17 October 2009 – Saturday

Another busy day in Paradise. Our day of service started with our going over to the Bartholomews to go through the house and make sure we knew what was the theirs or the church’s, talk about Enselini and its needs, and other last minute wisdom they might have.

Then we hurried to Port Durnford and arrived just as the funeral for sister Mhlongo was ending so we got to sing the closing song, go to the gravesite, fill in a couple of shovel fulls of dirt, and share a meal with the family and mourners. After the grave was filled and President Vesi was ready to close the graveside service, the tribal counselor who was there gave a talk in Zulu that at one point had everyone look at me. Later when I asked President Vesi what he had said he told me that the official had said it was good that the Church was in Port Durnford because he had never seen a white man take part in a funeral. He said that whites went to white funerals and blacks went to blacks but today we were all together. Perhaps this will help the elders when they are finding and teaching in the area.

After the funeral we went to the Esikhawini chapel where Mary had three students show up for piano lessons. All are at different levels but none are practicing as much as they should. While she was doing that I put some de-odorizing tablets in the men’s urinal and got the sound system tuned up. By the time we left it had started to drizzle. It had been over cast all morning but had not fallen at all at the funeral.

When we got home the RB elders came over so Mary could make a program for a baptism tomorrow. It will be very unusual for South Africa because it is a white woman and her son. After the elders left we had a quick dinner of macaroni and cheese – with real Kraft cheese thanks to Cindy – before heading off to the YSA dance at the RB chapel.

I could write pages about the dance but will just say that it was one of the best activities we have been to. Over 50 YSA came from all over the district and had a great time talking, eating and dancing. The credit for the success of the evening goes to Theunis de Klerk – a member of RB branch whose family drive 2 ½ hours each way from their farm to attend church and other activities.

Once the young people got started dancing – and it took the efforts of both couples to get them off the walls – they hardly stopped. The DJ knew just what to play and the natural love of dancing that the people have – including the older ones – took over. They do not really dance as couples but they often formed a circle and danced to the beat while one or two of them either jumped or was pushed into the center to do a short dance. It was great to watch and after a while I even forgot the headache I had when I came.

It was kind of a last hurrah for the Bartholomews as they will leave tomorrow during the Enseleni branch conference. They love the young people and have spent much of their time and talents building them up in a way we could never have. Our challenge will be keeping them moving on the path they have started them on. Everyone had a great time and I think that they would have danced all night if we had not pulled the plug at about 10:00 so they could get back to their homes and get some sleep before getting up for church tomorrow.

We and the Bartholomews did most of the clean-up and tucked all the youth into their cars or taxis before heading home ourselves at about 10:45. It was a much better night than I expected and we did have fun. Unfortunately Mary had managed to twist her trick knee earlier in the day so she spent most of the time sitting on the sidelines or trying to get everyone involved.

It was a very busy but rewarding day. We will miss the Bartholomews greatly.

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