The wings

In about an two and half hours, I'll be on my way to visit Connecticut for the week.... then onto Washington D.C. for the next 3 and half months.

rockin.

bring it.

a week at "home"

I've been "home" for the past week and half. In that week, I've realized the incredible amount of blessings I have in my life through relationships. I'm continually blessed, encouraged, stretched, and strengthened through the people in my life. The past three years have been amazing filled with the craziness of the Biola community and college life. This section of my life is now over... I'll never again be completely engulfed in the Biola bubble as I have been in the past.

sadness. thankfulness. excitement. praise. prayer. freedom in the unknown, yet so many questions.

here i am... with my baggage, my history, my faults and talents.

My first prom

So I can't dance at my school.... but I can dance at my church - 80s style of course!

Friday night rocked the house as Rock Harbor held an 80's Prom. As I danced the night away dressed in the ugliest clothing possible, I realized how fortunate I am to be apart of this church.

It was definitally a new experience having one of my pastors walk up to our table and congratulate the four of us girls on our dancing skills.... hah. score!

the last week

Our time is winding down onboard, we leave the ship in less than 48 hours. Today, I'm actually on duty for housekeeping, which means I have to stay onboard in case there is an emergency and for other various reasons. Yesterday, we had the day off to fill out forms for our departure, but then we also ended up going to the beach for some relaxation and hiking.

This country countinues to amaze me. The beaches are gorgeous and incredible open to explore. Yesterday, I re-hiked a section of the beach that I had actually already explored a few weeks ago, but it was really cool to do it again and see even more of it. I am definitally a person who only likes to do things once and then I usually get bored with it and don't try it again. But as I wandered over the same cliffs and rocks, I realized how much of the excitement and beauty I'd missed the first time through. (I'd post pictures, but basically I'm too lazy to now that I'm coming home soon.) I think I need to be more open to repeating certain things in my life that I feel i've already "been there done that."

Once upon a time, I thought I'd never have to convince a group of people to not make me sing. I've pretty much accepted the fact that I have zero musical talent... however, this fact became even more amusing this week. The housekeeping department head decided that as a departmental outreach we would go sing at a local retirement home..... this is a great idea, but honestly, you should hear what we sound like. Every morning, we start out the day with devotions and pretty much I think anyone near the room runs away when hearing the screeching, out of tune sounds coming from our "worship." This has been all good, it's just for God....however, let's just say Beth and I spent a lot of time laughing at the idea of us singing in front of people.... I'm still laughing at it. This was all supposed to happen on Thursday afternoon, but thankfully we didn't have a ship vehicle to get there so the outing was post-poned til Tuesday.... oh darn, we'll be gone. Funnest thing pretty much. Can't believe it actually happened.... it's a good thing that there were no recordings of our "practice sessions"... hah.

The Problem of Pain

The age old question of how evil is in a world controlled by an omnipotent and merciful God has been debated for centuries. In reading C.S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain, I found this summary of how one must address the issue:

"In the fallen and partially redeemed universe we may distinguish the simple good descending from God, the simple evil produced by rebellious creatures, and the exploitation of that evil by God for His redemptive purposes, which produces the complex good to which accepted suffereing and repented sin contribute."

After participating in these debates here and there, I have realized that these catagories often get lumped together as a whole, instead of realizing their distinction. It is vital to realize what one is actually speaking of, instead of just arguing mere terms that have a lack of true meaning attached to them or vice versa.

Adventure up the coast.... in a very sketchy landie

Sometimes it's good to know what you're doing and where you're going before you go... but then again... that's just boring! :) Today, nine of us piled into the oldest land rover and head up to the Kai River mouth to enjoy a scenic drive and braai (pronounced "bry" meaning barbeque) on the beach. Well, the day turned out quite a bit different, but still adventuresome. Here are some of the pics from the day....

Here is the mouth of the Kai River... we then had to take a "ferry" across to the other side. The ferry was a barge like platform that fit two cars at a time... very safe and secure at only 45 rand a trip (equivalant to about $7). Oh yea, I'm riding on top of the Landie at this point in time... it was generally more comfortable and cooler to be on top rather than smashed inside.



Us crossing the river....

Continuing the ride...

After about 3 hours in the land rover, plus various stops along the way which were some what pointless, we arrived at our destination.... a wrecked 1973 ship. I thought our ship was rusty... but then I saw this:

**** Well I had pictures.... but then the computer went mad and wouldn't work... so you'll just have to see them when I get home**********

I also managed to get soaking wet in all my clothes. I thought I could make into the ship without getting wet, hah, that didn't happen. Considering I'm currently living onboard a ship, it was interesting to think about what this did prior to it's on the beach and who lived onboard, etc. Where will the Anastasis be in 10 years? hmm..... some shipyard probably dead. However, the Ana has served thousands of people bringing them a new way of life. Every person that walks onboard leaves slightly changed, whether they were crew or patient or even just on a tour.

The Anastasis was in East London six years ago undergoing a huge air conditioning project. During that time, they provided a few surgeries for some of the local Xhosa people. One of the women who received a cleft lip and pallet surgery has come back to the ship week to share her testimony since receiving the surgery. She's now been able to experience life in her community and not be rejected by everyone around her. Besides the surface change, she spoke about how through her life experience she has grown closer to God and increased in trusting Him. In the midst of the dirty, torn apart ship, the stories of the lives this ship reaches remind us of why we scrub the corridors again and again.

In the very bow of the ship, a small plant had grown up inside the rust. I'm not sure how that exactly can happen, but it was a beautiful sight in the midst of the brown and red destruction. I probably would have never noticed the plant if it had been on the side of the road, but inside of the dark old ship, the green stood out as a beautiful living object. Many things in life tend to be like that....

Continuing the ride...

After about 3 hours in the land rover, plus various stops along the way which were some what pointless, we arrived at our destination.... a wrecked 1973 ship. I thought our ship was rusty... but then I saw this:

**** Well I had pictures.... but then the computer went mad and wouldn't work... so you'll just have to see them when I get home**********

I also managed to get soaking wet in all my clothes. I thought I could make into the ship without getting wet, hah, that didn't happen. Considering I'm currently living onboard a ship, it was interesting to think about what this did prior to it's on the beach and who lived onboard, etc. Where will the Anastasis be in 10 years? hmm..... some shipyard probably dead. However, the Ana has served thousands of people bringing them a new way of life. Every person that walks onboard leaves slightly changed, whether they were crew or patient or even just on a tour.

The Anastasis was in East London six years ago undergoing a huge air conditioning project. During that time, they provided a few surgeries for some of the local Xhosa people. One of the women who received a cleft lip and pallet surgery has come back to the ship week to share her testimony since receiving the surgery. She's now been able to experience life in her community and not be rejected by everyone around her. Besides the surface change, she spoke about how through her life experience she has grown closer to God and increased in trusting Him. In the midst of the dirty, torn apart ship, the stories of the lives this ship reaches remind us of why we scrub the corridors again and again.

In the very bow of the ship, a small plant had grown up inside the rust. I'm not sure how that exactly can happen, but it was a beautiful sight in the midst of the brown and red destruction. I probably would have never noticed the plant if it had been on the side of the road, but inside of the dark old ship, the green stood out as a beautiful living object. Many things in life tend to be like that....

The orgin of the hand prints on the walls

We spend hours every day cleaning the ship, which can be rather fun and yet incredible hard work. It's amazing how much dirt and grease get tracked all over the place. It's kind of like cleaning a construction site. Anyway, we are forever giving the engineering guys a hard time for the foot prints they leave behind on our freshly mopped floors. So today, due much to the requests of Beth, we ventured down into the greasiness of the engine room for a lovely, but dirty, tour given by Pete (Canadian) and James (English).

The advance team for the ship arranged an amazing deal for Mercy Shippers to receive an overnight Safari trip for less than a fifth the price as normal. So we were able to go Inkwenkwezi Game Park this weekend to see all sorts of wildlife. The park is spread over about 10,000 acres so the wildlife can roam as in nature. They have the four lions in a seperate part that we actually drove into in our Land Rover. Here are two of the lions... notice there is no fence between us and them. It was just us in an open land rover and these amazing beasts about 20-30 feet away. unbelievable.






Our guide took us on two safari rides - one at sunset and one after breakfast. We saw everything from rhinos to monkeys to five or so species of antelope and deer to giraffes and wildabeasts.

Here's a mother giraffe and her three week old baby.

The Buckaner's View

We spent the night at a backpacker's inn, which offered us a cabin for the night with this view. They also served us an incredible Xhosa (pronounced "cosa") candlelight dinner with all the other backpackers from all over the world. I've changed my mind about African food.... this weekend I fell in love with South African meals...

Surfin in the RSA

Enjoyed South African winter with some surfin lessons on Saturday morning. The picture is of James, Joe and myself. Beth and I spent the weekend traveling around with them finding all sorts of adventures.