"The Sickness"

This past week was another fun-filled, action-packed week!
Saturday we went to a bird sanctuary just outside Pietermaritzburg. There we saw owls, vultures, storks, falcons and many other types of birds of prey (these storks were incredibly ugly). We did our own walk around tour (where we saw the barn owl that APU has adopted :), and then watched a show where they had the birds fly around and respond to instruction. It was incredible to see how intricately and uniquely God has designed each of these animals to be as efficient as possible. We then watched as they fed the vultures their lunch. That was quite the experience. Yuck.
Sunday we were blessed to go back to the local churches for church! I went to the same church that I went to last week, called North Hills. It was an amazing time for worship and communion with fellow South African believers. I even made some friends that asked me over sometime for a "braai"(Afrikaans for a barbecue). We were a smaller group at this church this week which I really enjoyed because we were able to integrate with their own church family better.
People here (the Americans) are very into workout videos. So we have been doing them a lot. Jillian Michael's is quite intense!
Monday my friends and I went on a nice little walk through the nature reserve that is our neighbor. We saw many bucks and many zebras! I love being able to see zebras all over the place!

Nothing else significant happened (just school and homework and clinicals) until Tuesday, when "The Sickness" hit me. And many others. The flu came. And it was not nice. I spend Tuesday night, Wednesday, and Thursday morning in bed. I am still recovering and was feeling a little ill today, but nothing like before. Pray that me and my friends would continue to heal! It is not fun being sick :( My friends and staff here was GREAT, though, and brought food, drinks (not that I was eating or drinking anything), meds, and anything else they could think of to help me. Praise the Lord for them! This sickness was, though, a good time for me to rest and reflect and catch up on all my homework (I don't understand how they expect us to study here...)!
My friend and I are leading a "D-Group" (discipleship group) here, which is basically a Bible study/small group. We are going to focus on Christ-centered community and how to actually learn about how the Lord has called us to treat each other. It will be a journey, a difficult yet rewarding one. Please pray for discernment and wisdom as we choose what Scriptures and discussions to have in our group! I have really been blessed by Romans 12 recently, so I think that we might focus on that :)
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." -Romans 12:9-13 (read this chapter!)