The Monday Report

Sawbona from eSikhawini!!

After two days of heavy rain, God blessed us with some sunshine and many bumpy roads. This morning we had a wonderful breakfast of French toast and bacon (cooked by Jamie, Sharon, and Cathy). Soon after breakfast we met our first challenges of the day; showering and driving. With no water pressure, sponge baths were the only option, along with brushing teeth in the kitchen sink. Next, we assisted our fearless drivers (Andy, Rev. Rob, and Sharon) in getting the vans out of the soggy parking area and onto the muddy roads of eSikhawini. We then loaded up the vans and headed to Richard’s Bay and the Indian Ocean .

The weather has been incredibly stormy the past few days and we drove through intermittent rain showers. The winds were blowing pretty strongly but we were able to enjoy an hour of sunshine at the beach. Norberta, Danette and Kate took a long walk along the ocean’s shore. Amita, Prasanth and Brian were playing keep away from the waves that were crashing into the shore because of the storms. Brian actually got caught! Susan, Brooke, Allie and Jill were looking for sea shells and writing messages in the sand. Sharon enjoyed some quite time watching the waves. Kristi, Jamie, Cathy, Sarah, RevRob, Angie, Andy, and Hilda took a walk along the pier trying to avoid the sea spray and watching the crabs enjoy the sun.

We then headed to the mall in Richard’s Bay – a nearby resort town. Part of the team enjoyed some delicious South African pizza (some with fresh avocado, some with spinach and black olive), others enjoyed some sandwiches and burgers. We visited a Christian book store owned by a friend of the Mafus and visited some other stores to pick up a Zulu/English dictionary for the Mafu’s home. We were a little late getting home due to “rush hour” traffic and a beautiful double rainbow we saw from the parking lot. Amita found a fresh almond tree and found out it’s difficult to break the shell to get to the almond. She’s just too strong!!!

We are now home after a wonderful devotion time and a hilarious and touching poetry “slam”. We are all healthy and pray that we continue to stay healthy so we can finish the work we are here to do. We have a clinic tomorrow and will be leaving here at 6:30 a.m. Mercy expects to see 250 people at the gate when we arrive! We have our final clinic on Thursday and are excited to see more of our new Zulu friends.

Thank you for praying for us and sending us good thoughts. We miss you and will see you all soon!

Amita (and Katie and Sarah) for the team J