Two Days Late, I know

From the Land of the 'Winter Solstice'

I wonder if any of you who read this are actually as concerned with my keeping my bi-weekly Monday promise as I am. Seriously, it gives me stress!

About a week ago (I believe it was on the 21st in fact) we celebrated the 'Winter Solstice' around here, which struck me as odd. A) Because I was basically the only one who remembered, and B) because I am far too used to having my birthday in winter as opposed to summer. Another unusual thing was that almost nobody remembered that June 21st is also the first day of winter, am I the only one who keeps track of these things?

Towards the end of June and into July the schoolkids get three weeks off from school, and general chaos spreads on the rest of the population. Actually, it's not that noticable a difference at all. However, in terms of the kids we get at youth, having more free time on their hands probably isn't the best thing. We'll see how many we get at youth next week (yet somehow last week we managed to have record numbers again).

But around here things usually quiet down during 'winter break' even at the church. Many of our regular programs shut down for a while, so my schedule has been more relaxed the past few weeks.

The Pastor Goes on Sabbatical
However, with the come of winter holidays, our minister, Thomas also took a leave, heading off to the middle of nowhere (somewhere in the Karoo, I'm not even sure where exactly) to research and write a bit of a paper. So, while he's gone he left me with the pastoral ministry of the church. This is basically the visiting and the praying for and crisis intervention type of stuff, which is actually a part of the business I enjoy doing. Yet, as I was saying before, the winter break brings a bit of a lull in the church, and that seems to mean for pastoral cares and concerns as well. Though I should say there have been a few things I've dealt with thus far.

Sabbaticals also brings to mind my little break that I get to take in a few weeks. I've mentioned this before about my trip to Hermanus, but I really am looking forward to it, not even really because I'm aching to have some time off, but just because it sounds like a really neat, beautiful place and I think it will be a good experience.

It was My Birthday
For the fourth time in my life I spent a birthday away from home a couple Thursdays ago. I think as you go on in life birthdays become less and less of a big deal, but to my surprise a few people around here knew about my birthday, so I got a nice dose of birthday greetings. And then Mirjam took me out for lunch too, which was a really nice surprise. And to top it all off yesterday I received a package containing a nice pile of birthday cards from various people back home at my church in Hawkesville! Well, I was very surprised, but also really happy to get them. And then, the day before that I received some presents in the mail from my parents, 'Sing the Journey' and 'Sing the Story' , the two Mennonite Hymnal supplements! So though I wasn't at home to celebrate a few special parties (Side note - Scott, Andrea and Dana: 'Madenighwatzkestravaganza' is the correct spelling of that word), friends around here and back home definitely made the day memorable.

Keeping Busy
With Thomas being gone, there was a small concern that I would have nothing to do for the month while he was away. Well, rest assured, this has not been the case. Aside from the various readings and projects he prepared for me in advance, I've also had the chance to catch up on some of my own reading. But really, this month's assignment was actually very helpful in figuring out some of own perspective. This month I have been reading up on 'Narrative Theology', which is a branch of theology that Mennonites kind of more or less follow by. It's been really interesting and productive for me to read some of these things and again to be able to get a better handle on what I believe and why. Understanding the ideas behind terms such as 'Christocentrism' and 'open soteriology' and 'post-millenialism' etc., may seem a bit trivial, but actually end up really giving me some perspective on where I stand on issues that can sometimes seem overwhelming.

Again, Until Next Time
Well, I think that gives you a bit of an idea of what the past two weeks have been. Over here I'm doing well. I guess beings that it's July I have 5 months left here, from time to time I start thinking about what life after Africa is going to be like, it seems absurd that I might have to start planning for things on the other side of the ocean before too long. Ah well, such is life.

Until next time,