Leaving Ladismith via Port Elizabeth to Cape Town

When we wanted to leave the farm at Ladismith, the clutch of the Peugeot was non existent. Pieter and Marlize Van der Merwe (owners of Spera), offered the Tel No of a very good diesel mechanic. It would take a few days for the spare parts to come from Cape Town, so we hired a car at Oudtshoorn to do our trip to Port Elizabeth. We had a lovely visit with Dick and Anne Forster and on the way back, visited our sister-in-law and husband, in Jeffereys Bay. Rienie is doing O K, but chemo therapy takes its toll. Pray for her health and restoration.

We took a rest for two days at the Tsitsikamma Lodge on the Garden Route. We also visited our family beach home, Loeloeraai, at Glentana near George. Via Ladismith again, we collected our Peugeot and headed back to Cape Town. We enjoyed the last few days with our children and grandchildren. We so appreciate their love and commitment. This time went flying past and too soon we had to do last minute preparations to come back.

Erik and Marguerite's wedding

The second wedding was on the 7th February (1 week later) in Ladismith, Cape. We enjoyed the luxury and hospitality of the Van der Merwes at Spera Guest Farm, in the beautiful Hoeko Valley. It was a hustle and bustle of activity as the family and friends of Smiley and Charlotte Swart prepared for their daughter's wedding to Erik.

It stayed very hot during the week, but the afternoon of the wedding, a thunderstorm hit the area and cooled everything (I mean, everything)down. By 6pm when the wedding was scheduled, it was nice and cool. The drizzle now and again was just enough to keep us happy and dry. The garden looked amazing with all the lanterns, candles and everything ready for a big celebration. Marguerite looked stunning and Erik could not keep his eyes off his beautiful bride. He decided to go for a more casual, but still smart outfit and really looked very handsome too.

The band with many of Erik's friends added a festive atmosphere.

Vacation, party and Weddings

We left Korea on the 17th January 2009 and had a wonderful stopover in Singapore. We stocked up with last minute gifts for the family.

We cannot describe the joy of meeting our loved ones at the airport. It was also very special to meet our future daughter-in-law, Marguerite, for the first time. The re-union of the family will always be like a treasure in our hearts.

On the 22nd January we celebrated Rykie's birthday. Many friends joined us for dinner at our home. We enjoyed fellowship, fun and love, with God at the centre of it all!

Everything was in highest gear to prepare for Sune and Dewald's wedding on 31st January. Morne and Gerdia did a tremendous job to organise everything so well, (little did we know we had such good wedding coordinators in our midst). The wedding was in the garden of the Logos Church with plenty of shade against the Summer sun. Brenda Heyns and her team did a splended job to provide stunning food. Sune was a truly radiant bride and looked like a princess. You can judge for yourself. Look at the beautiful photo at the top. Now they are Mr and Mrs Fourie and they have a lovely cottage-like home in Durbanville.

At last we're back on the Blog!

Sorry for our long absence. We would like to update you with all the latest news.
We are back in Korea for our second year after a wonderful time in South Africa. It was a busy, but very fruitful time, ranging from holiday, to weddings and visits to friends.

Summer in Korea and the 2nd Semester

When we walk down the main street, we pass the JoyYang Gate. It was part of the ancient wall, and entrance to the old city.

On the other side of this gate is down town, Hong Seong. This is 7 minutes from our apartment and then another 7 minutes slow walking, we are in the centre of town.

After being in Seoul for the long weekend last week, we realised what a big city it is. We are happy that we don't have all that traveling to do here in our town. We can reach most places by walking. For anything further, a taxi is not too expensive.

Summer in Korea and the 2nd Semester

We have been in Hong Seong now for 7 months. The Summer here gives HOT a new meaning. We tried to walk slower, do less, and just do the minimum. Any effort resulted in a feeling of being in a Sauna after a long exercise. Well, almost. And then, one fine day, it was cooler and it has been cooler ever since. The Autumn here is fantastic. We really enjoy our early evening walks in the neighbourhood. We greet all the older ladies sitting on the sidewalks, having a chat with their neighbours. We try and dodge the truck spraying a white cloud of "stuff" for the mosquitoes and after crossing the bridge, we're back at our apartment.

During the Summer vacation, we did Summer Schools for 3 weeks, out of the 5 weeks. It was heavy going, but rewarding in a way. We did not do our regular curriculum, but tried to do fun things like making puppets, skits, and songs.

I (Rykie) am now trying to learn Archery, after seeing it on the TV a lot during the Olympic
Games. My School, Hong Ju Elementary, has a coach who is helping me, while I teach her a bit of English.

We still run a 2Him Fellowship on Thursday evenings. Pieter does a Bible Study on basic christian values. There are a few regular school children who attend, as well as 7 adults. We need prayer for these evenings. We hope that more will join us. Joseph is our interpreter and we appreciate him and his family's commitment to us. He also teaches with Pieter.

The new semester has started. We find that the students are now used to our way of doing things. We are also now used to their loud way of going about in the passages. They have settled down and we are enjoying the teaching.

BIG NEWS: We have DV two weddings coming up at the beginning of 2009. We are looking forward to our first leave in S A. Sune is planning to get married to Dewald Fourie and Erik found his future match, Marguerite Swart. We are very happy about the new developments. Pray for us that all the plans to put things in place (e.g. finances and practical issues), will go smoothly.

Hong Seong and Us

All's well with us here in our town, Hong Seong. We have settled into a comfortable routine of planning and teaching and weekends off. The weeks tend to be a bit hectic, but we are getting used to it. We find the children and schools noisy, but very busy with activity e.g. singing, music, loud voices, instruments like drums banging, shouting in the passages, etc.

I (Rykie) had a demo lesson with a co-teacher, and the lesson was visited by 14 principals from other local schools. Pieter will soon have the same experience. They are going all out to monitor the English progress in schools. The Korean teachers window dress and rehearse the lessons for a few weeks before such an outside visit by people from the Department.

We have a very kind neighbour who is now part of our English 2Him Fellowship on a Thursday night. She took us to a Botanical Garden in Gwancheon - 30 minutes drive outside town. We enjoyed being outside on a beautiful day and walked quite a distance to get a view of the area. The plants and flowers were just so beautiful. Our neighbour bought herself an English Bible and is starting to read it for the first time. We are very happy about that.

The 2Him Fellowship needs to expand. We are getting a new person now and again, but we need a strategy from the Lord and drastic growth. Pray with us for it to happen. We are trusting God for conversions etc.