Much sand has been blown around here in Emangusi since our last post (other than our newsletter) – dated June 15th! Following are a few specifics that have transpired in our lives since then, here in the warm, Northeast corner of South Africa…
Welcome to Bugville
I (Phil) do not believe that there is anything official written down in the books regarding Emangusi having a second name – that being “Bugville;” however, after having lived in Emangusi for nearly 3 months now, Bugville as a name for this area has entered our minds a few times, and even escaped our lips once or twice. It is not just that we have seen a few bugs here and there, but rather that they have personally come around to give us quite a warm welcome. Some of the more intimate welcomes came back in July when
both Amrie and I received spider bites from what we believe to be the sac spider. It was our first time to experience such a thing, and we will not soon forget it either! To make a long story short, Amrie and I both more or less moped around for a week and a half under the effects of the spider’s poison… not only did the poison deteriorate the tissue around the bite, but it also spread through our bodies, resulting in swollen lymph nodes, fevers, head and neck aches, and sore muscles. At one point, we wondered if we were actually going to ever get over the effects of the poison, but at last, we seem to have no serious repercussions. The only things that remain are some scars that bear witness of our warm welcome. I must say in addition to the spider bite, I believe I was also bitten by a “what-if-I-don’t-shake-out-my-clothes” phobia… 😅
Not long after the above episode, Amrie had another visitor… She was sitting in bed reading her Bible with a dictionary at hand. Needing a little more light, since it was the early morning hours, she reached for a head lamp sitting next to her bed on a little table. Well… that is when I came into the picture. All of a sudden, I heard her calling my name in a tone that was somewhat unfamiliar, so I quickly made my way to our room. It was then that I discovered
the dictionary and the scorpion on the floor, after a flight through the air! It seems the scorpion was on the flashlight, and when Amrie placed the light on her lap, it crawled on to the dictionary. Thankfully, all that Amrie experienced was a fright… the scorpion, however, did not fair so well.
Legal or Stolen Electricity?
When we made plans to move to Emangusi, we did so with no thought of having the convenience of electricity. We have been greatly blessed, however, and now have electricity right in our house! I must add though that it is probably not quite what you might think when you hear of having electricity in a house. Electricity being brought to this area was a free community project, and only one free prepaid system was allowed to be installed on a property. Thus, the line was run into the Blignaut’s house, and a 20 amp box installed. The Blignauts graciously offered to let us share their electricity, so they ran a wire to our house, and installed a couple of outlets. Thus, as 2 households, we are sharing 20 amps! If you are not an electrician, this might give you a better picture… just the electric oven on our gas stove requires about 11 amps to operate. You can maybe imagine that the breaker flips at times, and then we have to scale back on how much we are doing with the electricity in our two homes. :) We are, however, so grateful to have some electricity in our home! As summer is approaching, and the temperatures are already climbing into the 80’s and 90’s Fahrenheit (upper 20’s and 30’s Celsius) in the Springtime, we are blessed to be able to use something as basic as a fan to swirl the air around in our house.
For interest sake, you might be surprised to know that there was electricity in our area prior to the community project mentioned above. It was, however,
stolen electricity. There is a line running underground (most of the way) that supplies “free” electricity to this area. I say, “most of the way,” because sometimes it is uncovered, like right in front of our house, and can be dangerous if the line is damaged. The picture below was taken just up the road from where we live. It is reported that frequently children are taken to the hospital, because of having stepped on some damaged part of the cable!
Getting Started
In addition to getting settled in, with projects such as building kitchen and bedroom cabinets, we have also started out on our journey to communicate in the language of Zulu. The ministry of Jesus was quite simply people-oriented.
People are the reason He came, and we go… It is with great longing that we desire to build relationships and communicate with the dear people in this area. Thus, it has been our prayer to find a good Zulu teacher, and the Lord has faithfully lead us to a Zulu gentleman who is fluent in English. In addition to doing our own studying in grammar books, we have now had two classes, and are slowly making progress. Please do pray for us that the Lord will grant us understanding in this language, so that we can simply and yet clearly the communicate the Good News.
How much of us does He have?
I would like to share the words of this prayer taken from John Wesley’s Covenant Service. If we will walk daily in the spirit of this prayer, what rest and peace it brings, as we abide in Christ!
“I am no longer my own, by Yours.
Put me to what You will,
Rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing,
Put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by You or laid aside for You,
Exalted for You or brought low by You.
Let me have all things,
Let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You are mine, and I am Yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen”
