summary

So, we're home. We've been home for the better part of a week and I'm just now normal enough to write something comprehensible...the trip was blissfully uneventful and I thoroughly enjoyed going this round with the team.

Probably my least favorite thing about mission trips is re-integrating. You never come back the same as when you leave so there's always adjusting to do (though I will say that it was particularly easy to readjust to always having hot water). Your mind is always somewhere else and you are expected to sum up your trip into an acceptable one or two-sentence answer to be used when someone asks you the requisite "So, how was Africa?". It drives me insane. I know, I know, what else are people supposed to ask? I understand that...but still, it is very hard to give a quick answer about something so major. Especially when it's all you want to talk about for um, say the next two months of your life...

Oh well, that's probably part of any mission trip and just me venting about it.

I'm ready to go back.

I'll post links to all the pictures here as soon as they all come in...

out

So, today we leave for Durban to fly out in late afternoon--we are currently in St. Lucia and it's about a three hour drive from here. We were really busy finishing up ministry in the Tembe area before moving up into Mozambique for several days...during this time we had absolutely no Internet connection and would have been too busy to use it had it been available.

This trip has touched everyone in a special way...we've got lots of memories--faces, sounds, and scenes--that are going to be with us forever. These include some very funny memories involving marauding elephants and angry leopards within the camp perimeter...

Today is the end and we're not looking forward to the long trip home. We should be leaving in about ten minutes so everyone will hear about this in detail soon...

first day

The team arrived safely in Durban on the 15th and drove up to Tembe on the 17th...I was so glad to see everyone and have since been regaled with stories involving the effects of Ambien on teen aged boys, unphotogenic people, and plane food.

Today was our first day of work...we went to a AIDS-prevention center in the nearby town of Manguzi to learn more about their programs. Tholulwazi Uzivikele (means "empower yourself through knowledge") runs several programs including a home based care program for those who are not able to reach the hospital regularly, an orphan care program, and they also offer life-skills classes to Manguzi and the surrounding communities. Several members of the team witnessed to Tholulwazi employees after the briefing.

Afterwards, we drove to a pharmacy to get supplies for our foray into Mozambique and most of us hung out outside talking amongst ourselves and with the locals. Alice and Lindsey quickly spotted the nearest baby which they hijacked from its mother...it's getting to be a regular occurrence...

We drove out into the bush to make several visits (whenever we drive somewhere, it goes without saying that someone gets stuck...this time it was Billy), one to a girl named Mbali and another to an elderly man named Khumalo. We had met Mbali the previous year's mission trip...her parents had died, leaving her as an orphan to care for her three younger siblings. Around this time she became a Christian and as a team we just dropped by to say hello and to encourage and pray for her. Khumalo is an elderly refugee from the war in Mozambique about twenty years ago who fled across the border into South Africa after witnessing the murder of his wife and children before his eyes. He has since lived in this community outside of Manguzi and we spoke with him for awhile and gave him some rice and other food to support himself on.

After all this, it was back to Tembe where everyone is now working on praise-and-worship, skits, and playing indoor soccer! Our evening isn't done yet and it was a good first day of work.

onwards

Well, apparently, I'm a slacker...there are some things I did not take into account when I agreed to keep this blog:

1. This is Africa, which has:
a. no internet connection.
OR
b. really, really bad internet connection.
AND
2. I forget things.

Yes, obviously, I did reach South Africa safely well, about two weeks ago. I did this without panicking AND without getting lost AND managing to make all my flights on time. Those of you who know me will realize that this is a small miracle in and of itself because I. Hate. Flying.

So, basically my missionary family friends picked me up at the airport in Durban, South Africa around 8:00 at night after almost 30 hours of travel. Suffice to say that I don't like plane food or babies that scream a lot when you hit a little bit of turbulence. Yep.

We spent the night in Durban and then headed up to the area where the team normally ministers, around a town called Manguzi in Africa near the Mozambican border. It was interesting--we were in the area when Kingsley Holgate's Boundless Tour of Southern Africa came through. If you don't know who this guy is, you should check him out--they are doing some pretty neat stuff and we were able to

After we spent about three nights in South Africa, we moved north to Mozambique, where we have been ever since in a small town on the Indian Ocean. Basically, what I have been up to is attempting to organize some things before the team comes in a week like, the menu and the praise and worship songs. I am having limited success. I also spent two nights at an orphanage in Momoli, Mozambique as kind of a forerunner thing for the team as we will be working there.

My last week before the team arrives is apparently going to be spent preparing and freezing food for our stay at the orphanage and helping with school for my friends. It has been a bit more relaxed than I had expected, but I have enjoyed it and continued to pray that God's purpose in my coming would be accomplished in whatever I do. This is only a skeleton outline of everything...it's been incredible though. I can't wait till the team arrives and we get to some serious work though...

happenings

So, yesterday, we had more fun team bonding time while trying to sell tickets for the upcoming barbeque that we are having to raise money. The word "trying" indicates another attempt in a long string of fruitless attempts. None of us are disheartened though because when you cook barbeque this good (chicken barbeque, people) the masses are bound to show up. At least that's the plan. For more information on the barbeque, check out the church website. Come...please?

Anyhow, most of the team got to the church around 8:15 Saturday morning and then we made signs in the supply room as per the suggestion of Lindsey ("Well, we can make signs. We'd have to go to the supply room. I mean, only if you really need us to."[she likes that supply room]). After thirty minutes, we had some very questionable, but brightly colored signs and so we set off to the Harris Teeter and Food Lion parking lots to sit for four hours and sell tickets.

Tickets sold in four hours: two. Yep. And those were to a team member from last year, but we're still counting them.

We talked to innumerable race fans who would stop and peer with interest at our sign:
"If you're going to be here, we're having a barbeque next Saturday at Crossroads Church."
Without fail, we'd get:
"Oh, I'm from [insert southern state here] and I'm in for the race. Won't be here then, but it looks good."

Lesson learned: grocery store parking lots + race weekend + barbeque sales = baaad idea, but lots of fun (dependant upon one's definition of 'fun').

And that was pretty much the extent of that.

In other team news, tonight we are selling drinks at the Darrell Evans concert at Crossroads. 50 cent drinks, again--don't miss it...

There will be a bit of a change in the content here due to the fact that I am leaving tomorrow (oh. my. word. I am sososo excited. I can't really express it), so there'll be less about the team until they join me in South Africa, but I'll try to keep up with them. My father commissioned me in front of the church this morning--I almost cried, almost because it really touches me to see all the support from my church family, friends, and team. You guys are wonderful. Thank you so much.

For now, I have to finish packing and I'd love to go to bed early, but that never happens, right? Anyhow, all I know about my plans is that my missionary friends are picking me up at the airport in Durban. That is truly the extent of my knowledge. Oh well, you'll all hear from me on the other side...

camaraderie

So, we (the team) just got finished hosting a Family Movie Night at Crossroads complete with free popcorn. Not many people turned out probably because, hey, honestly there are more exciting things to do on a Friday evening than hang out at church with your kids and watch Madagascar 2. But we did have free popcorn. And 50 cent drinks. That gets us some points, right?

There's not really much you can do when things don't go exactly as you plan, so we made the most of it: played some dodgeball and volleyball, watched Madagascar 2 (ha--the penguins...), and hung out as a team. Honestly, time can't be considered a waste when you are spending it with wonderful people. Which brings me to well, the team...

It is incredible how God puts together the perfect team for every trip. This being my third year going to South Africa, I've tended to compare each year to the year before and wistfully think along the lines of, "Ah, but it won't be the same." No, it won't. It never is because each year the situations that the team is put into are different. And God is faithful and puts the right people in for each trip. That being said, I'm excited to see what's going to happen this year because this is a pretty awesome group of people:

Yeah, so there's no good way to name everyone because we were all tired and standing in some weird formation. So, from the left here we have Michael, Wilson, Chandra (green shirt), Alice (the one who looks super excited in the back), Lindsey, Ansley (in the soccer jersey), Richard, Grant, Kevin (the one who is standing like five feet in front of everyone else), Crawford, Billy, and me. That's everyone except Lowell and Craig. These guys are our senior pastor and associate pastor respectively. They deserve to be introduced seperately because we love them that much (Lowell, at least...):

Lowell

Craig

Isn't it really convenient how everyone who wasn't here had pictures on the staff page of the church website? I thought it was convenient. Anyhow, that is the Crossroads Church 2009 South Africa Mission Team.

ps, thanks to everyone who came out to support us tonight--we appreciate it so much!

the why

Saying that I might over analyze things is like saying that the sun might rise in the east and set in the west.

Yeah so, now that we have that established, I'd like to kind of throw out some thoughts on why I want to go back to South Africa. Some people have asked me why and it's really a hard thing to articulate. See, while it's very important to me to go back to South Africa, it's also very important to me that I am going back for the right reasons.

On one hand, South Africa isn't a hard place to fall in love with. I mean, hey, it's Africa and we're on the Indian Ocean or in the bush the whole time and so there is an element of romance to it all. It's freaking gorgeous. The people are amazing. On the other hand, I'd say South Africa is a hard place to continue loving...you see some hard stuff while you're over there, a lot of hard stuff. Then you get this feeling of being overwhelmed and not being able to do enough. It's frustrating. And I've only been over there short term--can you imagine living there and being faced with that every day?

Part of what draws me to this country is that whenever I've been there, God just shows up in incredible ways. Before I go any further, let me just say that I realize that I don't have to go through 36 completely hellish hours of travel to have God say, "Oh, that Ashlyn! She's getting serious, hopping on planes to foreign countries and all--well, I guess I can show up for a little while..." I know that God is capable of showing up anywhere that he pleases. I think that something about Africa makes it easier for him to move and move big though...maybe because the culture over there isn't as jaded to the spiritual world as America is or something? I don't know.

What I'm trying to figure out is...do I love South Africa for selfish reasons, for what it does for me, or do I love it because God has given me a heart and a vision for this place? See, I have no clue. I'm really hoping that this trip will help me to figure it out and I'm praying even now that God will give me his vision and his love for this country so that I can be effective for the short time that I'm over there.

ha--bear with the musings, people--I have to start processing things this far out, or I won't know what to do when it's finally here...

some history for you

For the large amount of people who don't really know me well and aren't aware of the events that have culminated in me traveling to South Africa, I am going to attempt to fill you in. This is a difficult thing for me to do because if I filled you in as much as I would like to, then this entry would be ridiculously long. So, here is an attempt at a bullet/skeleton point summary:

• October 2006: My father is asked to be part of an investigative mission trip to South Africa to see if our church can be helpful in a region of the KwaZulu Natal province, in the north eastern corner of the country. He goes. He falls in love with South Africa. He comes home.
• October 2007: My father asks me if I want to be part of a mission team from Crossroads going back to South Africa (the investigative trip being successful). I accept without hesitation, forethought, or prayer. Pretty much, I'm not about to turn down an opportunity to travel to Africa. We go. I fall in love with South Africa. We come home.
• June 2008: Repeat cycle and insert my brother where my dad and me previously were. It's getting predictable, hmm? I go on this trip as well only after sending out tons of letters to help raise funds. We go. My brother falls in love with South Africa. We come home.
• After my first trip in October 2007, I spent almost an entire two years trying to convince my parents to let me go back by myself to visit our missionary friends and be helpful in whatever capacity that I could. They didn't immediately veto the idea of me traveling 36 hours by myself, internationally. I was shocked.
• End of May 2009: hopefully, I leave for South Africa. By. My. Self.
• Mid-June 2009: the short term team from Crossroads (led by my father on his fourth year back and containing my entire family--ha!) should arrive and meet up with me and the missionary family. Then we'll get on with some serious working. Then everyone will fall in love with South Africa and we'll all go reluctantly home.

Believe it, or not that was a skeleton summary. So, that should pretty much cover the basics for now because there is a lot more coming...