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OCTOBER,
2006
Spring
In Joburg
Ah,
Spring! Flowers, flip flops, shorts... and the
second time through spring allergies this year! But it
sure feels weird that Thanksgiving has just passed.
Ok, now I'm really confused - what season is it
again!?
With
just over 6 weeks in South Africa, I'm starting
to treasure every day here. I will be in Joburg until
Dec 10 and then in BC until mid-January when I will
return to South Africa. February will be the start of
a new season for me as I begin studies in Theology
at the University of Stellenbosch near Cape Town
as a Rotary scholar.
With
so many changes looming, my time at Oasis
and here in Johannesburg has become all the more
precious. But I'm sure I'll be visiting here as often as possible
next year! :)
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Zinhle Makes Cookies
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Another Canadian in South Africa!
My
friend, Debbie, from Vancouver, came to visit
this month and we had a great time seeing some of
South Africa's most stunning sights. Highlights for
me: elephants in the Kruger Park, the mighty surf
of the south coast, an Austrian bakery in Knysna,
riding an ostrich and the view from the top of
Table Mountain!
The
lightning tour of South Africa with Debbie gave
me a chance to recover from all the kid-germs (yay,
I'm feeling healthy again!) and was an incredible
display of God's creativity and beauty.
What a treat!
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Zinhle
is extremely dear to my heart. She has been at Oasis
for just over 2 years now along with her younger siblings -
twin brother and sister Themba and Zandile. Zinhle is 5 now
and is starting to realize that something in her life is not as
it should be. She said to me a few weeks ago, "Chris, you're
my mom." This nearly broke my heart because of her obvious
need to belong to someone. We so often take the anchor of
family for granted. And to see Zinhle trying her best to make
sense of her world as she grows up is not easy.
I try
to get Zinhle (and others) out of Oasis to make special
memories and to break the routine. A few weeks ago, a friend
of mine sent me a wonderful carepackage from home filled
with the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies! Woohoo!
(She also sent me salsa and chai tea... what a friend!) Well,
the cookie ingredients gave Zinhle and I a wonderful after-
noon
together. We baked up all those wonderful ingredients
and brought the cookies back to Oasis for all to enjoy! This
is what memories are made of.
I pray
that someday kids like Zinhle will have a family to
provide an anchor for them in life. But, more importantly, I
pray that these children will grow up to find their true anchor
in their heavenly Father and their true home in His hands!
This life may be unjust, but hope is found in Him and in the
life waiting beyond.
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Cooperation!
I
was really excited this month to have another
church group join us in our YA outreach. As you
can see in the picture, we worked hard to get a
wall at Oasis patched up and ready to paint.
The kids showed us how it's done!
Check
out my
photo album
to see more pictures!
Thank
you for continuing to pray for both me and
the kids at Oasis. They need real answers in their
lives and the strong security of God's love. I feel
so thankful that I could take part in their little
lives for this time.
We're
working together - seeking to add God's
love to a few lives!
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