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The day started as many others during our time here in Mafikeng. The J-Square Café opened for business at 7:10 Am. The dark grain French toast was especially tasty, accompanied by papaya and fresh brewed coffee. Jerry did most of the cooking while Pastor Jeff supervised. Just as it is at home, the kitchen has been the congregating place in the house. The good cheer that happens is a way of feeling very connected to those things familiar for the La Casa family.
Back to business, the team headed over to the church to participate in a joint learning exercise called gender synergy, or male and female relationships. It was thought that this topic would be a great assistance to the pastors from Africa. Our team joined in. The program was led by Pastor Jeff and yours truly. While our time was quite limited, we spent time discovering our own behavioral styles, our life motivators and a deeper understanding of relationships. The participation from the team was very high and there was great insight to solid relationships from all parts of the group. It struck me that the group got as much from the lunch time discussions of this relationship topic as they did from the session itself. The coming together of this group, some from La Casa and some from Rhema Church in South Africa was another testimony to how much people all over the world have more in common than not.
As usual, once the session was over everyone pitched in to reset the space for the afternoon, final VBS session. We then headed off to tea with the Headman of Top Village and the children’s feeding project. Yours in Christ,
This afternoon began with a trip to Top Village to meet with the Headman - Mr. Tau, his deputy – Mr. Monere and the village elders. As we entered the church, the elder woman of the village began to ululate (check your dictionary). Then we went to greet Mr. Tau, Mr. Monere and the elders with the traditional handshake and a greeting of “Dumela” (Doo-MEY-lah). Speeches were given by Pastor Victor (Top Village), Mr. Monere, Mr. Tau, Pastor Jeff, Pastor Mike Tessendorf and a closing prayer by Pastor Victor (Ramoga Village ... yes, there are two Pastor Victors!). Pastor Betty translated for us.
We quickly learned some of the unique traditions of village life in Mafikeng. For instance, it’s important in situations like this to greet the elder men before greeting the elder women. This particular lesson we learned only after some of us had already begun greeting the women. We also noticed that it is very important to give the majority of recognition to the Headman. We almost got off track with this one as well as we were more familiar with (and already impressed by) the Deputy Headman, Mr. Monere. Don’t worry; we managed to avoid an international incident. Pastor Mike was very gracious in recognizing Mr. Tau (the Headman) during his speech. After the speeches, tea was served and our group mingled with everyone. During this time, the elder women from Top Village gave each of the women in our group a Setswana name and its meaning - such a special moment for us. Molaodi (Mo-lah-O-dee - Leader) Deb Schaffer learned a thing or two from an 80 year old elder woman as they joined in a celebration dance. Also during this time, the Feeding Project at Top Village began. Sixteen children’s tables were set up in the church and the youngest children came in first and sat down. The cook filled a bowl with maze and beans, held the bowl up and a child raised their hand to indicate it was their bowl. When the child was done, the bowl was returned and filled for the next child sharing the bowl. It was very orderly and when the youngest children were done, the next group of children came in and the process repeated itself. Next was a quick trip back to the New Life Church for our last day of Vacation Bible School. It is amazing how fast our time here has gone. The children were waiting for us and singing songs dressed in their t-shirts and hats that we had given them earlier this week. So we began singing songs with them and also getting our exercise with the songs “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and “Father Abraham”. We also tried to sing two Setswana songs with them. One song was about the doors of heaven being open and the other song was about how jealousy will not get you into heaven and you need to change for that to happen. Then we began to take the children back in groups to fit them for shoes, give them their school uniforms, hats, gloves and a backpack/book bag with pencils and an eraser. The look on their faces when they received these items was of joy and thankfulness. You have no idea how your generosity has touched their lives. One member of the Helping Hands staff told us that they were hugging their backpack like a girl/boy friend. After handing out a few more small items, singing our last song and saying the closing prayer, it was time to take a group photo and say our good-byes. Of course, Pastor Jeff asked the children to line up for all of us to hug and say good-bye and the tears were flowing for a few of us. VBS was a great experience for all of us. The children enjoyed the stories, crafts and games and we gained so much from them.
After VBS, we went back to the Beading Project at Top Village to pick up our orders from Monday. While waiting, the villagers were herding their goats, sheep and cattle home at the end of the day. From there we went back to the Mall to check out the shops and use the internet to send emails, etc. We ended the day with pizza and sharing our God moments and other observations from the day.
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