Amazing adventures in Jefferys Bay, South Africa

It’s true! The Blaaks have landed again in Canada after 4½ amazing months abroad.

We've had our "highs" and we've had our "lows," but when it's all said and done, we are so glad that we went! Thank you so much to Pastor Louis and his lovely wife Edna (the pastors of Victory Christian Church in Jefferys Bay) for believing in us and making this adventure even possible! Words will never be able to express how blessed we feel!

Well, dear friends... let me officially apologize for not keeping up with emails and newsletters like we usually do. I know that many of you sent emails to us in Africa that got lost in cyberspace - and now that we're home, we've been "running" like crazy! I've actually been working diligently on a Blaak Family Newsletter for 2006, and including some of our favorite pictures from our trip to Africa. Unfortunately, the file is now too large to email to you. Aaaaagh! Thus, the blogspot :).

It's been so wonderful to sit down in person with so many of you over the last few months to share our pictures and our story. For those of you who haven't heard about our trip yet, here's a small taste of what 2006 meant to the Blaaks....

“These are a few of our favourite things….”

• Seaview Lion Park—where we cuddled baby lion cubs. Unbelievable memories!

• The Beach—swimming, building sandcastles, catching snails, etc. Jefferys Bay has the most beautiful beach! Right on the Indian Ocean, it has so much sand and goes out forever before getting deep. And because it was technically “winter” there, we had it almost to ourselves!


Surfing (at least trying :). Joshua now wants to be a professional surfer, and believe me, he’s got what it takes.


• Monkeyland—this was an incredible place, home to about 300 monkeys who are either being bred, rescued or rehabilitated. We loved seeing the squirrel monkeys and the lemurs. The only trauma was when a vervet monkey ran right up Rachel’s body and stole her sucker right out of her hand. She was sooo upset!


• New foods. We tried so many new foods. Our favorites include milk tart, boerewors, lamb chops, ostrich steaks, fish & chips, Appletizer, etc. Yum!

• The Elephant Sanctuary - probably the coolest field trip I've ever been on. We touched wild elephants, led them by the hand, and even rode them. Definitely a dream come true!
  
• Robben Island—we took a tour of the island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years. Very sobering.


• On my birthday, we took a Sunset Catamaran Cruise in Cape Town. It was so much fun and so beautiful!


• Animals—we saw too many animals to name them all. Here are some of our favorites: lions, tigers, monkeys, elephants, whales, dolphins, penguins, seals, tortoises, kudu, zebras, giraffes, and even dung beatles.

Some of our Challenges:

• The flight was veeerrrryyyy long! We counted 27 hours in the air! Can you believe it? We were sooo proud of our kids though - they handled it fabulously! In fact, we received compliments from at least 4 of our fellow travellers stating that they had never seen such well-behaved children! Wow! "Good job, guys!"


• Learning to eat new foods (and shop in new grocery stores)


• Driving on African highways, on the left side of the road, shifting with our left hand, and not having seatbelts! Aaaagh!


• Facing our fears (flying, heights, sharks, snakes, you name it…)


• Homesickness - we truly love our families, friends and Canada! It was hard to be away so long.

Our greatest lesson, though, was coming to the deep understanding of who our Heavenly Father really is. The Word says that He is a “rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”. He is not a taker, He is a rewarder! This truth revolutionized our relationship with our Father and broke the root of so much fear!

Ministry Opportunities in South Africa:

When we were getting ready for our trip to South Africa, we were told by a close friend to be prepared to do nothing. Our purpose was to “rest, absorb and learn.” So, we didn’t bring anything with us - no music, nothing. You can imagine our surprise one Sunday morning when, Pastor Louis said to Erwin… ”Erwin, I just about called you up to lead worship this morning, but my wife said I should warn you first. So, consider yourself warned.” :)

• Two weeks later, as promised, we had the privilege of leading a time of worship in Victory Christian Church. Wow! It was awesome!


• Other opportunities followed, in Jefferys Bay as well as in the churches in Durbanville and Fish Hoek.


• Erwin also got the chance to preach in the young adult service. Wow! What an amazing time!


• I, Shauna, had the incredible privilege of teaching a workshop on Worship Dance at the National Women’s Mentoring Conference. It was so life changing - for them and for me!

What now?

Probably the question most often asked of us since we got back is... “What are you planning to do now?“ To this, we must answer, with equal amounts of joy and trepidation, that “we are planning to go back.” Yes, it’s true!

• Erwin has been asked by Pastor Louis to come “on staff” at Victory Christian Church to assist with worship ministries. He will also be helping with the Worship Academy, part of the intensive discipleship training school based at Victory. He will also be assisting in the church plant in the “township", and there will also be a certain degree of traveling throughout the country doing workshops with various worship teams in other COTN (Church Of The Nations) churches.


• I have been asked to provide some leadership and training in the area of worship dance.


• The kids have already been registered in Elijah Christian School which is run by Victory church. Raelynne - Grade 5, Joshua - Grade 3, David - Kindergarten. (The school year in South Africa runs from January to December, with school holidays happening at various intervals throughout the year.)

We strongly believe that we’re supposed to be there in January, 2007. I know... that’s really fast! Therefore, we are already in full-swing of preparations. Our visa applications are currently with the South African consolate, and our plane tickets are booked for January 13th. Wow!

We found renters to rent our house for the year. Graham and Vanessa Eastman moved in at the end of October, and we moved in with Mom and Dad. What a delight that has been to us! We have been thoroughly enjoying our time with Grandma and Grandpa and we are sooo thankful!


Our Prayer List:

• Please pray that we will receive favour with the South African government and that our visa applications will go through quickly.


• For finances - both airfare and monthly support.


• For continued safety and protection on this next leg of our journey (and that our luggage will arrive safely with us).


• For easy adjustments as the kids change schools and cultures.


• For confidence and courage to obey God as we learn to "live by faith."

Because unemployment is so high in South Africa, it is very difficult to get a working visa. Therefore, we must apply for a “volunteer visa” and raise our own support from Canada. Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us in this way? Starting in December, we are partnering with HELP International, a Canadian missions organization already established in Africa. Should you wish to receive a tax receipt, please direct your gift through HELP and designate it for "Erwin & Shauna Blaak" and they will be able to issue you a receipt.

HELP International, Box 5968 Station A, Calgary Alberta, T2H 1Y4
Phone: 403-873-1635

Email: helpca@shaw.ca

_______________________________________________________

Once again, let me just say to friends and family alike.... You are so precious to us! While we were in Africa, it wasn't our stuff here in Canada that we missed so much. It was You - our friends and family! You are so important to us and we are so glad to have you in our lives!

From our family to yours, we wish you

A Very Merry Christmas
and all of God's Richest Blessings in 2007!

Love,

Erwin & Shauna Blaak (Raelynne, Joshua, David & Rachel)