Weekends are a time to slow down...or should I say, normally a time to slow down. It has been three weeks since I last updated my blog. Please forgive me. With Frikkie being away for two of the three weeks, I found myself busier than I hoped to be.
Frikkie's time away was good from both sides. Although we missed him allot, we were able to step into his shoes while he was able to gain more insight into what we need to focus our energies on.
Important lessons we are learning:
- to focus more on the important rather than the urgent;
- Rome wasn't built in a day. We have the rest of our lives to fulfill what were have been called back to South Africa for;
- to take care of our family first;
- preventative care saves time and money.
We are thankful to the Paces and Urbans for hosting Frikkie while in the US. Although it was a busy time, he enjoyed visiting friends in Ohio, Oklahoma and Georgia.
This past weekend we helped Big Man (Sam) with a girl's soccer tournament that he organized. The boys and I made 120 sandwiches at home, with a further 20 with help at the field for the six teams, one dance team and a traditional African singing group. Just the day before Frikkie used his brother's lawn mover to mow a field at the land we have the opportunity to build soccer fields, the Hope HUB community center etc. During the semi finals a storm kicked up, blowing dust across the field and bringing rain with it.
With us was a lady from the SA Woman Football Association. Our conversation was about the African culture, in particular the African men. After listening, my heart was deeply saddened (Frik's too) by the reality of what we stand against, but we will not give up hope that by working with children, we can impact their lives in a way to see things differently. We also understand that it is going to take time, and most importantly, the work of the Holy Spirit to grow in them a desire to do see a change for the better in the way that the African culture treats and views woman, marriage and raising children.
To give you some examples:
- when a boy walks into a room, the woman is to get up off the chair and even if only one, he gets to sit on it;
- if the man beats the woman (sometimes to make her leave), she returns to her family, who will then chase her back to her husband and say that she must take it, just as they have had too (ie the woman in the family);
- a man will eat first, and what ever is left, will be for the woman and children;
- the man may earn say R4500, but he will expect the woman to feed her family on say R500, while he spends the rest, on say drink, cigarettes etc.
It is no wonder that the African culture is in such a mess: fathers are absent, rapes are high, respect for one another, the sanctity of life very low, and a society that is very perverse. Forgive me for sounding negative, but the reality is we have a long, hard road ahead of us. This is the reason we are in great need of prayer groups to form across the country in support of what we hope will change in time. Prayer has great power, and without it, I fear that the enemy will continue to blind the people. 
Timothy 4:1 The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall
away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of
demons.
During the past week I had the opportunity to take some of our running team to the public pool to swim. The reason was to see their ability to compete in a triathlon next weekend. There is much work to be done in the water to equip them for future triathlons. Think about it. There are almost no pools in the township, and many don't even have baths to get accustomed to water. These are things we take for granted. If you want a great movie to watch, you have to see "PRIDE." It is based on a true story about a man that develops a black swimming team in the 1960's. Isaac, our running/cycling coach, has a desire to teach kids to swim. What an incredible desire when he himself cannot swim well, but he sees the need and opportunity. Since the Lord's vision was birthed, we have always believed that an indoor pool with the Hope HUB would be a great benefit for the community. Now that I have seen the need to teach kids to swim, I will continue to pray that if He wills, that we will have the facilities and resources to enrich the lives of the community.
The boys are doing well. Matthew enjoyed the 5km fun run yesterday and Joshua continues to train his team of young soccer players. I am encouraged to see how they are growing in their faith.
Can you believe there is less than 10 weeks till Christmas? The stores are filling with Christmas goodies, including traditional fruit cakes, mince tarts and Christmas crackers. All the things I remember growing up with as a kid. Funny thing is we will be in the states for Christmas as we have our return flight expiring on the 12th January and we did not want to loose it. We will be grateful for the time away to rest, reflect and consider how we are to move forward as a family, ministry and non-profit organization.
Be blessed, and please remember we have our OK number that you can call us on. We would love to keep in touch. Email me if you need it.
Thank you Paul for these photos and your incredible photography ability. Visit http://photos.forlifephoto.com/southafrica for plenty of amazing pictures of Hope Week 2009.
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