Finding "THE CAR" & Car Quiz

Well, there were a few things I had to learn before purchasing a car.

First thing I had to learn was

 how to drive a manual (what we call "stick shift") car.

So, my friends, the Kilmers, gave me a few lessons.

Notice, which side of the car the steering wheel is on.

Very different compared to what we know in the States.

See the concentration on my face!

My "teachers" said I did a great job shifting, 

but working the clutch was a whole other story 

(actually quite the opposite of my gear shifting ability).

There are alot of things that are different here in South Africa.

Besides, my steering wheel being on a different side of the car, 

I also drive on the opposite side of the road.  

The traffic patterns are different too!

Most of the traffic signs just look like giant lollipops to me,

because they don't have words like "STOP" or "YIELD" 

on them, like they do in the States.

*Don't worry, I have studied their drivers' safety book 

and I do know what they mean (at least most of them).

driving in Embo

Another thing that will be different to me is the

type of areas I will be driving in.

The above area is the tribal area.

driving in Hillcrest

This area is in town.

So I go from a place where cows, chickens and people are crossing the road

to a busy road with lots of other cars and people.

Getting gas (or as they call it "petrol") will also be differant.

If you notice, the price is R11.32 per liter.

I know, I am no math wiz, but how do you figure that out?

I am so used to how many US Dollars per gallon.

This is very new to me.

Also, for all of my New Jersey friends reading this, 

I think of you every time I get gas/petrol.

Here in South Africa they pump the gas for you

(in case you didn't know, they do that in New Jersey too).

Do you know this car? - QUIZ

Now its time for a quiz.  

Every week we searched for a day or two to find a car for me. 

During the search I saw so many different cars that I have never seen 

or heard of before. 

I thought you might enjoy a little quiz

 to see if you know what some of them are.

So get out a piece of paper and number it 1- 20.

Now its time to take the quiz.  Are you ready?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

How did you do on the quiz?

Check your answers below:

  1. DODGE          2. RENAULT       3. AUDI                      4. VOLKSWAGEN
  5. MERCEDES-BENZ                    6. MINI COOPER          7. SUZUKI          
  8. LEXUS           9. PEUGEOT     10. HYUNDAI               11. KIA RIO         
12. OPEL            13. MAZADA      14. CHEVY!!(I did the Frey family proud by getting a Chevy!)        
15. (I don't know this one.  If you know, please tell me)           
16. FORD (I hope you got this one right)                       17. DIAHATSU          
18. MITSUBISHI                          19. PROTON               20. CITROEN

Well, how did you do?

I didn't do too well and don't go saying, "that's because you are a woman".  

I grew up as "daddy's girl" and know a lot about cars, 

but most of these were "foreign" to me.

Shopping for a car also took me out of my comfort zone in a number of ways.

Here are just 2 things that were different for me:

1) Since I did not know much about these "foreign" cars, 

I asked the salesman, "How many miles to the gallon does this car get?"

He looked at me funny.

Then, he realized what I wanted to know.

He said, "This car will get ___ kilmometers per liter".

Did you get that? - kilometers and liters!!!

I was totally lost!

2) The other thing that took me out of my comfort zone,

were the cars I had to choose from.

Most (in my price range and good on gas) 

were little cars like the one pictured above.

I grew up in the country, so my idea of a good vehicle (to feel safe in)

 is a 4x4 truck or SUV, like pictured below.

Again- 

my idea of a car...

...the type of car that is affordable and economical.

I tell you, during this whole process I had to keep telling myself that I cannot have what I want and that I had to just be thankful with whatever the Lord provided.

Some days, I really did not feel like looking, 

because I didn't really have a peace about any that we saw.

Still, I continued in the search.

Afterall, I could not have my ministry without a vehicle to get me there.

You see, even us missionaries need to give our own will 

over to God, from time to time.

We may be committed to raise support and go to the field, but there are many struggles along the way that test us.

I know lately, I have been asking the Lord to direct me, to have a peace, and to be able to accept His will and direction in my life as it comes to where I will live and what ministries He will lead me to serve Him in.

We all have to continue to die to self.


Here are a few verses that the Lord has been reminding me of-

Philippians 4:6,7

 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, 

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct thee and teach thee

 in the way which thou shalt go: 

 I will guide thee with Mine eye”.

How did I finally find - "the car"?

Well, I had a set amount that I could spend,

lots and lots of prayer

and

finally, a few weeks into looking, we found a car

that would suit my needs at a reasonable price.

This nice man, named Ozayr,

helped us get it all sorted out.

Of course, there were a few difficulties-

- there were dents and scratches all over it

(which one of the salesmen told us to fix 

by coloring them in with a black Sharpie marker.  

I know, "brilliant"!)

- it took 2 weeks for them to get the car ready to sell

- when it was finally ready, we checked it out and drove it home,

only to find that the passenger side door did not lock.  

So, I returned it on the same day I got it.

- two days later, I got it back

Its a 2008 Chevy Aveo and thankfully an AUTOMATIC!!!!
(which is a rare find here- nothing is impossible with God!)

Praise the Lord I have a vehicle that I feel safe driving,

was within my budget and

has room for the many Zulu passengers I plan to transport.

This car will enable me to go into the village of Embo,

go out on visitation, 

and take people to/from church, 

to my house for discipleship, 

to the hospital,.....

Since my car is black, one of my friends calls it the "miniature African Queen".

Thank you for praying with me about this special need.

South Africa has a lot of injuries and fatalities on its roadways.

Please continue to pray for safety while on the roads.

5-Day Bible Club

In South Africa,

the children go to school year round.

They do this with a few "holidays" during the year.

The other week, the children were on "holiday" from school.

That provided a perfect opportunity for a 5-day Bible Club.

Everyday, the children would come in to play before Bible Club.

Many of the older girls knew their memory verses and were more than eager to say them.

Karen and I would listen to them say their verses.

On Tuesday, the Lord did something just for me.

As I watched the children playing outside, I saw a little boy standing alone.

He seemed a little shy, so I went up to talk to him.

Of course, I know hardly any Zulu,

 but I thought he might feel more welcome if someone was friendly to him.

So, I greeted him in Zulu and then asked him in English if he wanted to work 

on his memory verse with me.

He just gave me this puzzled look, because he had no idea what I said in English.

I just smiled at him (I kind of felt the same way, 

because I had no idea what he was saying either).

Since he had his memory verse booklet in his hand I reached down 

and pointed to the verse for the day and began to say it in Zulu.

He then understood and started to say it with me.

I was so blessed that even though we did not speak the same language,

we could work on memorizing the Word of God together.

This brought a big smile to his face!

Here are a few of our memory verses in Zulu.

Do you recognize any of the Bible references?

When it is time for Bible Club to start,

everyone comes in to sing.

After the singing, Pastor Don comes to play a review game.

The children loved the review games, because they answered questions from the previous lessons and then got to put a piece of flannelgraph on the board.

Next, came my favorite part - teaching the Bible lesson.

I love teaching children!

For this particular 5-Day club, I taught about how God used things

 from the Old Testament to point people to the cross.

During the week, I had 2 different translators.

Londiwe was one of them.

I am doing Bible Study once a week with her.

We are studying the Book of John.

Mzamo is also a man who translated for me.  

Praise the Lord for these two who were willing to give of their time, 

so that the children could hear the Gospel.

These two boys accepted Christ as their Savior 

during that week of 5-Day Bible Club.

Praise the Lord that many others besides these two got to hear God's Word.

The girl wearing the orange dress in the picture below was the first one saved 5 years ago, during my first time teaching Vacation Bible School here in South Africa.

Her name is Pamela. 

She is also the only girl who said all of her verses for the week.

It was a blessing to see that she still had a hunger for God.

It was exciting to get a chance to teach the Bible to these kids.

Our hope is that the Word of God,

through us,

will impact these little ones for the rest of their lives.

Mark 10:14 

"... Suffer the little children to come unto Me, 

and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."

(English)

"... Vumelani abantwana beze  kimi, ningabenqabeli, 

ngokuba umbuso kaNkulunkulu ungowabanjalo."

(Zulu)