I can't do the math

Okay, it's Monday morning here in SA and we're scheduled to start our three flights just before noon today and arrive in ATL sometime tomorrow. Hope they updated the movies on the flight!

Knysna: Where your Bible doubles as a drum

Our second trip to Knysna this morning was neither by train or for site-seeing, rather, we drove up the coast for a Church service and a wedding. The one-room building was probably 40 X 20 and decorated from ceiling to floor with balloons, flowers, table settings for the wedding party and some old Christmas lights that started blinking and playing music during morning announcements. It never fails, does it? Pete was the only one tall enough (6'7) to reach the switch. Problem solved. There was some impromtu singing right out of the gate, something we've grown accustomed to over the last week and a half. Since this Church has no means of acquiring instruments for worship, the Bible doubles as the drum! People were signing and banging the "good book" against their hands, benches, and whatever else they could find. Mine was the cheapy, pleather kind, contibuting very little to the overall cadence of the room. I switched to clapping, which never works. Scott evenutally led a Bible study from John 12:1-50, teaching us about Jesus' encounters with the people God loves, encouraging a life of Christ-like reflection. It's really amazing how people from all over the world can quickly take something an American is says about Jesus and immediately "amen" it and assimilate it to their own community in which they live. It's almost like you can feel the room lean in and, not only agree but, want to put it into practice.

Part Two: The Wedding
In some ways, the wedding was very familiar and at-home. In other ways, it was from another planet. There were the usual vows and exchanges, there was even the "you may kiss the bride" part of it all. But the dancing! And the singing, too. Following the kiss and the introduction of the newly formed family, the audience broke into 20 minutes of singing and dancing, both in the Church building and outside in the yard. Oh, and I sang two songs before the ceremony. I was asked on the fly to do so and couldn't remember the words to "The Rose" quick enough so, they got a couple of worship songs instead. I was introduced as the American who plays guitar and has a really bad voice. The place laughed. I grew self-conscience. Quickly. Couldn't remember a D-Chord to save my life. Everyone lived and Joseph and Elsie are now married.

There's Something We Didn't Tell You
A couple of days ago, Scott, Lindy, Joy, Brittni, Terri, Pete and I went to this Bungy Jumping place about hour up the road. I wasn't interested on account of too many "caught on tape" specials I had seen. But Joy, Brittni, Scott and Terri threw some Rand on the counter, signed the wavers and we all walked down to the bridge for good-byes and such. Scott went first, paving the way for the others. Lindy, Pete and I sat on a ledge off to the side, holding our breath as Scott's body flew towards the earth. He came off the platform in perfect swan-dive form, looking like a pro X-Games participant. Joy went next, jumping off the platform without much fear, doing a perfect routine. Brittni screamed "NO!" as they guided her to the edge of the platform. It turns out that she went. It was awesome to watch. Terri was the last to go, rounding out the morning in style, screaming the whole way down. Totally worth the trip and everyone has mad-respect from me now.

In Closing
As the sun was setting, we drove to the beach to finally touch the waters of the Indian Ocean. It was a good ending to our trip. It brought to mind the passage from Ecclessiastes 1:7-8 that reads:

"The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea. Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content." (NLT)

On the front end of an all-out search for meaning, the writer brings forward a true observation about us: We are never satisfied. As soon as we get what we want, we're already looking ahead for something else. Voids in our lives develop out of many reasons but, the ultimate issue is not feeling empty & being on the search; the issue lies in how we fill our hearts. Missions exists to take a permanent message into temporal and transient places. In our short stay here on the Cape our team has tasted the hearts of the people here and has taken part in the lives of the Laughrens, as they journey to take the message of Jesus to a lost and hurting culture. Thanks for all your reading and for your prayers - we have enjoyed our stay so much and our prayers will continue to be lifted up for this place.

"Sisters, fill this room with singing so that we may feel the blood of Jesus in our veins."
-George Sigo, Elder at Knysna Church of Christ (Sunday, July 2, 2006)


Scott does the swan dive.








Joy on the plank.








Brittni all-in.









Terri ready to go!









Derek & Lindy from the cheap seats.

Rail Line to Knysna

Kynsna (pronounced n-eyes-na) is a small fishing town about an hour's drive from George, which would normally be drab and not worth the visit. But on a old-school steam train, now that's another story! After morning devotions (go Brittni!), we drove two blocks to the George train station and boarded, what looked to be, something straight from the set of The Great Escape. Complete with a cafe car, toilets and full-on wooden seats, this ride was at least going to be a throw back in time. Our plan was to take a morning off and ride the line all the way to Knysna, look around for Pete, get in the van, and return quickly so that we wouldn't be late for the final night of VBS. The ride? Awesome. The total trip time was nearly 3 hours, half being along the coast. Our first view of the sea came after we cleared a tunnel and saw 20 or so surfers braving the freezing waters, which looked to be breaking right at 6 feet. (I don't really know what that means but, I've seen a few surfing videos and that's what I remember.) Ninety minutes into the ride we stopped at a little railside town called Sedgefield. There's was this small cafe 12 feet off the rail, selling coffee and breakfast foods. Yet another jewel we've stumbled upon here in SA. We finally did make it to Knysna, found Pete and returned home safely, ready for the bell lap of VBS.

Final Night: 364
Fran informed us that normal Fridays during VBS weeks are considerably lower in attendance. Not this one! We lost 35 kids from the night before and in a one-room Church, that's something we didn't even notice. Three-hundred and sixty-four children returned, ready for more snacks, more crafts, more singing, and more stories about God. Terri led both the singing and the lesson for the night, doing a great job at keeping everyone's attention. The singing was, of course, very loud and hard to control but, oh well, it's fun. After the children were bused home, we all sat around for about 20-30 minutes, talking with two local teenagers named Patrick and John. These two boys had been helping us all week and were quite sad to see us go. To wrap up the night, Patrick spoke a sentence in Xhosa that had every click, snap, pop, and any other sound that Xhosa has - it didn't even sound real! When you're in the groove, doing your thing on these trips, it's hard to stop and take notice of what's going on around you; you're just too busy making sure sure that 400 kids get enough glue on their "God Keeps His Promises" craft and keeping an all-out riot at bay. But after the final night, we did have some time to breath and debrief. Scott asked each of us to share what made the biggest impression on us this week. Here are the responses:

Terri - hearing the Lord's prayer in Xhosa
Melanie (from Berea) - the singing with the kids
Stefanie - the singing and the picking up of kids in the vans
Lindy - getting to know returning kids throughout the week
Scott - driving the kids home each night and getting to know them throughout the week
Brittni - the hugs from the kids
Derek (me) - talking with the youth pastor of the area and learning his struggles
Eric - getting to know the kids
Carol (Berea) - that this acutally works (VBS)
Joy - just being with the kids
Pete - the unexpected help from locals during the week
Fran - the car loads of kids that came and how each night seemed liked the first

The greatest lesson: Learning how to serve (like this) back home, in the states. The more mission trips I take, the more I learn to transfer habits formed here to life back home. It's hard. We have a great deal of easiness in ministry at home, regarding the tools we have at our desposal and the means to use them effectively. I don't have to worry about whether or not the Church floor is going give way and cave in. (That was a real concern this week, actually.) I don't have to think too much about electricity going out simply because I forgot to buy more. In these ways, it's easier at home. But what I (and all of us) must learn to do is return with the same spirit of serving and helping that we are "forced" to do here. Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, my brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, for this is your spiritual act of worship." That's the lesson we're constantly revising in our own lives and in our group. It's tough. But it's the right way to journey.
Once again, sorry
I lost track of time yesterday and was not able to update for you and for that, I'm sorry, once again. We're headed back to Knysna tomorrow morning for Church and a traditional African wedding. Look for the pictures of that one!!!


Just a picture of my cup of tea...random.