Breath

Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit breathe? The pulsating of the room that is electrified by the presence of God and then all of a sudden you feel the release of tension. Oh tension… that miraculous place where God dwells between heaven and earth. That’s where I want to be – not of this earth, but not removed from it. The breath of the Spirit comes when God is present in that place between heaven and earth, those moments when you’re surrounded by a hundred voices praising God with their entire beings or when you’re surrounded by His glorious beauty and all you can do is think of Him. That’s when you can feel that release of breathe but you can’t breathe because you’re afraid your breathing will make it disappear. I hope you’ve felt this.

I felt the Holy Spirit at church last week. We were at a Pentecostal church called God’s Family Life Center in Pietermaritzburg. We had just spent the previous day at a birds of prey reserve and a lion reserve and had been surrounded by God’s incredible creations (lions are a lot bigger in person than I remember them being). Our group hadn’t been to church in South Africa yet and it was a little nerve racking because we weren’t quite sure what to expect. What we found was refreshment and peace. The congregation welcomed us with open arms and for the first time I didn’t feel crazy for wanting to move in my praise to God. It wasn’t the Pentecostal you’re probably thinking of right now. It was just a place to come and be in the presence of God in any way you wanted to. And then it happened. In a moment of musical dissonance and uninhibited prayer I felt that breath and I knew that this whole thing isn’t a mistake. I think it’s really good for me to get that confirmation every once in awhile that I’m not crazy for coming to live in another country for 15 weeks of my life. After the service we were greeted by many people from the congregation and I actually ended up coming back that night to another worship service at the same church where we spent more time glorifying God.

This last week was wonderful. The days go by really slowly here… so much so that breakfast feels like a whole day before by the time dinner hits. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was at Mason’s clinic again on Tuesday and Wednesday, but they were really slow days because of the rain. I’m beginning to learn the difference between when South Africans say “just now” and “now now”. Tuesday Sal and I waited an hour and a half for one of the nurses to show up and even when she did come she only had a few patients and we were left to sit and wait for people to show up. Before Sister Gasa showed up, the other health care workers would say “She’s coming just now”, and Sal and I kept looking around for her to come through the door. When we got back to campus we asked our Student Life Coordinator Reagan, who is South African, why in the world they kept telling us that she was coming “just now” and she still didn’t show. He said that in South Africa “just now” can mean in five minutes or in an hour and that “now now” means she’s coming through the door. This is just a taste of the laid back culture here.

Thursday and Friday the nursing majors had off for the most part and we used it to do work, go to the mall for some studying at our favorite coffee place (yes I’m drinking coffee, but only sometimes) and to rest up from the week. A few of us went out to pizza Thursday night to a place called Leonardo’s pizza and had pizza which was a nice change of pace. Getting off campus isn't easy, so whenever we get the chance we jump at it!

Love you all. Thanks for staying connected with me and for all your notes of love an encouragement. They are much needed and very appreciated!

Sala Khlale (Stay Well)

This is me with a giant African bug on my head...