The Afrikaans Word for "Moo" and Other Ruminations on SA, PA, and Matt Damon

I frequently daydream about moving to Mars.  Yes, that Mars.  Yes, and all that moving to Mars entails.  If you don't know what that entails, ask Matt Damon - the best botanist on Mars.  Why are we discussing Matt Damon? This is a blog about a Young Adult mission trip to South Africa, you declare!  And you are correct, and you are entitled to an explanation as to how Matt Damon growing potatoes on Mars is related to South Africa.  In case it wasn't already obvious, the answer is Pennsylvania.

I love my home state of Pennsylvania but I like to see new things.  The same old same old gets boring day after day, hence the Martian daydreaming.  But God gifted me with new things today, including red soil that reminded me of Mars.  No boredom today, not a single moment.  So many new things, in fact, that the day was practically overflowing with new things.  This should strike a chord with you Hopewellites.  We often ask God to make things new, make us new.  Today, at a church worship held in a hotel hall, I saw a new worship.  I won't call it a new style of worship; in fact, it was quite similar to what we do at Hopewell.  Yet, everything about it felt new to me.  The passion with which our SA brothers and sisters approached God and worshipped God is utterly flooring.  Even a little convicting if I am being honest.  I can't go into everything here but in a room full of people they still made it personal to each and every person there in a tangible way.  As the kids say, squad goals.

On another note, our safari pictures and videos from today are beginning to leak out on to the interwebs.  We saw every - and I mean every - angle of God's great creation that is nature today.  Wildebeast (both the blue and black variety which are both grey) gazelles, a family of giraffes, some fashionably late rhinos, and a few cows.  With every cow I kept wondering what the Afrikaans word for "moo" is.  I am told that it is "moo" but Google translate is not a reliable source.

Always remember to cite your sources,

Craig