Blatter So. Africa Mission: 12 December 2014

CAPE TOWN

Keeping watch

After 16 months of serving our mission in Port Elizabeth (called Eastern Cape), we were asked to move to Cape Town(Western Cape) to serve in the Mission Office until our departure for home. It was not anything we requested or desired but there was a part of us that was desirous to spend some time in this part of South Africa before we left which helped to make the transition more palatable. There are always pros and cons to any undertaking in our lives. The pros we use to enrich our lives and the cons we can learn how to adapt to them so that they too become a positive influence.

In the Spring, these trees have profuse blossoms.

Our new assignment requires us to work in the office most of the time but there are also many things that need to be done outside of the office which allows us to see the city and countryside. The couple that we replaced in the office left a month before we arrived so that there was no chance to get trained on what and how they did things. Hence, a lot of time is spent trying to piece together what needs to be done – kind of like reinventing the wheel. Hopefully the reinvented wheel is more advantageous than the old one. I am thankful that Angie is able to work in the office also as she is my much needed techy when it comes to computer programs. It is not that she has a great deal of training with the programs but the Lord has blessed her with a lot more patience to wrestle with them until she gets them to work than I do.

One of our first assignments was to inspect some of the missionary flats in the area. Missionaries come from all walks of life. Some have been raised by mothers who taught them how to cook and keep their surroundings clean and neat while others have apparently had no such training; if they did, somehow it has all gotten deleted, erased or buried so far in the recesses of the brain as to be irretrievable. As a consequence, one has to demonstrate how and then stand back and monitor their application of the training (at times the process requires multiple cycles). Some of the elders with good mechanical aptitudes allows them to figure out solutions to fairly routine tasks of everyday life while others struggle. For example, the other day I got a call from an elder who said they needed and wanted me to bring them a clamp. I asked, “What do you need the clamp for?” “The washing machine leaks”, was his response. “Where does it leak? Is it a hose that is leaking and if so, where is it located? How big a clamp do you need?”, I asked. “I don’t know”, he said. “If you don’t know, how do you know that you need a clamp?” “I don’t, I just thought I might” he said. This sort of dialogue continued for a while longer until I finally got out of him that they had laid the washing machine on its side before it started to leak. An inspection of the machine showed that they had broken a seal in the process which allowed water to run out of the drum. All of this as a result of asking for a “clamp”. However, these kinds of challenges spice up ones day and cause you to wonder with anticipation what tomorrow might bring.

As we have had an opportunity to travel around Cape Town, we have taken a few scenic pictures to illustrate the beauty that is here. There is much more to see which we will share with you later as we discover it. It really is a picturesque place to be.

Canal Walk - Angie's tranquilizer

Cape Town is also the home of a very large shopping mall which erases many, many, many of the “cons” for Angie. (Except I hardly ever get to go there.)