Saturday, July 22, 2006

A day off

So last week I took Saturday off and went to Gold reef City with friends. It's almost identical to Knott's Berry Farm in Anaheim. With fewer roller coasters. And it has a Gold Mining Theme.

So here we are.

Here's Amanda (A volunteer at Lambano) and I strapped into the Anaconda...it was the most ferocious of the rides there. I heard that this is a really offensive gesture in the UK.

No, that's no statue, it's a breakdancing robot street performer.

One of the performances was Zulu tribal dance and drums.

This was more tribal dancing, but it looks like The Village People.

At the end of the day we went for a thrilling ride to the top of the Ferris Wheel

Majestic Jo'burg.

Anywho, the next day I got terribly sick, so, all I can really tell you about Gold Reef City is...

DON'T ORDER THE BLITZ BURGER.

I'm better now but this past week was not very productive.

Also, on a more serious note, it's hard to miss what's going on in Lebanon. Please, if you aren't already, be praying for peace in the middle east.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

While Brian is in America taking classes for his doctorate, things are going smoothly around here. Back to the old routine, getting everything ready for the next team in September, playing with the kids, and doing my miscelaneous "intern" jobs.

Here's what the worksite looks like now. I need to get some pics from Kerry that show the Grace team working on it, but, you can clearly see the church building starting to form.

The Steel structure, roof, foundations, and walls are mostly in place. We'll wall up to ground level, and then fill it all in with...fill...and then in September we'll pour the floor slab.

This is where the floor ends and the stage will start. There will also be a baptismal.

This is Elvis, our bricklayer. Elvis is in the building! He's also Pastor Vuyo's dad.

 

Here's an arial shot of the whole worksite. I'll make an artist rendering so you can see what it will look like when it's finished...sort of. I don't have Photoshop, so I'll make do with Paint.

Well, Back to work!

Friday, July 07, 2006

Seriously

Ok. So we just had two consecutive teams and I am tired. But the last couple days have been good recovery time. My job when the teams are here is to basically be there for them, make sure they know what they are doing, and make sure they have everything they need to do what they are doing, and then also make sure they don't die. So, it's a 24/7 thing.

Our first team was from Grace Comm, and they were awesome. They worked on the worksite. Here are some old pictures. I'm going there tomorrow to take some new pictures.

Here's the base of our soon to be AIDS Hospice

Here's the shipping container where the church currently meets.

Here's the location where new church building is going. more on that later. Cause, we actually started the church building and it looks really great...pictures...on monday.

This is Willie. He owns the machinery shop next door, is a member of our church, and is amazingly helpful. He is a blessing to the worksite.

So, I need to get some pictures from Kerry of the work team, but, in the meantime, our second team was from Arkansas, and here's some pictures of them doing kids club.

Yes, this is bible club right in the middle of a construction site filled with rusty machinery. Every mothers nightmare. Amazingly, by God's grace, not a single kid was hurt.

Here's Vuyo helping to translate. He's the pastor of Mercy Bible Church, our zulu-speaking church-plant.

Vuyo and the crew. Lance "Lancer" Quinn, David Todd "DT" Murray and Michael "Freeze" Friessen. Booyah.

Here's me, scoring a goal against The local kids in our afternoon soccer games. I don't even know how to play soccer.

Here's Douglas Allison dribbling up field. He's amazing. He actually knows how to play soccer. His parents are Scotsmen.

So that was it. They also put on a church camp, but I'm waiting for the pictures from that.

All in all, teams are quite fun, and I think a part of my heart goes with them when they leave. I miss these guys already, but for now, I'll have to crack down on what I have to do here. Like get pictures for everyone. And fix Brian's computer.

I have been here for 24 weeks. That's not even halfway on my scheduled time here. That's amazing...Time here flies by, but, at the same time, it seems like it's been a long time. Like the team from arkansas seems like they were here a year ago, but, really it's been like...3 days. I do love being here, though, so I hope it takes forever to finish this year. Cheers, everyone. Now that I have more time I will update more. So come on back, y'all.

~Matty O