Yay! the weekend’s over!
Well folks….time for a quick post.
It’s been quite the weekend. Friday and Saturday were nice and peaceful, nothing to do and lots of time to relax. Today however, was quite different! Mama arranged for a lady to come and do the girls’ hair today. 5 of the girls wanted to get their hair braided. She was supposed to get to the bus terminals at 7 so I got up at 6 to get their on time. I waited for over an hour, till 8, and she never showed up. I called her when I got back to the house which was around 8:30 and she said she was just getting up and ready. Wow! There’s a saying here in
South Africa that I have FINALLY accepted to be true. I was holding out on it for the benefit of the people here. It goes like this… “Americans have watches and Africans have time.” Being on time is a very low priority for a South African. It’s kind of frustrating for people like me who has pride in being somewhere when I say I will and who says that “If you’re early, you’re on-time. If you’re on-time, you’re late.” I thank my mom for that one. She used to leave us at home Sunday mornings if we weren’t ready to go to church. I hate being late now.
I ended up having to drive back out to the bus terminals to pick her up and she got to the house around noon. It’s midnight right now and she’s only finished 2 of the 5 girls and working on the 3rd. She’s got a long way to go. She would have been much closer to finishing if she had gotten here ON-TIME!!!
Mama got back from out of town tonight. Tomorrow, Monday, is her birthday. I’m not sure how old she’s going to be. I think its 53 or something like that. We’re taking all the kids and our care-givers, Sister and Norenti, out for a Christmas lunch tomorrow. We’re going to a restaurant called Admirals. It’s a pretty big buffet. Sybil and I went to check it out and see if it would be a good place to take everyone and I saw all the food that they serve…..Yum! I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be good!
We’re doing the sponsorship program on Wednesday. We have 33 kids. This will be my last time before I head back to the States. We’ve got 33 kids on the program now since I came. That’s not too bad. I’m very proud of that. And they’re 33 great kids! Be praying that it goes well. Mama will be doing the program after I leave and she will need some prayer as well. Don’t stop thinking about it just because I am coming home! It’s going to keep getting bigger and bigger!
9 ½ days and I’ll be in a plane on my way home! Hope to see you all soon!
Love you guys!
daniel
Awesome Daniel. I want to tell you that you have done a fantastic job with the CSP program and being the “go to guy” at Oceans of Mercy. You wake up early and drive the kids to school. You run all over the place and provide help and support wherever it is needed. The kids love you and look to you like an awesome older brother/uncle/caregiver/friend. I will never forget how Xolelwa went to your hugging arms at her mothers gravesite. You were her comfort, support, and friend. God has used you powerfully and I am so proud of you. Because of your stellar work with the Child Sponsorchip Program, we can now dream about signing up hundreds of kids. Mama has been able to gather support from the women of the community, we have been able to recruit missionaries to come over and support her, and a foundation has been laid to touch more and more lives. Your thumbprint will always be on this program and that nation. Thank you.
To all of Daniel’s friends and family…thanks for letting him go to South Africa. I know it has been hard to be away from him for so many months, but he has proved himself to be a great steward of the support money, the prayers, and all the tears that have been shed this year. He has done you proud and certainly has made God smile.
In Christ,
Schaun Colin
President – Oceans of Mercy