PRESENT TIME

A 2002 article by Carol Landman, states that 600 000 children had been left orphaned by the scourge of HIV/AIDS sweeping through South Africa and that the number of these orphans was expected to increase to two million per year by 2010. In 2007, there were already 1,400,000 aids orphans in South Africa.

Every year, just before Christmas, our church runs a special Shoebox project for the orphans at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in the township of Soshanguve, 45km north of Pretoria. Although I’ve been involved with this project for the past two years, it was only in researching for this blog that I discovered the name Soshanguve stands for the languages spoken at this township – SOtho, SHAngaan, NGUni, VEnda.

Congregants of Waterkloof Baptist Church have been eager to assign their name to a child from a list supplied by Mount Carmel. They then get busy covering a shoebox in bright paper, wrapping the lid separately so that when the box is empty, the child can still use it as a beautiful storage box. The box is then filled with toys, sweets, writing materials, books, clothing, etc. – anything suitable to the age and gender of that child. Benefactors are encouraged to write a short note to the child and slip it inside the box.

As the number of orphans increases each year, so does the ministry. In 2007, around 128 shoeboxes were taken to Mount Carmel and in December 2008, we delivered 165 shoeboxes. Talk about feeling like Santa’s little helpers.

When our church announced in September last year that there were nearly 200 names on the Mount Carmel list, AND that they had decided to do the same project for the children at Mmamethlake township – over 50 boxes there – I groaned. How on earth were we going to reach a goal of 250 shoeboxes? But God was faithful, as were his people, and every single child at Mount Carmel received a shoebox gift on Sunday, 6 December 2009 (even visitors who were not on the list), as did the Mmamethlake children.

There’s an ancient phrase (earliest known record from St. Marher, 1225), predating modern English that reads: "And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet." The modern English version, “The tide abides for, tarrieth for no man, stays no man, tide nor time tarrieth no man," has evolved into the present day version: "The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."

Emily Dickinson expresses this artfully in her poem "Yesterday is History."

Yesterday is History,

'tis so far away --

yesterday is Poetry,

'tis Philosophy --

Yesterday is Mystery --

Where it is today --

While we shrewdly speculate

Flutter both away

We stand on the threshold of a new year. Today is God’s gift – his shoebox to us, his children.

As a fiction writer, I’ve already seen a Christian Writers’ Conference in Florida, USA during March waiting inside my 2010 shoebox. But I’m hoping the box also contains some time and knowledge. Time to complete the two writers’ courses I’ve purchased, and knowledge from those courses to improve my writing skills. Of course, a start on the road to publication would be a wonderful inclusion too.

As a fiction reader, I’m hoping God’s gift of this new year contains some personal relaxation time so that I can dive into all the unread Ted Dekker books that are patiently waiting on my bookshelf. And it would be really great if there’s a little space left inside my box for the shipment of more Eric Wilson and Brandilyn Collins books to South African shores.

Dear Fiction Writers and Fiction Readers, as you hold God’s shoebox in your hands, secretly lifting the lid to sneak a peek inside, what is it you’re hoping for? What are you trusting it will contain?

Matthew 7 v 11 says: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

God longs to see our faces light up like little children as we unwrap each perfect gift from above.

ONLY GOD COULD HAVE DONE THAT WITH MY THIN PLACE!

One day my son, Kyle, informed me he was moving to Canada, far from sunny South Africa. As I pondered my eighteen year old’s impulsive dream, I was reminded of the unmentioned Prodigal Son’s mother. Surely she must have cringed at the mistakes her son would make and tried to talk him out of his foolishness, weeping for God to intervene and knock some common sense into her headstrong child? Pretty much like I was.

Kyle’s dream was stripped away two months later when he quit his job at a 3D visualisation company one Thursday morning. He’d had enough of being the whipping boy. I was saddened his boss hadn’t grasped the depths of Kyle’s talent. But God was setting in motion a life changing miracle.

I encouraged Kyle to wash up and rush to Johannesburg with his showreel. A Cape Town production company was recruiting that afternoon. To cut a long story short, whilst impressed with Kyle’s 3D and VFX talents, they realised he’d be wasted in their 2D environment and sent his showreel to the best VFX company in South Africa. Two weeks later, Kyle and I were flying to Cape Town for an interview and flat hunting. A week later he relocated.

Kyle immediately slotted into an awesome church where his spiritual walk was ignited. Four months later he is dating a beautiful Christian girl from a lovely family (an answer to another prayer). And he’s fast proving to his employer that he’s a creative force to be reckoned with.

Only God could have done that!

http://www.blogtourspot.com/2010/02/thin-places-blog-tour/

ALL ROADS MAY LEAD TO ROME, BUT SOUTH AFRICAN BORN AUTHOR, VANESSA DEL FABBRO, FOUND HER WRITING SUCCESS ON "THE ROAD TO HOME"

Vanessa Del Fabbro, a wife, mother of two young daughters and Christy Award finalist and winner, was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Her first piece of fiction was published in a South African newspaper when she was in the first grade. Vanessa has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications, with a second major in English literature. She also has a cum laude Honors degree in Communications.

The Del Fabbros spent a year in England before immigrating to the USA at the end of 1995. Vanessa and her husband have lived in Saint Louis, Missouri, Montgomery, Alabama and now reside in Houston, Texas.

Vanessa’s fiction writing started by chance after attending a fiction workshop in England – just for the fun of it. The story was published by a women’s magazine. This inspired her to write her first novel which won the coveted 2006 Christy Award.

In the USA, Vanessa frequented the writing section of bookshops. She spent hours reading how-to articles on the internet.

It took several years before her first manuscript was ready to submit to an editor.

Vanessa loves meeting people from different cultures and trying their food. There are many things - besides her parents and siblings - that she misses about South Africa: the perfect weather, the beautiful spots she used to visit, the easy humor of her fellow countrymen that mixes the local languages with unique flair.

You can find Vanessa online at http://www.vanessadelfabbro.net/



AN INTERVIEW WITH VANESSA DEL FABBRO

Vanessa, if you had to describe yourself in five words, what would they be?
Caring, reliable, creative, serious, private.

From a writer’s viewpoint, what makes South Africa the perfect backdrop for fiction?
To me, South Africa is more than a setting; she is a perfect character. She has a dark history but a bright future. She suffers immense tragedy but finds joy where others would not. Like any good character she is flawed, but we like her and we really want her to succeed.

Did your years as a radio and print journalist play any part in writing your debut novel, THE ROAD TO HOME?When I came to the United States I had never considered writing a novel, but then I realized I had a story to tell about my country of birth and what better way to tell it than through fiction? A background in journalism helps in that economy of words is ingrained in me, which is great for avoiding purple prose, but sometimes that filter has to be lifted to allow the narrative to flow.

How does SANDPIPER DRIFT, sequel to your debut novel differ in terms of tone?My first book, THE ROAD TO HOME, is a drama with heart-wrenching scenes. Monica, one of the two main characters, becomes a victim of the random violent crime that is sadly so common in South Africa. For the sequel I wanted a lighter tone; I wanted to highlight the beauty of the country, of the people. So much of what’s written about Africa is negative, and with SANDPIPER DRIFT, I wanted to portray regular people living lives of quiet dignity, people who, in their own small way, contribute as much to the new South Africa as elected officials.

When you wrote THE ROAD TO HOME, did you have plans to write a series, or was it initially intended to be a stand-alone book?It was intended to be a stand-alone book, but after I’d finished it I found I missed the characters. I wanted to know what sort of life Sipho and Mandla were having with Monica. And so I wrote on.

Tell us a little about how your four book series of South African journalist, Monica Brunetti, evolved.My wonderful editor, Joan Marlow Golan, liked the story enough to want to make it a series, and so I continued writing until Sipho went off to university, which I thought was a good place to bring the series to a close.

With your journalistic background, is there a little of Vanessa Del Fabbro in your protagonist?
We’re both journalists so we’re both curious about the world around us and we both grew up in a segregated country. The opening scene of THE ROAD TO HOME is based on a visit I made to an AIDS orphanage in Soweto while working as a journalist. That was before the South African government started giving antiretroviral drugs to pregnant women, so these children had not only been orphaned, but they were suffering from AIDS themselves. And for me, it was just as Monica says in the book, “I knew the dire projections for the impact it was going to have on the underfunded health system, as well as the entire economy of the country. But I’d never seen the disease up close, seen its too bright eyes, its feverish brow, its thin wrists and overfull diapers.”

Would you like to write more novels set in South Africa? If yes, what topic/s would you like to write about?
I would like to write more novels set in South Africa but I won’t because it’s been a long time since I’ve lived there, and I think quintessentially South African novels are best left to writers living in South Africa.

Are there any other countries you would consider as backdrops for future novels?The United States because that’s where I live now. I’d like to write about the US as seen through the eyes of immigrants, both recent and from way back when.

What are you working on now?A series of children’s books featuring Coco, a pampered dachshund who has adventures in different countries all over the world. I’ve also just finished a play based on The Road to Home and have a book of short stories on the boil.

Vanessa, you like to read stories set in different parts of the world or stories of cultures colliding. What favorite books can you recommend? What is the country or cultural setting of your recommendation/s?
My favorite book is LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. I am a big fan of melancholy, and Marquez is the king of melancholy. I also really admire writers from India or of Indian descent, such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai. I don’t have a favorite country or cultural setting but when I read I want to be transported to a different place. That can be somewhere I’ve never visited or it can be the city I live in, only seen through the eyes of a newcomer. In SANDPIPER DRIFT, Doreen Olifant, the town librarian, says, “Only an outsider can tell the truth,” and I really believe that with distance, geographical or emotional, one gets a clearer, truer picture of a place.

AIDS is always mentioned in your books. World Aids Day occurred on 1st December and I therefore found it fitting to conduct this interview with you this month. Can you share with us why always the subject of AIDS?
It is impossible to write about South Africa without mentioning the scourge of the country: AIDS. It is an everyday reality in South Africa and not mentioning it would mean not capturing the real South Africa.

There’s a specific non-profit charity in South Africa that you have chosen to support through the sale of your books. Please tell us about this organization.Cotlands is a non-governmental organization that runs AIDS orphanages as well as a pediatric AIDS hospice. Please check out their web site at www.cotlands.org

When you consider God’s call on your life to write, what favorite scripture comes to mind?"If you will extract the precious from the worthless, you will be My spokesman." ~ Jeremiah 15:19.


VANESSA’S BOOKS

THE ROAD TO HOME
South African journalist Monica Brunetti had it all; career, family, marriage-minded boyfriend. When a brutal carjacking lands her in a hospital bed next to gregarious Ella Nkhoma, the two women begin a remarkable friendship that challenges Monica's worldview---and leads her far from her gated white suburbs as unexpected mother to two black sons.

SANDPIPER DRIFT
Journalist Monica Brunetti has fallen in love with the picturesque South African village of Lady Helen. But when the beleaguered residents of her tranquil neighborhood are evicted, Monica packs up her laptop, her adopted sons, and her housekeeper and sets out on the journey of a lifetime! A triumphant story of the power of female friendship.

FAMILY IN FULL
Settling into her role as a new wife and adoptive mother in the picture-perfect seaside village of Lady Helen, South Africa, Monica has the life of her dreams. Then a series of crimes rocks the village, and a young girl's resentment begins to threaten her world. Will the peace she knew ever return?

FLY AWAY HOME
A loving husband, two beautiful adopted sons, an amiable stepdaughter and the possibility of an addition to the family-Monica Brunetti has it all. But suddenly her idyllic life in a picturesque South African village unravels. Her boys respond to the siren call of America, and her husband's daughter may be leaving as well. Change might be easier to bear if only a baby were on the way.
Then Monica's friend Francina, also threatened with an empty nest, sets off on what may be a fool's errand-or her household's salvation. Can Monica, too, find the faith and courage to reunite her family?