Deep joy of joys - I had my first of three Hep B vaccinations yesterday (image borrowed under license from a Flickr user Amagill http://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/144816511/). Unlike the last bout my arm isn't aching and I don't feel drowsy, so that's good.
I need a lot of different things you need protection against if staying long term in SA, including:
Hepatitis A and B
Diptheria
Cholera
Tetanus
Tuberculosis (common, but also drug resistant and extremely drug resistant TB are a problem)
Polio
The standard MMR
Malaria (Good thing Durban is not in a malaria zone, but it is close to one. The Malaria tablets mean you are stuck with them for a while, they cost a fair bit, and they can make you pretty moody too!)
A lot of these dieases are readily passed on through person to person contact, and others through drinking water, infected seafood, and insect bites. It would seem you can't trust most things unless you know them to be pure - you can't assume anything. Fresh water is not necessarily alright to swim in, not necessarily because of crocodiles or anything, but simple diseases caused by parasites and bacteria which can cause skin conditions and blindness. Fungal infections are a possibility too. Food and drink are can often be bad because of lacking hygiene. Certainly not everyone has easy access to good bathroom facilities, and often water is metered and people just try to save the money by not washing their hands. WHO reckons that 21 millions South Africans do not have access to what they would call "adequate sanitation" (this in a country of about 47 million). Even ice cubes aren't a good idea because they will often have been made with water that has not been adequately purified.
Of course there are other disease risks which are a bit less likely, like Rabies or HIV. But both are a distinct possibility in certain situations (HIV being the top cause of death in SA).
Some risks you can't take a jab to protect you against. Motor vehicle related injuries are extraordinarily high in SA as well as injuries from interpersonal violence (particularly within the townships).
I received a different sort of shot in the arm last night too. Up until this point it's been a bit vague as to what I'm expecting with Durban, and though I don't know much more I felt God let me in on something last night. In my cell group (small group within the church for mutual support and encouragement) we set about worshipping and found he was all over us all regarding His obsession with the Cross of His Son, and with the mission of sacrificial mercy it so embodied. I brought a prophetic word (i.e. something I was sure God would have me say on His behalf) that just capped it all off - that God was calling us to follow the way of the Cross more closely than before. What that means is that just as Jesus Christ humbled himself and died a criminal's death for people who deserved nothing, so we also should lay down our lives in the same manner. The Bible says He has left us a pattern in which to follow, and similarly that we through our sufferings and sacrifice present the wounds of Christ in physical representation to people. The Cross so perfectly demonstrates the heart of the Father, and is the pattern, the mould, from which he works in us. It is always the way God chooses to minister through us because it is the way He has chosen to minister to the world. Just as it was with Jesus, so it shall be with us - suffering before glory, and sacrifice that leads to salvation.
After this I very much felt God speak to me that I would not merely go to Durban, explore a beautiful country, have a load of spiritual highs, learn a ton, meet loads of great people, and generally have a lot of freedom as I won't be as critical part of the church as I am at Beulah. Instead God was saying that I shall find that there is much hardship to go through for the people in that country - laying aside leisure for service, going without luxury so someone else can have necessity, suffering injury to bring others safety, and heartache to bring people hope. He said that I should pray that I would be able to take this, as it is more burden than I have carried previously. It is a revelation of a radical life that God is calling me to live more and more - surrendered to God and given out to others.
As the song goes (that we sung last night):
This is our God, the Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King
The way of the Cross is the path of a Servant. A servant is far more than one who serves. You can do service from time to time, but a servant's life is given to service. It is an attitude that says, "Others before me", and "Not my will, but yours be done, God".
Please pray for me that I will be strengthened as Jesus was strengthened to drink the cup of suffering the Father had given Him to drink. He was in great agony about it (which I am not... yet!), but he still said, "Not my will, but yours be done, Father". Pray that I also will have grace to do the will of the Father in enduring the wounds necessary to heal the scars of others.
