These are the three Seminary and Institute Coordinators who
gave us our initial orientation as far as S&I goes. I would include their names, but you wouldn't be able to say them or even read them--they put consonants together that our American tongues can't handle. Each of these men is in
charge of one of the area of Africa near Johannesburg—one Johannesburg itself,
one of the Durban area and one of Botswana and Namibia. There are coordinators
in other areas and one that is the Country Coordinator who overseas all of
those. These three are amazing men—they know their work inside and out, they
are humbly spiritual and they are intelligent. Somehow, there is more than
intelligence to them though--something about their calm, thoughtful, African
way makes them wise. Each is a successful South African. One has a PhD in
Education, one is a lawyer and the other was a businessman. At the same time,
each has a tribal affiliation as well. One speaks Zulu, another Swati and I
never learned the third. The country director who is not shown is from Zimbabwe.
In a very respectful way, I would think that if we were in Africa one hundred
years ago, these are the kind of men that would be tribal chiefs. I can just
picture them in their tribal robes, sitting before their congregations
imparting wisdom. Now they are in suits and ties but still imparting wisdom. It
will be a pleasure to work with them.
That is so touching, Maxine. What a great gift it is to be able to rub shoulders with the local leaders. You will have a hard time coming back home, I know.
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