Andreas

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7/8/06

Today is one day in particular that I wish that I could be in the States. My prayers are with Christie Barrett and Erik Huff as they will be getting married today. Also I feel as if everyone is having their birthday while I am gone and today I want to say Happy Birthday to my lifelong friend Jessica McDonough.

Yesterday was a very encouraging day for me. We went to Bethlehem and I was able to take a friend with me and she showed me around and we shopped and such. It was such a beautiful day and it was nice to just hang out all day. We went into a bunch of stores but I didn’t buy anything but two pairs of socks, a camera (because the one that I brought has died), and food. We spent the whole day there and got home around 4. When we got back into town we checked the mail and everyday I just hope that there will be something for me, well this time there was. My little sister sent me the nicest little letter and it was such a pleasant surprise, thanks Rachel. Back at the house there was a little bag inside the gate with a present in it, Meh thought that it was for Ntate because he just had his birthday. When they read the card they said that it was for me. Presents are great. This one is wonderful. The children at one of the farm schools and their teacher sent me a card with all of their signatures on it and a rock. Ok, this was not just some plain, old, ordinary rock but they chiseled it out on one side to be a map of Africa and then on the other side it says, “ Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice, Carolina Farm School 2006.” Every time we went to the school we would sing all sorts of children’s songs (which all have a message that should never be forgotten) and one of the songs that we sang was Rejoice in the Lord always and we would divide up the class into two sections and sing a round and have a competition to see which group could sing the loudest. This is such a great souvenir, better than any I could ever buy, too bad it is not made of Styrofoam. So yesterday was a good day.

Today we worked around the house, cleaning and getting a photo album together for Meh and Ntate’s great-grandson’s birthday so that I can take it back with me. For lunch we went over to Clarens. We went to a different restaurant from the two that we usually go to and had a very nice lunch. It was once again the Lord having His appointment. There was this little boy running around (we were eating on the deck), he was probably about 3 years old and his father was sitting there drinking with a few friends. Meh gave the little boy a few of here French fries and a little while later made him a little sandwich with some butter and mint sauce (it is not as bad as it may sound) and when she gave it to him he signed a finger across the throat and then clapped his hands. Meh and Ntate had never seen the finger across the throat but the clapping of hands means thank you. Meh went up to the father and asked him what the finger across the throat meant and this means, ‘more than thank you.’ African children are more than adorable. After she asked him this she started talking with him about how he is an example to his young boy and how one day his boy might grow up to be an alcoholic and get in a fight with someone and get killed. At this point the man told Meh not to say that because he did not want his son to hear (he was a little drunk) and she went on to say that if he did not spend money on drink he would have more money to send his son to school and buy him clothes and shoes. I am not sure what else she said but she definitely had this man thinking. She came back over to our table and we finished up our meal. Before we left we spoke with the man again (by this time he was two sheets to the wind) but the whole plan of salvation was shared with him and he shared with us that the reason that he drinks is that he has problems at home, he is married. He also shared that he has girlfriends. Ntate asked the man if he had AIDS and he was very quick to answer, yes. By the end of the conversation the man was crying and understanding that alcohol does not solve his problems and that he needs something else for answers. We had a very conversation with him and he asked us to come and visit him and we will on Thursday. We gave him a lot of literature and a NKJV New Testament. Ntate prayed with him and now we can only pray that when he wakes up sober he will remember what was said and really desire to change his life around. Please pray for Andraes and also for his son, Ashley.

On the way home there was a lot of burning going on. The land is really dry right now, we have not had rain more than a few drops in more than a month. Often farmers burn off the perimeter of their land so that if anything does catch fire than it will stop at their property. The other day when we were driving we could see a fire moving across the top of the mountains in the distance, these were not controlled. It is hard to know whether the fires that we saw today wee controlled or not but they probably were not. It is amazing how the fires burn in this straight line and the destruction that they can cause for acres and acres of land. Then we the spring comes around the land will be more alive than it was before because the fires actually benefit the land. Clarens is about 20 miles away from Fouriesburg and the whole way there we are surrounded by mountains and farmland. The mountains are a layered orange, brown, and cream and the farmland ranges from fields upon fields that are empty or there may be come cattle, then there are cornfields, and a few scattered fields which are green from irrigation for the cattle to graze on and get nutrition from for milk production during the dry season.

Romans 1:18-19

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

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