Thanksgiving in South Africa

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING 

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.   Psalm 100: 1-5 

It is 11 pm and we just finished cleaning up from celebrating Thanksgiving at our house here is South Africa.  What a great day, this morning I got to Skype (for two hours) with my friend Mendi and then the rest of the day was spent preparing for our dinner. Meriam came to help get the house ready and Doug spent the afternoon getting the braai ready for the turkeys and Debbie decorated the tables.  Gordon came by later and helped keep an eye on the turkeys.  Julia was the potato queen as she peeled 22 lbs of potatoes!  Brit ran last minute errands with Mark and Luke helped Jankie clean the tables and chairs we borrowed.  Everyone pitched in money to help cover the turkeys and the gammon (hams) were donated!  Everyone also brought side dishes and cold drinks.  Gideon, one of the 4^th year Seminary students and his new wife are staying this week and next week with us and they were a huge help today especially when it came time to clean up.  We also invited Jankie to stay and he and Luke are busy playing games as I type.  They have already played SWAP!, Stare and now are playing Connect Four. 

 We had 50 people over tonight, 5 turkeys, 3 gammon (hams), lots of traditional American side dishes and several South African side dishes, great desserts and most of all great fellowship.  Mark summed it up well before we thanked the Lord tonight and ate … he said if we can’t be with our families in the States celebrating Thanksgiving the next best thing is to celebrate with our friends who have really become family to us here in South Africa. 

On to the photos …

Meriam and Mmputhego

Luke keeping an "eye" on the baby for a few minutes

homemade pumpkin cake with butter cream icing

Julia tackling the potatoes

 

Debbie and I are trying to figure out what to do with the turkeys.

Gordon came to help with the turkeys

Gordon checking the turkeys

Chiletso setting out things for tea and coffee.

Doug was ready to eat!

Mark, Sean and Doug carving the turkeys

Gena making the gravy for the turkeys

visiting before dinner

time to eat

so many choices

girls table

Luke and his friend Steven

Member saying hello to everyone

So thankful for this house the Lord has provided for us!!!!

I didn't even have room left for dessert! 

guys choose the lapa

Vaughan's visiting with Jankie, Handsome and Julia

Mark and Jankie

Game Time (yes, it is 11:45 pm but there is no school for us tomorrow!)

 Every Thanksgiving needs a good football game.  We just finished watching the Texans vs Detroit Lions.

We hope that you all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Thank you so much for your prayers, love, support and encouragement for our family.  We are truly THANKFUL for each one of you!