Greetings from the Undesirable One

When last we spoke here, I had been declared officially undesirable by the country of South Africa and banned from returning for 12 months. I put my lawyer skills from a past life to work and a few months later my appeal was granted. So much has happened since then, I have been married four times (to the same man) and returned to South Africa twice.

Jumping over the broom at our South African bush wedding

I am going to devote an entire blog to my unusual love story but first, I must take care of business – the uncomfortable business of sharing the dark side of being a missionary.

I love adventure. I love to go new places, try thrilling new activities – some have even called me an adrenalin junkie. Guilty as charged, but for the most part there has always been a safety harness – an experienced guide who shows me where to set my feet or an actual harness that catches me should I fall so that I can’t really fall at all.

But then there is the adventure that is PLAY – the nonprofit that I started from scratch four years ago. This one feels like the biggest risk of all –with no protective gear.

There are the exhilarating highs of camp after camp where I see children transformed before my eyes in four short days. Since December 2013, we have put on 15 camps and I can honestly say without exaggeration that every single one of them was a success, many times with the odds stacked against it. I don’t often speak of the lows that go along with running PLAY, like the climber who shares pictures of the magnificent views from the mountain top leaving out the months of hard training that went into preparing for the climb. I think a more fitting analogy right now would be tight rope walker. There is the amazing view along the way as I go from mountain top to mountain top and it is all so exciting and rewarding and challenging, but there is no safety net below and the rope could be cut at any time.

More accurately, I have run out of rope! There isn’t enough money in the PLAY bank account to pay next month’s salaries, let alone pay for December camp. Even though I know God’s hand has been on PLAY from the beginning, during my last few sleepless nights I couldn’t help but wonder… is this the end of PLAY? My new husband was asleep beside me, snoring away, (editor’s note: he was not snoring and he is hunky) (my note: my husband is my editor and I agree with the second part), blissfully dreaming of his upcoming retirement where he would leave all he knows and loves in California to join me in South Africa. Will there be a PLAY for him to come to in 2018?

Today in the wee hours, I was scrolling through old phone messages and came across a chat from a month ago with a past camper, let’s call her Judy. She has now graduated from her primary school and is in 8^th grade. Perhaps you need to know a bit more about PLAY camp before you read our exchange. On the last day of PLAY camp, we have a session called “You have rights as a person of value.” We teach what to do if you or someone you know is raped – stressing the importance of getting medical attention within the first 48 hours as there is medicine that is 99% effective at preventing HIV infection after you have been exposed to it – information that is crucial in a country where one out of four people are HIV+. We also teach them about their rights, as some of these girls don’t know that they have a right to say no to sex, no matter who the person is that is pressuring them. It is within this context that Judy wrote to me for help.

Judy: I wanted to talk to you about my new school. Most of the girls there are experiencing rape, sexual abuse, and I don’t know what to do any more. Our school is very low and the environment is discouraging so we need help. That is why I wanted to meet up with you. I told myself I need to take some action so I am asking for your help.

Me: Yes, you did the right thing. I am so proud of you for taking action and wanting to change it.

There is a teacher who dates learners. Our rights are on the line.

You are right to be upset about that. He is abusing his position. Does the principal know?

I told her today at school. She was so shocked about what is going on in her school and she said she will meet with the teachers.

Me the next day: I am so glad you talked to your principal. That took a lot of courage! I am also glad that she listened to you and will take action. I hope she fires that teacher.

It is already done. He is gone. Today during school hours.

Wow, I am impressed. See what you can accomplish when you have the courage to speak up?

Yes, that is all PLAY camp – it pays off! Thank you for the teachings.

Then there was a voice message from Judy in the chat history. In the past, I had been unable to download it - but now it worked! I was crying as I heard her sweet voice give me this much needed message:

“So now you can see that the time that you guys gave us, it was not just for fun. It actually pays off on what we do in our lives. On behalf of the group that I went with I would like to say thank you... PLAY camp is the best. I just pray that it will expand to the point whereby it becomes global. I mean like, from that little group, one can change the world. So, imagine the impact we could have as a group, what we can do to affect the world! I just pray that God gives you more strength and power to carry on, because what you are doing is a miraculous bit of the heavens.”

She inspired me to make this plea: Please help us continue the work so that phenomenal young boys and girls like Judy can go on to change the world! Judy prayed that PLAY can expand, but right now PLAY is struggling just to continue the work with the 8 schools we currently partner with. Judy’s prayer that PLAY can carry on seems daunting as we need $6,000 to put on December PLAY camp and another $4000 to meet our budget through the end of the year. Please consider making a donation to PLAY on our web page, www.PLAYnonprofit.org or sending a donation by one of the listed methods on the Support Us page.

We’ve got a lot of rope to buy in the next month! But wow, the Judy’s of this world make it all worthwhile.