Hey everybody,

Already over three weeks at Lily, time truly does fly! Hopefully everyone's summer back home is going well, and you are getting time to go enjoy it. Holiday club was a lot of fun, and the children seemed to really enjoy it as well. We even went with the older children a few times out into the community, to give back what we can. One day in particular we went to Howick, a rough slum area, brought some balls, and played with the kids there. The Lily kids then organized games and did a skit and evangelized to the others. It was amazing to see what a few soccer balls can start!

School holidays ended last week and things have gotten a little more regular. Now the the children go to school during the day it opens it up for me to do some proper maintenance. I have recently been trying to fix some of the bikes that are here, but of the 15 I have found I will be lucky to put together more than 3. A group from Pietermaritzburg also came this week and we started to make repairs on the Youth Center. Next week I am hoping to start fixing kitchen cabinets throughout the houses.

Courtney has been keeping very busy with the Nursery every day. After lunch if she has time she usually visits with some of the babies around the other houses. Rylee has made several friends, and loves her mornings with the other kids.

Also I forgot to update the last blog with the before and afters of the pond at Aurora, so there are also a few pictures of that!

Have a great rest of the month everyone!

Before

 

 

 

 

 

During...

Done!

Trying to make sense of these.

SO excited to be doing this.

Even wore my drywalling shirt!

Soccer in Howick

The Lily group (right) singing for the rest of the kids.

Welcome to Lily!! Turn right at the bull!

Arrived at Lily

Hello everyone, 

It has been a very exciting few weeks for us down here. We have finished out last week at Aurora, spent a weekend in Port Shepstone at the Spiritual Life Conference (SLC) and last Friday at Lily of the Valley. Sorry it took so long for a blog, but we couldn’t get onto the blog website because of internet screening reasons. 

It was quite difficult to say good bye to Aurora, as well as all of the family and friends we have made in Pretoria and Johannesburg. We were sad to leave Joburg in our rear view mirror, but at the same time it was exciting to move to a new part of the country, ready to experience something new. Aurora was a good experience, not always easy, but I believe we grew threw our challenges, and made some great friends along the way. 

The SLC was a very nice and relaxing week spent with many other missionaries. It was wonderful to hear from people who have been on the mission field much longer than I have even been alive! They really encouraged us, and it is great to see how much good is being done in South Africa by these people, and how truly dedicated to work they are. It was helpful to finally put faces to the various names I have been hearing and see just how large the South African SIM family is. During the SLC we also had one afternoon at the beach, and now we can officially say we have swam in the Indian Ocean!

On Friday we travelled back to Lily, which is in between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, way out in the boonies. It actually backs on to a game reserve and our very first day we were lucky enough to see a giraffe. We unloaded and are still settling into our 3 bedroom home. It is a huge blessing to finally have our own living space again! We can put Rylee in her room and make noise after 8 pm once again! We are living in the complex amongst the other homes, and so we have had a LOT of visitors every day, and lots of small sets of eyes peering through the windows! Each home has a house mother, and 6 children living in the house with them.  We had a couple of days to settle in and then on Monday we began work Courtney has been helping out in the nursery, which is run for 3 hours a day to give the house moms a break from the young children so that they can get their work done.  Last week we learned that Lily just took in a one month old baby, and has a few 18 and 19 year old boys who haven’t quite left yet, so the age variation is huge!  I have been helping lots with the Holiday Club, running sports and things like that. The kids are on school holidays for the next 2 weeks and so need stuff to do during the days.  Lily was once more of a hospice for children dying of HIV, but with a 98% survival because of modern medicine its role has changed into an orphanage. Around 80 % of the 120 children are HIV positive, but they are just as energetic as any other kids! That does come with its challenges as nearly every soccer game we play, there is blood, but as long as we are careful it is much safer than we would have thought!

We hope that everybody back in Canada is doing well!  Happy Canada Day to everyone!! This is the first Canada Day ever, that I haven’t been in the country, and I must admit that makes me a little sad! As wonderful as South Africa is I still am very much in love with my home nation! We hope everyone had a splendid holiday!

The SLC team.

Rylee at the beach!

Arriving at Lily. Bogged right down.

Our place, house 17.

Our back yard area/ dryer.

Out the front window.

The dining/living/kitchen area. (The day we got here, sorry for the mess!)

Holiday club, dress up relay race.

Courtney and a few of her nursery children.

Waiting for a ball.

June

Hello everyone,

We hope all is well back in Canada; things are going quite well here in South Africa. It has gotten very cold in the last week, temperatures below freezing, with frost at night, and highs of only 10 during the day. Coming from the Great White North I didn’t think it would be too bad, but it is COLD! No heat in the homes means there is no real escape. (Other than driving!) The last few mornings we have been able to see our breath…. Indoors.

 Otherwise it’s going well, the children wrapped up exams last week and have a couple more weeks of classes before the end of term, when they get 2 weeks off. |We only have a few more weeks here in Bapsfontein before we move on, and so we have to wrap up our clubs. Soccer is into its playoffs, another teacher is taking over Courtney’s cross-country group, and golf finishes next week. We really hope that some of these clubs will continue, and only time will tell! On the 25 we travel to Port Shepstone, to attend the SIM Spiritual Life Conference (SLC) for a few days, after which we will immediately start our work at LOTV orphanage. We are excited for the change, but sad to move away from family, friends, and the children at school.

We would once again like to thank everyone for their continued support during our time down here. It means so much to us to see that people are actually reading our blog and keeping up with us! I know we have said it before, but we can’t say it enough, without everyone's support back home none of this would be possible. Also thanks to our family here, you guys have been a huge blessing to us!

Romans 15:5
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,

God Bless!

Gregg Courtney and Rylee

Rylee riding like an African!

Courtney's reading group.... taking a break!

The pond I am trying to clean up... after we took 5 toilets and a full trailer full of garbage out of it!

End of May

Hello everyone, not too much has happened since our last update, but it has still been a good couple of weeks. We have been busy with our after school clubs, and our usual work. On Tuesday during golf the cows go into the playground, and was a bit chaotic, but it wasn't long, and Sipho and I had them back in the field. 

We visited a shanty town, which is a temporary township last week Friday. It was eye opening to say the least. The people have 4 pieces of metal to their name, making a home then size of most of our bedrooms! It really makes you realize how blessed we are in Canada, and what little right we have to complain. The people there were welcoming, and we were even able to take a few photos. Last weekend I (Gregg) also traveled to Cape Town with Frank to purchase a car from our family; Martin and Rianna De-witt. It is a huge blessing that we were able to get there car, because unless we have a major breakdown, driving will be much cheaper then with the SIM car. It was a very long drive (1500 km) and a short visit, so unfortunately  I didn't get to see too much of Cape Town, but the savings will be well worth it! It is already June, and we have less then a month at Aurora, but we are going to enjoy every last minute we have with the children and staff. That's about all we have to report, so we hope you all have a wonderful June!                                                  

What Courtney was washing... chickens feet.

Us in the shanty town.

Government township on the left, shanty town on the right.

Teaching some golf in the pasture.

Some on undid the chain and let the cows into the playground during golf. Pandemonium.

Under control

Cape town.

Small Scare!

Hello all, another week, and another update. We had quite a scare last night. Rylee woke up at 11:30 and the power was out, thinking nothing of it we went back to sleep. At 12:30 am the power was still out and Neville woke us up, as you could clearly hear a hack saw through the windows very near by. Needless to say, it was a little nerve racking! We called the police, and a few nieghbours came over and we searched around. We came upon a power pole across the street without a transformer. The thieves used a long stick to trip the power, then cut it down, blew it open and stole the copper from inside. Whats more was that in the morning we discovered that they returned to steal more cable that directly powers the Walker's home!We learned today that the transformer box costs about 45,000 Rand (about $5,500) to replace, and the copper inside isn't worth more then 2,000-5,000 R ($250-$550)

Other then last night our last little bit has been great! I have inter-mural soccer going full swing and taught my first golf lesson. Courtney is teaching her first cross-country running lesson tomorrow, so hopefully that goes well. Courtney has continued teaching, and filling in for missing teachers, and I  replaced a floor, finished up the shed, and another assortment of odds and ends. On a VERY positive note, the neighbour volunteered the services of his tractor for the back field, so last week I only had to weed eat 2 hours a day at the school! Hope all is well, and thank-you for reading, and God Bless!

Courtney riding South African style!

Something missing?

What it is supposed to look like.

The first soccer meeting. 90 student in total.

First match, Lions vs Rhinos

Glue isn't dry, and they are already cooking.

Best roller I could find.

Ready to ride!

Agnes with Rylee

Nearly a Month!

Hello everyone, we have been here nearly a month already. I can't believe how time flies! We have been keeping quite busy, Courtney has continued tutoring the children who need extra help, as well as been teaching full classes for missing teachers. I have helped with miscellaneous  jobs here and there, including finishing up with the storage floor, putting up fire hydrants, fixing the fences, as well as a LOT of weed-eating, keeping the grass short for liability reasons. Courtney and I have both gotten involved in after school clubs as well. Courtney is helping out with the baking club, and I have been playing soccer 2 days a week, and am hoping to find some used clubs and teach some golf in the cow pasture. We also had an enjoyable long weekend for Freedom Day, where we spent time with family in Pretoria. Next week we are going to see where the children live, and visit the shanty towns near Ivory and Kempton Park.These are heavy by the way.

 Cutting the last row. 38 times....

 

Almost done. Note Sipho cutting the bottom of the door off because we had to add so much material. 5inches of dirt followed by 4 inches of sand followed by these blocks.

Spread the cement over the floor dry.

Spray, then brush the mortar into the joints.

Rylee talking to Lollipop, the schools tortoise.

Courtney and her grade-nots. (kindergarten)

Have to do to the cement fence in the background.....