We are living in exciting times! As I am writing this Louise is carrying on with our little
school. She does the great majority of the teaching, but sometimes I
have something to contribute. The other day I was showing the
children how digital photographs can be altered to show anything
from reality made sharper to something that has no significant
resemblance to reality (see photo). They thought it was REALLY cool
to turn photographs they had taken as a school exercise into – well
– works of abstract art.
Another
area where I can contribute is in helping Louise (a former high
caliber tournament player) teach the children to play chess. To be
more precise, they are already extraordinarily good at PLAYING, but
they have quite some distance to go in actually thinking and
planning. Chess is a good way to train in these areas, and I’m sure
they will make progress, hopefully without losing the fun of the
game. (When I played tournament chess long ago it was actually no
fun at all, and I do not want that fate for anyone).
This
is a very chaotic time of year in South Africa, because everyone
lives according to the same calendar. The heartbeat of the universal
calendar is the progression of ‘school vacations’, which are not
only observed by all the schools but by many businesses as well. So
there are certain times of the year when people disappear, and
businesses often close down. The biggest such time is from the
beginning of next month, and lasts for about six weeks. In
anticipation of all the people who will be filling up all the
vacation spots, many people try to ‘beat the rush’, so the chaos
really has already begun. So, from week to week we never know how
many people to expect. Typically, though, there are about as many
surprising appearances of new people as there are absences of the
usual ones. Philadelphia Fellowship is doing well and growing
(slowly). We really enjoy how new people usually jump right into the
life of the Fellowship, especially Davidic dancing (see photo).
This
weekend we had a VERY exciting event. A couple that has been part of Philadelphia
for a long time has recently been through some extremely dramatic
times. They wanted to celebrate all the great things that have
happened in their lives by renewing their marriage vows. We all came
together in Pretoria’s Botanical Garden and did that, with the
festivities ending with the (now traditional) showering of the
couple with soap bubbles. We had many, many bubbles and much joy
(see photo).
Last
week Louise and I managed to get away for a few days to a very small
village called Dullstrom. It is in what is called the ‘high veldt’,
having an elevation of 2085 metres (6840 feet), and is just a two
hour drive from here. The village has no traffic lights and one stop
sign. It also has about 45,739 rose trees (this figure is an
estimate, possibly just a bit high). There was an exceedingly great
abundance of roses in the courtyards (see photos) and all around the
building where we stayed. The place was as impressively cheap as it
was beautiful.
We are most
blessed by the amazing owner of the house we rent. Louise and I want
to expand the school and also begin to offer seminars at a regular
pace – at least one per month. The school causes too much chaos in
the house, and hiring venues for seminars is expensive and risky,
since you can never be sure how many people will actually show up
and pay. So, we asked the owner to turn the double garage into a
place for the school and seminars (and dance training, and worship
practice, and . . . ). He is paying for the whole thing, and doing
most of the work himself (along with his crew of helpers). We will
work out a small increase in the rent, to be met by income from the
school and seminars. Starting next year we will be able to do
everything we need to do with virtually no overhead. Halleluyah
Love from Africa
Lary and Louise
