Several people have asked about the recipe for Bobotie (pronounced Bo-bert-tee) which we enjoyed when we were at Ekukhanyeni Christian Retreat Centre (and on the flight from Joburg to London).

If anyone wanted to have a go at cooking it we've found a recipe on the BBC Good Food Website which looks pretty good: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5109/bobotie - what it doesn't mention is that it can be served with salad, chutney, fresh apple or banana...

Enjoy!

Final Blog Entry

The team arrived back in the UK very early this morning, after an unproblematic journey from Siyabuswa to the airport in Jo'burg and then a smooth flight from Jo'burg to London Heathrow. Though all weary from the travelling, the saying goodbye to everyone which signalled the very end of our Church Community Project was not easy!

Looking back through all the blog posts we've written as a team, going back as far as November 2011, it's clear just how much of a journey we have been on together. During our time in South Africa, the team had the opportunity to reach out to many, many people, sometimes putting in to place carefully planned programmes and sometimes simply reacting to the needs of those we met as we went along. It's also incredibly humbling to see that the blog has been viewed from the UK, South Africa but also Russia, the United States, France, Spain and Germany - we are so grateful for your interest, thoughts and prayers.

And yet whilst this has been an incredible three weeks of both mission and experiencing the South African culture, I am reminded of both the Great Commission and the idea that there are many expressions of mission, as articulated by David Bosch. I am reminded of them because as Christians we believe we are all called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. 22 people responded to the call they received to Siyabuswa - yet travelling many thousands of miles is just one expression of mission and God's call extends to everyone into some form of mission. As both the physical and mental unpacking begins, I close by praying that all the mission that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ calls you to may be almightily blessed.

Thanks again, and hopefully you'll enjoy the photos that are now starting to appear on our Flickr page!

Andrew

Sunday 12^th August

by Dan and Ali

“Of Man’s first disobedience and the fruit of that forbidden tree

whose mortal taste bought death into the world, and loss of Eden”

                                                                        John Milton – Paradise Lost

After days of peaceful reflection

at Ekukhanyeni, a place of light

whose scenery was nothing short of perfection,

Back to Siyabuswa, before our flight,

Peace and rest, this was not for us

We travelled to church in a minibus!

                                                                        Dan and Ali – Poem Unpublished

Today – Andrew Weston’s birthday – was a relatively laid back day, all things considered. We had a rare lie in, getting up at about 9.00, before the group split. While a few decided to have a third visit to Hope Church, most of the group tried a new church 50 kilometres west of Siyabuswa. Despite following the wrong bus initially (turned out to be a miscommunication) and then managing to miss the church the first time (we drove past it), we made it safely and were rewarded with an energetic – and ear drum shattering-experience. What this church lacked in congregation size it made up for in sheer volume with the drummer managing to actually break his high-hat with a single mighty strike. Hendrick’s sermon – whilst confusing with its many tangents – was an engaging and arousing one, nicely bringing the service into its final powerful, uplifting (and not to mention near-deafening worship) session.

After church, the two groups were reunited for lunch and a final bumper briefing delivered by none other than our very own Andrew ‘List Man’ Weston. Logistics came first and thanks to Tony’s effective book balancing decisions, had to be made regarding both the distribution of both the leftover mission fund and the money left over from the general living fund made up of the money paid by us. This meant every member of our 22 strong team had one hundred pounds to either take home or donate to Grace School or the Bible College. After these decisions were made, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of tuna pasta whilst the Weston Brothers and Tony crunched the numbers.

Dinner was polished off, washing up was done and then back together we came to hear the outcome of the money distribution. £600 will be spent on 240 bibles for Hope For Africa Mission (to be bought by Dr Hendrick), £869.66 to be spent on improving the local church plants and a further £700 will be donated to Grace Christian School for a range of resources.

From briefing into devotions lead by Robert including: group prayer, Nelson’s touching encouragement for the future and our theme song: ‘Jesus, all for Jesus’. After all this was done it was time for Andrew and Steph’s surprise certificate ceremony. The rewards and recipients are as follows:

Best Quotes – Jack

Best church dancer – Rose

Moral Baseline – Alistair

Parkour Prince – Cameron

Resident Stuntman – Toby

Extreme Photographer – Jocey

Most likely to have a child/animal in their luggage - Daniel

Executive Chef – Abby

Group Troublemaker - Amy

Fashionista – Hannah

List Man – Andrew

Stuck in the ‘80s – Robert

Olympics Expert – Carrie

Best English Accent - Rod

Siyabuswa’s Most Wanted Driver – Tim

Monkey Lover – Frances

Hippo Lover – Steph

Sweet Potato – Laura

Stubborn Steamroller – Eva

Can Sleep Anywhere – Tony

Biblical Scholar – Helen

Lion Whisperer – Suzy

Your prayers for tomorrow will be necessary and gratefully received. Thank you for your continued support and see you soon! (Doubt if we'll be able to add anything further to the blog until we are back in the UK)

Saturday 11^th August

by Toby and Cameron

At 6 o’clock three very tired bodies appeared outside the house at Ekukanyeni to partake in a dawn walk. Two hours later after the sun had fully risen over the mountains, they returned to find the rest of the team emerging from their beds to the smell of a cooked breakfast lovingly prepared by our hosts Stephanie and Iain.  After most of the team had eaten their way through a four course breakfast, they returned to their rooms to finish packing their belongings into their respective suitcases, they said farewell to their hosts and set of down the mountains. 

On their way back to Siyabuswa (over rivers, mountains, through forests and grasslands, over tarmac and dust roads) they stopped of at the nearby town of Groblersdal (which was still 2 hours drive from their destination) for lunch.  After an hour and a half lunch stop, they set off, again. After two hours of further travelling they arrived at Siyabuswa to find that two more visitors from Reading had arrived a few days after we had left for Kruger. The other visitors were a drama teacher from Highdown School, Katy, and her husband, Tom. (Which was quite a shock for Cameron as the visiting drama teacher was his old drama teacher). 

They proceeded to unpack and have a few hours of rest before the big celebration!  The celebration commenced with granny, and a few other of the ladies from Siyabuswa, singing and worshipping.  After that Pastor Jack (who looks a bit like Zebedee from the Magic Roundabout) began with a few opening words.  The main body of the celebration commenced with the group receiving gifts from the people of Siyabuswa and the collage.  Immediately after that the team presented gifts to some of the people of Siyabuswa.

One of the main things presented was two communion sets presented to Dr Hendrick and the Alathea Bible College.  Both sets were crafted by an English craftsman from British clay. Dr Hendrick and the guys at the college were delighted with the gifts. Following the presentation of gifts there was the most important part of the celebration: the food!  The food was amazing.  The food consisted of BBQ beef and sausages with pap and chakalaka (which is like vegetables in a chilli sauce).  As a side dish, there was BBQ Siyabuswa chicken. After the celebration, all of the team went their separate ways and the rest of the day was used up with Uno. Time to finish for another day! 

Bye bye, from Toby and me  J

Friday 10th August

by Carrie

Another fabulous day chez South Africa!

The day started at 8am with a huge breakfast – fruit salad, yogurt, cereal, cooked breakfast and toast with homemade jam and marmalade! Our hosts, Stephanie and Ian, served us – they are wonderful, caring people and they help cook all our meals and serve them to us.

After breakfast we all headed off for the journey to the head of the Blyde River Canyon – the deepest green canyon in the world (and third largest canyon in the world). It was hard to comprehend seeing such amazing and staggering landscape beauty after seeing incredible animal sights in Kruger. But our God is good and he rewarded our hard work with sharing His glory with us. We spent time at the head of the canyon just breathing in the beauty and also shopping – there were lots of market stalls where we could buy souvenirs and presents at knock down prices. Carvings and fabrics, jewellery and pictures, so much stunning African art that it was hard to resist!

We journeyed on down the canyon stopping at more viewing points to take in the incredible, unbelievable scenery and, of course, doing more shopping! Lunch was in the Silver Spoon Café in Graskop – the pancake capital of South Africa. All our meals out have been superb quality but the speed of service? Suffice it to say we shall not be missing that!

Then it was back in the buses to the retreat and an afternoon of reflection on our three weeks in South Africa. It is amazing that we all felt we had had such positive experiences here, and many of us are keen to return!

6.30pm saw another wonderful meal served in the candle lit dining room – roast chicken! The evening ended with devotions round the fire and playing games before we fell into bed exhausted and happy!

Thank you God for another superb day. 

Thursday 9^th August 2012

by Eva Maria

Today it was our last day at Kruger Park so we decided to get up very early (5.30am) to see the sunrise. We went to our ‘viewing point’ and while we waited all we could see was the most amazing vast amount of land. The sun rose very quickly, in a straight line. It was so cold (about 6 degrees C) when we got up that some of us took our sleeping bags. On the way back to camp we saw 3 wild dogs by the road which was very special as there are only 330 in the entire park.

As we were leaving the park we saw different wild life such as giraffe but it still amazes us to see them so close to the cars. But, the most fascinating thing was that we saw the catch of a leopard up a tree. Some of us saw the leopard eating the impala. We stopped at a watering hole to have some lunch and spotted our last hippos. As we left the national park reality hit us, as rubbish was everywhere along the side of the road and we saw the contrast of the different conditions people live in. This wasn’t new for us (as we had seen this before in Siyabuswa) but during our time in Kruger we didn’t see it. As we drove south towards Nelspruit, we saw a humongous plantation of bananas protected by bags. The bright colours of the purple bougainvillea flowers contrasted with the darkness of the avocado trees.

After a few comfort breaks we reached our final destination. a Christian Retreat Centre called Ekukhanyeni, the most amazing place in the middle of nowhere surrounded by thickly wooded mountains. After a well deserved rest after hours of travelling, we had a traditional South Africa meal (Bobotie) which was delicious. After worship and a briefing we are enjoying the warmth of an open wood fire.  

Wednesday 8th August 2012
by Hannah

Again, the writing of this blog post is taking place in the Selati Train Museum restaurant, complete with delicious food and delightful company. The menu has such delicacies as Kudu salad and Crocodile and Biltong pizza – all far removed from standard English fare.

Today, our second day at Skukuza, has also been eventful. The first drive took place in the early morning, at quarter to six, consisting of one mini bus filled with a few brave souls determined to see the sunrise. Having been on the early drive the previous morning, I was still in bed, feigning sleep in order to avoid an unexpected cleaning lady. According to my sources, (a distracted Jack and Toby) the drive produced sightings of a mother and baby rhino, countless impala, a giraffe and a magnificent sunrise. After a breakfast of pancakes cooked by Abby, Steph and Amy, the main expedition of the day left at 10 o’clock. The idea was to drive north as far as we could, before needing to return, in order to get a change of scenery and find the savannah. We didn’t entirely find the open plains but we did leave the dense shrubbery that characterises the south of the park. In terms of wildlife, we didn’t see anything similar to the big cats again but that was more than made up for by the close encounters we had with other animals. I shall run through the more impressive and unusual creatures spotted along the way; a majestically antlered Kudu stag; at the other end of the spectrum, a dainty Steenbok; Vervet Monkeys; some Hippos; a Crocodile; a small herd of Waterbuck that were rather hard to identify; a few fantastically bright Southern Ground Hornbills; a herd of elephants pottering around a dry riverbed; and some Zebra.

Among some of the more large scale sightings, was the huge herd of buffalo. The majority of them were seated, nestled beneath the bushes, languidly dozing in the sun. We couldn’t see their full extent due to the foliage, but the glimpses we caught through gaps in the thicket betrayed the enormity of their number. Every space we saw through, for a hundred yards or so, was occupied by masses of horned shadows.

After having a respite stop for lunch surrounded by Glossy Blue Starlings and Hornbills, (or Zazu birds as we call them) we headed back to Skakuza. Rob inevitably decided to do a spontaneous detour that ended up in the most amazing sighting of the day. As we rounded a bend in an incredibly bumpy track we noticed a couple of Elephants amongst the trees. We looked further, and, like ants emerging from cracks in the paving, more and more became apparent. Soon we found ourselves in the middle of a large herd, with several babies, all milling around the cars. We stayed for ages, taking pictures and admiring those graceful giants. As we finally pulled away, we were confronted by two giraffe right in our path. We stayed there a while also before eventually driving back.

The rest of the afternoon was spent idling around the camp and swimming in the freezing pool. All in all, a fabulous day on safari, with many new animals spotted and many new perspectives gained.

P.S Suzy forgot to mention this yesterday, but a couple of miles on after we saw the Lions, we also saw a Leopard! A famously elusive animal, it was just sauntering along the side of the road, partially concealed by the waving grasses, before it turned and crossed the road just behind our vans. The Big 5 has been completed!

Tuesday 7^th August 2012

by Suzy

Today I will complete this blog… no lost passport to panic about and then find and no son’s shorts to repair at the last minute!

I am sitting in a beautiful restaurant, based in a disused steam railway station, with this lovely bunch of people. Those of you who are steam engine experts will probably be itching to know what the engine is… it’s big and steam enginey, which is all I can tell you!

We have had a day when the majority of phrases used were ‘stop, stop, reverse the car!’ ‘wow’, ‘unbelievable’, ‘amazing’, ‘look over there’, ‘have you seen….’

Some of us left Berg-en-dal Rest Camp for an early morning drive. It was still dark at 5.45am but the sun was gradually rising. We drove slowly out of the camp, over the electrified cattle grid and out into Kruger Park. The first wild animal we saw was a bird of prey circling over the hillside. We drove a bit further, enjoying the sunrise and the scenery, but not seeing many animals. Suddenly, there was a squeal from the back of the car and we’d seen our first herd of impala (the first of many impala that we would see over the day). We continued driving and spotting different animals, none of which, in our wildest dreams, we thought we’d see so easily… a giraffe walked right in front of our car, across the road. It was such a beautiful animal and we felt so privileged to see one in its natural habitat.

In addition to this we saw elephants, buffalo, rhinos, and assorted beautiful birds. We have begun to try to identify all the different sorts of animal droppings which are all over the roads. Back to the campsite for breakfast, pack up the cars and we back out of Berg-en-dal heading into Kruger Park, towards Skukusa Camp. One car load took a slightly different to the other two cars. I was in one of the two cars that kept to the tarmac roads but we have all been overwhelmed with the sights, sounds and smells we have experienced.

More impala, more giraffes, elephants, rhinos, more impala, hyena, greater kudu, kudu, more impala, lion and lionesses, African grey go-away birds, leopard, wart hogs, more impala, wildebeest, dwarf mongoose, red billed hornbill (which is also known as a zazoo bird), more impala, zebras, lilac breasted roller, hippos, rock dassie, baboons, bats, hoopoes, blue lizards, Goliath heron, crocodiles, pied kingfisher, blue starlings, bush buck and tree squirrels. You can probably imagine how exciting it has been to see all of these animals in the wild, but it hasn’t just been the animals we have been overwhelmed by. The scenery we have driven through is stunning and my words cannot express the magnitude of the views we stopped to take in. A panorama that stretched for thousands of miles with not a single building in sight.

I have had so many wonderful moments today. I was so happy to see a giraffe just after sunrise, and the elephant we nicked named ‘Billy’ who was having a wonderful scratch against a tree trunk, but I think the biggest highlight today must be the lions. There were four lionesses walking along the road in front of a trail of cars, which were all jostling for a place to see the lions. We crawled along not quite believing that we were within touching distance of these beautiful cats. They drifted off the road into the bushes at the roadside and sat down. I noticed their tails were twitching and they were staring intently ahead. Just then a herd of impalas crossed the road and the lions got up and slowly moved on towards the herd of impala. We wondered if we might be in for even more excitement…it was long after lunchtime after all! We were all trying to take as many photos as possible and as I had a lioness on my side of the car, I tried to get a close-up of her. My friends in the car seemed to find it extremely amusing when I suddenly shut the window, saying ‘oh my goodness that’s just too close.’ Sadly, because of the closeness of the lioness (she was just by the car door looking up at me!) I missed taking the best photo of the day!

We have had a wonderful day. I would love for you all to be here experiencing this amazing country and meeting the wonderful people that we have met. Thank you for reading our blog. We know there are quite a few of you who’d like photos, but this is really tricky to do when the internet connection isn’t strong enough!

By the way, for all you steam engine buffs, the steam engine in the restaurant is Locomotive No 3638 one of 100 Class 24 steam locomotives used by South Africa Railways and was built in 1949.

We had exceeded our expectations at the bible college and today we left for the Kruger. According to Google maps it was going to be a 5 hour trip and we knew we had to be checked in by 4pm. We decided to take no chances because the traffic could be heavy. We have seen accidents causing huge queues and if we were caught in one we still wanted to get there on time. We therefore left at 7am. We were also careful that drivers did no longer than a 2 hour shift at any one time. As it happened we had a very fast and pain free journey. We stopped at Nelspruit (near the national stadium) for a bite of lunch and a comfort break with a few shops to look around.

And then….. oh my word – WOW !!! - unbelievable. We stopped on a bridge just before going into the Kruger. It was a photographer’s paradise. Elephants, hippos, amazing birds, crocodiles. Helen burst into tears saying that she has been waiting 50 years for this. The word “stunning” is a gross under statement, what a wonderful welcome to the largest National Park in South Africa.

From then on it just got better and better. We checked in and a slow drive taking more pictures – monkeys, a warthog, birds, antelope, more elephants, etc. Then we reached our little huts. Really nice thatched cottages – fully air conditioned, comfortable beds and all the facilities that anyone could want. A few of us went for a swim in the pool, an unheated pool – but refreshing in this heat!

The past 2 weeks have been enormously rewarding but hard work and now the relaxation starts, and a different kind of fun.

by Tony

PS internet connection here in Kruger is very slow and not open all hours!!!

PPS This morning (Tuesday) some of us were up with the sun for a 6am safari and saw elephants, giraffe, buffalo, rhinos, impala, dwarf mongoose and some colourful birds. Some zebras were also seen in the distance- many more photos and WOW moments for the team.

Day 13 Sunday 5^th August

by Team B

Today started with a cooked breakfast by the wonderful Steph: fried bacon, scrambled eggs and tomatoes. Yummy!! We then got ourselves ready for church. This week we had a special slot in the service. All the Bibles that had been sponsored by people back in the UK were presented to members of Hope Church who don’t have a Bible. The members of the congregation were able to choose from translations in English and Zulu. This was a very moving part to the service as many Bibles had been given in memory of family members from the team. During the service a conga procession took place with some traditional African moves thrown in for good measure. The music, just as last week, continued to be at a rather high decibel. The youth performed their drama that Dan had written (for the Youth Event yesterday) and many of the congregation were able to follow the English and laughed at the appropriate points. Rob also preached on the theme of skills and talents of each individual and we sang 'Faithful One' which they appreciated.

After the two and a half hour service we returned to the college for lunch (yes, it was a shorter service this week). Andrew then gave us a lunch briefing as we leave for the Kruger tomorrow. We found out who we were sharing rooms with and the plan for travelling to Kruger National Park. We are aiming to leave Siyabuswa at 7.00am which means a very early start for some who like a lie-in.

After the briefing some of the team set off on a photo tour of Siyabuswa led by Rob. We stopped at many ‘hotspots’ for photographs many of which consisted of the diverse buildings that are around the local area, including some with solar panels especially for Tony! 

After dinner we made our packed lunch for the long journey tomorrow. We will be leaving Siyabuswa at 7am so everyone is having an early night followed by an early breakfast. Looking forward to glimpsing the big five!

Day 12 Saturday 4^th August

by Jocey

Our day started without electricity, so no cup of tea to start the day. After a few hours power was restored just in time for preparing for our ‘Gold Peer Educators Youth Fun Day.’ Suzy, Rod and Rob went on their adventures collecting young people from around the area. They had to avoid herds of cattle, goats and sheep that cluttered the road. Rod’s young people decided that they would help Rod find a radio station and ensured that he and the rest of Siyabuswa could hear it.

Meanwhile, on the dusty football pitch preparations were underway for the fun day to commence. The first group of teenagers to arrive gave us heaps of fun and entertainment showing us their dances and then proceeded to try and teach the team. It was hilarious as we all got mixed up and could not keep up with the moves. We now appreciate how tricky some of the moves are.

After all the young people arrived we realised that all the grade 12’s from across the province were missing as they had to attend extra lessons at school. Suddenly, a herd of cattle with humungous horns came stampeding at African speed (the speed of a snail!) towards Ali’s tub of resources. Tim, who was on security, went charging like a bull after the bull; brandishing a whistle and shouting shoo!

Simultaneously, another base was under attack by none other than Pastor Rob (now known as Bishop Rob!) He miraculously managed to destroy 2 hours of hard labour by carelessly reversing over two tubs full of water balloons. Funnily enough they did not survive. He also drove over Frances’ jumper. This event would have been avoided if he had not been blasting out the stereo which meant that he did not hear Tim frantically blowing the whistle with the appropriate emergency signalling as instructed by Andrew.    

Eventually, the opening ceremony was upon us. It consisted of a superbly written drama by Dan on the theme of parts of the body and Thomas’ missionary skills. There was a song and prayer followed by a brief introduction by Pastor Jack. The games were then underway.

We had 5 stations which the groups rotated around. They were, tug of war, water balloon games, dodgeball, fushi (an African game) and a tin game. Gallons of water was consumed in the 30 degree heat and that does not include the water balloon games! Every now again we had an intruder, of the cattle variety, which Tim did a good job of shepherding! After 2 hours of fun and games we supplied sandwiches and drinks carefully prepared by Tim, Rod, Eva, Abby and the members of the Gold team. 

Our taxi drivers then ferried the young people home with Rod getting a scenic tour to each ones house. The rest of us went back to the Bible college for a late lunch and a well earned rest and much needed showers. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch preparations for our trip to Kruger were underway beginning with our living space being blitzed with a Susie type tidying. A delightful meal of pap, rice and pork stew was prepared by members of the team and eaten enthusiastically especially after we were told this would be our last meat.

We ended the evening with yet another briefing. But this time we had a cross made from candles, where the engineers and other members of the group spent ages lining up the candles and even resorted to the use of a tape measure. Rob spoke about Dorcas (Acts 9), as a member of staff at the school has the same name, and a time of prayer was then had giving thanks for all our adventures and accomplishments over the past 2 weeks before the evening concluded.

Finally, going back to our homes 15 minute’s drive we were met with yet another power cut not just once but twice; when Tony was half way through yet another very important email. Another memorable day – and many more photos taken – apologies to all those hoping to see photos, we have taken over 3000 but haven’t been able to resize and post them yet…

Day 11 Friday 3^rd August

a combined effort by the B team

Today was our first complete, whole, everybody-together outing! In addition to the 22 team members we also took Wesley and Nelson (two of the students at the Alathea Bible College). The college students don’t get many opportunities for outings, so we were delighted to be able to share this opportunity. We travelled for two hours and then stopped at the Spar service station (which is a posh name for a rather basic refreshment stop). We stocked up with refreshments for the rest of our journey – only to discover that our destination (a massive shopping centre on the outskirts of Pretoria) was just 30 minutes.

The shopping mall was just like the Oracle Shopping Centre – big and shiny – but the car parking was only 60p for 3 hours rather than several pounds you pay in Reading! We had great fun amongst familiar shops – looking for books, postcards, Ipod earphones, stamps, binoculars, toys and games. Tony was tempted to buy and Ipad but was restrained. We all found different places to eat lunch, and all were well fed.

Three hours stretched to four, allowing time for some ice creams to be purchased before we climbed back on board our three trusty minivans. Then we set off on Tim’s mystery tour of Pretoria – first stop, the Union Building, a beautiful building of palatial proportions with views over Pretoria. We enjoyed wandering round the manicured gardens and taking many photos of the team.

Then we drove round Church Square (English) or Kerkplein (Afrikaans), which is the historic centre of the city. Its most prominent feature is the statue of the Boer leader and president of the South African Republic Paul Kruger at its centre. Statues of four anonymous Boer citizen-soldiers surround that of Kruger's on a lower level of the plinth.

Several historically and architecturally significant buildings surround the square: the Palace of Justice, the Old Capitol Theatre, the Tudor Chambers, the Ou Raadsaal (Old Council Chamber) and the General Post Office, which was designed by John Cleland. The turreted Palace of Justice was the scene of arguably the most famous political trial in South Africa's history, the Rivonia Trial. During this trial, Nelson Mandela and a number of other prominent liberation struggle figures were charged with treason and subsequently incarcerated.

All of which was very interesting, but for one thing, we had chosen Friday rush hour to drive through this historic city. Which meant that the roads were packed with workers heading home for the weekend – joined by a convoy of three minivans full of English tourists. It felt a little like driving through the centre of London, only the driving here is even wilder!

We stopped on our way home at the Spar centre on the A573 to KwaMahlunga, where the lovely lady in the car park recognized us immediately. By this time it was around 6.17pm and it was dark – and the traffic had built up and was like a never ending sake of red lights with big orange buses, huge articulated lorries, cars of every size and the ubiquitous taxis (which are like minibuses). We saw the most amazing display of African driving skills – when the two lanes of traffic were moving slowly, we saw drivers pull out to make a third lane, potentially going straight into oncoming traffic!! Not only that, but some frustrated drivers even drove up on the verge by the left hand side of the road. Thankfully we managed to get back to Siyabuswa safely, with many more special memories and special photos of a rather orange moon.

When we got back to our base Rose started looking through some of our thank you cards. Here are some quotes from some of those lovely cards from the children at Grace School:

'You are an old tree that can survive in all seasons.'

'God bless you all, in all you do.'

'You guys rock!'

Good night all!

Day 10 Thursday 2^nd August

by Laura

Today was our final day at Grace Christian School, and it was an emotional one for all of us!

We all had an early breakfast this morning so as to have time to stick all the labels in the Bibles that arrived today (we have 50 Zulu Bibles and 50 English Bibles). This was a fulfilling and emotional task for all of us as we thought of what a wonderful gift these Bibles will be to the congregation of Hope Gospel Church. We hope to be able to give these out in the 11.00 am service this Sunday.

The A Team started the day by having a final play with the children in the Infant School which we all hugely enjoyed. We brought the parachute and lots of balls, balloons and books with us and after playing for about half an hour we presented them all to the children at the school. They sang a few beautiful songs for us and the headteacher was so pleased with the gifts, especially the books.

We then joined the B Team at Grace School for a South African Celebration Ceremony that Murriel (affectionately known as Grannie) had prepared for us. It included traditional dancing, singing and playing the drum in the African sunshine. Lots of pupils (or learners as Muriel calls them) and teachers (educators) gave speeches thanking us and asking God to bless us. Murriel was even moved to tears as she thanked us all for everything we have done here. It was a very emotional occasion, and a beautiful celebration of the South African culture.

Murriel then invited us to an African lunch prepared for us by the school which was really lovely and a very touching gesture. The lunch included barbequed chicken, beef and sausages, pap, thick gravy with vegetables in it, salad, vegetables and fruit juice. Although I’m not the best person to ask, apparently the meat was lovely, and the gravy certainly was incredible.

It was the last 'after school club' for the A Team, Jocey, Rob and Rose today as well, to add to all the emotion! It was led by Daniel and Abby who did a great job and really brought the theme of ‘Sticking to Jesus’ Team’ to life. After a fun packed two hours of games, creative prayers, chatting and Andrew being hit in the face with two plates of shaving foam (custard pies), all the children left with a goodie bag containing sweets, pencils, balloons, flags and colouring books which were loved by everyone.

Andrew then called another meeting for the A Team but surprised us all by giving us chocolate instead of actually having a meeting.

While the A team were busy with the 'after school club' - Helen, Suzy and Eva held their final craft session with ladies from the college and from the school. They have made a beautiful banner which will be presented to the college and will hang in the classroom which we are using as our base at the College. The ladies are overwhelmed by all the resources we have been able to give them. They have also been moved to tears because we have been able to share our love of sewing and card making. They are planning to meet every Wednesday from now on, to continue to make things for others and to pray together - the group will be known as the Dorcas Group (see Acts 9). Helen, Eva and Suzy were very touched by their response. Each of the ladies involved was presented with a certificate to recognise their participation, which caused great excitement.

Dinner was sandwiches (as we had had such a big meal at the school earlier) and we had a very relaxed devotions led by Andrew which included a very powerful time of open prayer.

Today was pretty special and unique, so many smiles and a few tears, but a really beautiful day. Oh and Tim got stopped by the police again... it's a long story which he'll be happy to share when you see him... maybe it's because he looks so young that he gets stopped???

Tomorrow we'll get a chance to be tourists - for the first time since we arrived - we are heading for Pretoria for the day!

Day 9 Wednesday 1^st August

Everyone so far has been telling you they have been having an early start. Well, the really early start has been 6.15am when the teachers have been getting up ready for school. We have been taking part in assembly at 7.30am which still amazes me. The children are so genuine in their worship and a real love of the Lord shines through.

Yesterday evening a child came to me in need of support and I spent lots of time talking with her and giving her some much needed love. This morning the first thing I saw when I arrived at school was her running up to me. Moments like that make you realise that you really are making a difference.

The rest of the day was truly delivered from prayer. The last week and a half have been filled with elements of frustration at the way African teaching varies to the standards we have in England. However, we had identified teachers that had potential to really take on board the things that we wanted to teach them. Today we were given a day with 6 teachers from across the Grace School who took part in a morning of teacher training. We started the morning with prayer as we were worried about how to deliver some of the new but essential elements they needed to really consider in their planning. It was a lot for them to take onboard but they asked lots of questions and were engaged in the activities that we carried out with them. After a lunch break, which at school is 10.45am, we asked the teachers to plan a lesson for tomorrow where they could try out some of the techniques that we explored with them. They were so inspired that we had teachers running off to get materials to make resources. The UK teachers are going to go and teach with them tomorrow to support them. At the end of the day the teachers were so thankful saying that we had been an answer to their prayers and sang us a lovely song. This token of appreciation made our hard work and continuous early starts and late nights preparing resources by hand for them so worthwhile. Two teachers have asked for our email address which is such a positive sign as it means that we can continue to support them even when we return home.

Whilst this was all going on the pupils were outside having a ‘sports day.’ Our youth team went down for an hour to join them which was great. Lots of the children who board at Grace School have begun to come up to the bible college in the evening where our youth have been sitting outside with them teaching them to make friendship bracelets.

Rod, Tony and Tim were busy fixing computers at the school yesterday and when this was mentioned to one of the teachers today she asked me if I would teach her how to use a computer. That is my task for after school tomorrow.

The craft ladies met again this afternoon and I went to join them. I had originally planned to just go and take some photographs of the group that have now truly bonded but ended up doing some pinning for them in preparation for a patch work banner. A gorgeous little 3 year old girl, who’s mum is in the group, decided that she wanted to come and help me so climbed up on my lap and kept passing me bits of material, paper and pins quicker than I knew what to do with them. We then spent some time playing together.

The music suite (5 keyboards, 2 broken desks and an old door) has been coming on today. The hope was for 5 desks which the 5 keyboards could be placed on. However, only 2 tables without tops plus one door was found. The amazing Tony, Rod and Tim modified what they had and made tables with space for power cables to be passed through them.

After a tasty dinner we closed the evening with devotion time where we heard that Khoshi (the only female student at the Bible College) had told Susie that many groups come and go but each of us in our team had really made a difference. This was such a lovely end to the day and seeing as some of our projects end tomorrow, will really help us finish them feeling that we have done our best and helped the people of Siyabuswa.

The adult team have raised a glass to all the successful tasks that we have undertaken so please join us, as all of you back home have been so supportive that you deserve the ‘well done’ too!

Time that I signed off now. Speak to all you soon.

Frances x