think of its scale. The youth without jobs too often find themselves in trouble which is partly why my neighborhood isn’t safe. Without other means of getting money gangsterism thrives in Cape Flats and feeds off the drug use happening in lower income areas.
The perceptions too often of the “laziness” of people in other countries is also tied up with unemployment. Yes, it’s true that a large percentage of people here don’t have jobs. Yes, they do often sit at home because of that or find themselves sitting in the streets for lack of better things to do. But it’s sobering to realize that it’s not cultural “laziness” but a lack of a place to go and work. It has nothing with lack of desire to work. Hearing the stories of people wanting to work but stuck in unemployment brings a whole new face to the issue.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Disturb Us, O Lord
A powerful prayer from South African priest and freedom fighter, Desmond Tutu:
Disturb us, O Lord
when we are too well-pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord
when with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the water of life
when, having fallen in love with time,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.
Stir us, O Lord
to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas
where storms show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes
and invited the brave to follow.
Amen
Disturb us, O Lord
when we are too well-pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord
when with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the water of life
when, having fallen in love with time,
we have ceased to dream of eternity
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.
Stir us, O Lord
to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas
where storms show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes
and invited the brave to follow.
Amen
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