Things are moving right along!!!...

Greetings again from George, South Africa! I hope all of you at home are enjoying the summer! For us here, it’s just turning to winter and with no central heat…it’s cold! So, the solution? Hot water bottles. Not drinking water bottles filled with hot water…thick rubber canteen-like bottles with screw caps which you fill with boiling water, cover with insulating material and then stick at the bottom of your bed to keep your feet warm at night, or while your watching a movie or doing work at home. When I first heard the concept of hot water bottles it reminded me of something my mom used to say, “The most important parts of your body to keep warm in the winter are your head and your feet.” So there ya have it…feet, “check!” :).

My first birhday in SA!
As some of you know, I celebrated my birthday on May 2nd. It was the first birthday I spent in chilly weather and overseas…it was awesome! This year May 2nd fell on a Sunday and if your birthday falls on a Sunday, my church makes a cake and calls up everyone during the announcements who has a birthday so they can get a piece of cake, and the congregation can sing happy birthday. What made it really special is by now I know mostly everyone in church and as they were singing I really felt the love of family and friends. What a blessing!

After church my roommate Marion arranged for a few of my girl friends to take me out to lunch. I ordered ostrich and it was really good! Did you know that ostrich is neither a red or a white meat… it’s a blue meat. I’m not really sure what that means, all I could tell is it tasted more like steak…not like something from the bird family.

My birthday was a really great time and I want to send a big thank you to all of you overseas who sent me letters, care packages, and facebook messages to let me know that you’re thinking about me.

From the ministry side…
In Schools-GOLD Peer Education:
Things have been going very well, very busy….but very well :). This term The Schools Team is focusing on a lesson called Choices and Influences. We are teaching teens about making the choice to have sex or wait for sex and what influences that choice like parents, peers, the media, pop songs, church, teachers etc.

Again, like all the lessons we do, we leave it up to the kids to make their own decision. I love the analogy Ozzy used yesterday during our lesson delivery. “I could tell you guys, ‘do not run into that wall, you’re likely to break your nose.’ But if you still choose to do so, it’s not me who has to endure the consequences, it’s you-whoever walks into the wall.” On the same note, we help them make the decision of when to have sex, but ultimately it’s up to them…they are the ones who have to face the consequences. And we stress the importance of owning their decision…knowing and understanding what beliefs back-up their decision and the consequences…good or bad.

The Easter Holiday Club in Blanco:
The last thing I’d like to tell you about is the Easter Holiday club I helped run in a town called Blanco. It was a really awesome experience. The folks who staffed it were volunteers from a local Baptist church, The Schools Team Facilitators (my co-workers), and volunteer Peer Educators from a handful of the schools we work in. There were about 30 volunteers in total and over 200 kids ranging from grade 2 to grade 8. The kids were divided into 6 groups by age and then volunteers were assigned to work closely with them each day. Many of the kids who attended the camp aren't currently in school.

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to reach out to the kids in Blanco. We met for 5 days starting with food at 9AM and then we performed dramas, played games, taught about the Easter story and mentored the older kids until 1PM. After the kids went home, I met for an hour with all the youth volunteers to get feedback on how the day went. I thouroughly enjoyed running these meetings….answering questions and pouring into these highschool volunteers…I really had an opportunity to see them shine!

Working with the kids from Blanco was challenging for the volunteer Peer Educators but in the end, they all said it was worth it and they are looking forward to their next opportunity to serve…and I agree!


Prayer Request...
I would like to ask for prayer around my allergies and asthma. For some reason the change in seasons has aggravated both my allergies and asthma and it’s starting to prevent me from doing some of my work. I know we serve a BIG God who is fully cape able of helping or even healing me from these problems so I would really appreciate your prayers! Thank you!!!

Well I think that about wraps it up for this update. Please keep you emails with updates and prayer request coming. I love hearing from you guys!

Until next time…love and hugs, Caitlin

PS: My latest snail mail update was just sent out on Monday so keep your eyes out for it and please let me know if you’d like to be added to my update list. Everyone’s welcome!