Coming soon

My family is here! In SOUTH AFRICA! It is so exciting and wonderful to have them here, and for them to meet my friends and family here. This is them, my mom, dad, and little brother:

It is absolutely fantastic having my parents and my brother here; however, it's not giving me much time for blogging. But do not fret! After Saturday, I'll be blogging till my fingers fall off. So, here's what you can look forward to: Soweto bike tour, Youth Day, lion park, Kruger park (again), lots of thoughts, and Durban!

A bien tot! :)

Cultural Things

I’m really excited about this post because it’s all cultural stuff! And I haven’t talked about that in a while…

So this past weekend I went to a very South African concert…Johnny Clegg! The family I live with bought tickets to celebrate Glenn (dad) and Nicole’s (daughter) birthdays, and were so gracious to take me along.

The Johnny Clegg concert was such a great experience – such a great South African experience! Johnny Clegg bio, also known as the white Xulu, is a South African singer who in the 1970s and 1980s, began singing and performing with Xulus. In South Africa, the two main black cultures are Xulu and Xhosa. And during apartheid, whites and blacks really did not mix at all. So the fact that this guy started living with, singing with, and performing with black people was a radical thing! He even learned a lot of the Xulu dances. And this is what I got to hear and see this past Saturday.  

It really was such a neat thing to see and hear. Seeing so many different people at the concert (whites and blacks), hearing the songs that talk about apartheid, as well as, such pride in Africa – it was really moving and inspiring. Someone mentioned the other day that Americans love the struggle; they love hearing about apartheid and people who fought and how it came to an end. At first I wanted to be defensive (I think mostly because it was a generalization about Americans), but then I thought about it – yeah, we do like the struggle. That’s why we love talking about, learning about the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the World Wars. And I think it’s a good thing. Learning from history, especially the darker parts and how they turned into the brighter parts, is really important. It’s important to learn, but it’s also important to just be inspired. Inspired so we can do something now, in our time. 

(Note: I've tried to upload videos from the concert so you can hear his music and see the Xulu dances, but I don't think the internet is "strong" enough here. Sigh. I'll keep trying, but in the mean time, you can hear clips here.) 

The last thing I want to say here is that tomorrow is another public holiday! (Surprised, huh?) It’s Youth Day. I’m celebrating by going on a bike tour of Soweto – a very historical part of Johannesburg. Here’s a short blurb about Youth Day. How will you celebrate? ;)

In 1975 protests started in African schools after a directive from the previous Bantu Education Department that Afrikaans had to be used on an equal basis with English as a language of instruction in secondary schools. The issue was the whole system of Bantu education which was characterised by separate schools and universities, poor facilities, overcrowded classrooms and inadequately trained teachers. On 16 June 1976 more than 20 000 pupils from Soweto began a protest march. In the wake of clashes with the police, and the violence that ensued during the next few weeks, approximately 700 hundred people, many of them youths, were killed and property destroyed*.

Youth Day commemorates these events.

It's gonna explode...

Oh gosh. So, I am failing terribly at keeping this up. (I was doing so well too!) I'm going to keep trying, though! I think what I need to do is write my blog entries just in Word or something, so that I only have to be connected to the internet for a minute or two to post them. It's just hard to keep writing when I don't have unlimited, wireless internet. (Definitely one thing I miss about the States and have a newfound gratitude for.)

So, my brief up date for the day is this: 

On Sunday, a teen was baptized! His name is Michael Aguirre and he is in grade 10 (I'm pretty sure). His baptism was/is such an inspiration to the whole church, as he has grown up in the church and has been letting the scriptures change him over the past few months. It really has been amazing to see. (Here's a link to some pictures of Mike's baptism: glorious day)

After church, there was a lunch for all the teen disciples, which was also very encouraging. Even though I was a teenager not that long ago, it is so exciting and inspiring to see high school students decide to follow Christ and take a stand for him. And they/we have their whole life ahead of them to see how God will use them and bless them! 

There are quite a few teens studying the bible in the part of the Joburg Church that I am in, and I am convinced that the ministry is about to explode with baptisms. Pray. 

Joel 2:27-29

New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ Then you will know that I am in Israel, 

   that I am the LORD your God, 

   and that there is no other; 

never again will my people be shamed.

The Day of the LORD

 ²⁸ “And afterward, 

   I will pour out my Spirit on all people. 

Your sons and daughters will prophesy, 

   your old men will dream dreams, 

   your young men will see visions. 

²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women, 

   I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

One by one (including updates)

Hello world!

I am so behind in my blogging that it's not even funny. I promise to catch you up on lots of details very, very soon, but I will quickly post the biggest update.

We had another guy get baptized at UJ! Hennie. He is such a sweetie, and was actually just met by a random invitation to our bible discussion. So now our UJ group is eight! Alicia, Siba, Gordon, Christian, Eduard, Hennie, An, and myself. Here are pictures. =)   (oh, and it was 40 degrees F that night.)

Sharing about Hennie

Presenting the biltong ;) (For those of you who don't know what biltong is, it's basically like beef jerky...Although South Africans would be offended that I compare it to that.)

Praying

Yay!

Now quick, get out!

Hennie and his sister

UJ

Rest vs. West

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a Xulu woman from church.

She was telling me how she wanted to find some children’s books in Xulu for her one year old son, but after searching all around Johannesburg (a major metropolitan city of approximately seven million people) found only one store that had five books. She was devastated! So many people here are and speak Xulu, but it is dying. The cultural traditions, the language, the community are all being infiltrated by westernization. This was not the surprising issue at hand to me, but rather, her comment that the government is forced to adapt and abandon certain cultural norms, traditions, and schools of thought in order to “fit in” with Western governments. That is what stunned me. It had never occurred to me that a government would feel the pressure to conform to western standards and abandon its own cultural heritage for the sake of progress, growth, or just friendly government relations.

The question is then: how do the governments of developing nations or of non-western nations, grow in their status on the world stage and in strong ties with the major world powers, yet maintain their cultural identities and historic values? Additionally, how can western governments and the governments of the dominating countries of the world, conduct their affairs in a manner that allows for the growth and acceptance of developing countries and non-Western nations, all while preserving those countries’ heritages?

I don’t have a complete answer to that question…I’m still pondering it. But one thing is, western governments need to not see western economies, traditions, schools of thought, or lifestyles as the complete and total norm. They are just one option in the choices of global governance.  

This is a short entry; I want to hear more of your thoughts and ideas. =)

And another one bites the dust

I know I haven't posted in so long, but quickly...

We had our first guy from UJ get baptized! It's very exciting! His name Eduard and he's a third year. Here are some pictures. =)

All the kidies watching.

UJ

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

-2 Cor.5:17-18

Listen and Read

This is an interesting day.

Quick comment that will enhance the rest of your reading experience: I love music. I love how it moves us, how a melody or line of lyrics can bring together people who may not have anything else in common. And I love how it provides perspective by being incredibly refreshing and inspiring. So, as I was writing this post, I kept listening to three particular songs that did just that for me (which I needed considering the topic of this post). They may seem cheesy, but give em' a chance. :) Links are below for them. Pick one and listen to it while you read this post. :)

I had been meaning to write for the past few days on something that has been weighing on my heart, and then today, it was announced that Osama Bin Laden has been killed. The news is flooded with commentators, pictures of celebration are pasted all over newspapers...even here in South Africa. And it is a big deal. A very big deal. I wonder how our world will be different from here on out? Will there be less terrorist attacks or more? How will this influence the many revolutions going on in the Middle East and North Africa? How will this influence the way many people look at Muslim countries? I don't know. No one does, really. I want to be optimistic and think this could be the very small beginnings of a new world order. But then I think about the thing that I was going to write about initially...

In one of my very first posts upon arriving in Joburg, I briefly described the poverty that is so blatant here. Every street corner has people selling whatever they can to make money. Every street corner has people simply begging for money, and every street corner has people with some kind of disability, being guided by someone else, begging for money. Every parking lot has "parking attendants" who will take whatever form of payment you can give them (money, apples, bananas). For most of those people, it really is their job; to the point where I can recognize people and see the same faces at certain stop lights.
It was shocking when I first arrived here, but I did get used to it fairly quickly. I got used to how much I do and can give to people, how to handle myself (you do have to be aware of your safety at certain times of the day), and how to ignore what is around me. Sometimes, I'm still used to all that, and other times, like the past few weeks, I can't handle it. It literally breaks my heart. I find myself giving away food that I was planning on eating, scrounging for money in my purse, or driving away from a stop light as fast as I can because I can't handle looking at someone pleading with me to give them anything. There is one woman I've been thinking about in particular, as we've been on holiday. She is always at the same intersection on my way to campus and I really think she recognizes me as well now. I've given her a piece of fruit or some money before, but she always stops at my car window longer than I'm comfortable with, and looks like she is about to cry. She actually tries to sell things, none of it is anything I would actually want or need; but her need is obviously so much greater than selling all of her goods...a few pumice stones, lanyards, maybe a couple cell phone cases. I don't know her name, I don't know where she lives or what kind of family she has. And while many people are celebrating the death of Bin Laden, his death has absolutely no affect on her. She will still be at that street corner tomorrow and the next day and the next day, hoping (maybe praying) that she can get a enough money to survive.

While the death of Bin Laden is truly historical and monumental, there are even greater problems in this world that still need to be solved; many that never will be. The safety of our countries is vital, and friendly government relations is necessary. But even more, is not forgetting about the lives of people who live in our towns, on the streets in our city centers, or in a shantytown in another country. We each have so much we can do and truly need to do, right around us. I still haven't figured out for myself how to handle seeing this much need on a daily basis and feeling compelled to give much because I have been given much. I think I begin to feel that I have to "earn" the life I have by how much I give to other people. (When I figure it out, I'll let you know.) My point in all of this is, that we must keep perspective on the things that are most important, no matter what headlines history is making.

~Elle


Pray, Justin Bieber.    I am generally not a J. Bieb fan, but this song just got me.)


Hold My Hand, Michael Jackson featuring Akon    I know this song isn't about world peace or anything like that, but I just love it and I think in the world we live in, we definitely need someone to hold our hand at times.


Everybody, Ingrid Michaelson    It's just a true song.