A Nationless Man for All Nations

Thank you Jon Bloom for this great insight and reminder... "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:11-12) God is such a genius. This, obviously, is a candidate for understatement of all-time. But everywhere I look in the Bible and see how God engineered redemptive history, that’s what I think. I am in awe of a wisdom and foresight that, quite frankly, from all my observation and experience, does not come from humans. Here’s an example: Jesus’ ethnicity. Jesus was a Hebrew Semite. That means Nordic, European and Slavic peoples can’t lay claim on him as one of them. African peoples can’t claim him, East Asian peoples can’t claim him, native peoples of the Americas can’t claim him. And the Near East Semites who might claim him largely reject him. But after 2,000 years of racial migration, relocation, and intermarriage in Palestine, very few, if any, could claim a clear genetic tie to him. Today’s Israelis are mostly a regathering of a global diaspora who bring with them the bloodlines of countless peoples. That itself is a parable. Here’s the point: no people can take legitimate racial pride in Jesus. He left no clear bloodline. He didn’t even leave a physical description of himself. All he left us — all he intended to leave us — was his gospel. And Jesus intended that his “gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). He intended to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Jesus has become a man without a nation so that he can be the man for all nations. The children of God are not born of blood (John 1:13) but of belief (John 1:12). So all the children of God say with the Samaritans: “we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). http://www.desiringgod.org/blog                                                                                                                                                                                                       -Jon Bloom

POPCORN!!

I love popcorn. My college roomies will remember a fateful night in Charlotte when I disdainfully tossed aside a bag of pre-made popcorn because it wasn't fresh (hehe). Since I moved to South Africa, I have embraced home-made popcorn and highly prefer it now to the store bought(and much more expensive here) buttered stuff. One of my loving friends, Liz, calls me Popcorn, that's how often I make it. It is my go-to snack any time of day and I feel like I need a bowl for any movie(or series) I may be watching via my laptop.

When Jeff and I were home in 2009 raising support, we visited some friends up in Denver, NC. Her mom introduced me to one of my now favorite culinary items, the Whirley Pop. As I have become a popcorn snob(can you be one of those? Emily and Emmy don't asnwer that), I have often looked for a good pot to pop my snack in and the Whirley Pop is my personal favorite. I love that my popcorn comes in it's own pot now and clean up is so easy, the lid pops right off. There is a crank on the side so as it is popping, you can turn the crank ensuring almost all of the kernels pop.

I was not allowed to bring one back in 2009 cause we had other precious things we wanted to bring over to our home in South Africa. However, some friends came in 2010 and they lovingly toted along our brand-new Whirley Pop pot with them. Here's the website if you're interested http://www.wabashvalley.com or go to Amazon, that's where I ordered mine. Happy popping!

Our Whirley Pop

Yummy! Time to catch up on Glee.

A funny thing...

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with a friend who is actually more of a second mother to Jeff and so a second mother to me and another ouma(grandmother) for Asher. She makes amazing food and always has great desserts(which we love). As we were eating our dessert yesterday I took a bite and the taste shot back to my jaw(you all know that experience, the super sour and sweet combination gets you right in the back of the mouth). I said "mmm, that's tart!" Jeff and Carle looked at me strangely and Jeff then explained to me that they don't have a word for that in South Africa(well not in Joburg anyhow). Carle(who is Afrikaans) also said there is no word for that in afrikaans either. We all had a good laugh and Jeff said "welcome to our marriage." More laughing over that as I thought to myself, how true is that statement. Here I am living in South Africa for nearly nine years now, working with University students and building lots of friendships with South Africans, shoot married to a South African even and there are still lots of those moments all the time where I totally miss what is being said.

Some examples: Casey(13 yr old cousin): I am gonna go dos.-translation : I am gonna go sleep.
Emmy(college roommate living in Durban who is American by the way): One more night on my ace.-translation: One more night on my own.
Woman selling me a coffee at Wimpy: There you go my skat.-translation: There you go my treasure.
I only knew that one because Casey likes to call Asher that often and I knew it was something sweet but had to ask her for the translation.

Anyone else have stories about missing the cultural cue or phrase?? Please share, I won't feel so dumb :)   I will leave you with some pictures of our visit with Ouma Carle.

Asher and Ouma Carle

Asher loved the bed he napped in, slept for 2 1/2 hours.

Friends

Two days ago we had a staff meeting where the moms were invited to come as well. My friend Niai had their little girl, Thandi, six weeks before Asher was born. They have been fast friends. Here are some cute shots of them playing together and having a chat.

Asher caught trying to take Thandi's hand.

"Thandi, may I have your attention?"

"Asher, you have some food on your chin."

"Thank you, let me return the favor."

"Asher, you are such a good listener."

Mom wanted to get in on the photo shoot

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A few good men

Last night we had two of our board members who oversee our ministry here in South Africa, over for supper. They are here for the week meeting with our entire team and it has been such a wonderful time with them. After supper two of the guys Jeff spends lots of his time with daily came over to meet our American friends. What a wonderful time we had with them! These men are from completely different backgrounds and cultures and yet the love of Christ brought us all to the same table. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.

 Siyanda has to be one of Asher's biggest fans.

 Jeff, Wiseman, Asher and Siyanda(three rugby players and one in the making).

Jeff and his guys with Wade and Dick, friends already :)

The Rugby World Cup is here!

We live in a rugby-loving nation in South Africa. Last friday there was a big parade in Sandton to cheer the Springboks(nation's team) onto New Zealand as they defend their World Cup title. Today marked the beginning of the games and Sunday the South African Springboks play their first match against Wales. The U.S. also qualified this year and play Ireland on Sunday before the Springboks play. Oh the excitement. I will be cheering for both home teams. Not sure what will happen if South Africa plays the U.S. I will be truly torn as the Springboks tear Team USA to shreds.

Anyway, this morning my two men were busy watching New Zealand hammer Tonga. Asher was busy playing with his rugby ball most of the day after that. Soooo cute. I will post more photos from the Sunday matches.

Asher becomes a U.S. Citizen

As promised here is our family's newest U.S. Citizen. Asher Viljoen.  There is a bit of a process involved in getting everything finalized. We had to get his unabridged birth certificate first(which takes 2 months), then I had to get my highschool transcripts sent over because Jeff is not a U.S. Citizen. Then I had to book an interview at the embassy. We both had to come with our passports and marriage certificate(also unabridged) and even give a little oath. The woman behind the glass asked me some questions to make sure I had in fact lived in the states for 5 consecutive years, including what was my highschool mascot. Good thing I remember that; Go SPARTANS! After two hours his application was accepted and in less than a week his passport was ready for collection. The entire process  took 5 months. You could definitely do it quicker if you knew you needed your transcripts and have them mailed before baby arrives. Anyway, here's Asher proudly holding/nibbling on his passport. I am excited to teach him about half of his heritage as he grows up.

 Yes, Asher is a Georgia Tech fan. Go Jackets!

 His daddy will teach him about his South African heritage.

 Already knows rugby well :)

Meet the Viljoens

I decided to start a blog of stories about our family and ministry in South Africa. This will be a hodge-podge of things. I have been so inspired by all the blogs lately that I am getting creative and making my own. I needed to completely change blog sites to feel free to post whatever I wanted to. Is that wierd? Anyone else out there ever feel that way? Letters from Jozi is the title because my family lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. We are a mixture of people as well. My husband(Jeffrey) is South African and I(Kristin) am American. My husband's cousin (Casey, 13) lives with us and we are currently in the process of adopting her(very near the end actually, just waiting for the courts to finalize it for us, soon we hope). This past March we had our first biological child, Asher who is currently 5 months old. So you can expect family pics and updates and lots of questions for the experienced moms out there. Please feel free to comment. I know we all have lots of questions for each other.

On that note I would love to include a family photo of us, but we don't have one. My husband is promising one this week. Hopefully I can upload it soon and maybe replace this current pic of the beautiful Joburg skyline. :) In the meantime, here's the crew. Meet the Viljoen(pronounced Phil-yoon for the Americans) family.

Coming soon: Asher gets his U.S. Citizenship.