Has It Really Been a Month?!

It is hard for me to believe that I have been living in South Africa for 4 weeks now. It really only feels like it has been a few days. I think I can attribute that to the amount of things Leona tries to cram into one day! She is an amazing woman.  Recently though, we all had a “break” at the International South African Bible School in Drakensberg (Dragon’s Peak). When I say, “break”, we all got to relax and enjoy ourselves as well as plan lessons and teach youth and adult classes. But wait, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you about the trip….

 

So off we go, all 25 of us, in a 5-vehicle caravan on Monday, the first of September. Lucas and Leona’s daughter and son-in-law, Liezl and Hendri, plus the Szabo family had joined our P2P group the night before for the trek down to the bible school. About an hour and a half into our 4-hour trip, the main 9-passenger bus (only a few weeks old too, might I add) decides it blow a fuel line (literally).  Nonetheless it was quite a pretty place to break down.  Thankfully one of the other vehicles had a rope in it, and soon we had the Kingdom Bringer (as we so fondly dubbed it) tightly tied to the Isuzu. We were off again. Oh wait, did I forget to mention we had to drive THROUGH the mountain pass to get to the bible school? Yeah…. towing a vehicle. Anyhow, quite a few prayers were said, and thanks to expert driving skills we arrived in one piece. I actually loved the adventure and enjoyed the drive (or drag). The mountains were spectacular! I think I took a couple hundred photos of them. Mountains always have amazed me, and I had never seen ones this large.

This is a huge dam that supplies most of northern South Africa with water and power.
Lower part of the dam
Sunbeams!
View of the mountains from my position in the vehicle being towed!

We had an amazing week of worship.  For one, I know for sure I won’t experience in the States the kind of singing we did at the bible school! Some things you just have to come to Africa to experience! I taught one of the youth sessions (High school ages) on Jephthah. The theme for the teens that week was “What can we learn from the Judges?”. We talked about how we need to be careful not to make rash decisions, and once we make a promise we have to keep it. I had the teens give me examples of what kind of rash decisions they could make in this day and age, and also the consequences of those actions. It was a good learning experience for me to teach teenagers, though I think I prefer the younger age group. I suppose it is because I am still young, and it is a bit strange to “teach” a group that is only a few years younger than I.

We finished off the week with a hike in the mountains to a waterfall/pool. The water was FREEZING cold!  I waited till everyone else had jumped in, and only jumped in because it was of my own free will, or to be thrown in. Watching their reactions and hearing the mutterings of not being able to feel their feet after getting out did not help me on my plunge off the boulder. They had only been in the water for 30 second to a minute, tops. It was SOOOOO cold! Once I got out I felt warm actually.  Then the shoving contest began. Oooiiiyyy! It was a nice little break, though. Unfortunately we didn’t bring a camera, so I didn’t get any photos. I am still kicking myself. The sun was coming through the moss covered trees branches, casting sunrays on the water causing it to sparkle and dance as it swirled over rocks. It had a very “Garden of Eden” feel. I really want to go back there one day. Here are a few photos of the campsite, though.

This is the youth center where we held the teen class.
The whole week, till the last day, had clear skies like this!
There was a small wild fire on the other side of the mountain the night before we left. See the smoke on the right hand side of the picture?
The morning we left a cloud had rolled in. The mountains disappeared!

 

The ride home was quite uneventful compared to the ride there. We were able to get the Kingdom Bringer fixed at bible school, since there was a parts shop near by. Once home, I started feeling strange. We thought it might be the altitude change, but Saturday rolled around and I ended up with a high fever for 3 days.  I was very well cared for, and now am back to my bounciness!

Well, that is all I have for this post! I have more to catch you all up on, so you will be hearing from me again very soon! Hope you enjoyed the photos!

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4 Comments

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  1. Thanks Allan! It is really hard for me to decide which ones to post!! I wish I could share them all!

  2. Haha, tell Grandpa he is funny! I will definitely be anticipating seeing you both when I get back in the States! Love you!

  3. Your most beautiful photo’s yet Kaitlin, such deep blues and contrasting greens with great browns and grey from the mountains.

  4. Grandpa says don’t go in freezing water! “Find someone to keep you warm”. Loved the pictures. See you when you get home. “Bacon, lettuce, and tomatoe waiting for you.