i need some tlc today. if you have a chance to send me some encouragement, i would really appreciate it!

sunday church and time with dikeledi and her family was awesome. we walked to church together... they literally meet in a shack. people were very welcoming and this woman stood up and said she felt called to share, though she didn't want to. she saied God sent me to their church to be light... ok a bit overwhelming. this woman could have gone to any church in kimberley and she chose to come here to worship with us in this shack. i cried for her, for this idea that an american woman with money shouldn't be in their church. finally got the courage to stand and tell her she is wrong, that God is not a respecter of money, and that his love for them was clear to me. thanked them for letting me worship with them, said it was an honor to be welcomed as a stranger into their home, and that i was grateful becuase i am far from my church community and they stepped in to fill the gap for me. i saw our church reaching out to them somehow... not sure how that will look.

i felt like i had a piece of family then, walking back the six of us, talking to people on the street, meeting family and friends of theirs. i am comfortable with them and enjoy their company.

masego cooked for me and i met more relatives and young friends... one of them drives a mercedes...?

we went to a concert at the school... all traditional music and good learning to sit for four hours and rock back and forth.

i am having this new problem... how to spend time with dikeledi and her family and not make all the other teachers' upset. apparently jealousy is common here and i run the risk of not only alienating myself, but subjecting her family to alienation after i leave. this is wierd to me and i struggle to jump through what feel like political hoops. they say no favorites though, and i'm trying to be respectful of all the invitations and relationships. i would like though to continue to go to church with her... and this weekend i am invited to a funeral... one of the women from her church. hopefully it will not be too awkward for me to go as i have already met the church. this will be all day, walking to the funeral, prayers at the families home, dipping of hands in the water? and food after.

thanks alisa and sarah.