Thatching? Day 5.

If only I'd had the camera out @ 8am when the thatch guys came! Alas, I missed the opportunity because when I got back from campus at 4:00 everyone was gone and this is what met my eyes. It looks like two, or three more bundles made their way to the roof, but no more. Another curious phone call from me, another "I was about to phone you" from Joshua and we have quite the little drama in Durban! Stay tuned to this exciting day by day play by play to find out if we will be covered in thatch by March! Also student news and some profiles of peeps we are discipling will be coming here soon.

What?! No thatching!

Day 4 came and went and Joshua(sounds like ya-shua) and his guys failed to pitch again! A rather firm and inquisitive phone call made by myself (Ben) led to a promise that day 5 would come with results. "We'll see..." came the skeptic remarks and looks from Kristy and Lou Lou. (They must not have heard my "tough guy" voice I used during the call).

Invitation to join the "Core Team"

Well, this is it. The start of the new school year! Along with books and lectures by professors we have asked 10 students and 4 recent grads to be a part of our "Core Team." What is the "Core Team?" you might be asking! Really what it has become is an intimate group of individuals who have become family to us and each-other. We spend at least one night a week hanging out, reading the Bible, playing games and of course eating.
For 2008 we have asked this family to commit to doing a bit more. Here is what we laid out for those gathered on Sat as we digested a great braai and some homemade cookies by Kristy:
1. Meet every Thursday for a meal at the Carlson house(not too hard:)
2. At this meeting besides eating and catching up on a hectic week we will be doing Bible study together. To do this well we are asking everyone to do a minimum of 2 hours of prep work before we meet as a group.
3. Each individual will meet for one on one discipleship with one of the Staff or older Nav peeps (Ben, Kristy, Daniel, Thobe, or Lou Lou).
4. You will attend and help lead an Investigative Bible Discussion (IBD).
5. Be a part of and help lead our once a month large group gathering.

There was excitement in the air and lots of dialog as we sat in our partially thatched braai area. After figuring out how we would start on the Bible study and other details (the all important "who is bringing the food?" question was kindly brought up by Phil-answer: everyone takes turns) we broke into groups to pray for the year.

Possibility is the word for the year. It is on my heart on the minds of the students. It is something that I've been dreaming about and digesting with my morning coffee. If you'd like to hear more send an e-mail or comment on this blog.

Durban Work Ethic? Thatching(?) Day 3.

The weekend came and went, we had a great braai (look for details on next blog) with the "Core" team, and the thatch guys took a 2 day break. But like many projects that happen in Durban sometimes the workers show up and sometimes... We'll pray they return!!!

Day 2!

Day two of thatching started with rain and heat, but our thatch guys push on!  Our gentle giant dogs (Durbie and Ella) put the fear of God into our new working friends here so they are spending the day out of the way doing what they do best.

Thatching Begins!

The Best place to gather in hot/humid Durban is outside, under some shade.  Our "shade" has developed a few holes over the past couple of years!  Not just dripping holes that bother us when it rains, but gaping openings that have stopped any braai's (read BBQ if you live on the other side of the Atlantic) or gatherings if the weather turns nasty.  Bloomer Baptist Church heard about the trouble we found ourselves in and took it up as a special project.  The next couple of days (hopefully not the next couple of weeks as Kristy has predicted) we'll show you the process of thatching in Durban!  thanks BBC, and Berean Baptist Young Adults Class who also heard about the need and helped out on this important project! 

Daniel's engaged!

Well, we saw it coming!
For those of you who know "our" Daniel you may have had a sneaking suspicion. He left for Virginia, USA at the start of Dec. a single guy, and is coming back to us an engaged man to one Melinda Keith!
The quick story of Daniel: Graduate of Clemson in 05, joined us at the University of Kwazulu Natal in Jan 07. Spent the year doing ordinary and extraordinary things in Durban South Africa with us. These "things" (read discipleship, prayer, Bible study, and continued refusal of my coffee) have led him to being a significant role player in some great students lives as they have found redemption through Christ.

That is the quick verson, for more info on our intern and his future... stay tuned to this blog as Daniel finishes out his 2nd year with us here in the evergreen city!

Ben and Myles Playin' Around!

A Time of Reflection

We just returned from two weeks in Cape Town where we were house-sitting for some fellow Navigator staff. This was such a good time for our family! We were able to reflect on the past year, get refreshed, and relax in an amazing city. As we reflected on the year we realized that it has been full of people, places and events. God has been faithful to us and we have built some amazing relationships along the way. Please pray for us as we look toward 2008 and prepare for the students to come "home" to us from their summer breaks.

The Carlsons are blogging!

The world has turned to blogging and we think it's about time we hopped on board! Lots has been happening in our lives and we look forward to telling you all about it. For starters, this photo of Myles and Lou-Lou was taken at a traditional coming of age ceremony that we recently attended. Myles loved being with his favorite aunties all day and playing with the other kids.