In case you want to ask...

Fish Hoek: Our current South African home featuring a little bit of paradise to inspire stirring thoughts.

Well folks, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything on here, but I assure you that I've been having a blast and learning a ton! This time next week, I'll be on American soil — in LA, to be exact — spending much needed quality time with some of my best friends and boyfriend.

I'm not sure when I'll see you, but when I do, you'll probably ask, "How was Africa?" Ay. What a question! If you want to know an accurate answer to that question (other than, "It was great! I had a blast and pet a cheetah."), ask me about this little prayer that I wrote earlier today after a rather frustrating (yet thought provoking) class period. There's a lot of story and experiences behind it; basically, it was a long time coming, but the prayer came to the [beginning] of fruition this afternoon. I'm sure God will continue teaching me in these areas!

A Prayer for the Future

Lord, give me the wisdom to see corruption in circumstances where others around me are blinded by words, contentment and oblivion. Give me the gumption to fight against this corruption in the name of justice. Above all, sustain me with Your hope to renew my spirit amidst any forlorn situations I may face.

As long as I live, may I never be blinded by the lies of the world, but rather view all through Your eyes. May my mind remain clear and constantly enquiring in search for truth — never controlled by any person, ideology, regime, or anything other than You. And as I continue to experience life, may I never be hardened so much that I lose sight of the work You're doing here on earth.

Safari, Ziplining and Faithfulness

It's been about a month since my last post, and I'm still feeling so blessed to be here in South Africa. Sure, I've had my struggles, but God has definitely blessed my being here through experiences and things I've been learning!

Here's a few pictures from Safari!

We were so close! The baby on the right was only about 3 weeks old!
And the adult on the left (partially cut out) was the one who chased us!

Angry elephant chasing us! The back window was dirty, but you get the idea!

The lionesses preparing for the hunt!

African Wild Dog: the 2nd most endangered species on the continent, and we saw a whole pack!

My favorite: the cheetahs! As if my Safari wasn't already great, I nearly died from happiness when I saw these guys!

Exploring history, science & country

Gasp! A real blog post, inspired by the fact that I just wrote this as a paper and edited it a bit for my blog. But before we get to that, a bit about my day today.

My chalet-mates and I dressed up for twin-themed dinner!
Yay for being friends with nurses and for looking more like Mom than usual :) 

Wednesdays are my crazy days. I start at 8 a.m. and finish classes at 8:45 p.m. with only meal breaks in between. In my scheduler's defense, I spend all day out on the field for Biology class. I guess it's not so being outside all day, watching zebras, doing hands-on experiments, hiking, sliding down natural water slides in rivers, climbing up and down waterfalls, catching fish and doing team building obstacle courses. Actually, I'd say it's pretty awesome.

My Biology class by one of several waterfalls we saw today!

But with so much time spent in the sun, I think it's time for me and my pinkish cheeks to go to bed! Until next time... a tale of South African restoration and reconciliation:

The road into and out of Apartheid in South Africa has been long and difficult, and while many people may know the basics of South African history, many are clueless as to the role God played in keeping the nation from a bloody civil war and restoring it instead. Tension was especially high at the start of the 20^th Century as the British and Boers made peace, leaving the Dutch-descendants in charge of the southern-most tip of Africa — ignoring the high number of blacks in the region. Although the blacks were native to South Africa and there were far more of them compared to whites, the Boers were committed to not losing control of the nation again.

As the industrial revolution hit Africa, blacks started moving into the cities for jobs. Previously, these areas had been white settlements, so when masses of blacks started moving into the area, the whites realized to a greater extent that they were still the minority. Out of fear, the government instituted Apartheid. Although many churches initially endorsed the policy, but realized it was, in fact, wrong in the late 1970s and 1980s. In 1986, the national legislature declared that it was a sin to force separation and mistreatment based on skin color. South Africa being a religious nation, this was a big step toward reconciliation.

Starting in 1990, former President F.W. de Klerk began negotiating an official end to apartheid, but there was so much bitterness on both sides that compromise seemed impossible. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years, many feared that he would be full of rage and a spirit of revenge; instead, he chose to forgive the whites and work toward a future of racial unity.

During African Enterprise’s 50^th anniversary, they started reaching out to South Africa’s political parties by praying for them. After a while, they also started organizing weekends of dialogue between the groups while running a 24-7 prayer chain for peace and reconciliation. These dialogues provided a platform for the political leaders to share their personal history and vision for the future of South Africa. After sitting down with one another and hearing the situation from others’ perspectives, they began to understand why some people were on either end of the issue. While this helped, political leaders still had not been able to compromise just weeks before the general election of 1994.

Wise and powerful mediators from around the world came to South Africa to help negotiate an agreement, but quickly fled once they saw how dire the situation was. It looked hopeless, and media around the world declared that South Africa would be a blood bath of civil war in a matter of days. AE sponsored the Jesus Peace Rally in Durban just days before the election, and over 25,000 people showed up to pray for their nation. God heard their prayers, and an agreement was finally found. Since then, South Africa has been slowly but surely rebuilding itself into a nation of equality and justice — which, according to Michael Cassidy, can be defined as “love built into structure” as in 1 Corinthians 13. Knowing this story speaks mountains of God’s faithfulness to answering prayer. In the small and big things, He is always listening and working in His own mysterious ways. 

Chutes and ladders

Having so much fun, seeing so much pain and learning so much about the thoroughness of Christ's redemptive, love-filled salvation.

Fun in the rain

Soccer + rain = good times. We won't let a little rainstorm keep us down! 

STUDY abroad

Who studies while studying abroad? I do. I wish I didn't care about my GPA! ;)

Clicking for days

Today was full of adventures, from my first Biology trip to my first Zulu class. Zulu might be harder to learn than Thai was... click click click! 

20th Century Paradox

Sawubona! I've decided to try the video blogging route, with hopes of actually keeping people updated while I'm away! This takes much less time — which is great news for me, considering the obscene (and rather unexpected) amount of homework I have to do over the next six weeks. Who knew people actually had to study while studying abroad? Not I...

2 Corinthians 10: 3-5

I'm in Thailand!

So excited!

Here's my first blog post from Thailand :) http://focusteamthailand.blogspot.com/2012/06/unexpected.html

Journey of 10,000 miles

Me and my siblings (Josiah, 12, and Emma, 6) at Rocky Mountain National Park for a peaceful family vacation in our beautiful home state!

It's been a long time since my last post, but I thought, being the night before I leave for my trip to Thailand, it was time to get my blog up and running again!

This week, I'll head to Bangkok to teach English at Santisuk English School for four weeks. I'll teach two classes, two hours a day each, four days per week. The rest of the time I'll get to hang out and live life with my students! After four weeks in Bangkok, we'll head up north near Chiang Mai, where we'll work at a home that rescues girls from impoverished communities and teaches them life skills in order to keep them from being trafficked. I'm so excited to be a part of these awesome ministries!

But with great excitement comes a bit of anxiety. I've never travelled abroad, and  six weeks is a long time! I hate to say that I'm reliant on technology, but not being able to call my parents, boyfriend, or friends with the click of a button is a really weird and slightly unsettling idea. Thank God for Skype!

Emma, a.k.a. my favorite sister, and I holding hands while crossing a creek on our family vacation. Earlier tonight, she gave me a big hug and said, in her whiney little girl voice, "Erica? I really think I'm going to miss you." And then I cried. I'm going to miss her (and Josiah) too!

(Here's a secret about me: As much as I long to see the world, experience new cultures, and just understand why things work the way they do, I'm a home body at heart! I can't go too long without having a consistant place to call home with people I love around me. Nonetheless, I'm so excited for this transient chapter of my life!)

Knowing this about myself, I know that I'm going to have to deeply rely on God to come out of these next several months in relatively good shape (as if I normally don't... ha!). I know that He is the only one who I can draw strength from because no person — including myself — is strong enough, wise enough, or loving enough to get me through!

Praise the Lord for bringing me to this time of life; I'm certain that I have much to learn! One of my favorite sayings is, "The years teach much that the days never knew." I know the next six weeks will fly by, and I won't know what hit me.

Prayer requests

That no matter what I'm feeling or thinking, God would keep my eyes, ears, and heart open to learning about and loving the people around me. That the Spirit would continuously live though me as a witness to who God is and how He loves us all. That my inability to speak Thai won't hinder my ability to connect with the people there. That my team and I would stay safe in our travels and life in Thailand. That God would give me wisdom for how to handle every situation (whether dealing with safety, people, etc.).