A lot of you guessed the mystery picture correctly! We'll have to try harder next time.
It was a close up of an elephant's ear:
Here is the original picture:
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This blog is an account of our lives and ministry in South Africa. Please click on the tabs above to learn a little more about us and what we do.
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(If you got here from facebook or Twitter you can read the rest of our blog at SmithSA.blogspot.com)
We hope you enjoy our blog. Please feel free to leave your comments, we love to hear what's on your mind!
(If you got here from facebook or Twitter you can read the rest of our blog at SmithSA.blogspot.com)
Showing posts with label Pilanesberg Game Reserve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pilanesberg Game Reserve. Show all posts
Monday, December 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
More Updates - Saturday through Wednesday
Trying to catch up here!
On Saturday the team went to Pilanesberg for a game drive. We saw quite a few different animals and at one point we were completely surrounded by a herd of elephants.
On Sunday we went to a very lively (and very long!) African church service. It was an incredible service and the worship was amazing, complete with dancing and a conga line. I didn't get any pictures of the service, I'll have to ask if any one else took any. Here is a short video of the worship service. The quality isn't great, but it shows the enthusiasm!
Sunday afternoon we all went over to Derek and Rebecca's house for lunch. (Derek and Rebecca are the directors of YWAM Rustenburg.) After lunch some of the group played games while others just hung out and talked. It was a very nice and relaxing time, a much needed break for everyone! Thanks for having us all over Derek and Rebecca, we love you!!
Sunday evening we gathered under the lapa (an outdoor area covered by a thatch roof) around a fire and had a great time of worship and prayer.
Monday and Tuesday mornings were spent finishing up the community garden and shacks in Freedom Park and the afternoons were spent in Phokeng working with the orphans in the after school program.
The Freedom Park garden is now ready for planting after we've loosened the soil and mixed in manure and quality top soil.
We've made contact with a local farmer that is a professional agronomist. (Jenny here - For those of you, like me, who have no idea what "agronomist" means, here is a definition.) He is willing to supply seedlings which will have a better chance of survival than our seeds, and he can also advise the garden workers on the best plants to grow in that specific location. I'm excited to see the fruits of this labor over the next several months.
This morning in Freedom Park we handed over the shacks to the families we built them for. The families had been living in deplorable conditions and these new shacks will provide for them much safer, cleaner and healthier living conditions. (Freedom Park in an illegal squatter settlement, so we aren't able to build proper houses there.)
We were accompanied by the workers that oversee the orphans in Freedom Park. We were so honored to have them be part of us. As we walked between the three shacks that we built the ladies sang worship songs in their native language (videos below). It was a beautiful expression of thanks to God, I think it moved the whole team greatly.
We were also honored to have Mr. Khumalo, a local South African pastor, with us. Mr. Khumalo was able to pray in both English and Tswana so everyone could understand. It was very moving. The families were so very thankful to have a new home and it was an incredible experience for us to be able to serve them in this way.
~Lincoln and Jenny
On Saturday the team went to Pilanesberg for a game drive. We saw quite a few different animals and at one point we were completely surrounded by a herd of elephants.
On Sunday we went to a very lively (and very long!) African church service. It was an incredible service and the worship was amazing, complete with dancing and a conga line. I didn't get any pictures of the service, I'll have to ask if any one else took any. Here is a short video of the worship service. The quality isn't great, but it shows the enthusiasm!
Sunday afternoon we all went over to Derek and Rebecca's house for lunch. (Derek and Rebecca are the directors of YWAM Rustenburg.) After lunch some of the group played games while others just hung out and talked. It was a very nice and relaxing time, a much needed break for everyone! Thanks for having us all over Derek and Rebecca, we love you!!
Sunday evening we gathered under the lapa (an outdoor area covered by a thatch roof) around a fire and had a great time of worship and prayer.
Monday and Tuesday mornings were spent finishing up the community garden and shacks in Freedom Park and the afternoons were spent in Phokeng working with the orphans in the after school program.
The Freedom Park garden is now ready for planting after we've loosened the soil and mixed in manure and quality top soil.
We've made contact with a local farmer that is a professional agronomist. (Jenny here - For those of you, like me, who have no idea what "agronomist" means, here is a definition.) He is willing to supply seedlings which will have a better chance of survival than our seeds, and he can also advise the garden workers on the best plants to grow in that specific location. I'm excited to see the fruits of this labor over the next several months.
This morning in Freedom Park we handed over the shacks to the families we built them for. The families had been living in deplorable conditions and these new shacks will provide for them much safer, cleaner and healthier living conditions. (Freedom Park in an illegal squatter settlement, so we aren't able to build proper houses there.)
We were accompanied by the workers that oversee the orphans in Freedom Park. We were so honored to have them be part of us. As we walked between the three shacks that we built the ladies sang worship songs in their native language (videos below). It was a beautiful expression of thanks to God, I think it moved the whole team greatly.
We were also honored to have Mr. Khumalo, a local South African pastor, with us. Mr. Khumalo was able to pray in both English and Tswana so everyone could understand. It was very moving. The families were so very thankful to have a new home and it was an incredible experience for us to be able to serve them in this way.
~Lincoln and Jenny
Labels:
Freedom Park,
Phokeng,
Pilanesberg Game Reserve
Friday, July 9, 2010
Pilanesberg
My mom arrived on Tuesday and today we took her to Pilanesberg. Here are a few pictures from the day.
We saw quite a few hippos, something that we've never seen close up before. They are usually sitting mostly in the water with just their eyes and ears showing.
We saw so many wildebeests. My mom joked that on Sundays all the animals draw to see which day they would be out, and today was the Wildebeest day.
One more of the many, many wildebeest we saw.
A black backed jackal on the road.
We stopped for ice cream and there were monkeys everywhere begging for food.
Two rhinos
Giraffe and beautiful scenery.
Isabel
Kendi
Kyler
Madison
Cute kids
My mom, Kendi and Madison
~Jenny
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!
Today was an incredible Safari day at Pilanesberg Game Reserve. We saw more varieties of animals today than I've ever seen there in one day. We saw Hippos, Blesbok, Impala, Kudu, Wildebeest, Warthogs, Zebra, Elephant, Rhino, Giraffe, Crocodile, Turtles, a giant Monitor (spelling?, it's a big lizard,) and for the grand finale, Lions.
Unless you're with a professional tracker it is very rare to see Lions in the game park. I've only seen them once before from far off. This time they were pretty close to the road. They were very sleepy and it took a little prompting from us to get them to raise their heads and look in our direction. We were tempted to kick a soccer ball at them to get them moving, but we decided that probably wasn't such a good idea.
We saw a baby crocodile that was being taunted by some ducks, and a wide variety of cool looking birds. It was an amazing day, I think that everyone was really happy to see as many animals as we did. We probably have around 3,000 pictures between the whole group. Tomorrow we are going to an African church service. They want us to sing a song....we'll see how that goes.
Labels:
Missions Teams,
Pilanesberg Game Reserve
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