What is it like in Africa?

I realized that I have not posted much about life here in Africa. First of all, they were not lying when they said that it was cold. It is much like the early spring or late winter of Edmonds. It's freezing at night and normal Washington spring weather during the day. When in the sun, the sun is hot, but when the sun goes down, you could never imagine Africa to be so cold!

During the week, breakfast is at 8:00 and we leave for ministry in Qwaqwa or Intabazwe at 9:00. Qwaqwa is about an hour drive. When we get there, we go with our translator to houses and tell people that we are on a Life Exchange and wanting to learn about their life and see if we can help with any chores. I have not had the opportunity to help with many chores, but have mostly been sitting and talking with people. At 1:00 we regroup for a packed lunch which is usually peanut butter and jelly. We then go back out for 2 more hours at 2:00. Then we head back the Thrive. Sometimes we stop in Harrismith (Harry-smith) at the grocery store which is about 1/2 way home. Dinner is at 6:00 and afterwards, we have free time when we can check email, watch movies, hang out, or have parties (we just had a birthday party for my friend Marc last week).

Starting next week, we will have other jobs like base crew, coffee bar/curio, discipleship ministry, and working with the team from Falls Church. The job of base crew is to do chores and clean up around the base. Coffee bar/curio is working at a little souvenir/snack shack which is upstairs in the living room. Curio means curious or can be short for souvenir. Discipleship is the ministry that we do with other outreach staff members. It's the ministry that I did last week in Qwaqwa. When we work with the teams, we do the same thing as discipleship, except I am the leader and I do not participate as much as I watch and direct them in their ministry.

On Wednesday mornings we have African prayer, which is very cool. We have a little bit of worship and then Neil says a few words, and then we just pray. Like I said before, with African prayer, everyone just prays at once. On Thursday nights, like I have mentioned in previous posts, we have church. I love church! Neil is a great speaker and we're all pretty close. It's just the few staff members and 24/7 interns and my groups, the outreach staff members. Sunday afternoons the 24/7 and outreach interns get together to play Ultimate Frisbee. It's just like home! On Sunday nights we have a bible study for just the outreach staff members, lead by full time staff members. It's called Connect. My leader's name is Kelly, and she is so sweet! I love it!
The weekends are pretty relaxed. Sometimes we will go to African church on Sunday mornings, but otherwise we have them free. Sometimes on Saturdays we will go out and do scheduled activities that are more touristy, like yesterday when we went to the "Lion Park."

Last year, one of the buildings burned. It was the building that was the main meeting area and hang out spot. Since it's no longer available, our "house" is all spread out. We have our bedrooms, our cabins, which are "downstairs." Really, they're down the hill, and that's what we call downstairs. Also downstairs is the phone booth and the reception area which has a smaller room in it which is called the den. In the den we have our outreach meetings and hangout. The couches are in the den, so we like to watch movies in there and just hang out because it's one of the warmest places to be. (There's no indoor heating anywhere, except for the small heaters that we have.) There's also wireless internet down there. The laundry room is somewhere in the middle of them, just at the foot of the hill, and is also next the hooks where the game is prepared to be eaten. Yes, I have actually seen some game hanging, which is why I am a little skeptical about eating meat. I might just be a vegetarian while in Africa. To get upstairs we have to walk this wretched hill which looks like a hill in Edmonds. One of the girls refers to it as "The 45" because it's nearly a 45 degree angle. After walking on that hill, you finally get upstairs to the living room. The outreach staff eats all of their meals in the living room and uses it as a hang out spot as well. There is also wireless internet, and the computer that I am typing on. Coffee bar/curio is up here as well. The teams are allowed to use the living room and go to the coffee bar after 7:00 but we're allowed up here anytime.

Behind the living room, there are classrooms that are used for discipleship classes, and behind them are the three mountains: Moyhook, Everest, and Eagle Mountain. I climbed Mt. Everest last Sunday, and it took about an hour. Moyhook supposedly takes about 4 hours, unless you're new here and then it will take about 6. The reason is because of the elevation. Thrive is about 6,000 ft. about sea level. The mountains are another 1,000 ft. up. Climbing is very difficult and you have to take a lot of breaks to catch your breath. Walking is exhausting because it's so hard to breath. The scenery here is beautiful. A lot of it looks dead, but that's understandable since it's the winter season. Winter is the dry season in Africa. In the summer there are wildflowers everywhere, or so I've been told. The sky is beautiful. I have fallen in love with the bright blue and the depth of the clouds. Also, the starry sky is magnificent. I have never seen so many stars out, except maybe when I was in Montana. There are a lot of animals here. Most of them are types of antelope/deer but with different coloring. There are also wildebeest which are pretty dumb and don't do much. Yes, there are zebras and ostriches in South Africa, however there aren't any ostriches on the Thrive base. I have seen them many times, and the excitement in seeing them isn't really there anymore. It's kind of weird, but I've grown quite accustomed to seeing zebras now. They're just a part of Africa and it's so normal to me now.

The food here is all South African. I haven't had much food that is at all American. Most mornings we eat oatmeal, which is different from American oatmeal, or mealy-pop (kind of like Cream of Wheat). They put cinnamon sugar in both of them. Also, we have bread with every meal. There is always toast or bread or bagels. Sometimes we have eggs and bacon but they have an African twist to them. For lunch, we usually have sandwiches since we're always out on ministry, but sometimes we have pasta and salad. Dinner is the most African meal of the day. We have some type of meat, usually rice, and some type of cooked vegetables. Some of the veggies are cooked carrots, squash, sweet potatoes (they look really dark brown), and spinach. Some of the meat that we eat comes from the base. I've definitely eaten wildebeest, blesbuck (a type of deer), and cattle that came from the base. It comes in all forms, including: meatballs, with pasta, and sometimes just cut up meat. I'm actually getting really tired of the food. I miss American food so much! This food just doesn't seem appealing to me anymore and sometimes makes me feel sick to my stomach. It's only been two weeks! Pray for me and my stomach, that we'll be able to survive the next 5 weeks of strange food.

If I remember anything else, I'll try to post it, or if you guys have any questions feel free to ask. I'm going to go enjoy my Sunday afternoon watching some Ultimate Frisbee and reading, as you guys are probably sleeping in before church. I think it's only 6:30 AM back home. :]

I love and miss you all!
(PS I'm starting to feel a little homesick, I think. Last night I woke up a few times and was wondering where I was because I really thought that I was still at home. And I just miss you guys back home.)

Update: Passion/Lions/African Church

PASSION:

The other night, I had the greatest time with God. Through this trip, I have felt my passion for God slowly decreasing. We have church on Thursday nights, and on Thursday, the director of Thrive, Neil, spoke about the devil taking advantage of us when we are weak, and trying to separate people from the church and make them feel alone. Once they are alone, then they are weak and easy to devour. I just felt like I was the one who was about to be devoured. I couldn't feel God at all.

We went to a hospital on Friday and I didn't feel any emotion. I didn't feel happiness or sadness or relief. I just had no emotions. I felt dead inside, like the Holy Spirit was far from me. Throughout the time that I was been sick, I did not stop praising God, because I know that he brought me to Africa for a reason. I sang over and over again, Father I Adore You and Jesus Lover of My Soul. When I felt the worst, I would just sing. I think that's what helped get me through.

Also, Friday night I found out that this next week, I'll be leading the first missions team for the summer. I was so scared because I felt so incompetent while I myself was out ministering. When I would pray, I did not have any words to say. I didn't even have an idea of what to pray for. I just felt clueless in my prayer life. That night I knew that I had to pray and I did know what I needed to pray for. I just prayed that the Spirit would fill me and that I would desire God like I have before. I prayed the song that says,

"Draw me close to you, never let me go, I lay it all down again,
to hear you say that I'm your friend. Help me find a way, bring me
back to you. You're all I want. You're all I've ever needed. You're all I
want. Help me know you are near."

I wanted to be close to God again and be able to feel him. I was assigned to welcome the team when they came in on Friday night around 1AM. I just stayed up and journaled until we went out to meet them. Before they arrived, we all gathered together and prayed. We prayed African style, which is where everyone just prays all at once, and when it dies down, the last person praying closes for everyone. I ended up being the last one because I had so much to pray for. Finally, I knew what needed to be said and asked for. I felt so strongly that God was there with us and I was so excited when the team came. I am now really excited for ministry with them next week. I went back into my cabin and prayed and prayed and was able to stay focused. I felt like God was providing me with the things to pray for. I didn't have to think of fancy words to say, or any words for that matter, I just prayed and I knew that God was there with me. It's
a work in progress, within my heart but I just felt a very strong presence of God.

LIONS:

Anyway, that's about all for that, but yesterday was pretty exciting as well. I got to pet lions and found some tigers in Africa. We went on a game drive to see different African animals. We
also stayed for the lions' feeding time, which was a bit disgusting, watching the lions tear apart an entire cow. That was a bit much. I got some great pics of the tigers and lions though. I got about 1 foot away from the lion. Yes it was caged, but still, you can't get that close in the zoo!

AFRICAN CHURCH:

As for today, I got the chance to go to African church. There was a lot of singing and praising God. Every other word was a Hallelujah or Amen. When presenting a person or offering or when welcoming, there was always music. They would sing for about 5 minutes and then move on to an introduction and then sing for 10 more minutes. Neil was a guest speaker. He had some really amazing things to say today too. Most of what he said was talking about how everything that we have should be used to further the kingdom of God. He gave away his tie to a man in the church because he said that it was blessing the other man and by wearing the tie, it was blessing no one. But when he gave it away, he was able to share God's blessing and further his kingdom. He also talked about rejoicing in everything. We do not need to be worried about anything: not presidents, or money, or our cars. We only need to rejoice, because if we rejoice, then God will see that and bless us. Lastly, he talked about complaining. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was when he said that God does not come to be with us to hear us complain. He comes for his glory and praise and rejoicing and love. Neil is a smart man, and I am lucky to be able to learn from him.

Feeling Sick

On Wednesday, I was not able to eat a lot because I just felt really sick to my stomach. The morning when I tried walking, I felt really dizzy and I felt disoriented for a few seconds, and I nearly fell over but one of my teammates was there to catch my fall. I went to the doctor that day
and they said that the lining in my stomach could be inflamed, whatever that means, and that I was dizzy because of low blood pressure which was probably just because my blood wasn't circulating
very well since I was sick. The doctor was very nice. They gave me medicine to take which didn't really help, and I had to skip out on 2 days of ministry. Fortunately, on Friday, I was feeling a little better and was able to go out on ministry to a hospital in Qwaqwa.

My First Ministry Experience

Makong Baptist Church, Qwaqwa, South Africa...

Today was the first day that we went out into Qwaqwa to do relationship evangelism. Honestly, it wasn't too bad when we were out ministering to the people. I thought that I would have been a lot more nervous than I really was. The first house we went to put us in a little bit of an awkward situation. There was a mom who was looking after a few children, one of which was only about a year old and would not stop crying. She said that it was because the baby was scared of us because it had never seen Americans before. We left after a little while since it was impossible to minister with the constant distraction of the baby. After we picked and washed some spinach for her, we moved on to another house. The next house was a little better but still kind of awkward. We came up to a young woman who was doing her laundry. We asked her if she could help but she didn't speak English very well so everything had to be translated. We helped a little with the laundry but it was weird because there were five of us and one of her. When she invited us in we saw that she had a baby, named Juni, who was nearly a year and a half. We talked to her quite a bit in the morning but it was a lot like an interrogation than a conversation because she didn't talk much except for saying yes and answering a few of our questions. There wasn't much bonding there. After talking with her we went back to the church that was our base for the day to eat lunch. After lunch we decided to go to a different house. This house was wonderful! We all bonded so well! There was a mother and her three daughters who were 14, 17, and 18 years old, as well as three other family members and a multitude of small children who followed after the "parade of Americans." We talked for a while about the difference in wedding traditions. They thought it was hilarious that the husband doesn't pay any money to the wife's mother for raising the child. They also thought it was funny that we thought they might still have arranged marriages. The conversation was very comfortable, and the girls all spoke English very well. They used bigger words than I could probably say. We played crazy eights and jump rope with them and taught them how to play go fish. I fell down while jump roping but I think that things like that are what make it easier to bond. It makes me look silly which in turn puts me on the same level as them. They made us orange tang juice and invited us to come back tomorrow.

I felt like it went well, until we were all in the car talking to Charlene. We told her how were were playing games with them and she said that it was ok but that that wasn't what our focus should be. I was aware that that wasn't our focus. I didn't come to South Africa to play games, but we're supposed to become friends with these people so that we can share Christ with them. How can I share Christ with them if they don't know me? Surely, they won't accept me or care to hear what I have to say. It was hard to hear that from Charlene because I thought we were doing such a good job of connecting with the people today. It was just really frustrating. I know that God will be stretching me a lot throughout this trip but I feel that Charlene was saying that what we were doing was wrong and seemed so right. I'm a little confused right now. I need a lot of prayer to be put out of my comfort zone and to thrive outside of it. I need so much of God's strength to be able to witness to these people. Sometimes I just don't know what to say, and when I think I am doing well, I hear that I am doing it all wrong. Am I doing it wrong or what? Please pray for me as I go out tomorrow.

I love you all!

About the Orphanage

oday we went to the orphanage and I will try to get pics up soon but
it's really hard to get a computer that works well enough to upload
pictures without crashing. So anyway, the orphanage was amazing. My
favorite kids, as bad as that sounds, were named Lucky (boy) and
Samukelisiwe (pronounced Sam-kay-lee-see-way, girl). I think both of
them were 8. Sam could have been 10. They loved to curl up in my arms
and just sit there. We colored pictures and sang songs and just played
with them all day. It was wonderful. I felt so free and more open with
them than I am with anyone ever. I just didn't care anymore. It was
the first time I have ever felt so selfless, because in that situation
you not only have to be but you want to be. These kids don't have a
lot but they are so energetic and simple. All they want is love and to
laugh. It was wonderful. Probably one of the best days of my life. I
can't describe to you the look on their faces and how you just want to
hold them and never let go. They are so beautiful. They're dirty and
some of them have gross disgusting sores on their heads and faces, but
none of us cared. They gave us kisses our hands were dirty after
peeling oranges and not being able to wash sticky hangs. And yet we
gave them kisses and more hugs and piggy-back rides. Being their gave
me the biggest desire to come home and get married and have babies. So
if you know any men, it would be nice if you could start preparing
them now for my return. :] I'll be ready. :] Anyway, I have the most
intense desire to have children and to adopt children and be a mom. I
love kids. They're so beautiful.

Anyway, on a less emotional note: last night felt like family camp
because it was so windy. I didn't mind it because it felt like
camping, but everyone else said they were terrified. I did have a
dream about a zebra flying away in the wind though. Kind of funny. Oh
and I have seen zebra now! I also know the difference between
springbok, lechway, blesbok, fallow, blue wildebeest, and black
wildebeest. :] I got a tour today of the base right after we got home
from the orphanage and an adventure to an African grocery store. That
was also really exciting. Just so you know, the sky here is more
amazing than anything that you will ever see in your life. I will send
some pictures, that surprisingly, capture the sky wonderfully. I have
become increasingly captivated by the sky, and more specifically the
clouds. They stand out so much from the sky here in Africa. I'll try
to send you some pictures tomorrow because it's a free day all day. :]
Which is amazing! Oh! and someone just made coffee which is a
blessing, something that reminds me of home and that I really didn't
think I could miss this much.

I have to be going because we're having a 1/2 birthday costume party
for one of the 24/7 interns named Marc. I'll tell you about it later.

First Update from South Africa

Dear Family in America,

I am sorry that it has taken a few days to respond to you, but I just
wanted to let you know how I am doing. I have arrived safely as have
all my team members! The travel was long but I'm fairly well adjusted
to the time difference and am starting to get into the routine of
things. This week is mostly orientation, learning what we will be
doing the next two months, and getting to know each other. I have been
greatly blessed with a very energetic and passionate team that is
ready to serve. I praise God for the girls in my cabin, as we are all
getting along very well. The people here have such a passion for
relationship evangelism and believe strongly that the best way to
share Christ's love is by befriending people and serving them.
Thrive's main purpose is not to create a revival but rather to
disciple people and teach them so that they may also be able to
disciple. The main church here in Qwa Qwa is called Zion Christian
Church. Although they call themselves Christians, they also believe in
ancestral worship and witchcraft. I will be going out into the
township of Qwa Qwa and exchanging lives with the people and sharing
with them that Jesus is the only One that they need. Please pray for
me and my team, as next week will be the first time that we go out to
ministry. Also, this Saturday, we will be heading to an orphanage to
play with children while the yearlong interns paint the orphanage. I
am very excited for this opportunity.

Just to give you an idea about the passion that my team has, we have
prayer once a week on Wednesday mornings. Yesterday, everyone liked it
so much, that we decided to wake up early before breakfast and pray
every morning. Also, last night we were planning on having a hoe-down
in honor one of our Texan team members, but when the music situation
didn't work out for that, we decided to just make it a worship night.
We prayed and worshiped for over an hour.

Throughout the orientation process, I have come to realize how much
God prepared me for this mission. There are many similarities between
the work that I am doing here and what we did last year in Rocky Boy,
Montana. The staff here at Thrive have informed us that the relational
work that we are doing in Qwa Qwa will not have a direct result that
we will be able to see while we are here. Instead, it will be help to
strengthen the relationship with Thrive and the Basotho people. Also,
although the natives of Rocky Boy and Qwa Qwa are very different, they
are similar in that they are both very cultural and attached to their
traditions. I am excited because I know that God has been preparing me
for this mission for a while now. Even last year, when I didn't know
what I was doing or why I was even going on that mission in Rocky Boy,
God had a plan for me and is now revealing more of that plan. Praise
God for his faithfulness! For he truly does have plans to prosper me
and to give me a hope and future. I can see all of it playing out
before me and it now becoming so real.

Lastly I wanted to share some things that I have learned. First of
all, this is something that Neil, the director of Thrive Africa, said
before our prayer time yesterday. He was talking about how Satan can
do absolutely nothing to stop the Holy Spirit from moving. When our
eyes are on Jesus, we cannot be moved. He can, however, tempt us with
physical needs that would have not have our atttention if we were
focused on Christ, but he tells us that we need them and makes us weak
by those physical things. It was a interesting to see and know that,
to know that Satan really can do nothing to God because God is so
powerful, and that God is our strength because when we look to him,
when he is with us, we cannot be shaken.

Another thing that I learned was during our worship time last night.
One of the girls in my group was talking about how all God did to
create the entire universe was breath. She commented on how easy it is
for us to breath and how we do it without even thinking. If that was
all God did to create the universe, then how much greater things can
he do in our lives when he constructs a perfect plan for us, when he
has said that he loves us above all creation. If we matter more to him
than all of the universe, and all he did was breath to create it, then
how much more can he do in our lives. I thought that was a really cool
picture of how great our God really is. How awesome is he!!!

Finally, I'm sorry I don't have a picture to send at this time, the
computer that I am using is not fast enough to be able to upload
pictures, but I will send them as soon as I can.

Thank you for your prayers! I will see you soon!

Modimo a o hlohonolofatse (God bless you),

Hannah Borcherdt

While I'm Away

You can send me letters if you would like:

Hannah Borcherdt
c/o Thrive Africa
PO Box 965
Harrismith 9880
South Africa

Please note: letters can take 10-14 days and packages up to 4 weeks to be delivered. Also, if you send me a message or something, chances are I won't be able to respond, but I'll try my best to keep everyone updated!

You can always check out the Thrive Africa website for more information about what I'm doing and where I'm staying: thriveafrica.org

I will miss you guys!! See you in 2 months!!! (I will return on August 9 at 10:54 PM, for all you stalkers out there.)

Four. Quatro. Quatre. 4.

I'm feeling very anxious right now. I'm ready to go and yet there is so much to do still! Thinking about going to South Africa makes me nervous. Thinking about all I have to do between now and Sunday makes me nervous. I just have so much to do as far as graduation and South Africa, and hardly any time to do it! Please pray for peace and strength as I come to my last 4 days in the States before heading out to serve in South Africa. FOUR DAYS! 4 days! ONLY 4 DAYS!!!