There is a time
for everything,
and a season for
every activity under the heavens:
a time to be
born and a time to die,
a time to plant
and a time to uproot,
a time to kill
and a time to heal,
a time to tear
down and a time to build,
a time to weep
and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn
and a time to dance
Ecclesiastes
3:1-4
“A time to mourn
and a time to dance…” This quote from
Ecclesiastes sums up the past month perfectly although it was reversed for
me. First, I was blessed to be invited
to join in a traditional wedding celebration for Florance, one of my most
faithful Bible study and evangelism training students.
Florance
finished her studies in Animal Health last year and I cheered as she walked
across the graduation stage this spring.
Now she was moving on to the next state in life’s journey. Earlier in the day, the two families held the
lobola ceremony, a very traditional marriage ceremony where the bride’s family
is presented with a wedding trousseau for the bride and a prearranged bride
price paid in cows (or their equivalent in cash). It was now time for guests to celebrate along
with the bride and groom with traditional dancing and meal. A full meal was served with fried chicken,
stewed beef, sorghum mash, pap (corn meal mash), rice, beetroot salad, cabbage,
and several other salads. It was
wonderful to see her one more time and wish all the Lord’s blessings on her
marriage.
Then, later in
July, we lost an elder of our church, Calvary Baptist. He was a professor at North-West University
in the English department and a wonderful man of God. After not returning home one night after
marking student papers, he was found by our pastor in his university office in
the early hours of the morning having suffering a stroke. He was collapsed and unable to talk and the
EMTs rushed him to a local hospital.
Several weeks later, having improved only slightly, he fell into a coma
and became late (died) the next day.
Although I was
not able to attend his funeral I was privileged to attend one of the nightly
prayer services traditionally held every night the week prior to a funeral and
attended the memorial held on campus. His smile, his prayers, and his
encouragement will be greatly missed in our church family and at the
university.
We dance, we
mourn, we marry, and we die, but God never leaves us. He is with us through the joy and through the
pain.
Last month I was
also blessed to take a holiday between terms at the university. I traveled 8 hours south east, near Durban,
for a few days at Zimanga, a photography game reserve. They specialize in first class photography
hides with one way glass, rolling office chairs, air conditioning, etc. There newest hide is an overnight hide where
you enter at 4pm and leave the next day at 10am. It is at a water hole with motion detectors
to alert you if any animal come to drink.
We saw rhino and buffalo twice, but no elephants or leopard.
After leaving
Zimanga, I spent two days in the Drakensburg Mountains on my way back to
Johannesburg. It is a beautiful area and
although the hiking was rough on my body, it was restful for my spirit to be
among mountains and natural beauty again.
Finally, please
pray this month for the short-term mission team from Christian Veterinary
Mission that will be spending 2 weeks here in Mafikeng. Next month I’ll let you
know how things went!
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