Zulu church, South African storms and face painting....

Last weekend we visited the local beach - Richards Bay and then on Sunday we went to a Zulu Church. A young pastor and his family, planted the church a few years ago in a very rural area near Mtubu. The church is made up of mostly children as they have also started a Christian school to share the gospel with children who attend school.

The Zulu church ⬆️

After church we went to Hluhluwe Game Reserve and saw a Rhino, so can say I've officially completed the 'Big 5' now! I also experienced a monkey stealing half my lunch too!

Monday morning started with the weekly shop, as usual, however this week we were shopping for the children's home which is significantly more shopping than needed for the feeding scheme (which we did the week before). Half the shopping is done at the local 'cash and carry' which is quite the experience. Think Bookers/Costco but 100x more people and chaos!
Then in the afternoon we went over to the children's home as usual, but this time we had another interesting experience! As it's Easter holidays, we'd planned a dance competition for the kids but half way through, the beautiful day suddenly turned very dark and very windy. Moments later it poured with rain and a rather ferocious storm had arrived. We attempted to leave the site, but after trying to run in the rain from the dining hall to one of the dorms, it proved near impossible! So we waited the storm out. The dorm we were sheltering in began to leak a lot and we could see the roof flapping on one of the other dorms. Everyone who lives here said they had never ever experienced a storm like this before!


Once it had passed we drove back to Empangeni and saw the destruction - many rooves had flown of homes and buildings, countless trees had fallen and electricity was out for many homes. Gavin and Eliane had to put up a family from church for a night, as their roof had come off and many are still without electricity, which may be for up to 2 weeks. Thankfully everyone was protected here and at the children's home, and there was no major damage. 

The rainbow right after the storm had passed ⬆️

The rest of the week was a lot less dramatic! We did face painting, had German day, played lots of games. I'm learning their names and getting to know their personalities too!
Happy Easter! 🐣

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