But, with all this travelling...

I do miss 'my' babies... ;-)

mini miracles and more to come

On Monday morning I had to go to Durban to sort out a visa for one of our choir members. I really wanted to listen to a particular worship CD but with only a radio in the car that wasn't going to work (I have a CD player that came with the car, but it's never worked ;( )
In any case, as I was having breakfast, the Holy Spirit told me to take my walkman with me and to plug it into the tape (via special tape thing brought from UK, which has never worked) and so I thought that I'd try, not really thinking much of it...

And, guess what? It worked perfectly!

Hallelujah! Now I can choose what music to listen to ;-) And praise the Lord wherever I'm going to, not just in my house... the miracle is two-fold - 1. that it worked all of a sudden, 2. that I heard the Holy Spirit correctly and did as I was told!

So here's another miracle we need...

Tomorrow I fly home. At the airport there's a wheelchair for our little boy with cerebral palsy that has been generously donated by a volunteer's family. A group was supposed to pick it up but couldn't at the last minute, so it's my job to collect it on the way home. Only now I find out that I have to be there before 3pm to collect it. Which would be fine, except I have to leave here in the morning (all sorted) and haven't got a clue where to find the place holding the wheel chair. (if you've never been to JNB, it's big and dangerous!)

So I need prayer for:

• Finding the right desk in time
• getting round the airport safely with all my bags and not getting any hassle from anyone wishing to remove one of my bags from me!
• not having to pay too much to retrieve said wheelchair
• being able to transfer my flight to an earlier one (or else I'm faced with a possible 6hr sit-in at the domestic terminal)

JNB on a Friday afternoon is not a nice place to be. Throw in the slight sniff of a thunderstorm anywhere in South Africa and the whole airport goes into chaos. Add the weekend returnees and it makes for a fun mix. I did once have an amazing quiet time during a loooooong wait at JNB... but let's see what adventures God has in store for me tomorrow...

CASNET

I've just sent my latest (march-April) prayer letter out, let me know if you'd like to receive it but you haven't...

Well, here I am at CASNET again up in Gauteng (Pretoria to be precise). CASNET stands for 'CARING SCHOOLS NETWORK' and is a network of probably about 90 organisations who work in some respect with education. It was set up and is managed by Save the Children UK. We meet 4 times a year, usually in Gauteng.

It is such a unique organisation. To have so many organisations come together to share and to discuss issues that surround OVCs (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) and other social problems (HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancies, abuse, violence, drugs, to name but a few...) is one thing, but the atmosphere and spirit that pervades CASNET meetings is a very convivial one of sharing and working together. No-one pretends to have all the answers or the perfect programme. Everyone listens to each presentation and the communal wisdom and understanding is increased with each session.

It's been a revelation to meet so many Christians at this conference too. Really encouraging.
When God's people get involved, the Light of Christ is brought into situations and areas that so desperately need hope.

I've met some inspiring people who work not far from us in KZN and one programme in particular is so amazing that I'll be popping over to see them very soon and gleaning whatever information I can from them to put into practice 'chez nous'. It's a programme of raising self-worth and a sense of destiny in the lives of young people so that they are empowered to receive good teaching about life decisions and make the wise choices that others find so difficult to make, despite the plethora of programmes designed to encourage the right decisions. Has been very effective and I reckon could be very useful for us too.

The beauty of these meetings is that there's a smorgasboard of offerings about OVC/Education issues and there's always something relevant and useful to take away. I've had my fill for this session. There's still a day to go, but so far, it's been great.

an adventurous weekend - Drakensburg 1

This past weekend-off I thought I’d do something different. So I set off with 2 Dutch friends to explore the Drakensburg Mountains. Normally I have everything planned and booked before I leave, but this time we took a chance and headed off to Southern Drakensburg not really knowing what would happen.
We found a lovely Backpackers (previous bad experiences have taught me that the words ‘lovely’ and ‘Backpackers’ don’t often go together) called Sani Lodge (on the Sani Pass Rd – the main way to Lesotho) which was comfortable, bug-free, had incredibly comfy beds, a welcoming log-fire (it’s getting a bit chilly in the evenings) and even an outdoor shower, which I braved this morning!
The Drakensburg is a bit like Wales, only with moderately less rainfall. There a small towns with not much to do but hike… I chose to chill out with some good books on Saturday, but today we really pushed ourselves out of the comfort zone and went Quad biking… The plan had been to go in micro-lite aircraft over the mountains but it was too windy (and I was never going to actually do it, but the others didn’t need to know that until the last minute, did they?!) but when we got to the place it was too windy and the only option was quad biking so that is what we did.

Our helpful instructor, Sipho, wouldn't take us out until he was confident we'd passed the training (and signed the indemnity form and chosen our chocolate snack!) and he gave us some good training and vital safety talk.

We set off along the edge of a maize field on our bikes, I was struggling a bit in regulating the speed. That was fine. But then we came to a woodland area and it was necessary to go down steep hills and up on the pine needles. I managed to break (nearly) every safety rule we'd just been taught in a kamikazi left turn through the pine trees where I somehow managed to push on the accelerator AND brakes and skid off the track and come within about an inch of a nearby tree, putting my foot out of the bike in the process... needless to say I wasn't too keen to carry on after the mild panic attack I nearly underwent. Sipho was fairly mean about it and told me I had ONE chance left, after which I'd be walking (which would have been fine with me, I reasoned to myself!) but anyway the mistakes taught me how to ride properly and I was fine from there on in, even on the 'windey, windey' tracks through more woodland. There was some hesitation when we had to follow him down a steep rock into and across a stream but the hardest by far was crossing another stream on 2 timber logs with the bikes... scary stuff, but sometimes you just have to put your foot down and trust...

A lesson in trust and in perseverance... all in all it was quite fun and I'd probably do it again, but not for a very long time. I'm awaiting tomorrow to see which muscles I've worked too hard. Like with ski-ing, I think I'll only feel it in the morning!

This is the reality of the power of nature at work...(images from Monday morning's battering of Durban's coastline)

freaky weather

I know that English people love to discuss the weather, and I'm frequently aware of what is going on back in the UK, but here we're having the most bizarre weather that it's worthy of a blog entry all on its own.

To start with, last Thursday, I'd just got in to my house from a meeting, closed the door and the heavens opened with one of the worst storms we've seen for a long time. The whole place was lit up with blue lightening and the power was on/off for ages. Storms here tend to last several hours, best to shelter from them. Thankfully no-one here was hurt, we are a bit vulnerable up on top of a hill. However the storm caused a lot of damage and power failures around Durban, some of which still aren't sorted.

And now this morning a mini Tsunami has hit the Durban coastline, to add to the city's woes. I've found some photos on the internet to show you. There are more if you search online. I wonder if this has made it onto the BBC...

Here are a couple of articles I've found, think there might be more after what's predicted for this evening. Think I might plan a quiet (?) night in... the storms round here are no joke...
pray the damage is not as bad as it could be and for all the emergency services people who have to be on-call tonight.

Durban pounded by massive surf
Durban's beach front areas were pounded by massive surf in the early hours of Monday morning leaving the city's famed Golden Mile littered with debris as emergency services rescued numerous people.The National Sea Rescue Institute together with the police's Search and Rescue Unit evacuated nine people from the Isipingo Island hotel at the mouth of the Isipingo river near Durban International Airport.The SA Weather Service in Durban said winds in excess of 40 knots [80kph or gale force] were reported on Sunday night.The heavy weather forced the closure of all port operations in Durban. National Ports Authority spokesperson Jyothi Naidoo said the port had been closed to incoming vessels since Sunday morning and that all departures and arrivals had stopped shortly after midnight.
"It is still closed. There is a five-metre swell and a wind speed of 45 knots at the harbour entrance," she said.NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said there was flooding in the area caused by the swelling of the river and strong onshore winds."We are identifying the major disaster areas and will be trying to help evacuate people there first."Lambinon said it had been feared one person had drowned when a car was washed off a bridge in Umkomaas. However, it was later determined that it was empty.Lambinon said particularly high tides were expected on Monday and Tuesday due to the alignment of the moon, sun and earth. He said this compounded with the strong onshore winds had caused the huge surf."This is not a spring tide but all the factors with the strong onshore winds have caused the spring tide-like conditions," he said.The NSRI's Durban station commander Paul Bevis estimated the swell to be between six and seven metres.He said Monday morning's high tide was receding so emergency services were now on standby as the situation was under control. Staff at the Steers restaurant on the Lower Marin Parade were injured when waves crash into the restaurant. Netcare 911 and EMRS transported the staff members to various hospitals. None were seriously injured."There goes my salary increase," one staff member said as she surveyed the damage.Security personnel were posted outside the restaurant to prevent looting. Senior police officials were surveying the damage on Monday morning as certain areas were cordoned off from traffic.The Vodacom Netcare 911 helicopter was airborne and assisting in determining the extent of the damage."Now we are waiting to see what the tides do," he said. - Sapa

MONSTER WAVE WARNING ISSUED
Durban hospitals are filling up with storm victims as rescue and emergency services prepared for "the mother of all storms", expected to hit the KZN coastline at about 6pm on Monday."We are mobilising every resource, from surf rescue helicopters to available ambulances and even off-duty personnel," said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha.Inspector Troy Alison of the Police Search and Rescue team said all their resources were already in place. "All emergency services are working together and we are making contingency plans ahead of this afternoon's storm. Apparently it's going to be much worse than last night," Alison said.
Meanwhile, the eThekwini Disaster Management team have been locked in a meeting since Monday morning to decide whether homes situated along beaches should be evacuated before the storm.All beaches and ports were closed on Monday after the South African Weather Service issued a national warning that high seas with wave heights in excess of seven metres are expected along the southern KwaZulu-Natal coastline. The Weather Service had earlier predicted that waves would reach five metres, but the storm has been upgraded. Freak tidal waves battered the coastline on Sunday night and dozens of people had to be rescued, while many others are still missing and feared dead. Emergency services fielded numerous reports of missing people, collapsing homes and flooding. Areas devastated by the almost five-metre waves included Umkomaas, Isipingo, Ballito, Durban beachfront, the Bluff, Umdloti, Margate, and other coastline areas. In Isipingo, seven people were rescued from a rooftop after the hotel they were staying in was flooded by high tidal waves. And at the Blue Lagoon beach, two friends were standing in the parking lot when they were hit by a freak wave.On Durban's beachfront, some restaurants and shops were damaged after two freak waves "roughly three metres high" struck between 2 and 3am. Steers, Wimpy, Wrap It up, Milky Lane and other shops were battered. When the Daily News visited the area, owners and inspectors were inspecting the damages. Windows were shattered and doors were completely broken down. Fourteen workers who were trapped inside the restaurants were rescued by emergency services and taken to various hospitals.There were no reported deaths. At Zinkwazi, resident Dennis Brand reports that the parking lot, usually level with the beach, was being eaten away by the waves and what remains is now nine metres above the sand. The skiboat slipway had disintegrated and all that remained of a beachfront pub was twisted metal. Thembinkosi Ngcobo, head of eThekwini's Parks, Leisure and Cemeteries department, said that the local beaches and roads leading to the beaches had been closed until further notice."For safety reasons we are advising people to stay away from beaches. We will be making an assessment tomorrow on whether open the beaches," he said. Chief Fire Officer Mark te Water said the eThekwini fire department had been instrumental in evacuating people from flooded homes along the coastline."Many homes have received extensive damage due to the flooding at parts of the coastline. There have also been several electricity disruptions," he said. Te Water said they were busy with assessments of the damaged areas and hoped these would help determine the full extent of the storm damage. "We're hoping for an aerial assessment of the coastline and along the beachfront."He said that while their staff complement for this evening would be normal, there would be several officers on standby. "We are an emergency service and are available 24 hours a day. We are anticipating a busy night and standby staff will be called in if need be," said te Water. NSRI spokesperson Paul Bevis said that many volunteers were making plans to get off work early so that they could be on standby for Monday night's storm. "Our primary aim is to back up other emergency services and SAPS Search and Rescue whenever they need it. Our guys are committed to helping others," he said.Bevis urged curious onlookers to stay away from he beaches.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

There's a man who has worked here for a few years who has been taken ill recently and it seems like it could be cancer. HJ and M have been looking after him and transporting him to the Drs and hospital, but it doesn't look good.
Pray for God's healing touch upon his life right now, whether His purpose is to heal him or to take him, and for this man's family, he supports many children and the whole situation is distressing for them.
We want to pray with him this week if possible and we're asking for a miracle, but most of all that he accepts Christ into his life and then he'll be ok, whatever the outcome is.

Heaven is so real

I like reading, but have given myself permission to leave books and not feel guilty about not finishing them if they don't inspire me to read on (a lesson learned from the terrible experience of Proust at University)

But I picked up a book yesterday that I have been unable to put down and have just finished it. It's quite a read and so I'm recommending it in case you're stuck for something to pass the time...

The book is called 'Heaven is so real'
by a Korean-American lady called Choo Thomas
(www.choothomas.com)

It's a bestseller retelling her testimony about how Jesus appeared to her and took her to heaven many times and worked in her life. It's both amazing, inspiring, challenging and terrifying.
I guess some may scoff at it, but it's worth reading and letting the Holy Spirit work as you do so.

It's certainly altered my perspective on a few things.

old blog

As a mere point of technicality (it's a long story) ...

my old blog address has been changed.

So you can go back and read stories from there but the address for that one is now:

http://carolineinsa.blogspot.com

Please inform people accordingly as some may be looking for my blog and not able to find it... and I would hate for people to miss their regular fill of my adventures out here!!

The story of Patches

Young Patches the wonder dog arrived here by chance one day not so long ago because she was interested in all the boy-dogs we have here. She liked the place so much she decided to stay.

However, she wasn't a very well-trained dog, despite being extremely friendly and definitely a people-person-dog, and she had to learn that fighting with the girl-dogs was not on (especially when it occured near my legs as it did on 2 occasions, with subsequent scratches to add to my mosquito-bite scars)

As we didn't want any little Patches to unexpectedly arrive, she was marched off to the V-E-T and at the same time began a course of injections that any canine has to endure.

And so it was that M was put on the driving schedule to take young Patches to the aforementioned vet last week for one such experience. He set off early, but returned not long after bemoaning the fact that he had 'lost the dog'...

It turns out that Patches, being nosy and also thin, had made the most of a crossroads STOP sign to take a leap out of the non-existent window on the bakkie and make a break for freedom, and despite his cries, M couldn't persuade her back in, and she was off across the wide open spaces for which S.A. is fabled...

So he called in the cavalry. ie ME. Well, in fact the car he was supposed to be using was booked out and taken off as soon as he came back so there was no option, but I'll go for the cavalry option instead! Those of you who know me well will know that my dog-handling experience is virtually non-existent (having spent much of my childhood running away from dogs or hiding from them behind sofas...) However I was keen to prove that I have changed in that department and off we went...

We drove back down to the scene of the break-out and got out of the car to start our search. No sign at the nearby shops. There was a wire fence around, but suddenly look, a break in the fence into a field and in the distance a housing estate... M yelled 'Patches!' and it was greeted by a distant woof... We set off immediately in the car for the housing estate...

On arrival we asked a local man if he'd seen our dog. He telephoned back to the place we'd just left and they confirmed that a dog matching our description had been detained over there. So we drove straight back to discover that not only is she friendly, but talented enough to throw her bark to the other side of a field...

She wasn't too happy about having a rope put round her neck and had to be lifted into the car with M sitting with her to calm her down. I drove as gently and yet as fast as possible home (to decrease the time window for any accidents inside the vehicle) and by the time we turned up the drive, Patches had worked out she was on familiar territory and she was back to her friendly and happy self and M was very relieved that he wasn't going to have to own up to losing an animal...

Alls well that ends well, and she's been round to thank me several times since with a wag of her tail and a lick on the hand...

(but she still had to endure the injections the following day!)

changes...

So I've made some changes to my blog... and it's still a work in progress. It may well take me several weeks to get the profile updated and all the links transfered to my new-look-blog.

Hello to everyone who has just joined me from my old blog.

Apologies for not writing much of late. Since my return from Cape Town life didn't really get less hectic for much of last week and I'll share a little of it now that it's passing...

In church last Sunday, when I was getting prayer ministry (a good thing to do if it's ever offered - don't be shy, you get blessed SO MUCH!) the guy praying for me got the words 'It's not your fault', 'Relax, God is in control' and 'You will be given more understanding into your situation during this week'. Now it's not some kind of spiritual fortune-telling, it's words and ideas direct from God through listening to him in prayer. But I was keen to find out what He was on about...

So the week progressed and a not-so-subtle anti-Caroline attack was launched by someone who doesn't want me to be here, through various people. It's a sure sign, looking back, that I'm on the right track and that's why the attacks are coming. But by Thursday morning I'd had enough and made a decision on a future leaving date so I would have something to work towards.

Then Patches ran away (see separate entry for that story - to follow) and I helped to save the day there. I came back to discover a lot of post that had been building up in the post office and was delighted... and then not so delighted when one letter turned out to be more than quite negative and discouraging. And unfortunately the shock of receiving that pushed me right over the edge and I was ready to quit as soon as possible. Well, to explore other ways of helping out with OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) in South Africa in any case...

By Friday morning I was in talking to HJ discussing the next day's Quiet Day, and I announced 'If God wants me to stay here He's going to have to put a flipping big burning bush in front of me tomorrow!'

I decided to postpone my final decision until after the weekend, as I was going to several Christian events and would have time to seek God's will on it all. And so it was that I arrived late at the Quiet Day, after a trip to visit my friend in hospital (yet again, another story..) and everyone had started, being quiet that is, and the lady running it gave me the first Bible passage on which to go away in solitude, be silent and meditate...

Exodus 3 - Moses and the Burning Bush ...

So, I took that as confirmation that I shouldn't be moving on just yet and am staying around a bit longer. And amazingly God's healed my hurt from that letter and other nasty and un-called-for outbursts directed at me last week. It's been a bit of a breakthrough weekend actually. I'm feeling renewed and ready to go on.

It's like in the story of Joseph (and his technicolour dreamcoat) when he finally reveals himself to his brothers years down the line and says that what they did was not good, but God meant it for good and turned the situation round so that He would be glorified. And, in a way, although it was horrible, the experiences of last week have made me reassess why I'm here and what I should be focussing on and so on I go...

God is amazing. He transforms even the weirdest circumstances into something good. ;-)

Siyakwamukela!

Welcome to my new look blog!

Please remember to change your bookmarks to my new address as I'll be posting on this one from now on...

http://carolinesadventuresinsouthafrica.blogspot.com