Nicola on a Mission!

A Special Visitor

Nicola — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:22:21 +0000

Wow! I can’t believe it is less than a week til Christmas. While I think most of you will be shopping, wrapping presents, organising families and generally trying to hide from the cold, here we are still ambling about in sandals! I haven’t bought a single present yet, and we still have no idea what we are actually doing for Christmas!
But you think you guys are busy. Stop and take a moment to think what it must be like for poor Father Christmas at this time of year. And on top of organising his elves, recruiting reindeer, wrapping presents and planning his night time trip round the world, he still found time to pay a visit to a group of very special children in Cosmo City!
Holiday club yesterday was a Christmas party which was a total surprise to all the children. We brought them all to the hub, which was all decorated and set out with food ready. While they were eating, who should stroll in my the great Mr. Clause himself. You also have to understand at this point that, being used to the sort of weather that you are currently experiencing in England, poor Father Christmas was struggling in our 30 degree heat! But still there he was, complete with 4 huge bags of presents for the children. They were so delighted, it was amazing!

Other than that, not much has been going on really. Lots more children have discoveredour house recently, and in doing that, have found we offer juice, crisps, biscuits and sometimes even chocolate as well! And of course great entertainment and the best company possible!!

How’s all your Christmas prep going? Hope it is all going well and you are looking forward to Father Christmas’s visit on 24th!

Holiday Club and St. Nicholas!

Nicola — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:48:44 +0000

Hi Guys! I’m so sorry I haven’t posted for over a week, it’s been crazy round here!
This week we have been running a holiday club from 12-3 PM each day. We have had between 15 and 40 children aged between 4 and about 12. We have been diong lots of activities, mostly involving glitter and hand painting, as well as playing lots of games and doing sport and bible stories with them. It’s so much fun but tiring!
I also have to tell you about our awesome evening last Friday. One of the guys who volunteers at the soup kitchen invited us round to his house for dinner. His wife is lovely and we got to meet his little girl who is just the cutest child! His wife is originally from Holand and they celebrate St Nicholas day on December 6, which is when we went round. The little girl got so excited when St Nicholas left her a note and presents. But wt he was even more generous, because we all got a chocolate letter. We were so touched that St. Nick remembered us as well. But then the little girl hunted out presents that he had left for us! They are such an amazing and generous family! Thank you so much for such a wonderful evening and for making us feel so welcome and part of your celebrations!

First Post of December!

Nicola — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:32:30 +0000

I have a lot to tell you about in this entry. The retreat was so fantastic and so relaxing. We stayed in log cabins in he mountains in the middle of nowhere. On Friday morning we climbed a waterfall which was fun! We all got really badly sunburnt though!

Monday morning should have been the soup kitchen but we didn’t go. Instead we were asked to plan a short drama for the youngest kids at one of the primary schools about HIV, as it was world AIDS day on Monday. So we prepared a cute little puppet show and arrived at the school to find that plans had slightly changed!
We were performing to the older children instead of the youngest ones, and it was a full school assembly! There were around 1000 children there! EEK!! Very scary! We had to sit on the stage as guests of honour during the assembly as well!

Yesterday afternoon we took too of our friends out for ice cream. They are two of the local kids who come to visit us often. It was so much fun. They are such amazing and inspirational children!

This morning I turned he garage where we do skills for life into a craft and creative area of chaos! It was great though. I go all the students a prayer diary and we covered them in wrapping paper and made a big collage about all the things we are thankful for. They were so creative And no one can ever say you are too old for glitter! It just isn’t true!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Nicola — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:28:02 +0000

I’d like to welcome you to this beautiful sunny morning here in SA by saying have an awesome Thanksgiving, guys! Eat lots of turkey, sweet potato and pumpkin pie for me, ok?!
I had such an awesome day yesterday. My spirituality session in the morning with the skills for life students was fantastic. We looked at psalm 139 and one of the students realised that God has brought him into the light and he can now share that light with other people! I also got asked where God is and managed to answer pretty well I think! They’re so lovely and truly are so inspirational!
Later on today we are going on a retreat until tomorrow afternoon somewhere in the mountains I think! I’m really looking forward to catching up with a very good friend of mine and hopefully getting to know him better! He’s the best friend anyone could ever wish to have! If you don’t know him, I’d love to introduce him to you. He’s changed my life in the last 18 months or so and I’m so grateful to know him! Confused?

Anyway I love you all loads and hope all is going well for you!

Our Run in with the Government!

Nicola — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:01:34 +0000

I’m so glad today is over! We had to venture into the centre of Johannesburg to visit the home office. We had to extend our tourist visas. So last night we planned to leave at 5.30 this morning, but, maybe due to God feeling we deserved a lie in, the car broke! So by the time some of the lovely Oasisi people had fixed it this morning, it was around 9.30! We had to go armed with letters, bank statements, copies of about 4 pages of our passports, and an individual letter about why we want to stay here! Very scary!
So here we are, arriving at the government building feeling very english. We had been warned it could be up to 5 hours wait, so we turn up with our cool box of sandwiches to find a “No food or drink” sign! Thankfully, we only had to wait about 1.5 hours and our “applications are now under consideration!”

Apart from that, I’m still having lots of fun and enjoying the 32 degrees we have at the moment! Yesterday was Bethan’s birthday and we had everyone round in the evening for a braai, which is a barbecue!

Saturday night was so amazing! We went to a Hillsong concert in Pretoria and it was really fantastic! There were around 10 thousand people and the rain just about held off. The concert was open air, held on a uni campus!

I really can’t believe it’s only a month til christmas! It’s so strange here because it doesn’t feel christmasy at all! Today the shopping maul was playing carols and they sounded so out of place in the sunshine! I don’t know how Father Christmas doesn’t roast over here with all his fur boots and everything! I think we should start a campaign to get him wearing shorts and sandals!

Wow! It’s been a week!

Nicola — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:55:53 +0000

I can’t believe it’s been a week since I last updated you lovely people. The first and most important thing to tell you is that he sun is back! Yes, I feel again like I’m in Africa!
On saturday we went for a picnic in the Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful. There’s a big waterfall and an eagles’ nest, plus lots of wild tortoises! Mondays are becoming my weekly workout at the soup kitchen, as we help carry the huge pots of soup, crates of bread, apples, bananas and oranges! On average we serve around 90 men so it takes a while!
Today has been awesome! This morning I lead my second spirituality session with the skills for life students. It was on trust. We looked at Genisis 12, the call of Abraam, and psalm 91. I had such a lovely morning with the students. They are so amazing and I really enjoy their company. This afternoon we lead team prayer, which we were asked to do last night! We looked at 1 Corrinthians 13 about love and related it to our ow lives and experiences with Oasis.
Hospice tomorrow. Praise God that Mary, the lady who was so ill last week, seemed much better when some of the team visited on Monday. Hopefully she will be ok tomorrow as well.

On My Soap Box… About HIV

Nicola — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:41:29 +0000

I’ve been here in South Africa for over 5 weeks now, and, although I have been shocked at some things, it’s only been in the last 2 days that I have been really shocked. HIV is a big problem here, with around 1 in every 4 people having the virus. HIV attacks the body’s white blood cells, which defend your immune system. It slowly turns them from good cells into more copies of itself which means you can’t fight against it. People become so weak they can’t even stand, or eat. When they are this weak, they can’t fight off infections so often they have other illnesses as well, like TB. It is usually these other infections which eventually kill them.
I’ve worked in a hospice for people with varying stages of HIv. Some are lucky enough to go home again. But all are in the hospice because they’re families don’t want to look after them, or they have no where else to go. This morning, one of the ladies I get on well with was so ill. She was shivering and, having been awake for about an hour, went back to bed. The nurses had to help her to stand and carried her back to bed. It was heartbreaking to watch.
Yesterday morning, in the skills for life project, we were talking about HIv. The students are all around 18 to 20 years old and most of them said they wouldn’t go for an HIV test. This shocked me so much. I can totally understand why they wouldn’t go, it would be the scariest thing to do find out, because there’s no cure for HIV. I just realised that if I lived here, they would probably be my friends and if they had HIV I would be so upset!
It also makes me so angry to think that places that should offer mos support to people with HIV are he first to discriminate. Churches, for example, won’t necessarily allow you to continue to be a member of their cngregation if you are infected with the virus. and if the leader of the church, or vicar was o contract HIV, they would probably be asked to leave. How is this our way of showing compassion? Which people did Jesus make a point of loving? Surely we should love these people as Jesus would do, instead of judging them and throwing them out of society!
Thank you, God, for organisations like Oasis, who work with these people! The rest of the world could learn so much from their hope and optimism!

Kids Just Don’t Get Homework!

Nicola — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:55:44 +0000

I’m sure a big cheer would go up in any school in England at the next sentence I will write. Kids here just don’t get any homework! We run a homework club on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and for the last 2 weeks, there have been no kids, or no homework! The term finishes on December 5 but still, don’t the teachers want to keep the students busy with spelling, reading, maths, science, english or history? Well it appears not! So thank you to the lack of homeowrk because it means I can write now!
Skills for life was lots of fun this morning. My spirituality session went well and the students enjoyed it which is great! Really looking forward to the drama club tomorrow as well!
I don’t really have anything else useful to write at the moment, accept to say a huge thank you to Ewan in 6C for his comment! Hope you are ok and enjoying school! I’ll try and write something more interesting soon!

Feeling Very Englandish!

Nicola — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:29:20 +0000

I’m sure you will be pleased to know that this weekend has been very cold and rainy! Yesterday I even had to resort to wearing a jumper! Yes, a propper long sleeved jumper, in Africa? What’s going on!!
Sorry I haven’t posted for a few days. Thursday was the soup kitchen, whic, as usual, was really good fun! In the afternoon we did sports club and I helped the kids doing drama. I managed to get them all to understand and act out how they would feel to be homeless. Felt such a sense of achievement. I’m working closely with one of the skills for life students who is fantastic at running the group.
On Friday morning I fulfilled my life’s ambition and dressed up as a caterpillar in front of a bunch of school children! It was lots of fun though because we were teaching the children that they are wonderful, even if they don’t think so. The caterpillar changes into a beautiful butterfly at the end of the story!
Yesterday we went to church with a lovely english couple who are visiting for 3 weeks. They are taking 7 months to travel round the world! We went to a really nice african craft market with loads of amazing things! I really want some big furry giraffe slippers! Does anyone want anything specific. There’s lots of beautiful african paintingd but not sure on anyone’s colours in their houses or anything!
This morning we started our new timetable so I was back at the soup kitchen. My early start is now on a Thursday instead! We got an invite for free accommodation and family entertainment for New Year in Swaziland, which is where we will be on our holiday so very excited!
It’s amazing how much I can see God working here. There’s so many situations and lives he is touching and making so much better. It’s amazing!
I hope all is good where you are and you are doing lots of amazing things. Let me know about how things are going! I’m thinking of you all and praying for everyone in England [and if you're not in England I'm praying for you too!] Thanks so much for all your prayers for the team here. God is certainly looking after us! Lots of love!

Latest From South Africaland!

Nicola — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:04:15 +0000

Hey and welcome to bonfire night! have a sparkler for me!
Wow the last couple of days, have, as ever, been crazily busy! Yesterday was Hattie’s birthday and we had an awesome day with a party in the evening! Pre school was amazing and the kids were so lovely. I decided it would be a good idea to sit kids on my lap then bounce them around. Very good for working out the leg muscles and much more fun than the exercise bike! Arrr, they were all soooo cute though!
My timetable has changed a bit. I’m now doing more work the the sills for life students which I’m really excited about. I am going to help devise and teach an english sylabus starting in January. I am also going to lead some morning prayer sessions, and write and plan a lot more that can be used next year with other groups of students! This is such an amazing answer to prayer, praise God! If anyone has any cool and creative ideas for morning prayers, or favourite and inspirational passages from the bible, could you let me know?