I think I might have just had the best two weeks of my life. It all started at the beginning of March where all ten of us South African YAGMs and our coordinators, Brian and Kristen, came together in Cape Town, South Africa to share about a week together in fellowship and reflection. It is so enjoyable to be with each and every one of the 11, to share stories, struggles and laughter about the year so far. Even though we are all serving in South Africa, we each live our different lives, are all experiencing different things and have our own stories to tell. It is so encouraging to be able to speak with someone else that knows exactly what you are going through and knows exactly how you feel. I am blessed to have each and every one of them, for we are all different in who we are, in our gifts and where we come from in the States. But I am most thankful that now we have this one common bond of being ‘09-10 South African YAGMs, and I know that this bond can never be erased. It is so crazy to think that our experiences in South Africa have made these 12 U.S. citizens closer. We bring our two worlds together to relate to one another, uplift each other, and get to know each other on a much more intimate level that maybe no one else will ever be able to understand.
The end of our retreat wasn’t the end of my excitement. For the first time, my parents traveled thousands and thousands of miles to visit their youngest daughter in South Africa. They surprised me a night early, the last night of our retreat, and I was just ecstatic to see them! To all my Steelers fans out there, I ran and hugged my Mom so hard it was as if Polomalu ran and tackled his opponent. But the best part about them coming early to see me is that they got to meet all of the YAGMs that I have become so close to, and it was so special to me that they got to put faces and personalities to the names that I have kept on referring to over and over throughout the year. This time, two worlds of mine collided and it brought my past and present together.
Although I was very sad to see my YAGMs leave Cape Town, I was so excited at what awaited my parents and me on their first trip overseas to South Africa. We had many plans, but I had one rule: I wanted no stress during our time together. It had been 7 months since we had last seen each other, and during these last 7 months we all have gone through our struggles and withdraws from one another. Our relationship has deepened, and I have truly realized what wonderful family I have that completely encourages, supports and uplifts each other daily. As the saying goes, ‘distance makes the heart fonder’. But there was going to be nothing more special than sharing this part of me and my life with my Mom and Dad, which before this experience might have been so foreign to them.
After exploring Cape Town and the Garden Route for a few days, the three of us made our way up to where I have been living in South Africa, Bloemfontein. This part of the trip was the most special to me – where my two present worlds truly collided. The first night we arrived, I took them out to dinner with a few of my really good friends that I have made here. As much as I was excited for my parents to meet the people in my life here in Bloemfontein, I was just as excited for them to meet my parents. I feel like in order to get to know a person you need to know about their past as well as their present. With my parents there, they could now get a glimpse of where I come from to truly understand the person that they see from day to day.
But my friends are just one part of my Bloem life that I wanted my parents to experience. The next morning, I took them to the Rocklands Congregation of Bloemfontein’s Lutheran community where I have been attending on a regular basis. I could only smile as I led them through the service, heard them try to sing church songs in Sesutu, and took them up for both offering and Communion. It was so awesome to lead my parents, who in every other situation in my life has led me, and so special to share these moments with them. They were able to meet my supervisor and his family and the people of the congregation, and got to experience for themselves the wonderful, lively church services that I get to experience on a weekly basis.
On our last day in Bloemfontein, I took my parents to three of my previous worksites that I have talked about for months and months. First, I took them to the Children’s Ward of the National Hospital where I have volunteered for the past two months. It was good to see the faces of the staff that I had been apart from for two weeks and my parents got to meet the people I had formed such good relationships at the hospital. They were able to see the joys of life that I saw in the premature baby room, and they were also there for me when I found out two of the children that I became very close to died the week I was gone. Next, I brought them to the Sunflower House, the children’s hospice I volunteered at during the first four months of my year. Again, I introduced them to the staff and all of the children that had been such a large part of my life. It was so surreal to see my parents playing with the children that they recognized from photos and again my two worlds were colliding – worlds that seem so far apart at times, but were together there in one room at that moment. Last, I took them to Carel du Toit, the school I had volunteered as well. It was so special to me that they were able to meet the staff there, who in many ways became family to me here in Bloemfontein.
The last day came too quickly, but I guess we all know that every good thing must come to an end. It was so important for my parents to come to South Africa and I am so glad that they did- not only to see me, but to see where I have been, what I have been doing and who has become such a huge part of my life. The night before they left, my Dad (who at the beginning was less than thrilled about my moving to South Africa) said to me, “I am so glad I came. I see what you have been doing, and I feel much better about you being here. Now every time I have a selfish thought about you being here and not being with us at home, I can remember what we have seen.” And my Mom asked me, “Okay, so where are you and then we going next? How about a tropical island?” When they said these things to me, I almost burst into tears at the change in their hearts. I think it’s so amazing how God works! But it just brought me back to my personal mission for the year –1st Thessalonians 2:8 - “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us” - to love those who I serve with my whole heart, share my life with them and to share my God-given experiences with those I love back home. I am just so thankful that I could experience this trip with the two of them, and to think that my parents will go back and get the opportunity to share with those at home what they have experienced just encourages me. These past few weeks will hold some of the most precious memories I have and alas, my two worlds are now connected to make one.
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