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Coaches: Keith Powell and Ken Jacobsen
Players: Reid Arensen, Torey Rubrecht, Marc Putman, Joe Zender, Eric Loper, Greg Lundell, Barnaby Gloger, Ryan Huskey, Matt Bawks, Barr Haworth, Sean Howarter, Ryan Wetsel, Mac Seay, Troy Jacobsen, Kevin Battle, Matt Knee, Paul Schlatter, Joe Huarte.
Record: (2-2-1)
- KwaZuluNatal Province, Winterton Club 1st side, Division 3: L 0-47
- KawZuluNatal Province, Durban ex. High School Players: W 39-0
- Eastern Cape Province, Rhodes University U21 1st side: Tie 10-10
- Eastern Cape Province, Longmore Forestery Station: W 26-12
- Western Cape Province, Wellington Club 3rd side, Division 1: L 6-36
"The Westmont College Rugby Club of Santa Barbara, California left for South Africa on May 9th after Westmont’s May 8th commencement ceremonies. The three and half week tour was lead by coaches Keith Powell and Ken Jacobsen. The first week in the Northern Transvaal province included a 3 day stay with friends of the team on a citrus farm outside of Kruger National Park in Hazyview. The team used the first week to sightsee, catch a Northern Bulls v. Waikato Chiefs Super 12 Rugby Game and practice for the 6 tour matches that lay ahead.
The first game was played against Henri Honibal's home club in Winterden, at the base of the Drakensberg Mountains. The Warriors had a tough outing against Winterden's Men's Club Side losing 42-0 however a good time was had by all at the farm club. The first win of the tour came against a church team in Durban where the guys won 47-0. The guys were anxious to get out of the city for their next match against Rhodes University in Grahamstown as well as have the opportunity to play an U21 side. Rhodes University is a turn-of-the-century school with an excellent rugby program and beautiful stadium. The guys arrived early in the day for a brief training and then relaxed in town before the night game. The guys played a tough match against the 1st side U21's and when the final whistle blew the score was 10-10 with Westmont scoring 2 trys to 1.
For the last week of the tour the guys headed to the Longmore Foresty Station, 30 minutes South of Port Elizabeth where the guys put on youth camps for some of the underpriveliged coloured youth and also played the local club side. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip getting to play rugby with the kids and having the opportunity to stay in the township with the locals. An eye opening experience to the poverty and social divisions that exist in South Africa.
For the final leg we headed to Capetown where we would play our last game against Boland U21's in Wellington. Unfortunately there was some miscommunication and the match ended up being against their Men's Open side. The guys played well holding the score to 46-6. A good time was had by all as the Boland team were gracious hosts supplying us with some of the good local wine after the game.
The trip was filled with many highlights included seeing the Big 5 at the game reserves, bungy jumping off the 3rd highest bridge in world, surfing Jeffrey's Bay, the Super 12 game in Pretoria, steak dinners for $5, river rafting on the Tugela, hunting Impala, and spending the last few days in Capetown climbing Table Top Mountain and seeing the sights. The guys even ran into a bunch of the Springboks at some of the bars including Joost and Peter Muller who were getting ready for the upcoming test against Italy & tri-nations.
South Africa was the experience of a lifetime for the students on tour however a degree of caution needs to be taken before going there due to the crime. The consensus of our group is that the majority of South African are peace loving people with very warm-hearts to Americans. They love their rugby, Castle, and Boorvoers (Spicy sausages that can lead to severed indigestion).
Cheers,
Ken Jacobsen
Mission Statement: Westmont Rugby is first and foremost a ministry opportunity; first to yourself and then to those around you. The philosophy and discipline of the sport shall be a means by which you grow spiritually, mentally, and physically. We will train to win both the mental and physical battle of rugby. The true test, however, is to progress in our spiritual journey so that there too we may win the prize. It is through our deep commitment to each other as teammates and brothers in Christ that we find strength to prevail. *Quiet Confidence* is our motto; quiet because we are confident and confident because of our higher calling. Win or lose, such is the game, it is how we win or lose which is most important. Actions speaking louder than words requires discipline; personal and communal; on and off the field. Our mission is bold and our message is clear: We play rugby as ambassadors of Christ and representatives of self.
The following attachment is a day by day diary of the Tour of South Africa written by Paul Schlatter, a 1999 graduate of Westmont College.
Greetings Westmont Rugby Followers, If you have successfully received this, someone thought you were special enough to receive this newsletter. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Paul Schlatter, class of 1999 and fullback on the rugby team. I elected to bring my laptop to South Africa even though there is a strong possibility it could get stolen by a variety of methods. I plan on guarding this computer 24 hours a day. Should newsletters stop coming, assume my computer was taken away. I hope to send one of these out every few days, updating where we are and what we have done. If you wish to reach a loved one, please do not send an email to me unless there is an emergency*try sending them directly to your son*s email address. Every other player should be able to check their email individually from time to time. That should do it for introductions, here is the lowdown so far. We flew for 5.5 hours from LA to JFK on a red eye flight. All of us were very tired after that one because we didn*t get much sleep (either too excited or maybe it was the thunderstorms rocking us back and forth). We did have a few exciting things happen to us: 1) Cubby Knee was hit on by a presumably homosexual man. He told Cubby, *You are the cutest of the group*. He confirmed this by telling Troy that it was true. Go Cubby. 2) Ahmad Rashad was on the flight sitting in the very first row. We contemplated taking the video camera up there and interviewing him (he is a NBA interviewer, he and Jordan are *tight*), but it was a late flight and we decided against it. A final interesting thing about our JFK flight was the fact that Sean and Eric both got to sit in business class, while the other 18 of us suffered in the sweltering heat of coach. Needless to say I think Sean and Eric will somehow be repaid for their fortunes. The next leg of our journey to South Africa was the 15 hour flight from JFK to Johannesburg. Luckily, the Boeing 747 was not full, and many players had the entire middle row to themselves to stretch out. The flight was smooth and we received good food and great service. We slept well, adjusting to the time difference, and landed in Johannesburg at 7 AM local time, Tuesday. The weather was much like Santa Barbara, clear skies, light winds, and a temp of 18 degrees (Celsius of course). For those of you meteorologically impaired, that is 65 degrees Fahrenheit. We proceeded to Avis to receive our 3 rented vans. They are quite spacious, fitting up to seven large rugby players and their stuff. I am in the alumni and senior van, where we had to have a pair of Speedos swim suit to gain admittance. We are on a four hour drive to Hazyview, on the Western border of Kruger National Park. In many ways this could be the most exciting part of the trip, where we will be able to see wildlife not found anywhere else in the world. Please keep us in your prayers, we love all of you!!!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Newsletter #2
the drive to Hazyview went by fairly quickly and with little to report about. We arrived at the Lubbe*s, our first homestay, surprised to see tropical plants everywhere. We dropped a lop of elevation from Johannesburg, an now we are at 100 ft above see level, where it is very warm and tropical. The Lubbe*s own a fruit farm, over 50 acres. They live in a very nice house on the farm, with plenty of beds for all of us. The land here is beautiful. It is very much like a tropical rain forest. The Lubbes are very kind, feeding us and letting us stay, all for free. Upon arrival, we went on a short hike, probably 3 miles or so, within their property. Their land has a river flowing through it, and the trail took us mainly along it. We didn*t see any crocodiles or hippos yet, but we hopefully will another day. After the hike, we went tubing down the river. Though the water was cold, the rapids were fun and we want to go again before we leave. Mac had an interesting run, losing his tube and riding the rapids entirely on his back. It was funny, and he is okay. Most of us were exhausted so we went to bed at 8:00. We slept like babies as you can imagine.
The next morning, we woke up perfectly refreshed, (we most of us at least). We woke up around 7 for a team run. This was not an easy run since much of it was up hill, and we were all pretty tired after that. We had breakfast and then went to an elementary school to practice rugby. You may be surprised that they have a rugby school at an elementary school, but they live for this sport. When we got there, all the male kids were kicking and tossing around a rugby ball. That was a good indication that we were not in America anymore. Most of those kids could probably work us and they are only 10. We drove though a smaller town to get to the elementary school, and we got a flavor for what live is like in South Africa. It is sad to say but it looks like the Southern US about 50 years ago. All the nice houses are occupied by whites, and the black people are their paid servants. We some of the black houses, but they were little more than shacks, at least some of them. Anyway, it is a learning experience, we are certainly being cultured. We all enjoy talking with the black people, mainly because it seems like they aren*t used to white people being nice to them. They always have a huge grin on their face when we wave to them and shout *Yebo*! (Pronounce yea-boe) Another thing we have found is that we have been changing peoples minds about the average American. Many South Africans view Americans as *snobs* (a direct quote). However, with our actions they are amazed at how nice and polite we are. This is obviously a part of what Westmont has taught us, and I for one am thankful for that*seeing what we have learned work across the ocean. Well, I got a little off track, so here we go again. The practice went pretty well, although it is evident we are very rusty. We just hope to play with American pride and not get completely destroyed in our games. After practice, we went sightseeing! We saw two amazing waterfalls and took pictures. Troy and Greg got into their Speedos and took a shower in the waterfall. We took pictures of that. Of course, someone had to yell, *Take it off*, thankfully, neither of them did. Many of us also bought some souvenirs from street vendors. Troy and I bought these cools masks, hand carved and painted, for about 8 American dollars. We could sell one of these in America for $50. After the waterfalls, we went to a overlook named, *God*s Window*. It certainly lived up to its name! It overlooks much of Eastern South Africa, including Kruger National Park and the Indian Ocean. The visibility wasn*t too good today, so we didn*t see the ocean. Still, it is beautiful! We had our first South African *Kangaroo Court*. This is where we can bring forth heinous acts fellow members of the tour have commited. For instance, we tried and convicted Sean and Eric for having first class seats and not sharing with others. Their sentence?*Four laps around the Lubbe*s pool in Speedos. Mac and Ryan Huskey were convicted of missing our last American practice a week ago. They had to do certain exercises in the wet grass in order to pay up. It was fun for all. During this same time, we presented the Lubbe*s with a plaque commemorating their hospitality, along with a Westmont Tour jersey. They were very greatful. The next morning, Thursday, we woke up at 6 to drive to Kruger National Park, 30 km to the West of Hazyview. This is one of the finest Parks in the world, boasting the best wildlife viewing in the world. It cost 20 Rand per person, or about $3.50 American. We were all very excited at the chance to see Rhinos, Lions, Leopards, Hippos, Giraffes, Zebras, Boars, etc. About 20 minutes in, we spotted a hyena chasing an impala. We saw many (actually thousands) throughout the course of the drive. One van was lucky enough to see two female lions, but they disappeared so fast, no pictures were taken. An interesting side-note about the lion sighting was what happened right before. That particular van had their sliding door open when the lions were spotted. Mac, the closest one to the door, surprised by a lion 5 feet from him, screamed and slammed the door. It was a semi-close call, although I believe the lions were more scared of us. At one stop, we saw some monkeys that were pretty tame. We got within five feet of a couple of them, when one made an aggressive behavior toward Joe Zender. He made a cry for help that would rival Jamie Lee Curtis in a horror movie. We caught it all on film. We did see many hippos, baboons, a few crocodiles and elephants, one rhino, many wildebeests and water buffalo. An interesting thing that happened on the drive dealt with the elephant poop left behind on the road. For the most part, the feces were fairly dry and solid. Troy loved driving though the numerous piles, checking the consistency of each. All but one pile was soft and dry. This one pile was driven though when Eric was riding on the side of the van, with his shoe hanging over side. The elephant must have had too much fruit, because this pile was very runny. It splattered all over Eric*s shoe. Everyone was laughing really hard, especially Troy. Soon after that incident came a scene much like one from the Lion King. We found a watering hole with zebras, giraffes, boars, and wildebeests all drinking water and eating the grass and tree leaves from the opposite banks. I can*t wait to see how those pictures turned out. Overall, this was a amazing part of the trip, where we were able to see numerous animals in the wild. We are leaving this part of South Africa for good tomorrow, and we will miss it for certain. We are off to see a Super 12 League Rugby game in Pretoria (world class rugby). Keep praying for our safety! You are in all of our prayers as well!
Love In Him PS. I am having trouble sending out these Email, so if anyone could send me a local South African America Online Number (preferable Johannesburg or Durban) it would be greatly appreciated. You can find this on the internet at aol.com. Thanks!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Yesterday we drove from Hazyview back to Pretoria, a city just to the north of Johannesburg. It was hard leaving the Lubbe*s because of their hospitality. The night before we left, we had a devotional time where the team and the Lubbes prayed together and we sang some songs accompanied by Barnaby*s guitar. It was a great time to focus again on the Lord despite our busy travel schedule. I guess we made quite and impression on Japie Lubbe (the father) because he gave us quite possibly the highest compliment anyone can receive. The Lubbes have had many rugby teams stay with them throughout the years, and all of them would drink and stay up late, thinking of themselves first, with little regard for their hosts. We were the first rugby team that didn*t put ourselves first, and had the same Christian morals Japie and his entire family subscribe to. That made us all very happy. Hence, leaving was kind of sad, but we are also excited for what is still to come. Upon arrival in Pretoria, we stayed at the house of two rugby players whom we had met in America a few months ago. We went to a Super 12 Rugby game (highest level of rugby). The stadium rivaled any baseball stadium in America, and the fans were even more rowdy (evidently they like their beer out here). It was quite an experience even though it was fairly chilly with rain showers. After the game many of us camped outside in tents on the front lawn of our hosts. Every house and apartment complex had either high spiked gates or barbed wire surrounding the perimeter. We*ve heard crime is pretty bad, but talking to the locals, the reports of crime are blown out of proportion. Thus far we have seen nothing. It is Saturday now and we are driving to a town 2 hours north of Durban to river raft for two days. Hopefully it is not too cold. Please continue praying for us, We miss you and love you all!!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Newsletter #4
Today is Sunday, May 16th and we are at an amazing camp alongside a river many miles from civilization (go figure*we*re in Africa). We had to drive 25km on rough roads just to get here. Our rented vans took quite a beating, but basically they made in one piece. The Huarte*s (Joe*s parents) apparently knew some of the people who run this operation, and so far it is incredible. It is called Zinglela Adventures and the proprietors own a very large amount of land in South Africa, including a long stretch of a river. They take people hunting in the winter and rafting in the summer. Those that choose either of those stay in large permanent tents (probably 20x20 ft). There are beds, bathrooms, and showers here, and we are paying only $90 for three nights. Today half of us went repelling down a 100ft cliff, with all the safety gear you can imagine. I heard all who partook had a fun time. I, along with ten real men, decided to go rafting on the river. Since this is the driest time of the year, the rapids were not very big. However, that didn*t stop us from having a great time taking it easy and soaking up some sun. Most of us had a small raft to ourselves, probably about 10 feet long. Mac and Joe Huarte (the smallest men) had to share a larger raft. They claim to have had just as much fun as the rest of us. At the end of the rafting, there was a dangerous stretch of the river that we had to get out of the raft and scout to see the best route to take. It turned out to be much easier than any of us expected, and very exciting. Our leader even let us ride the rapids with four people in a two man raft. We certainly took in a lot of water on that run. Only Ryan Huskey and Troy fell in the river, and both were laughing the entire time. Another bonus of this place is the food. We are fed three delicious meals a day, and the meat is wonderful, mostly because it was killed the day before. Tomorrow Ryan Wetsel and Keith are planning on hunting, which costs quite a bit more. I hope they catch us some good meat. Monday, May 17th was another fun filled day. It turns out that Ryan missed an impala from close range the night before, so he was determined to get one today. He indeed shot a big impala today, and plans on mounting the head (he doesn*t personally have to do it, they hire someone). We were all impressed, I guess it took them many hours to finally kill it. They had a fun time chasing it down. While they were hunting, the rest of us were doing the same sorts of things as the day before. The other half that didn*t raft yesterday rafted today, where Reid and Ken were the lucky people who elected to fall into the water. Both are just fine. Those not rafting took it easy by going on a beautiful 2 mile runs, reading books, and enjoying the scenery. After lunch we hiked a few hundred meters up the river to a zip line that runs down into the river. It was very fun even though the line didn*t go as fast as we wanted it to. The river was quite chilly and plenty deep to catch us as we let go. We took plenty of funny pictures. We will be sad to leave this camp tomorrow, and we will certainly have many great memories to take with us. We will be in Durban, a tropical city on the Indian Ocean coast. We play our first game on Wednesday night. That by itself will be quite a challenge, so please pray for our safety.
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Newsletter #5
The last few days have been uneventful until the last 12 hours. It is the morning of May 20th, and we are in Ladysmith, South Africa in a hotel parking lot. Last night we played the club team from Winterton in a night game. These guys were excellent. They were better in every phase of the game, as to be expected, and they taught us many lessons of how real rugby is played. We actually played well, although the final score of 47-0 might not indicate such. A big difference I found between us and the South Africans is the way they win. A few of their players were *hot dogging* (the rugby equivalent to high stepping) with the ball on the way to the endzone. I promise you none of us would act like that if we played them in basketball or baseball. Those actions upset us but we realized that South Africans love their rugby, and that is the difference between us and them. I most likely also helps that we are Christians. In an case, the social afterwards was very nice and all the fans and players warmed up to us. They all were impressed with how good we were*I guess they expected we would be terrible. The president of the club owns a hotel 30km from Winterton in Ladysmith, and he let us stay in comfortable rooms absolutely free. It certainly beat the alternative of sleeping in tents on the ground. However, fate can be a terrible thing. When Ken and Cubby woke up this morning around 7, they found one of the three vans broken into. I guess the alarm one of the side windows wasn*t latched properly. In any case, Mac, Joe Huarte, Ken, Cubby, and Ryan Huskey all got some valuable things stolen. Ken was the hardest hit, losing his camera and lens, wallet, and R3000 ($500) of cash, some of which was his own, and the rest tour money. Mac also lost his entire wallet. Ryan and Joe lost their backpacks and some clothes and shoes, along with Ryan*s camera. Cubby had his hat and camera stolen. All told, five cars were broken into in this parking lot, even though the entire lot is surrounded by 6 foot walls and razor wire on top of that. The culprits cut the wire and hopped the fence. It could have been worse for a few reasons. All three of our vans had very valuable merchandise in them (including this laptop*yes, I am an idiot for leaving it in here). The kleptos were *gracious* enough to leave our plane tickets and passports on the ground after emptying out Ken*s money envelope. We definitely learned a tough lesson: leave nothing in cars, no matter how safe the parking lot is (we were told that the lot is safe beforehand). That certainly put a damper on the trip, so please pray that God will provide us with wisdom and strength to push on. Also pray that this won*t happen again.
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Today is Saturday, May 22 and we are in Durban. Durban is a very large city, at least over a million people live here. It is also on the Indian Ocean and out of the way of the cold Atlantic currents, so it is tropical here. Thursday evening we arrived at a Baptist church where the pastor, Steve, was our contact. He had set up several home-stays for all of us, and many of us went in groups of two to a church members house. Speaking for myself, this was certainly a blessing. My home-stay is with a family consisting of a daughter of 14, three other kids who are away at college and their parents. They parents have treated us very well (I am with Greg), feeding us and letting us sleep in beds. We also enjoyed hearing about Christianity in South Africa, and we learned that there are many Christians. I*ve heard from the other guys that they are having similar experiences. On Friday, our team got the chance to hang out on the beach and waterfront. They have lovely beaches, and the water is very comfortable. I heard it was 71 degree, much better than California*s water. We played touch rugby in the sand and body surfed. Troy, Joe Zender, and Barnaby couldn*t resist the temptation of the good waves, so they rented surfboards for about $3 an hour. After the beach, we went shopping at a sporting goods store to replace some of the items stolen. Then we had a barbequed dinner at the pastor*s house. From there we split up. Troy and I decided to hang out with a 23 year old, Craig, who one of the leaders of the youth group at church. He wanted us to teach them the basic rules of basketball. Troy and I had lots of fun playing basketball with these kids, and I know it meant a lot to them seeing basketball from guys who have played it all their lives. We feel the same way about learning rugby from them. We are getting a little apprehensive about staying in a city this large because of the great crime rate. We have met a person who has been mugged 8 times. The pastor has had 3 cars stolen from him in 10 years. Last night one of the vans took a wrong turn into a bad neighborhood only to see a group of kids chasing a man right in the middle of the street. I guess one of the kids had a gun as well. That van got out of there as quickly as possible. The end result is that we would like to get out into the country again where it appears to be a little safer. Today we have a rugby game against some of the members of the church. We expect another hard game, but at least this time we will have a chance to win, albeit a small one. Sunday we are planning on driving to Grahmstown, a smaller college town. Hopefully I will be able to email from there, if not, the next email will arrive hopefully mid-week. Thank you all for your love and support. God Bless. Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Today is Sunday night, May 23 and it is our last in Durban. We will definitely miss this place, the people we have met have been wonderful. But first things first. We destroyed the makeshift team made up of young men aged 16-23. Of course, they had never played together as a team and most were out of position. In any case, it still felt pretty good to beat a team 39-0. Troy and Kevin played amazing games, and we are pretty sure Kevin had a hat trick. All in all it was a fun game, and even though we earned a few minor injuries. They will heal before our difficult game against Rhodes University*s under 21 side. I think we are lined up to play their first side, under 21 years old. However, our level of play is most likely equivalent to their fourth or fifth side, so you do the math as to what could happen. After the game the South Africans were very pleased with the way we played, which was much better than they expected. Then we watched South Africa beat England in cricket (a dreadfully boring game), Manchester United beat Newcastle in soccer (football out here), and Otago Highlanders beat the Cape Town Stormers in rugby. We had pizza and chips while watching the games at pastor Steve*s house, which was basically our first American meal. Believe me, after you have eaten eggs and bacon every breakfast, and beef every dinner, plain cheese pizza hits the spot. Today we woke up around 9 to go to the 10:00 service at Steve*s Baptist church. Steve gave a great sermon about Paul*s conversion in Acts 9. You all should read that chapter, I love it (Paul is a much better name that Saul, eh?). In the middle, Steve introduced the team and invited Eric up to talk about what we are all about. Eric spoke about our mission statement, what we aim to do through rugby, and then Barnaby recited the whole thing by memory (actually, he didn*t but that sounded good). I love our mission statement, so did the congregation (I heard numerous *Amens* after Barns had finished), and I think you will too. Here it is: Westmont rugby is first and foremost a ministry opportunity; first to ourselves and then to those around you. The philosophy and discipline of the sport shall be a means by which you grow spiritually, mentally, and physically. We will train to win both the mental and physical battle of rugby. The true test, however, is to progress in our spiritual journey so that there too we may win the prize. It is through our deep commitment to each other as teammates and brothers in Christ that we find strength to prevail. *Quiet Confidence* is our motto; quiet because we are confident and confident because of our higher calling. Win or lose, such is the game, it is how we win or lose which is most important. Actions speaking louder than words requires discipline; personal and communal, on and off the field. Our mission is bold and our message is clear: We play rugby as ambassadors of Christ and representatives of self. The way we played on Saturday was a testament to Steve, as he revealed to the congregation. It is quite unique the way we aim to play, especially in such a brutal game like rugby. Part of the challenge of playing rugby for Westmont is upholding our mission statement, but when we do*people take notice, and most of the time they are non-Christian. Once the mission statement was read, we broke into our rendition of *Swing Low, Sweet Chariot*, and gave a *wonderful* performance much like the one we gave in chapel back in 1998. Seriously, it must have been good because I personally received two compliments, one from the head of the worship team (it was not for my good looks, mind you). After the first service we went back to the most relaxing place in Durban, the beach. There we surfed, swam, and watched the street performers. One guy was Mr. Flexible, and was doing moves ala cirque de sole. I gave him 10 Rand, about $1.66, which is a fair amount of money. A few of us just strolled around the boardwalk meeting people. We talked to people who wore rugby shirts on and they were very friendly to us. Every one of them was very pleased to hear about our tour and the fact that we are Christian rugby players. I am amazed at how many people are Christians in South Africa. It is a weird feeling worshiping or talking to Christians from another country. We are so different in culture, yet we worship the same God and will be in heaven together. I don*t know how to explain that feeling, but if any of you have been to a *different* overseas country and met other Christians, you would feel the same way. The closest word I can use to associate my feeling is elation. Once we had soaked up enough sun and surf, we had another church service to attend at 6:30. This service was more of the contemporary style, and this time Steve spoke about Daniel 6, where Daniel was saved from the lion*s pit by upholding his integrity. Yet another great sermon delivered by Steve. This time he called the team up and prayed for our protection for the rest of our journey. We could all feel the power of prayer at that moment. It certainly put my heart at ease considering we will be driving through a somewhat dangerous part of South Africa in just 12 hours. Please pray for us as well, we need all the prayer we can get. We all said our goodbyes and slept in the church so we could get a head start on the 10 hour drive Monday morning to Grahamstown. From there on we*ve heard that the towns and cities as safer (so we hope). On a personal note, I would like to add some words about the power of being a witness, even when you don*t try or don*t think you are making any difference. Here is the story. The family Greg and I were staying with is the nicest family. The husband Robert was always asking us what we want to do with our lives, what our girlfriends are like (in my case fiance), and he loved to talk about rugby. Equally, his wife Janet loved talking about where we should go on the Western Cape, and about the difficult politics South Africa is facing. All of their children, though we only met one, also sound wonderful, excelling in academics and sports. The interesting thing is the fact that all four children are devout believers, as is Janet. However, Robert hasn*t seemed to come around. I found that very hard to believe because he is the nicest guy. Meet him once and you will agree. Amazingly, this morning, my last in Durban, Janet was telling me about her husband and how he didn*t go to church. She is being very patient with him, something I think is very important. However, what surprised me is the fact that she said Greg and I were making an impact on him by our actions as Christians. She has a greater sense of hope that soon he will make it to church. I too pray for that. Sometimes all it takes is to act like a Christian*non-Christians seem to notice even if you don*t realize what you are doing. Sometimes that is all it takes to persuade someone that Christianity is the real deal. I thank God every night for giving me the opportunity to attend Westmont, and I know every guy on this tour does as well. It is amazing seeing how it prepares us for the battlefield, especially when our battlefield is overseas. Well, enough of the personal stuff. I hope to get emails out every other day, but please don*t be alarmed if you don*t get one until late in the week. Have a great week and God Bless all of you!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Newsletter #8
Well, it is now Tuesday, May 25 and we are now on the last week of the 23 day tour. The drive through the Transkei went very smoothly, we didn*t have any problems unless you count the bull Keith*s van almost hit. There aren*t any fences out there and the goats, cows, sheep, can wander across the highway. It was a learning experience seeing what Africa is like without the white influence. They live in small huts, most only 25x25 ft. It appears that they are exclusively farmers. They burn wood for energy--I saw many women with several sizable logs perfectly balanced on their heads. In the bigger towns, the streets and sidewalks were packed with people. Most were just sitting around hanging out, but quite a few were selling fruits and vegetables. The drive took about 9 hours even though it wasn*t that far; it just takes longer with poor road conditions and animals on the highway. We arrived in East London, a city on the southern coast of South Africa. It has beautiful beaches as well, and we saw penguins on the bedrock of one beach. We are close to Antarctica, at least there is only water between us and it. Joe Huarte tried to catch one but to no avail. We decided against camping outside, instead we paid a fortune for hotel rooms. Actually, it came out to R50 per person, or $8 American dollars. We got what we paid for*no showers only bathtubs, no cable TV (bummer, eh?), and the bath water looks and smelled suspect. We didn*t complain considering we paid 8 dollars. We went out to dinner at an Irish Pub where we had dinner, dessert, and a drink for under 10 American dollars*all very excellent! Did I mention we are enjoying the exchange rate? After a decent night*s sleep, it was off to Grahamstown for practice at noon and the game at 6:30. We ended up practicing lightly on the same field we were to play on, at around 3 PM. Then we had a pasta dinner as a team. The actual game was one of the best played in Westmont history. We played the first team under 21 at Rhodes University. We made a few mistakes that could have been beneficial in the first half, so we trailed 10-0. In the second half, our forwards took control as Wetsel scored off a maul. Cubby also got into the action by scoring a try as well. The last ten minutes was very exciting as both teams threatened to score, but neither managed to. The end result? A 10-10 tie. We are all very sore from this game, it was a bruiser. Rhodes was definitely impressed with the way we played, and were happy to see that rugby is becoming competitive in other parts of the world. The other team is studying for finals this week so the social was very short but very nice. We are staying with some members of the first side at Rhodes who live in houses. That too was very nice of them. We are off to Port Elizabeth tomorrow to participate in a kid*s rugby camp. The funny thing is that these kids will probably have more playing experience than us! However, it will be a good time for more missionary work, and many of us are excited to work with kids. Pray for Cubby*s safe trip home to the States, he leaves tomorrow! We miss all of you! Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Newsletter #9
Yesterday was an amazing day, but for different reasons than previously experienced on this tour. Yesterday, May 26, we drove to Port Elizabeth to meet Alan Duncan, a Baptist minister/missionary and leader of many important ministries in South Africa, including sports ministry. He and his family are originally from Texas, but have served here for 7 years. He is an incredible man. He is the one who gave us many of our contacts out here, including Pastor Steve in Durban, and he set up the game at Rhodes University. While we were with him, we met several of his student-aged missionaries who have been converting people in the name of Christ through the game of basketball, an up and coming sport out here. Alan set up two days of challenging fun for us. The reasons I say challenging fun will become evident as you read the rest of the email. Alan sent us to a place called Longmore, where I am presently writing this. It is about 30 km from Port Elizabeth. To understand the people who reside here, you must know a little history about South Africa. It turns out that when the Dutch starting colonizing this area, they brought along slaves from other parts of Africa to cultivate the land. The Dutch killed off the male indigenous people, and allowed the slaves to reproduce with the female natives. Their offspring produced what is known out here as a colored race. They all speak Afrikaans as their first language because they were under Dutch rule for centuries. They are stuck in the middle of the political struggle, shunned by both the *true* blacks and the Afrikanders. The people of Longmore are all of the colored race, and they work on the forests, mostly as loggers. They only make 12 rand per day, which is $2.00. John Harding, who is colored, works in Longmore with a Christian ministry. Through John*s work, many of Longmore*s people have been saved, but work must still be done. We hoped some of the stuff we did yesterday, along with the rugby we play today, might help a little. Our team was told start throwing rugby balls on the field in town, and soon kids would show up. John said maybe 40 would show up. I am not kidding, within 20 minutes, over 100 kids between the ages of 8-16 showed up. We were playing catch, letting them take pictures with our cameras, twirling them around, and dancing with them. At one point we had 40 of them in one of our vans, screaming and laughing because we shook it back and forth like an amusement park ride. It was an incredible experience. These kids never tired of us! You would put one down after spinning them around, and five more would be ready to go, tugging on your arms. We spent 2.5 hours with them, and afterwards we were exhausted. So parents--we are eternally grateful to all of you for rasing us for 22 years! What more can I say about that? After the fun with the kids, we had dinner consisting of ham and cheese sandwiches, then we went to the town hall for a time of praise and worship. I*d say 40 kids walked in for the service. We had Barnaby play about 10 American worship songs, and we were all singing as loud as possible with our Tabernacle choir voices. Then Ken gave his testimony along with some important words of wisdom about following Christ. He also discussed what Westmont and our rugby team is all about. After Ken, John Harding played some traditional African worship songs, sung in Afrikaans. These songs had fun dances associated with them, but don*t even think about asking me to recreate those dances for you (I have no rhythm). We had so much fun worshiping with those kids. We slept in a house up near the top of the mountain, where it was quite chilly (even for Colorado in spring). The only other news to report is that Mac was bitten by a tick a while ago, and now he is feeling the effects of tick fever. I*ve heard from people who have gotten here that the fever, headaches, and back pains go away after 4 days or so. Please pray that Mac starts feeling better. God Bless!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Yesterday, May 27, we woke up in the chilly air and drove to Jeffery*s Bay. For those of you who are avid surfers or have seen Endless Summer II, it is a surfing hotbed. Ken and Barnaby surfed to their heart*s content under wonderful conditions. No one else did so because the water was freezing and we had to rent a wet suit. Instead, we walked on the beach. We happened to see a single penguin. He was a strange one, let me tell you. He was all alone, none of his penguin buddies were anywhere to be found. He also took a liking to pictures, basically posing 18 inches from our cameras. After we had fun taking pictures we walked away, but this little buddy followed Zender for a hundred feet. Animals seem to like Zender. We also walked around the small town, and shopped in the surf shops that are on every block. It is a neat town. After our time in Jeffery*s Bay, it was back up the mountain to play the forestry workers of Longmore in a game of rugby. They had all just gotten off work so the game didn*t start until 4:40. It gets dark here at 6, so we were only able to play two twenty minute halves. The field was very bad, with many potholes and a hard surface. The reffing was pretty bad too; he was a worker as well. The weather was extremely windy. Nonetheless, we kept our composure completely since we were just out to have fun and be witnesses to these guys with seemingly little hope. They are very fast with good ball skills, but we are so big, we just ran through them. You should been there to see Ken or Troy run with the ball. It took five of them to take one Jacobsen down. The crowd loved it; most of the town was there. The players loved it as well, playing hard and smiling right along with us. Don*t get the wrong impression, they wanted to win, but they too wanted to have fun. We won 26-12, with Kevin scoring twice, and Greg and Joe Huarte scoring once apiece. After the game every player got in a circle and prayed. It was really cool, I hope and pray we made a positive impression on both the spectators and the players. We will miss hanging out with the kids and people of Longmore, it was certainly a growing experience spiritually which we will never forget. Today we left Longmore and drove half the way to Cape Town to a place called Mossel Bay. On the way, we couldn*t resist bungy jumping from the highest one in the world. Let me repeat that: we bungy jumped higher than anyone has ever done commercially. Oh my gosh, it was unbelievable!!! First of all, let me give you the statistics, not because they are particularly relevant, but because I love them. It is 216 meters up from the floor of a canyon, on a highway bridge that happens to be the third highest in the world (the highest being in Canyon City, Colorado, of course). They have successfully jumped 7000 people, with no mishaps. Of those 7000, only 11 decided they couldn*t do it (naturally after paying full price). The cost?*$75 American dollars. You should have seen this bridge!!!!! They don*t even let you see it until you pay the price at an office 1km from the jump site. It*s a good thing because when you first see it, you want to run home to mommy. 216 meters is over 700 feet! I must say that we were all a little scared before we even got out there. Getting to the jump site was by itself a squeamish act. To get to the middle of this concrete arch bridge, you have to walk on a steel catwalk, with seemingly weak mesh walkways. That alone was frightening even though the guide jumped all over it, reassuring us it could support 50 times our groups*. Parents, at this point I feel it necessary to let you all know if your son took the challenge. Here is the list: Ryan Huskey, Ryan Wetsel, Troy, Joe Huarte, Joe Zender, Sean, Torey, Marc, Barr, Barnaby, me (Paul), Eric, and Matt Bawks. Yes, virtually the entire team made the jump. Okay, back to the story at hand. I for one am not afraid of heights, but this catwalk scared the heck out of me. I was absolutely sure I wasn*t going to jump. The site rests on the underside arch porting of the bridge, beneath the highway (you*ll see plenty of pictures, including a home video of each jump) 216 meters from the canyon floor. It is a large piece of concrete, probably 40 feet wide. It had plenty of room so that we could relax and not think about the air below us. We were also able to listen to whatever music we wanted to, to help sooth our nerves. All the jumping assistants were incredibly friendly and informative. They did a superb job of relaxing us*I can see why only 11 people backed out. Ryan Huskey was the first to go, and I followed right after him. It takes about 8 minutes per jumper*getting ready and then retrieving us after the jump. Here is the procedure: You sit in a chair, while the leg straps are stapped on above your ankles. You already have a safety harness weaving around your whole body. Once that is done, they tell your exactly how to fly so as to increase air resistance, and thus decrease the possibility of spiraling. It is more or less a swan dive. They double and triple check everything, and then guide you, hopping since your feet at tied, towards the edge. I couldn*t help but glance down from the edge, thinking I was crazy. My heart beat was as high as it has ever been. Two guides, who are safely strapped to the bars around the edge, support you. At that point, you know there is no turning back, and in my case, I was at peace with my decision. They counted down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and then I took a standing broad-jump into the great expanse. It was indescribable! We were in freefall for nearly 4 seconds, attaining a speed of 120 kph. After oscillating for a about 15 seconds, we finally came to rest about 400ft from the canyon floor, after descending to within 140 feet of the canyon floor. Most of the guys loved dangling upside down, but I did not. Imagine hanging upside down, by your ankles (basically), 400 feet from the floor and more than 300 from the bridge! I had to close my eyes, and hope the retriever would come soon. He did, probably just 10 seconds after I came to rest, but that seemed like and eternity. He hooked me onto himself with a strong cable through a carribeaner attached to my safety harness. This allowed me to get the blood out of my head by hoisting me up in a seated position. The guide and I were locked into a very sturdy winch that brought us safely back onto the bridge. All of your sons will have incredible personal experiences to share with you upon their return, as well as a video tape of the entire jump. That was an experience we will never forget! On the lighter side, it should be brought to everyone*s attention that Troy Jacobsen was the first person ever to jump off the bridge wearing nothing but Speedos. Joe Zender was the second. Finally, on a different amazing note, all of you should be proud of the season we had at Westmont. In the May issue of Rugby Magazine, we finished the season ranked #21 in the nation for division II rugby teams! Start spreading the word everybody, Westmont is on the map for rugby. I was just telling the team that when the time comes for a resume, I can put under hobbies: *Played on a nationally ranked rugby team*. We are all really excited about that. President Winter, if you are reading this, be sure and spread the word to other Christian schools about having a nationally ranked Christian Rugby team (many people who know rugby think that is an oxymoron, but we have conquered our doubters). We love you and miss you all. Thanks for your prayers everyone!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Today is Monday morning, and we have been in Cape Town since Saturday afternoon. This city is by far the nicest one we have visited. The people here are much more receptive towards Americans than in several other cities where we ran into some trouble. It is wonderful to be able to stay in hotels for the last four nights of our trip, all in Cape Town. We have been moving so often that we grew a little tiresome of one another, a ususal reaction to being so close for more than three weeks. But in Cape Town, we have plenty of leisure time where we can relax and do whatever we want to do. For instance, some guys hiked up Table Mountain, a tall flat top mountain that dominates the Cape Town skyline. It was strenuous but they had a great time. Others went to the waterfront, which very much reminds me of San Francisco*s. There are two large shopping malls and many places to eat. We have been there every night so far. There is also an IMAX theater, showing Alaska and one about the ocean. All in all, this is definitely how we wanted to end the trip. There are still three days and two nights left, as well as one final rugby game we play tonight. That means that you will receive one more Email, probably on Wednesday. I have one prayer request: you probably have noticed this Email is subpar*that*s because I am pretty sick and haven*t slept very well (actually, not at all last night). I caught a virus somewhere and right now the doctors don*t know what it is. They*ll know more on Wednesday morning when I go back to the hospital. So if you could pray for me I would greatly appreciate it. On a good note, Mac is feeling much better, so he is grateful for your prayers. All of us love you and miss you!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
Final Newsletter Ladies and Gentlemen, congratulations on surviving 23 days without your believed friends and sons! I guess a round of applause would be appropriate for the Westmont Rugby team for surviving South Africa with two African viruses, 4 food poisonings, and several minor rugby injuries (are any injuries minor?). It is Wednesday and we are finally on our way home. All of us are excited to get back to the states, at least those that are returning. Joe Zender and Troy are going to Europe, while Sean, Eric, and Barnaby will stay in Cape Town six more weeks for Christian sports ministry. Ried, Marc, and Torey are going to Reid*s house in Kenya. I for one am very anxious to get home and hopefully cure this nasty virus I still am suffering from. In any case, let me fill you in on our last game. We played a third string club team in Wellington, a suburb of Cape Town. These guys were mostly Afrikaaners and very large. They beat us rather well, 36-6. However, these were the nicest guys we have played thus far. After the game they gave us a great social, and we traded our hats and shirts for some of theirs. It was a great learning experience for our team. Like with the other teams, they too were impressed with how good the Americans played. So we finished the tour 2-2-1 overall, definitely something to be proud of considering they live and die by rugby out here. As for Tuesday and Wednesday, we are taking it easy, doing some last minute shopping. We did visit one of the famous wineries, so parents, hopefully one of your sons will bring you back some excellent wine. There are as many wineries out here than in the Napa Valley, I assure you. That wraps up the tour, but I want to let everyone know what we will always remember and what we have learned from out time in South Africa. Here is my attempt at an all-encompassing list, albeit a poor attempt. *there are Christians all over the place, and we worship the same God with the same goals in mind=to love one another and to serve God. *we will never forget the smiles on the children*s faces in Longmore when we started tossing the rugby ball around with them. It was so amazing to be witnesses to those people. For many of us it was the first time to really show Christ*s love to those who have so little hope. *we have learned that Westmont is unquestionably the best school for us, in the sense that it prepares the Christian young adult for ministry in just about any setting, including South Africa. *we will never forget the compassion Japie Lubbe and his family showed us in Hazyview, nor the compliment he gave us regarding our Christian morals. We had so much fun tubing, seeing wildlife, team practices at the primary school, and going morning jogs in a beautiful setting. *Greg and I will never forget our homestay with the Gray family, and we continue to pray that Mr. Gray finds his way to Jesus *South Africa as a nation has a long way to go towards being a stable place. Just ask Kevin what he thinks of South Africa. Several places treated him well, but many others treated him poorly. The race relations are still pretty bad. Crime is also very bad, we found that out first hand. Unemployment is extremely high. Our team is in agreement that South Africa is *weird*: it is a country with natural and diverse beauty like the USA, but it has a dark side in the crime, unemployment, and race relations. Don*t get me wrong, most of the places we visited and the people we ran into were very friendly, but soon enough we would meet someone who didn*t like us, or see something bad. It feels like a two sided country, and even though people could say that about any country including the USA, we saw it more prevalent in South Africa that in any country we have been to. Things We won*t soon forget (the fun list) *the only way to cure one*s fear of heights is to bungy jump from the highest in the world *there are not lions everywhere, unless you count the ones that saw Mac as a light snack *playing touch rugby on the beach *don*t go near Afrikaaners who have had lots to drink if you are an American *seeing elephants cross the road directly in front of us *when your car runs over elephant poop, be sure to keep all body parts in the automobile. If you don*t you might get a little treat on you leg. (Just ask Eric Loper.) **Silly rabbit, ticks are for Mac.* *Huarte getting burned by a little pint size african *Slushy getting slammed into the dirt by two pint sized africans *Shark nets only seem to catch the sharks on their way back out to see; after vacationing on the beaches in Durban *Mac needs to learn to keep all of his body parts in the car, especially around telephone poles *Slushy, When the floor is wet, don*t jump through the window *For slushy - *it is better to say nothing and be thought a fool, than open it and remove all doubt.* *Paul*s one liners will always be remembered - *Hurry, try to use the centrifugal force!!* *Backstreet boys really are popular in other parts of the world. - Missionaries really don*t appreciate the depth of Tupac - *Strictly for McGreggors* - Stand clear of any bushes or tress while in the company of any intoxicated Afrikaans - Battle, *Say it loud, I*m Black (American) and I*m Proud!* - Election time in S. Africa really is a day of peace and harmony -Zender, Baboons really do enjoy getting their pictures taken from up close! - What did you say was in a Monkey Gland Burger? -People actually eat that? -Uh oh, oh, oh, that*s going to leave a mark. That does it! Thanks to everyone for support and love! We love all of you!
Paul T. Schlatter Westmont College Graduate University of Oklahoma Meteorology Graduate Student
Email: pschlatt@westmont.edu
THANK YOU LETTERS Dear Ken, It was great having you here, you where a inspiration to us. It is exiting to know that whe have friends in Christ from a other part of the world. Whe monitored your trip through Paul's news letters, it was good reading stuff. You have experianced South Africa like no other, you have been to places that some of us have never seen. Well done !!! May God continue blessing you as he did so far. Use the things He teached you on your trip, focus on using the individual gifts he gave you and continue seeking his meening and purpose for your life. " Your existance is evedance that this generation needs something that your live contains" - Og Mandino In Christ Japie Snr, Ina, Japie Jnr & Nadene RHODES UNIVERSITY: Hullo Ken, Just a short note to say thank you for including us in your itinerary & for the excellent game we had.....we enjoyed having you guys & hope you come again (not at exam time so the guys can be better hosts!) I'm glad you all got back safely & wish you all a good summer break & much success next season. You were all a credit to your school & country & most importantly to this great game we all love so much. regards William M.Mbanga BSc(HKE) "Age Quod Agis" cell:0834835120 tigermoon7@hotmail.com supercoach76@hotmail.com Dear Ken, On behalf of Rhodes Rugby I would like to thank-you for your visit to our small University a few weeks ago. It was really a pleasure to host players with such integrity and faith. It radically changed my perception of the American people and instilled in me a sense that, in the end, good qualities inherently exist in all of us irrespective of our nation or upbringing, and essentially the responsibility of a moral good life rests within us and our relationship with God. I would also like to thank-you for your gifts and your invitation for a return tour in a few years. I wish you the best of luck in this and future seasons. I will leave you with a quote by the father of South African Rugby, Dr. Danie Craven, (roughly translated from Afrikaans) which I feel summarises your tour and your approach to the game. "It is not only for the love of the game, but more importantly, the friendhips that it builds, that we play this game called Rugby" I wish you well, Duncan Scott Chairman - RURFC
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