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| About Me Greetings and welcome to this website. From the outset, I need to state my position as author of this site. I am not a travel agent and do not receive funds for transfer towards purchase of travel products. This is an affiliate site which provides information and refers all payments for services through secure sites of the featured providers. I am Chris van Staden, an ordained Christian minister formerly from South Africa. We came to the United Kingdom as a family during the latter part of 1996 for a five year term only. During that period circumstances for our children have changed, and so after 12 years we are still here, but now live in Scotland. It is my hope that you will enjoy your visit and find the information provided informative. I was raised on a farm in what is now the Province of Kwazulu Natal, within view of the Northern Drakensberg and in my teens on a farm in the midlands, an hour's drive from Pietermaritzburg. Much of my life has been shaped by African experiences. As a boy I grew up a loner, so my best friends were the Zulu people who, at that time dressed according to early Zulu tradition out of working hours and kept most of their customs.I thrived on learning about them and reading every book I could lay my hands on about the history of the people and the region. There were many visits to the Drakensberg and many hours spent exploring.I saw some of the filming of the epic film 'Zulu' on site near Bergville in 1963. I am a fluent Zulu linguist, and upon my coming to faith in Christ, they were the first to see the change in my life and were the first to introduce me to Zulu congregations and associates as a preacher - a ministry of some 17 years before entering training for the ordained ministry. Up to that point in my life, I was working in a profession associated with the construction industry, which took me to Zululand in the north. Through my work, I became acquainted with places of great natural beauty, such as the St. Lucia Wetlands National Park, the proclamation and first establishment of Tembe Elephant Reserve, the development of tourist accommodation at Kosi Bay, Lake Sibayi and Jozini. |
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Are always life changing!
Purpose of this Site This website has been over two years in the making. It was my original intention that I form a ministry/charity to involve and accompany people to South Africa on mission and project partnerships. However since God's call to take up another pastoral appointment, this site has taken a slightly different slant. As the site grows, we will link with projects as a resource for international searchers for information. As my wife had to resign from a good post to enable me to take up God's call, income derived from this website will replace my wife's full-time employment to enable her to work from home. She will be taking over the administration of this site, so that I can continue with what I love most; the Pastoral ministry. I no longer live in South Africa, but I am very interested in the continued development of the country of my birth and all its people. Living in the United Kingdom, I have come across many people who know nothing about South Africa apart from what they have gleaned from the media and that is more than often a very limited, if not skewed presentation of the facts! On the other hand there are those who would like to go, but the classic tour is not appealing. However there are providers featured who do offer all-inclusive packages, but the main intention of this website is to offer the "down to earth" approach to your experience in Africa. Although there are top class facilities, which you may use, this site will give practical information, at times take you off the beaten track and "glitzy" tourism and associate you with the real people. That is why you need to design your own itinerary, use Bed & Breakfast accommodation or private homes. Mix with the ordinary people, those who live and work there and are in touch with the everyday realities. Hence the featured Bed and Breakfast accommodation could be a good choice. It will be your opportunity to make life-long friends to continue correspondence with, or to be involved in the life of a real project. South Africa is a wonderful country, but there are still difficulties to overcome It is therefore intention to partner this site with projects in South Africa, creating opportunities to get involved practically. Please Note. I offer this information in good faith that the information supplied by the various providers is kept up to date by them. I have no means of verifying accuracy, It is the responsibility of clients to do this. All companies and charities featured are reputable and have the necessary credentials to the best of our knowledge. |