Living in Love

It’s only been a week since I have last updated, however so much has happened and I hardly know where to begin. I guess I should start with the fun stuff first; last week we went to a wild lion park. These lions are completely wild however there is one fence that contains them to a very large area. Our purpose of going there was to drive through the park to see the lions, but things got a little messed up when we got there. Last time our leaders were there the lions trampled their car and they strongly did not want to go in because of the damage the lions did to their cars. We ended up just walking up to the fence and suddenly the lions all started coming up to the fence and rubbing themselves across it and sometimes growling. As the lions walked by we were even able to touch them as long as they didn’t see our fingers; which was quite thrilling.

On the same day of visiting the lions, we also visited a Birds of Prey reserve where we saw many large birds including owls, vultures, and eagles. Following the bird experience we took a tour of the town we are living in (PMB) and stopped at the train station where Gandhi was thrown off of the train for sitting in a Whites only section. It was this experience that marked the beginning of his great movement of peaceful resistance against social injustice and oppression.

This week I spent my clinical days at the Masons Clinic and each day that I was there I fell more in love with the people. Mainly the patients were HIV positive, but they came to the clinic for various reasons like TB, prenatal care, and medication management. My favorite day was assessing the pregnant women and their fetus. It was so interesting how the clinic functions with very little supplies and no ultrasound machine. I had to determine how far along the women were with their pregnancy. One girl came in who thought she was 22 weeks pregnant, however after I assessed her fundus I could determine that she was 39 weeks and the baby had already engaged itself for delivery, in other words she was ready to go into labor. The women were all quite young, about 16-21 years old and for many of them this wasn’t their first child. Another interesting thing at the clinic is spending time with the children; many of them have worms and different sorts of skin conditions like scabies, ringworm, and staph. When I am with the children and they are crawling all over me I simply have to put my trust into Christ knowing that He will protect me from illnesses while I am delivering His love to these innocent children. When people come to the clinic it is an all day event for them. They arrive at seven and over 100 patients will be there and it is on a first-come-first-serve basis and they will have to wait all day to be seen. I also got to do my first blood draw, which was very fun for me, but again it is so interesting how different the care is in the States compared to here, especially with cleanliness.

On Friday the first South African man to summit Everest came and visited us. He has summit the highest mountains on each continent. It was so interesting to meet him and chat with him. I bought his book to give to Mom and the DVD of him summiting each peak for Chad, but I am excited to get to look and watch them too.

This past weekend we went to and stayed in Pennington, which is primarily an Indian population. A drive that should have only taken us two hours somehow took us five hours because of cars breaking down, people getting lost, and other things that seem to only happen in Africa. Traveling with 53 people is not easy. Where we stayed was on the Indian Ocean and we got to spend some time on the beach. This morning I watched the sun rise over the ocean; it was breath taking! The Indian population is very different than the Black population, but it was wonderful to spend time with them. It was interesting because throughout the whole time I have been here the moment that I felt most comfortable was walking in the busy streets with venders lining both sides of the road, all sorts of different people, trash everywhere, and smells like I had never smelt. We streets were solid with people, but I felt so comfortable in community and found so many fun things to do and watch. Throughout the time I have been here I have felt somewhat isolated from the rest of South Africa. I spend my two days a week at the clinic and then I come back to a beautiful campus in a primarily White upper-class neighborhood and get served three full meals a day; that has been very hard for me to deal with. I love being submerged into the culture here and I feel like I am sometimes being held back and protected from the full experience, which is so frustrating for me. (Side note: I have been taking a Zulu speaking class and I am loving it!)

God has been doing wonderful things in me. Being the oldest student here has brought me into a place of mentorship and leadership within our group. I am a discipleship leader to 7 amazing girls, who bring me so much joy. Everyday I seem to experience Christ in a new way and I just try to press in deeper to know and experience Him in a new way at each moment. There have been some deep moments of loneliness, but in those moments all of a sudden I find myself surrounded in Hid grace and overcome with joy. I have already developed some amazing friendships that provide me with so much strength. I am continually reminded by how blessed I am to be in a place in life where God has complete and divine control over my life. There is so much to share with all of you but I am limited on time and extremely tired from watching the sunrise and traveling today. Thank you again for all of your encouragement and prayers, I love you dearly.