New Friends and New Experiences

Here are a few pictures of everyone helping to set up for church. As I mentioned last week, we meet in a school building and the space has to be put together and cleaned up after each meeting. It's wonderful to see everyone willing to help!

We are surrounded by good kind people in and out of the church. Our name tags seem to open doors and provide safety as well. When we go to the Mall across the street often times there will be someone who comes up to us and asks where our church is and says that they would like to go there sometime. They want to know what we are doing and why. We have also had people follow us into a store just to tell us they are "one of us"....that they belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. There is never a feeling of disdain or rudeness. People often want to talk. Keep in mind almost all the people we are meeting are Black Africans. They are Christians who believe in the power of Jesus' name. There is a gentleman who pumps gas at the local station. When he sees a missionary name tag he will ask you to pray for him. He doesn't mean when you get home he mean right now, this minute. He will stick his head in the window and listen while you pray.

This week I have met Nimrod, who helped me with my groceries. He wheeled my cart across the street and brought it up the elevator for me; unloading the groceries in my entry. I asked him about tipping and what is fair. He said even a penny is good, that he does not charge for helping. I gave him 5 Rand and he told me that was a very generous tip. I asked him to teach me what is proper for tipping. I asked him after I handed him the tip. He told me 1 or 2 Rand would be a good tip. The exchange rate is 7 Rand to 1 U.S. Dollar and this young man might make 10 Rand a day in tips if he is lucky. That is how he makes his living yet he is very mild manner and so humble never pushy. He must ride the bus from downtown Joburg to work. That is an expense he must pay out of what he earns.

There are people to watch as you back out of a parking space. We tip them. Someone opening the gate at a restaurant, who minds the parking lot while you eat...we tip them. Some gave me directions in the shopping mall today, I tipped him. It's just pennies to us, but to them it is food or not.

Other people I have met: Simon who opens the gate for us at the church office, and Courage who works in security there. Precious, Isiah, Neo, Molly, Faith, Justice, Glory and several others. I am so grateful they have Biblical name or more familiar names because their tribal names are very difficult for me to remember at this time. I expect to get much better at pronouncing them, but it will take a while. Neo, who works in our office with us, has offered to teach me some of her languages. She speaks 7. She said she lived in a mixed neighborhood as a child, where there were several languages spoken. She said when you went to visit a friend's home their tribal language was spoken so you just learned it from the beginning.

Even in primary today there were three languages spoken. They just slip in and out of a language like it is all one language. They speak English for a while, then Zulu, then Kosi and sometimes some French. The children don't seem to be put off by it for one second. The Primary president asked a three year old a question in some language I did not understand and the child answered in English. It is beautiful to see how they are teaching their children. They do not make things easier for them, because they believe they must be stronger than anyone else. Knowledge is power.
As you know, for church we met in school rooms. Look at the pictures and you might notice that there are several different languages written on the walls and black boards in the class rooms. They teach the tribal languages as well as English. Their classroom remind me of school 30-40 years ago. They concentrate on the basics. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Language. All basic subjects.


Another thing I have noticed is that no job is too small. There are many people who sit along side the road at street corners and appear to be taking surveys. They sit with their clip boards and seem to be watching and counting something, but I have not figured out exactly what they are interested in. There is also a police man who sits with a camera pointed at the hill which takes us to and from our office and to the temple. He is there with his speed monitor and camera. He takes pictures of the cars who exceed the speed limit when they come down the hill. We learned in our devotional that the government has implemented higher fine beginning April 1. After that time the fines will be 3 times higher for those of us visiting. They have raised fines for the South Africans as well, but not as much as for Americans.

In our security briefing we were told that we should vary our route to and from work every day. That we are to put all our belongings in the trunk and never leave anything on the seat. Every intersection has people waiting to sell you a paper or beg for money; some times they look for things of value to grab. These people have a spark plug in their hand and they simple smash the window and grab what every they can. It doesn't matter if you are holding tight to your purse or what ever, they are so fast and so strong they will brake your fingers or hand and be gone.

If by chance we are approached by a would be robber we have been told to give them what ever they ask for. That means a car, a purse, rings, watch, what ever they want. There is nothing more valuable than your life. Do not try to resist. They are not interested in injuring us they just want our stuff. If one gets in they way they will simply remove the obstacle. That can mean you, your finger, whatever. There is nothing personal about this.....it is just what they do and the country lives with this threat. It is just life here in Johannesburg. There is so much poverty they do this to survive. When we travel outside Joburg, we are actually safer.

The church has given us very good information to help us stay safe. We have a wonderful community of missionaries where we live. We have dinner together often and travel to different historical and nature sights together. There are symphonies, plays, musicals, and concerts available if we can find the time. Many of us will be traveling out of the area on weekends for our assignments, but most find time for fun along the way.

We have been here less than two weeks but already find many things for which we are thankful. We express our gratitude to God daily for His tender mercies. We know he is blessing us here and our families while we are gone. We praise Him.

(This is an African buffalo from our trip last weekend to the reserve.)