March Update

Hello dear friends and family!

Thanks so much for all of your emails this last month! It’s been wonderful hearing from you!

First things first… Many of you have been asking to see our miracle car. Here’s a picture of us last Sunday - that’s Victory Christian Church in the background. (Remember that you can click on pictures to see them up close.) God has taught us such an amazing lesson about His ability to see the future. We were actually quite desperate to buy a vehicle quickly because we had to give back the church’s Combi that we were borrowing. Erwin had been investigating buying a second-hand Combi, but the pastors here wouldn’t let us buy anything second-hand in our price range because the used car industry is really brutal with stuff like rolling back the kilometers, etc. In order to get a good used Combi, we’d have to spend about $35-40,000 CAD. New ones cost around R400,000 ($65,000 CAD) Yeah, not gonna happen! Anyway, Erwin called the car dealer in Humansdorp, a small city about 20 minutes away. They had a Toyota Avanza in their showroom that we were able to test drive. It seats 7, has roadside assistance, and is very safe to drive. We loved it and loved the price. The dealer told us that that particular vehicle had been sold, but that another one was on the truck heading to Humansdorp and would arrive in 5 days. We said “We’ll take it!”

Later on, we found out that there is a 3-6 month waiting period for these vehicles! Think about it…even while we were back in Canada, moving our stuff into storage and us into Mom and Dad’s house, God was prompting someone here to order this particular vehicle. And then knowing exactly when we’d be going car shopping, He caused for that same person to cancel their order just before we walked into the dealership! That’s incredible! And it totally opened my eyes to see that God is a master weaver – planning for our future while we aren’t even aware of our needs yet! Isn’t that comforting? I wonder what He’s planning/working right now.

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As far as the Blaaks go, we’re all doing well. Everyone’s healthy. Thank you Jesus! and the kids are doing much better in school, life, etc.

Raelynne – has been gradually settling into her routine and is really enjoying having her own room. She’s also making some good friends at church and school, and even had a sleepover here last week with one of her Dutch friends (her mom and dad are the ones doing the outreach in the township). Unfortunately, Raelynne continues to struggle with occasional homesickness, and has been really struggling with math again – aaaagh! Yes, some of the rules are a bit different here, but I think she’s just getting mentally lazy with math because she’s focusing so much on culture adjustments, learning Afrikaans, etc. Please pray for her.

Joshua – is doing surfing lessons again and LOVING it! It’s given him something constructive to do with his energy (besides teasing his older sister). We bought him Justin Bishop's first surfboard for his 9th birthday, as well as a second hand wetsuit from the outlet shop - so now he’s set to go whenever we have time and good weather. He’s also enjoying learning rugby at school and is finally making some friends. And much to my chagrin, he’s also completely embraced the African practice of going barefoot everywhere! “Another sliver, Josh?”

By the way, both Raelynne and Joshua are doing wonderfully at learning Afrikaans! (I’m also learning quickly because I’ve been helping them study.) The teachers are very impressed with them and have said that their accent when speaking is almost perfect. Good job, guys! “Goeie werk, kinders!”

David –absolutely loves school and his teacher. Teacher Anneke is incredible – and David has just blossomed in every area! He’s doing very well in his school work (especially math). His only weakness is in art – I guess you could say that he’s artistically challenged, kind of like the picasso of the Blaak family. (i.e. He was supposed to do a painting of his mom, and he painted me in a hugely modern, abstract way so that I looked like I was doing karate – thus, picasso.) We also catch him singing love songs to God all the time, and he prays the most incredible prayers… For example, “God, I know that you love me the best. And I’m just gonna say that I think you’re cool and I’m gonna think that forever, so I’m gonna keep saying it to you.” What a joy to see!

Rachel – also loves school and Teacher Marinda. She loves learning and can’t wait to start reading. Every week, she comes home with artwork from pre-school that we faithfully stick up on the walls in her room. It’s becoming quite the collection and she’s very proud of it. She spent some of her Christmas money on a new cd called “Zoe Worship” which is an acapella worship experience. We often hear her in her room singing the worship songs and dancing along with them. Soooo beautiful! Like David, she’s also developing an awareness of Bible stories and vocabulary. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the beach for the afternoon (it was the best beach day we’ve had since getting here!). Rachel has this “thing” about rolling around in the sand and getting buried in the sand. Drives me nuts, and I told her to go rinse her hair in the ocean. So she promptly lay backwards in the water and said “Look Mom! I’m baptizing me!” What a character!

Shauna – I guess I could say that "It's been the best of times. It's been the worst of times." It's a time of definite stretching, but it's also a time of rich relationships. I'm really growing to love the people here so much! Each morning as I drive my kids to school, I look forward to seeing the domestic workers walking down the road. We wave to each other and they smile so warmly at me! Sometimes I would love to just get out of my car and walk with them. I’ve been invited to join some of the ladies in the church who do visitation ministry in “the community”. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday they visit the sick and dying who live there, and they’ve invited me to come anytime I want. I definitely want to do it – but I definitely need to learn Afrikaans as soon as possible. What a privilege!

I’m also coming to love the people in the choir/band/leadership team so much. We are no longer considered visitors from Canada, but have been officially “planted as a son and daughter in the house”! Wow! Pastor Edna has taken me into her inner circle, and I feel so honoured. I’ve been asked to sit on the Resource Team of her team of Tribal Leaders (makes me want to go out and buy a leopard printed bra :), which is actively involved in the behind-the-scenes operations of the “mentoring network”.

Pastor Louis and Edna have also commissioned me to start a dance ministry! This month, I started teaching a 10-week course on Worship Dance for Beginner Adults! Can you believe it, Lisa?! It was truly amazing! (Before I left Canada, I sat down with Carmell King from ABDA Dance Studios and she helped me to prepare for such a class. And I’ve also been in email contact with Kari Larsen who’s also helping me with ideas, etc. What a blessing!) I’m still shocked that this is me, because I’d always struggled with fear of rejection - it would paralyze me. Teaching a class was something Carmell would do, or Lisa van Vliet, but not me! But, I’m actually so excited! God is really doing a new thing in me! I’ve never danced in a placed that was safe before! And my passion for dance, as well as my joy, is coming back! We’ve had 4 classes now and it’s been amazing! I really love teaching, and my own creativity has just soared to new levels too!

Erwin – has been really doing well! I’m so proud of him! He’s really found favor with the musicians who are sooo excited to have a fellow musician as a pastor. One of our first areas of focus is providing intensive theory lessons each week (for an hour before worship rehearsals) because a large majority of the musicians don’t read music yet. The lessons seem to be paying off and they are growing by leaps and bounds. Sunday worship experiences have been awesome!

Because we’re in a season of “growing leaders”, Erwin’s schedule is more hectic than we’d all like. Pastor Louis keeps getting after him about “working smarter, not harder – and having more fun!” This entails learning a whole new way of doing ministry. Please pray that God will both strengthen him and give him strategies to accomplish this.
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Well, dear friends, we love you so much! You are so special to us and we count it an honour to have you in our lives. Please keep up the emails – we love to hear from you!

Be blessed!
Shauna