The Fluegge Family in Africa

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.  Psalm 34: 17-20

Peace and salutations from Pretoria, South Africa,

WOHOO!!!!  Kids are on school break and Glenn is back from Togo and is also on school break.  For the first time since the beginning of school we have more than a day or two when everyone is off together (we have two weeks to be exact).  The unfortunate part is that I have no motivation.  The house is getting dirtier and messier and the cupboards emptier and emptier while I sit either in front of the computer reading facebook or in front of the t.v. watching useless moving pictures.  I am enjoying every moment of sleeping in and staying up late.  \”/  I do still manage to keep my feet running.  I take 30-40 minutes almost every day to run so I am not being too lazy.  Sometimes Samuel (who needs to stay in shape for Rugby) and Glenn make time to come with me but most of the time I am by myself.  I like having them come with me because then I can leave the pepper spray and cell phone at home.

We did celebrate the 4th.  There is a new family in church from the U.S, Michael and Carol Poppe (I think that is how they spell their last name) and their three children.  Their oldest is 7 and their youngest is 2.  Michael is a doctor working for Peace Corpse.  They are a really nice family.  Since they were not doing anything else on the 4th we had them, my parents, and another couple over for a braai (barbecue for the Americans).  We had hamburgers, corn on the cob, beer, salad….all the normal “american” things except watermelon.  I couldn’t find any watermelon.  I am also all out of choco chips and had to use chocolate candy bars instead in the choco chip (congo) bars.  The kids played really well together.  Samuel was really good at including and playing with the younger boys.  Eliana sat and “chatted” with Imke (who is 38) as if they were the best of friends.  It was really cute.  There was also lots of good conversation and Glenn even took time and talked with my brother, Tom, via Skype.  I think the cousins even had a chance to talk with one another.  However, it was strange to have everyone wearing their winter coats and furry warm boots.  Celebrating the 4th means tank-tops, shorts, and flip-flops.  I know I’ll get used to it…someday.

Glenn arrived home June 21 just in time to help celebrate Grandpa’s birthday.  Two days later we were all back together celebrating Abigail’s 13th birthday (on  the 23rd) and then on the 24th we celebrated again with some of Abigail’s friends.  (see attached photo)  Abigail’s request for her birthday was to be able to walk around the mall without adult supervision.  Glenn wasn’t comfortable with the idea so spent 10 minutes talking with her about safety precautions and how to use pepper spray.  She was also to have her cell phone handy so she could call me if she needed too.  Grandma and I sat and drank coffee in a cafe while the girls wandered the mall and spent some of their money.  The nice thing was that a mom of one of the girls works in a diamond store in the mall and the girls checked in with her about 4 times in the two hours we were in the mall.  They were very responsible.

Glenn came home from Togo full of amazing stories.  He had both good stories to tell, about the wonderful things happening both with the church in Togo and with the Center, and bad things.  The church is full of God’s people yet it is where satan works his hardest and Togo/Africa is not exempt from that.  The nicest thing to hear was how much both the Center and the church have grown and matured.  They are handling themselves well and making smart decisions. God is taking very good care of His church and His people and that is always comforting to hear.  I have put together a 5 minute video clip and posted it on Youtube. ( http://youtu.be/AdqkPGXVRa4 ) This one is just for the Lutheran church of Togo.  I will put together another one for the CLET later.  I did this because the two are completely different and separate from one another and have very different ministries.

And for the last bit of newsy information.  Yesterday, (6 July) I took Grandpa, Grandma, and several of the kids to THE LION PARK.  THE LION PARK is a small “park” where one can drive by, view, watch, take pictures of and pet lions (baby lions).  My timing was not chosen very well.  We arrived around 11:00 am and all the animals were sleeping.  Not even yelling passengers in a diesel engine vehicle 1 foot from their ears could wake them from their slumber.  The lion cubs slept through the vigorous petting they got from little hands and even the giraffes didn’t care to be fed.  We did get some decent pictures (the ones I attached were taken by Caleb) and had a pretty good morning.  Next time I take anyone to THE LION PARK I will plan better.

In Christ

Susan Fluegge

(Glenn, Samuel, Abigail, Caleb, Jesse, Eliana)

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  Romans 6: 3-4

Hello from the cold side of the world-

A&W root beer. The bubbly, sickenly sweet, yummy soda that brings both pleasure to the mouth and to the soul (at least for the children in my family) and a smile to my face.  Yup, A&W root beer is one of the simple pleasures in life.  On Saturday I went in search of soda for Eliana’s birthday party (also some chocolate cake).  As I was checking out the selections of soda I noticed the cans of Dr. Pepper (also a rare find here in South Africa) sitting on the top shelf.  I know my children love Dr. Pepper (why, I don’t know) and it would be nice for them to have something special.  As I was standing on the bottom of the cooler that houses the soda (I had to stand on the bottom to make myself taller so that I could reach the Dr. Pepper) I noticed Cherry 7-Up.  That I had never seen here before and wondered if my children would enjoy that so I took a few cans just to see.  As i was getting to the last of the cans I noticed, way in the back, just a few cans of A&W root beer.  This family loves A&W root beer and I knew this would make their day.  I managed to reach four of the five cans left on the top shelf, way in the back.  The 5th one was just too far back for my shortness to reach.  4 cans and 5 children.  Who was going to be left out of the enjoyment?  I did not have to choose and no blood was shed because, thankfully, Eliana does not know about root beer yet and so did not care if she did not get one.  She thoroughly enjoyed the cherry 7-up.

The parties have started.  On 17 June we celebrated Grandpa and Grandma Ebel’s 45th wedding anniversary.  It was a small affair.  They bought and brought Kentucky fried chicken, chips (french fries), ice cream, and a homemade  salad.  We sat, ate, and watched Did you Hear About the Morgans and The Green Hornet. We enjoyed both the movies although we were a little worried about the Green Hornet.  It didn’t start well and we were disappointed with the portrayal of the green hornet’s character.  Thankfully it turned out better than we thought it was going to. It was nice to be able to celebrate this wonderful day with them.  I can’t remember the last time I was able to do that and my kids really enjoyed it as well.  It was good for them.  Samuel had been invited to spend some time with friends at the mall but chose to spend this time with Grandpa and Grandma.  It was Samuel who made the sign that you see in the attached picture.

Yesterday, the 18th June, was Eliana’s 4th birthday.  We had homemade pizza and store bought cake.  I bought 3 small cakes because I wanted to try them all and see what they tasted like.  I think it was unanimous and the caramel, chocolate fudge cake was the best.  Anyway, Eliana had a blast being the “princess” for the day.  If you want to catch a glimpse of her you can watch the short video clip on youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHzNHjqeqOk ).  Otherwise, I did attach a photo.  This coming week we celebrate Grandpa’s birthday (21 June) and Abigail’s birthday (23 June) and then the parties for June will be over.

The exams for Abigail are over but Samuel still has one more week to go and 5 exams to study for.  Then , starting 24 June, Samuel has a 3 week winter break.  The Crawford students have 2 more weeks of school and then they have their 3 week winter break.  So, we have 2 weeks of break together and that is it.  I don’t mind the 3 weeks of break it would just be nice if they were at the same time.  Glenn will also have off.

You know it’s cold in the house when the children start complaining the Nutella, which is sitting in the cupboard, is too hard to spread, it takes 48 hours to defrost a 2 liter jug of milk and the scalding hot water from the shower is cold once it reaches the bottom of the shower.  But we are surviving!  Only one more month to go.

Glenn returns from Togo on the 21st of June (Tuesday).  We are now counting the hours and not just the days.  His time in Togo was really good for him and I’m glad he was able to spend the past couple of weeks there.

Before ending I want to say Happy Father’s Day to all you wonderful Fathers!  Hope and pray your family is spoiling you rotten.  We are going to celebrate later with Glenn.

In Christ

Susan Fluegge

(Glenn, Samuel, Abigail, Caleb, Jesse, Eliana)

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Ephesians 6:10

Dear Family and Friends in Christ,

South Africa.  The place where one puts on their winter coat to go INSIDE the house and takes it off OUTSIDE the house.  The low for today was 2 (celsius) but the high for today is going to be 24 (celsius).  It is absolutely beautiful outside with bright blue skies and lots of sunshine.  However, inside the house we are at 12 degrees celsius (around 55 farenheit) and I can’t get it to be any warmer.  Thanks to friends, family, and supporters we are more prepared this year than last with warm clothes, hats, scarves, coats, mittens, and gloves.  Glenn also took three weekends and put plastic on all the windows to keep as much of the cold air outside as possible.  That plastic has helped incredibly.  Pretoria would be the “perfect” place to live (weather wise) if the houses were insulated.  Thankfully the winter is only 2 months long.

Friday/Saturday (27/28 of May)  I had the privilege of attending the first ever Lutheran Education Association (LEA) conference in South Africa.  I went because I was curious.  I took my parents along so they would have some more “cultural experience” and see a bit more of South Africa and a friend of mine came along as well.  Since it was the first one ever it was more of an introduction to the LEA and to Lutheran Education.  A small group from South Africa attended an LEA conference that was held in Bethlehem so they could see what was happening there.  Another group attended the recent LEA conference in Cincinnati to see and experience what was happening in the U.S. in terms of Lutheran Education.  Both those groups gave us a small presentation.  The director of LEA was here, with his wife, and he gave a brief history of Lutheran Education in the states and showed how it has grown and changed and is even now getting smaller and smaller as Lutheran schools are closing all over the U.S.  He also gave a brief look at the Lutheran education system in the Asian countries.  The point of the conference was to show Lutheran Education, how it’s working all over the world and that, yes, South Africa can make it happen too.  The enthusiasm and the excitement was evident as was the desire.  I asked one of the men in my group (who is a headmaster/principal in a small rural government school) if the funding was possible and he said yes.  And that is the most important aspect of this conference.  They weren’t seeking financial aid and funding.  They want to know how they can make it possible themselves.  The Lutherans of South Africa want Lutheran Education and they want to make it happen with their own resources.  At the beginning of the conference we noticed that the attendees were mainly men and not women.  The men were Pastors, teachers, Headmasters, farmers, business men, fathers, and grandfathers.  It was nice to see so many men interested in and excited about Lutheran Education.

On Tuesday, 24 May, Pat Fick came for dinner.  Pat Fick has been a friend of the family for years.  She and a group of students from Concordia Austin, TX were here learning about South Africa and helping out in orphanages, schools, and other places.  It was fun to spend some time with her and reconnect.  However, we did miss having her husband, Steve, around.

This past week (24, 25, 26 of May) Crawford Preparatory in Pretoria (that would be grades 4-7 which encompasses 400 students) held their musical/play.  The musical was written, organized, and directed by teachers at Crawford.  The story line was simple.  It was about a girl who followed her dream and became a hollywood star (she was from South Africa) but didn’t forget her friends or where she was from.  All the songs were “pop” songs that are familiar to all (or at least most of) tweens/teens or anyone who listens to the popular “rock” songs on the radio at the moment.  Grandpa and Grandma were fascinated with how “South Africans” view America (and Americans).  It is interesting to live in another country and view the U.S. from their perspective.  It gives one an interesting perspective.

Just incase you are wondering we are all doing well.  Samuel is now on the B team for Rugby.  Caleb is participating in a Cricket “academy” (I’m still trying to understand his “love” for Cricket).  Jesse is still playing soccer and spent Saturday evening watching the finals for some Soccer/football thing with the Rodewald men.  Eliana hangs out with me and Abby is hanging out on the Tennis courts a couple of days of week.  Glenn is still trying to learn Latin/German and get as much reading done as he can while teaching 4 classes at the LTS and traveling.  He is in Dapaong, Togo for the next three weeks teaching an intensive at the CLET.   Samuel and Abigail have exams starting next week (6 June).  Samuel is very apprehensive about his and is really wishing Dad was around to help him study.  Keep them in your prayers as they both want to do well.

In Christ
Susan Fluegge
(Glenn, Samuel, Abigail, Caleb, Jesse, Eliana)