It's Been A Month In South Africa!!

Hello everyone!

How’s it?....as folks here in SA say :)

I am doing well! I can’t believe that I’ve been here for one month. Wow! I’ve really enjoyed the messages and emails you all have sent me. I received each of them at just the right time.

There’s no doubt that I really like it here but with the holidays coming, I can’t help but think about all the memories of spending Christmas and New Years at home. Two of my fondest Christmas memories will always be cooking lobster on Christmas Eve and decorating the Christmas tree while dancing and singing with my family-silly I know. It’s easy to take those times for granted but now that I’m away I’m more sensitive to those special times.

New years was always a wonderful time with friends. In the years I lived in DC I don’t even recall watching the ball drop…..hehe, we were so busy chatting and catching up that it was the new year before we knew it. What great times!

I’m excited to see what the Lord has planned for me this Christmas. As of now, I know that I’m going to be serving at Kidstop on Christmas day. I hear Kidstop has a HUGE party for all the kids who live in the township areas and would otherwise not celebrate Christmas. I look forward to sharing in the fun, meeting kids, serving kids and teaching them about what Christmas is all about. I can’t wait to tell you all about it in my next update!

So, I’m sure you all are wondering about what the latest and greatest has been with me over the past few weeks. I’m also very curious to hear how things are going with you too so be sure to drop me an email or snail mail letter when you get a chance :). Many of you have been asking for my address which is:

Caitlin Vida

Youth For Christ

P.O. Box 758

George 6530

South Africa

You all should be receiving my latest snail mail letter very soon (if you haven’t gotten it already). I hope you find that it gives you a taste of what’s been going on here. I must say that I really love that there are so many ways to keep in touch…snail mail, facebook, blogger, and emails. Wow. My hope is to keep you all updated as best I can but if you’re ever curious, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Alright, so here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks!

World AIDS Day at Options:

On World AIDS Day the Options Care Center had an open day for people to learn more about what we do. It was awesome. We set up posters and information tables explaining all the different parts of Options Care. One of my favorite parts was in the morning when I went out on the streets with Xoliswa talking to the people we passed about Options and what we offer. It was so great to be out in the community.

A Visit from Lesotho:

Just after the World AIDS Day events came to a close we had 9 people from Lesotho come and visit us. They are starting a YFC ministry there and came to have a look at what YFC looks like in George. It was such a joy to get to know them…especially since there were a few ladies my age who stayed at the Edwalls house with me.

At this point during my stay in George I was really praying that God would give me an opportunity for a break-away from the ministries so I could process things a bit. We have been so busy!! Well, the Lord answers prayers! One afternoon a few of the ladies from Lesotho wanted to go to the George mall to look around. Well, it turns out that we found a bath shop where we stayed for about a half hour looking at and smelling all the different bath soaps and salts. It was fun. From there we had a dinner to go to at a YFC staff member’s house and boy was I in for a surprise. It turns out that Sue lives with her family in a house that’s right on the bay. And while folks were preparing the braii (South African barbecue) Brenda from Lesotho and I went out on one of the family’s canoes. It was beautiful!!! And you won’t believe what happened. As we were paddling (I was in the front of the canoe, Brenda in the back) I heard this HUGE splash and thought, “Oh my word, Brenda fell out of the boat.” I mean the splash was that big. Well it turns out that we must have disturbed a fish because Brenda said, “Did you see that??!!” and I said “No.” “Oh my goodness, a huge fish just jumped over the boat, hit my hand and then landed on the other side.” (hence the huge splash). We couldn’t believe it. That was certainly our adventure for the evening :)

The Teen Moms End of the Year Party:

And finally I’d like to tell you about the Teen Moms Party. It was so wonderful. The Options Teen Mom’s group meets every Friday throughout the year to learn together, have fun together, and build community…all while their kids are being watched by YFC volunteers. Well, in celebration of another year, the teen moms met for a party where we danced, sang songs, exchanged gifts and read a short book called “Brenda Has a Dragon in Her Blood.” The cool thing about reading this book is we did it all together as a group as the Moms held their kids and read to them each with their own book. It was beautiful.

Prayer requests:

As you can probably tell, there’s a lot going on here in Geroge! One of the things I am trying to decide is where the Lord is leading me to serve. Is it with the Options Care Center as a counselor, the Peer Education Program as a mentor/counselor, and/or with Kidstop as a mentor? When school starts up again around the middle of January I’ll be joining the schools team to learn more about what they do. Right now they are in need for more female counselors & mentors. Options has a series of counseling/HIV & AIDS courses that are offered at the end of January which I will be taking.

I am also in the process of securing a flat (an apartment) but the deal has not been finalized and I’m having a bit of trouble communicating with the owner. I hope to move out of the Edwalls house by mid January to get started on my own. Along with moving I’m also trying to purchase a car. The most popular cars here are VW Golfs. Boy are they tiny things :). But they are reliable and very safe by SA standards. Please be praying that I find a car that is within my budget, reliable and safe, and one that I can use to transport folks when they need it.

Well I think that’s it. Oh, whoops one last thing.

Youth Week:

I am going to be traveling with two bus loads of kids on January 2^nd to Youth Week in Magaliesburg, SA. It’s the biggest week for YFC of the whole year and it’s designed to get the year started right. The advert says, “I am…committed to making 2010 a year that starts with me on the winning team. Open to listen to what God, the chief coach, is saying.” It’ll be a week full of awesome worship, talks, outdoor sports and time to build community. 700+ kids attend and I am going to be serving as a camp counselor and girl’s cabin leader. My hope is to also have the opportunity to teach swimming lessons during the elective time in the afternoons.

I’ve never really done anything like this before…I never went to camp as a kid :) so this will be a new adventure for me. Please pray that through the Lord I will touch kids lives and make some lasting friendships. I’ll be returning to George on the 8^th and will fill you all in on the happenings as soon as I can.

I miss you all very, very much and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Years.

Blessings!!