angela.

when i was in south africa, i met angela.
you can read more about her story here.

this past week, she passed away.

i wanted to write something for her, but after i got this email, i knew nothing i could write could compare.

this is from a missionary in SA who knew her...

Isn't she beautiful? This is a picture of Angela. We met her two years ago. She had HIV and had been struggling with TB. The Norman Community short term team found Angela. She was so sick and unable to get up in bed. She wasn't even able to talk or raise her head. Everyday they prayed for her, and even worshiped outside her shack for hours. She began talking again, sitting up, standing up, and when she was tested, she was told she did not have TB anymore. So for two years she worked hard to walk again. She had such determination. She completely gave her life over to Jesus. We visited her, prayed with her, studied the Word with her.

This picture is the day she decided to get baptized. Her mom was still steeped in ancestral worship and Angela said, I don't care what my family says, I am giving my life to Jesus. There were days that she was discouraged. We loved her, we loved her mom Edith and the darling Lolitha, Angela's daughter. Her mom listened to all our sharing from the Word. Edith and Angela joined one of our house churches and came weekly for fellowship and study. Then one day Edith decided to give her life to Jesus and be baptized. We were all so happy.

Angela's immune system was weak and did not have much fight so this past rainy season she developed a new strain of TB. A completely different strain than she had before. We prayed, shared, cried and listened to her. A local church in Muizenburg sent Angela to a healing conference in JoBerg. Each day they had worship, prayer and teaching. They stayed at this event for 2 months. She felt so much better and loved being surrounded by the worship. It greatly effected Mama Edith. She told me she had never experienced anything like that ever.

When Angela came home her cough got worse. She went to the hospital on Sunday and died peacefully late Monday night. She blessed her mother, she told her mother that she excelled at standing by her and caring for her. She said thank you to everyone who cared for her in every way.

Lolitha the young 2 year old was being cared for at home while Angela and Edith were in the Hospital. Lolitha turned to the care taker and pointed at the door, " Do you see Angela?" The care taker said, " Angela is not here." Lolitha said," Yes, she is she is standing outside the door. I will not see her anymore, only when I go to church."

When Grandma Edith came home from the hospital, Lolitha grabbed her face and said, "I will not see Angela anymore, you are now my mommy and I love you."
How amazing that God even prepares a little two year old child to release her mommy.

Edith kept saying yesterday, "I will not worship the ancestors at this death, I am a born again Christian and will not participate in that." Salvation has truly come to this house. God brought us the family of God to this family. Their own family rejected them because of Angela's illness. God sent so many of His own to fellowship and laugh, talk , pray, believe, encourage and the whole household was saved.

I will be forever changed by Angela. Her fierce determination to live well, full of God and Hope and overcoming weakness. We love you Angela, you have changed us all.

We will dance together in Heaven, Angela, I promise.
Kalyn, or commonly known as Mamacita

here is a picture i took of angela's mom, edith

and angela's daughter lolitha
while i was in SA this summer

thinking of the story of this family really puts life in perspective, huh?

please pray for mama edith and lolitha


xoxo.

when you're sad and it's time to say goodbye...

you just have to dance.

and this song is PERFECT

(even though it's only part of the song, you get the idea).

MGMT - Kids from sofiage on Vimeo.

we will be dancing away our sorrows tonight.

join us.

xoxo

world of birds=worlds of fun.

life lesson #985870

in order to fully enjoy any adventure, you have to be well fed.

christina and i knew that before we headed out to "world of birds/monkey village" we needed proper sustenance.

thus, our stop at american corndogs.

#1 because we are americans.

#2 because what is more delicious than a fried hotdog on a stick.

#3 because it's just really funny that this place exists in south africa, and consequently, we have the duty to support it.

as soon as we arrived, we headed straight to the "monkey village" where we heard you get 1 on 1 time with the monkeys...little did we know the drama that was about to ensue.

here's how it went down...

christina was loving the quality time with the monkeys and i was getting some good photo ops.

while in monkey bliss, christina's defenses came down and she dangled her purse...big mistake...and that monkey had his dirty little paws in there within .7 seconds.

JACKPOT...he found a bag of pretzels (a.k.a. gold in the monkey kingdom) and ran off with his treasure...joined by about 25 other monkeys to fight for their piece of the goodness.

the lady who worked for the park was a bit perturbed, but everyone else went camera crazy.

christina was quite embarrassed, and i was laughing uncontrolably.

after the madness died down a bit, i had my turn (relunctantly might i add)

i think my face here really says it all.

after my panic attack subsided, we were off to explore...starting with the birds.













then i became one with the tortoises.



and puked a little in my mouth when i saw this.
sick, sick, sick.
just one more reason for me to hate baboons.
it's called a sexual swelling (not cancer), it happens with females when they are ready to mate, and it's disguisting.



next, there were the guinea pigs
not sure how they fit into the mix (not really birds or monkeys).
T.I.A. i guess

and lastly, made this face when...

1. we saw the vultures eating dead bunnies
2. we were almost attacked by 25+ birds.

all in all though, i had a great day (it's always good to get your heart rate up after all).

memories people...it's all about the memories.

xoxo

the faces of masi.

life in the townships is hard.

there's no doubt about it.

but when you look into the people's faces, you find...

strength

beauty

color

and most importantly...

hope.

i was fortunate enough to capture just small flashes of it.

"People ask me, 'Doesn't it paralyze you to walk so closely and intimately with suffering?'

'No,' I tell them.

'If I've learned anything from my time in Africa, it's that though the suffering is overwhelming, so too is the hope.'"

-Jena Lee from Hope in the Dark

thank you landon donovan for...

1. making soccer cool again.

2. bringing together a group of rowdy americans in an irish pub in the center of cape town, south africa.

3. giving grown men the freedom to cry and jump around like little school girls (oh, and scream obscenities at the tv for the first 91 minutes of the game).

4. making us proud.

amer-i-can boys, amer-i-can.

just because i haven't gone to a live game here in south africa, doesn't mean i haven't had an authentic screaming your guts out, adrenaline rush experience.

xoxo

:)

biffo the birthday girl.

i love bethany because she...

(a.k.a. 28 reasons why this girl is fabulous)

1. is the craftiest beaver i know.

2. loves hearts, polka dots, birds, and bunnies.

3. inspires my heart on so many levels.

4. should be on broadway (she can belt it with the best of 'em...seriously).

5. used to jump on a trampoline as an adolescent for exercise (with a tape player of course).

6. loves on babies and mamas tirelessly everyday.

7. drives a vw bug.

8. can impersonate just about anyone.

9. has a gift for acronyms (JBHLIR, BPTD, SPU...just to name a few).

10. loves to read!

11. is a professional scrap journalist.

12. loves jesus. a lot.

13. stands up for her life.

14. loves a nice glass of wine, banana carmel pancakes, well made cappuccinos, swiss cake rolls, and swedish fish.

15. makes me want to try out unconventional dance moves.

16. is jan and joe o'connor.

17. appreciates melancholy tunes.

18. personifies autumnal bliss.

19. is the proud mama of trixie fay a.k.a sugar bear, little girl, lover may, trix, sugie, missy, etc.

20. gave me the nickname madadore conquistador.

21. has journals that make me oh so envious.

22. made college an adventure.

23. saves babies (literally) and even had a precious baby girl named after her.

24. has the most detailed dreams of anyone i know (scary midgets anyone?)

25. is an exceptional writer (www.bethanyoconnor.com)

26. officially has me calling everyone "sis."

27. believes in miracles.

28. let me come and tag along with her in cape town!

so happy you were born.

so happy i can be here to celebrate.

xoxo

there are some things in life i will never understand.

like how these beautiful children have to live in an orphanage year after year, with no hope of ever being adopted.

they loved my camera.

they played with my hair.

they showed us their rooms.

they offered us their lunch.

they held our hands as we walked down the street.

they stole my heart and reminded me, once again, why jesus loves the orphan.

pure talent.

love actually is all around...

you just have to be looking for it.

xoxo

i like rainbows.

BAFANA BAFANA!

It's official.

The World Cup is here.

Here's how I know:

1. One word: Vuvuzelas. What is a "vuvuzela" you might ask? It's a plastic horn that everyone, old and young alike, blow from morning to night. I am awaken to it's blasts in the morning and lulled by it's melodies as I try to fall asleep at night.

2. I dream in yellow and green.

3. Whenever we walk by kids or adults playing soccer, I have to fight the urge not to steal their ball. Sometimes I can combat my desires, and sometimes I can't.

4. Awkward situation? Moment of silence? I just want to yell "BAFANA, BAFANA" (a.k.a. the nickname for the SA soccer team).

5. I now own a jersey patterned after the SA flag.

6. Bethany, Joe, and I are now the proud coaches of a South African youth soccer team. And yes, the baby is a vital member. (See photo evidence below.)

7. I feel my U.S.A patriotism may be taking a hit with all this SA enthusiasm, and if you know me at all, you know how much I love my homeland. Don't worry though...no country can ever top my love for the red, white, and blue.

Speaking of, tonight we are watching the US vs. England game.

Besides Hugh Grant and Love Actually, England really doesn't have much to offer, so I'm not too concerned. America is the best. Case closed.

xoxo