with some murutis in botswana.

aiyaiyaiyaiyai.. time is passing way tooo fast!!!
i havent done so many things and exams are bearing down on me! i'm worried for some, and not so for others, but they all seem to pale in comparison to the fact that i have not booked ANY-SINGLE-THING-FOR-MY-TRIP.. the most important tickets are actually from whoknowswhere to Pretoria.. and from Pretoria to whoknowswhere(2). but then again, the name whoknowswhere, says a lot about the amount of planning i have done. c.r.a.p.z.

but anyway, whatever happens will happen, and its an adventure no matter where.. decisions. eastlondon, beach,  and all the awesome water-related activities. (safe ones without a risk of contracting some disgusting disease).. or more time in southern africa like malawi & zambia where the people arent the danger, but the water is (google bilharzia to find out more). eiisshh.

ohwell... an update. i'm back from botswana! (: basically, it was almost like a scouting-trip for Ps M. & his wife M. to check out the place and do some preparatory groundwork before they move there to plant a church next year. Ps S. who's the missions director for greatergrace came along as well as 3 other pastors. so... i went with quite an amazing group of people.. and i was so blessed by it. for one, they are heeeelarious. like, seriously jaw-dropping-did-he-just-say-that kind of comments/antics. for another, they really love God and the Bible. and they are very encouraging and willing to teach (well, comes with being a pastor), but really an amazing bunch. a few days of fellowship & travel with a kombi full of muruti-s(pastor in tshwane), i am amazed at the diversity. and the non-conventionality of them.
the lead pastor, a knife-wielding and knife-throwing old guy with a bad knee & a unfiltered mouth who quotes bible references faster than u can write, one who teaches kids how to make farting sounds with their armpits, squeaks out worship songs just for fun but teaches so well and edifies people, another who (coming from Zambia) disses southafrican blacks(another pastor) in a quiet, gentle way and yet confronts people with the gospel so directly, yet another who (because of the runs) farts nonstop & unashamedly calls it spreading the love but who pastors the local church with so much dedication and the last one, a humongous giant of a pastor who spouts hilarious one-liners like a tap and yet is so detailed and so gentle when it comes to teaching.

i dont regret going one bit. the things we did there were amazing as well. and i just love that city. and i love how i feel so loved by God on this trip & all that He has taught me. but let me introduce one of the muruti here. he's the main guy. the grandfather who dotes on his grandchild that he intends to buy her a pink umbrella off the next person in the street, the confrontational pastor at the pulpit who doesnt bother to sugarcoat his condemnation of wrongdoers, the ex-drugaddict who teaches about the love and finished work of Christ, the man who uprooted his entire family (wife & kids) and moved to Ghana to plant a church not knowing the next step, the irreverent guy who doesnt respect anything but truth and calls gay-people "fags" over international radio and the highly-revered man who hates recognition other than that given to God who's called the lion of Africa because of the >190 churches that exist in Africa because he followed God's leading. and also the pastor who buys walking sticks with knives in them, who uses his walking stick to hit the girls' heads and pushes handbags off seats and who stabs at bread and magazines.

quite a character huh? i hope i portrayed him correctly, but it was an amazing time travelling with him and learning at all his devotions and reps (kind of like biblestudy sessions). oh. and i just have to mention, his idea of pranks is kind of warped: the day before he got married, he backed his truck into his wife-to-be's clubhouse and stole everything, he took out all the tires of (according to him) 18 police cars when he ended up with 18 parking tickets (for parking outside his house). oh, yes, and he literally screams my name yiii(drag)iiii(builduppower)NG!(shouting). i'm quite glad i'm an unknown in africa.. and now, i really wonder, what did/does God have in mind when He put me on this trip?