Sunday, February 1, 2015

Week 35 - Jan 25th - 31st, 2015


Sunday, January 25th to Saturday, January 31st, 2015

Our move from Joburg Mission Office work to Polokwane to work MLS with the Seshego Township Group is complete this week.  We are getting settled in and acquainted with more and more members and investigators each day and loving the opportunity to be sent to the 'front-lines' of the battle!

It is quite a bit warmer and at times more humid than Joburg which can make for a little discomfort without the A/C we had enjoyed in the office and our other flat.  But then again, we will endure with faith and patience knowing that our assignment brings with it the joys of dealing and working with some of the most humble of people the Lord has prepared for His kingdom.   What a great deal for us.

We live about 20 minutes away from them.  Many of them live fairly comfortably in small but well kept masonry dwellings. Here are a couple of pictures of the poor areas that crop up wherever the people can gather materials and squat on property.   Some of the poorest of the poor live in much less than that constructed of corrugated metal, wood, rocks to hold their roofs on, etc.  


Many people wouldn't even use these for sheds back home.  Notice that a few of them grow gardens around where they can.


This one won the shanty town parade of shacks for being the most color coordinated model, but the tire swing isn't finished yet.  If the wind blows hard they will just throw it on top of the roof to help hold it on.
Gives a new twist to the interpretation of 'affordable' housing from the liberals back home in the states.  And there doesn't seem to be any whining going on about it either, they just exist and survive.  It's the way of life for millions of them.  Those that can usually find they must lift themselves up to improve their lives with little or no government interventions.

Meanwhile, I've included a couple of pictures from the area above our condo in this very nice gated community.   These two are typical of the beautiful, large, upper-middle class homes in the area.  There is one strange commonality though.  This first house and even some of the shack houses have satellite dishes for TV's.  (Somehow they get power even if they don't have running water, etc.)






While these pic's show more of the extreme ends of the spectrum, there seems to be a healthier and growing middle-class segment of society as well.  But there is a great disparity and frankly it helps us with missionary work here to be able to work with the poorer people because of their humility and because many of them love the Lord so dearly and sincerely.   They are teachable and are joining the Church by the thousands in Africa each year.

In our new assignment, we have been and will continue meeting with some key leaders, the Branch President, etc.   We've enjoyed going with the Elders to teach.  This is going to be a terrific assignment for us!   We love being missionaries here in South Africa and wish that many others would come and join this labor of love.






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