Our time in South Africa

You may wonder what in the world we were doing in South Africa. We went twice and spent a little over six months each time we went. We were there the first time to fill in for a missionary family who were coming home for a six month furlough. We moved into their house, drove their car, worked on their computer, and filled in for all the activities with the Calvary Baptist Church.



The second time was because there was an emergency in the church and they needed someone to fill in again. This time we went for another six month period during which time we lived in a condo owned by someone in the church, drove an extra car of one of the church members, used a computer loaned by one of the church members, and cared for all of the activities of the church.



We were pleased that by the time we left this tour of duty, a fine South African family came to take over the pastoral responsibilities for the church . They began their ministry four and a half years ago, and have been there ever since.



We had never been to South Africa before the first time we went there. We must say that we felt at home and were well received by all the members of the church. We had a fantastic group of people made up of Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Indian, Colored, and even an Australian family who were there as contract workers.



We had to learn to drive on the left side of the road. That wasn't too bad. We learned that there were many words that we pronounced differently. We found that our Afrikaans people loved their language very much and would prefer to speak it any time they could. Our services were in English so we did not have to have a translator.



It was a special time for us. My wife has said that it is one of the only places she has been that she is homesick for now that she is not there. We loved the people, the food, the country, and the ministry. I guess you can tell that this is why we are excited about sharing news about South Africa.