Mulberry Jam

Anyone ever make or eat mulberry jam?  We have a mulberry tree in our yard so we thought we would try making jam before we move out of this house.  The jam turned out good.  We like it.  (Notice the variety of jars we used.  Here in South Africa the people use any jars you buy food in from the store; mayo, peanut butter, etc. All you need to do is make sure the jars and lids are hot and the food is boiling. Fill the jars; screw on the lids and you're all done.)

Sober-Minded

It is appalling to me the amount of empty, silly, foolishness that characterizes the western world and no where is this drivel so prevalent than on blogs, sites, and other means of communications. Our culture as a whole worships at the altar of entertainment and sacrifices to the god of humor. But what is even more shocking is the nonsense that is regurgitated by those who name the Name of Christ.

My mind turns to Titus 2:6 where young men are exhorted to be sober-minded. When we see an individual with red eyes, slurred speech, and a staggering gate we clearly understand what it means to be drunk and what it means to be sober. But it seems that when it comes to entertainment somehow the word “sober” is confusing and difficult to understand. Christians have become intoxicated with frivolity and lightness, and think nothing of it.

It seems we have joined those of “Higher Criticism” and thrown out the Word of God. Truth is no longer relevant but relative. A very elementary perusal of the New Testament reveals eleven passages where we find the injunction to be “SOBER”. (I Thessalonians 5:6, 8; I Timothy 3:2, 11; Titus 1:8; 2:2, 4, 6; I Peter 1:13, 4:7, 5:8) What are we to do with these commands? Are we going to foolishly fritter away our lives feasting on the swill of those who are spiritually famished? On what do you feed your soul? (Isaiah 55:1-3) Let me share the words of a song by E.A. Hoffman which echo the longings of my soul.

Lord, I am fondly, earnestly longing

Into Thy holy likeness to grow;

Thirsting for more and deeper communion,

Yearning Thy love more fully to know.

Dead to the world would I be, O Father!

Dead unto sin, alive unto Thee;

Crucify all the earthly within me,

Emptied of sin and self may I be.

I would be Thine, and serve Thee forever,

Filled with Thy Spirit, lost in Thy love;

Come to my heart, Lord, come with anointing,

Showers of grace send down from above.

Chorus:

Open the wells of grace and salvation,

Pour the rich streams deep into my heart;

Cleanse and refine my tho’t and affection,

Seal me and make me pure as Thou art.

Moving

Since we will be moving during these next few weeks you probably won't hear much from us.  But when we connect again I plan to show you some pictures of our "new" place.  Phil and Amrie flew out yesterday for the States. With their leaving those of us that stay behind will have a few extra responsibilities added to our to-do lists. Pray for us over the next few, very full months.

Micah's Birthday

Thursday night we had a little birthday celebration for Micah and I.  (The get-together also doubled as a going away for Phil and Amrie since they will be in the States for the next four months.)  We invited all the missionaries who work with us and also Fanie and Rose Blignaut and their family. 

Gwen was very creative with Micah's cake. I thought the giraffe turned out pretty good.

This morning we went to a local coffee shop for a birthday breakfast.  There are toys and also playground equipment for the children. The boys really enjoyed our time there.

Here is Africa's version of a rocking horse.  A rocking elephant, of course!

I'm an uncle

I don't know if you have the problem of feeling younger than you are, but sometimes I suffer from the ailment.  Sometimes when I see young people I still feel like I am one of their peers. But as I found out yesterday, which happened to be my birthday, I am no longer a youth. Here in South Africa among the Afrikaans people if someone is ten years old or older than you they should be addressed as Uncle or Aunt. Yesterday as I was in a place of business a young man walked past me.  As he did he greeted me with "Hello Uncle". 

My birthday is on October 30th and Micah's in on the 31st.  So we got our picture together today.

A full life

The past month has been a bit hectic with visitors, traveling, special business meetings, a funeral, lots of sickness, a new dog in the family, and even looking for a different house to live in.  Now it looks like the next month is promising to be just as full.  Mainly due to the rising housing costs here in town and the devaluation of the dollar we have been considering moving out of town where rent is less.  Well, it looks like we have found a house.  The rent is less than 1/4 of what we pay now so that will be a great help financially.  So in the next few weeks we will be busy packing, moving, and unpacking.  On top of that it is spring and it is actually getting a little late to plant a garden so we have to hurry.  As soon as possible we plan to get things planted out at the house in the country.  We have tried to get ahead us much as possible by planting seeds in pots and containers, so the vegetables will get a head start.

Visitors

On Tuesday the 13th Gwekn and I drove to Johanesburg to pick up Mr. and Mrs. Howard at the airport. Mr. Howard is Hope International Missions Regional Director for the African Region.  The Howards have been very busy since being here. I believe they have had a total of 12 meetings in 7 days.  We thank the Lord for His help during this time.  One evening the Howards took our family out to eat.  We certainly enjoyed our time with them. 

On Sunday Bro. Howard preach a very good message at the Manyatseng church.  He spoke about how strong families make strong churches and strong churches influence the nation. 

This last picture is of the missionary team we work with here in South Africa.  From Right to Left: Glenn and Stephanie Gault, Pieter and Hester Marais, Johan and Hessie van der Merwe, Philip and Amrie Geise, Steve and Gwen Geise, and our Regional Director Jim and Freddie Howard. We are thankful for the great group of people we have to work with.

Another Funeral

On Saturday Gwen and I went to the funeral of one of the girls from our church.  In most funerals even though the person that died may have been a Christian unsaved family members do many things that are not Christian.  The pictures below are from a funeral earlier this year, but the practices are basically the same at all funerals.

Here you can see men lowering a cow skin to be placed over the casket of the deceased.  The Basothos have a lot of beliefs and practices that center around ancestor worship. Many of these practices can be seen especially around the time of a funeral. The cow skin "tradition" comes from the time when animal skins were the only clothes that were worn.  When someone dies the Basothos believe that the spirit of the deceased will be cold and will come back to haunt the family unless a skin is placed over the casket.  Thus the cow skin over the casket - to give warmth to the spirit.

One custom is for close family members to throw dirt down on the coffin before the grave is filled in.  It too is closely tied together with ancestor worship, though many people today simply do it as a tradition. It was originally intended help keep the spirit of the deceased from coming back to haunt the family. Family member file past the one holding the shovel full of dirt.  Each one takes a handful and throws it into the grave.

Also as you can see in the two pictures below after the grave is covered and the soil is mounded up some form of container is placed on top of the grave as a way of providing water to the deceased spirit.

The reason I included the picture below is so you can see the vast amount of fresh graves in one of many cemeteries here in the Ladybrand area. Many of these graves are more than likely from AIDS related deaths.

Quips

Here are a few things Micah has said in the past few months:

One morning Isaac got hurt and Micah said: "You'll tell the tale". (He wanted to say "You'll live to tell the tale.")

One afternoon Micah said he wanted only mayo on his sandwich for lunch. Gwen said "that's boring" Micah replied with "Sorry, that's life"!

Sometimes we give the boys a little food to "hold them over" until we make a larger breakfast later in the morning.  One morning Micah said: "Daddy, will you start me up with some cereal?"

A while back Micah was sitting looking at a magazine.  Apparently he couldn't remember if he was turning the pages backward or forward. He said: "Dad, now I'm confused. I don't know which way I can go."

Nigel and Forgiveness

Well, our new puppy has given us the opportunity to practice forgiveness.  During his first night with us he was missing his mommy and all his brothers and sisters so he put up quite a fuss.  Around 3 am Gwen and I heard the loud honking of a car horn. We wondered what the purpose of that was at that time of the morning. We didn't have to wait long until we found out.  Right after the horn stopped honking our doorbell began ringing incessantly. I quickly unplugged the bell so as not to awaken everyone in the house and then I saw through the window that there was a man at our gate who was obviously very agitated.  When I opened the door he began a tirade about how my dog was keeping him awake and how I was cruel (apparently he thought I was mistreating the dog).  His mostly one-sided conversation was punctuated with obscene language and even a threat to me personally. 

Well, obviously I was a bit shocked as that was my first experience of being the recipient of such curses, especially at three in the morning. I quietly shut the door and brought the puppy in near our bedroom where the rest of the night I tried to get a little rest between the times of keeping the dog quiet.

The next day (Sunday) on our way home from church I saw our neighbor was out in his yard, so I went to ask his forgiveness for keeping him awake in the night.  Immediately he apologized for his language.  I understand the man is a rather rough man, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to show God's love and forgiveness to him.