Regarding the Month of February

Hey Everyone,

Well, here we are, two weeks later. Some of you may have in fact just received a 'prayer letter' from me, which may carry some cross-over content with this blog, so, be forewarned if you are reading both.

Parents Arrival!

The latest news for me is that my mom and dad just arrived in South Africa a few days ago! I just talked with them this morning and they are quite happy with their stay so far. They did have a pretty amazing story though – not half an hour after they took off from the airport in Amsterdam, a plane crashed at that very airport! If their flight had been any later they probably would not have been able to take off until a good while later, and thanks goodness they were not on that particular flight that crashed, my oh my. Anyway, the folks are going on a 'safari tour' of South Africa, and they are very excited about it. I'm not sure how much of it is actually safari, they actually have quite a diverse tour from what I understand of it. I'm very proud of them, they've been diligently doing their homework before they came reading books and watching movies as suggested by 'Lonely Planet', so they are all set and ready to be here. They'll be in Sea Point from March 18-24, and of course I'm very excited to see them.

J Pre: Listen Up!

Now for something completely different, Listen Up! Is the name of the album that the father of my host family is releasing. His real name is John Pretorias, and he's actually a fairly prominent musician here in South Africa. He was the music behind Nelson Mandela's rise to presidency here in South Africa in 1994 and previously, so he's fairly well known in South Africa. The album is available internationally on iTunes, Amazon.com and etc., but if you want to check out one song, I would recommend 'Rise – to the Occasion of Your Life' it's a song on the album and is under negotiations to be the official song of the FIFA World Cup 2010, which is a pretty big deal around here, so they tell me.

Developments in Ministry at Sea Point

I'm really starting to develop some regularity with my ministry around here, which is nice. I think it's good to have a schedule with some predictability, although that's a lot to ask of pastoral ministry, as a lot of it ends up being crisis management and things you just can't predict. Perhaps I should say that I'm enjoying my predictable schedule while I have it, and just waiting for what the next crisis might be. As Thomas and I have discussed before, the plan for my involvement here is to have a rather 'light' schedule officially, and then to fill the rest of my time as I best see fit. So it's nice to have the flexibility, but it's a lot of responsibility as well.

Right now my schedule looks something like this: Monday – day off, Tuesday – weekly catch-up with Thomas, minister's Bible Study, Wednesday – 'Over 21's' Bible Study, Thursday – miscellaneous visits, paper work, etc., Friday – Youth group, Saturday – meetings and interviews at church, Sunday – chaos and mayhem, also: church. And then there's always an infinite amount of day to day tasks that I could endeavour on, should I so choose. So I'm never short of work to do, which is nice, and I have the flexibility to decide what I should take on and what I shouldn't. So in terms of work load, it's a pretty ideal job, but it is very easy to take on too much or not enough, so one has to be wise in what kind of work to get involved in, and knowing when to say “when.”


Accommodation Situation

Things also continue to develop in terms of where I'm living. The church leadership and I have decided that my current situation isn't ideal. The general opinion of the leadership at church is that it is important for a minister to have a home that is a place of relaxation and comfort, a place to unwind after being out and about serving the community. This is definitely what my current place is not. So, it makes sense for me to move on at the end of March. It will be a bit difficult to move on. First off, I really hate moving, so I'm not looking forward to that too much. But also, despite the fact that they're really not equipped to be hosting people right now, I've come to like my host family. Their lives are so hectic, I cannot imagine, but they really are good people and they're trying to hold things together. I hope I can leave here on good terms, and I think I will, but sometimes it's difficult to understand what's best for everyone. I do believe my decision to go is the best decision, but it wasn't an easy decision for me to make. Either way, at the end of the month I'm (probably) moving into a little B&B that a nice lady from our church runs. I'm starting to look forward to it, I think it's going to be a very different experience to living where I currently am – a little more peaceful I believe. We'll see.

Cultural Experiences

I'm trying to get out and around to different cultural events around Sea Point. A few weeks ago I went to see a tribute concert for Miriam 'Mama Africa' Makeba, a legendary vocalist from South Africa. The easiest comparison to give to her is Ella Fitzgerald, in terms of genre and time frame, but really that doesn't do either artist justice, that just gives you an idea of Mama Africa was. It was a fantastic show, South Africa really does have some immense musical talent, from beginning to end there were fantastic performers. Unfortunately I was unfamiliar with most of the songs that were performed, but they style and the quality aloud was such that it was easy to get into, almost right away. To say the least, I was very impressed. However, it should be said that the attendants of the show were 98% black or 'coloured', which was actually pretty disappointing. It seems that the white population still has a difficult time appreciating the culture that is inherent to their own society. It's really such a shame, their loss entirely. And of course, that's too broad a stroke to make having seen only one performance. But it is interesting to note that when I went to see the local symphony play the audience was 98% white people, and this tribute concert, in a venue just next door was the exact opposite.

And Finally

I'm happy to say that there are just too many things for me to tell you about in this little blog here. I believe I'm really starting to feel more at home here. Last night I caught my self saying “I can't believe I'm in Cape Town, in Africa...” it's still a bit surreal for me. The place is feeling very comfortable and familiar these days, and it's nice to feel at home in the place where you are living, that's not something that always happens so easily, I am well aware of that.

OK then, take care for now, and I will contact you all in another couple weeks!

Until next time,