Ansie started by praying while covering herself with a head dress, the way women do in India.
This day was all about Ansie sharing with us her experiences over the last few years. In preperation for this she went to her journals, and found that the one constant was the manner in which God changed her from wrong thinking patterns.
Most people tend to think that missionaries are ‘super holy’, but she explained that if God is using her, he can use anybody - He uses all of us, in different ways. Even those growing up in the very secure environment of living your whole life in Pretoria, growing up in one house, going to one primary school, one high school, and one university. Going through the motions of a degree in Geo-Environmental Science, and thereafter pulling a 9 to 5 job at the same firm for five years (2004-09) – hating every minute of it, even hating life ...
She then met up with the KE fellowship and went to Thailand in 2007 and journeyed with them in 2008. She was at that stage torn between two worlds – “Missions didn’t grab me”, but the job took its pound of flesh. JP suggested that she take an 18 month sabbatical. She could always go back to work if it didn’t work out. She did not have enough money saved, but was tired of her work. Discipleship Training School (DTS) seemed to be the answer, and while researching she found India to be the place. Even though she was afraid to go (and still is to this day) she resigned from her job. God provided in many ways and things fell into place.
A mix up at the airport in Mumbai almost gave her mother a heart attack as she ‘disappeared’. It was intense to adapt to everything, and the continuous ‘culture shock’ led to stress and frustration. In the beginning she wanted to come home, but realized that she had to deal with the difficulties that she experienced, e.g:
· In the Asian culture you are not allowed to ask questions, because you challenge their authority.
· When playing with kids you get lice.
· No comms - no cell phone.
· Their daily lifestyle was very scheduled, plus you were given no choices regarding anything - just take what you get.
· Regular power outages
· Fetching your water with containers every day.
Due to the unfamiliar circumstances you don’t know how to do anything and you start feeling useless – she even had to ask the outreach leader at one point, to teach her how to use the toilet. These things taught her true humility, and she learned to be herself, as there was no place for pretence. Rejection was a big issue to handle and learning not to take offences (e.g. being called fat - which is not an issue in India), and to learn to accept herself. She also became quiet, and learnt to hear God’s voice and became more reliant on Him during these trials.
After the first 3 months were spent on studying topics, they went on an outreach for the last 2 months. She was still feeling scared, but “when you are scared, just do it, the scare goes away – and when you feel unprepared, just start packing, then you are prepared”. This trip was even more difficult. They had to sleep on the floor, everyone in the same room. The heat was unbearable, but at least she could shower under a coconut tree (without having to pay thousands of rands for the privilage – if you are willing to ignore the occasional motorbike going past). She could feel the oppresive spirit world during festivals. In the beginning it was hard to go to church, as she didn’t understand the language, but she eventually remembered that it is about God, and just enjoyed Him. They would share the gospel when on the streets, and by going to houses, asking for water and then following into a conversation, as the people were very hospitable. They would also share it by presenting the kids with vacation school – the parents didn’t mind as they believed their children would in any case never convert. She found that all of these hardships was worth it, as she fell in love with the people and their serving relationships.
As she eventually came back to South Africa, the reverse culture shock made her feel that she didn’t fit in anywhere, not India, not here. Especially contrasting to her was the first Sunday she attended church; comparing it to her experience in India it was really boring!
She had to decide on what to do next, and felt that the School of Biblical Studies (SBS ) would present an opportunity to grow, especially the one in Uganda. The reason being that she felt an uneasiness around black people, and hoped for it to change as her maturity grew from training herself.
It was not easy living with 19 people in the same house, especially from different cultures. It revealed the bad inside of her; the impatience and selfishness of not knowing how to share. There was also the constant malaria danger, but she felt that she could trust God and therefor took no tablets. The food was boring and meagre - everyone complained about it. They had to fill up and carry the jerry-can for all their water needs, which included growing their own vegetables. They had to do their washing on the ground on Sunday mornings – back breaking. The work ethics were very low amongst the students, because they were doing it for the group and not themselves. Issues didn’t get resolved, as people were too polite for confrontation, which meant that communication with other Africans was not directly to the point. From this a feeling of distrust grew. She is still learning not to make assumptions about people though.
They had to walk to town and once there, it was a bit overpowering. It took a while before she went to the market on her own. She continued being irritated with being identified as ‘Mzungu’ (white person), as the children kept crowding her when asking money, and everyone charged her inflated prices. The butchery was something to get used to. Kampala was crazy, the Shoprite being the only familiar sight.
There was a marked difference between the culture in India, which was very rigid, compared to the culture in Uganda that had no rules - you figure it out as you go along.
The Christian people don’t want to read for themselves, but would rather just believe what the pastor teaches them. And what they do want is the blessings promised in scripture. Everybody wants to be a pastor for the sake of money. The spirit world is much more real for them than in South Africa – as is evidenced by reports of demon activities making the newspapers. An example was when a boy died, resulting in both Muslims and Christians accusing each other of witchcraft.
“If stuff is a problem here, it will be a problem there; because you take it with you. You only manage to see it more clearly there.” She missed home so much in the beginning, that she even contemplated putting up a poster of Steve Hoffmeyer (from one of the magazines she received). Christmas is not big in Uganda, and after her mom phoned, telling what they were doing, she lay alone in the dark crying herself to sleep. Her birthday was nice though, starting with a breakfast treat from fellow students and ending with a phone call from the KE fellowship in South Africa. She learnt to really appreciate and value the people that were in her life during that season; who gave her the needed support and friendship, who pushed her in a conscience effort to change – especially the friends she made over there.
The course was tough as they had to read through the bible and complete assignments in 9months. It was just read, read, read, and class 3x / week. She was concerned though that the course tended to be purely academics and not spiritual. She had to study by candle light, as there was no power 3 nights per week. In the beginning she was up until 2am in the morning, but later on she was in bed by 9pm, as she allowed herself to ‘breath’ more. In South Africa it is all about performance, but not over there – your worth is in who you are. There is a line between laziness and doing nothing; people are too concerned about the latter over here. She is convinced that she had a better quality of life in Uganda regarding her health and relationships.
At first she was a victim of her emotions and the decisions she made from depressed and negative thinking. But, during all the hardships she became fit – physically, mentally and spiritually. “I felt like I could do more stuff, once I got used to it.” Living for God is a daily decision. Everything in our lives are influenced by our view of God, our relationship with Him. It is hard to give up your comforts when you don’t know God. A bond slave makes a choice to serve his Master, because he knows he can trust Him to look after his best interests.
While taking a break before Ansie presented the last part of her story, each one present was treated with an 'Ugandese Rolex' - what a nice treat.
And now Ansie stands before us, about to embark on the next leg of the journey: Wycliffe Bible translation. There are many cultures who can’t or don’t want to read and people groups who don’t have translations of the Bible. You can’t just give them a bible. And it seems that Ansie will start of with the One Story Project in Angola, where she will stay in the midst of four unreached people groups. They have built up a relationship with the people since before the war, and asked Wycliffe to be involved to work with locals to translate story sets. She will first go to YWAM in Brazil to learn Portuguese there and then will follow a very structured program of a two year training process for students. First though she needs to go through a stiff process of application and hopes to be on her way during middle 2012. She is on the journey . . . and it is SCARY.
JP ended of the talk with telling Ansie how proud he is of her and how she has grown. He further encouraged all present to become involved in helping her by partnering in a sending cell for her.
May the Ruach Hakodesh be with you all on this journey, Shalom!
