Are We There Yet?

Just a quick update of what I have been doing since leaving August 2nd. I spent Friday night, and all day Saturday and Sunday in sessions, team times, training, last minute logistics, and worship. There was a lot going on and it was super busy but it was helpful for me to get refocused and re-acquainted with my squad. Sunday night after repacking all my gear yet again and getting in bed at about 11:45, at 1:15 in the morning my squad and I met down stairs to catch the shuttle to the airport. We spent about 3-5 hours in the airport before we had a two hour flight to Boston. With a 15 hour layover in Boston and not wanting to spend it all in the airport, we rented a hotel room to ditch our packs in and then went exploring. It was like my senior trip 2.0. I walked the Freedom Trail, saw the statue of Christopher Columbus and Paul Revere, ate at the Quincy Market visited two burying grounds, went to the Old North Church and the USS Constitution museum. It was a lot of walking and I was hoping it was enough to knock me out on our next 12 hour flight to Qatar. I slept off and on during the flight. It wasn’t miserable, it wasn’t the best but it was the most sleep I had gotten since Saturday night. In Qatar we had about an hour layover before we boarded for a 9 hour flight to Johannesburg (Joburg), South Africa! It was an okay flight as well. The food was better and my feet didn’t swell as much so that was a plus. We landed in Joburg at 4:00am. After over 45 hours of travel we finally made it! We got our big packs, (I’m pretty sure I’m going to have back surgery when I get back cause my pack is ridiculously heavy. With all my bags on me I’m carrying about 70 pounds) said goodbye to the four teams that are traveling by bus to another city in South Africa for their ministry, then my team and three other teams met our hosts, loaded up the vans and headed to our ministry site. It was a 45 minute ride to our ministry site, Impact Africa. We were given a quick tour, shown our rooms and then given rest time til breakfast at eight o’clock. The compound we are staying at… let’s just say it is too nice. My team and I are sharing a room with three sets of bunks and we have our own bathroom and shower with hot water. Our beds already had pillows, sheets and blankets (which was so nice cause it is the end of their winter here but still very chilly in the morning and evenings). The compound grounds are beautiful with flowers, trees, shrubs, benches, patios, balconies, and fire pits all around the property. We know that we will probably not have another ministry with such nice housing so we are greatly appreciating and enjoying it while we can. Monday through Friday our meals are prepared for us, Saturdays and Sundays we will be prepare it or going out to eat in the town. Our hosts, Nano and Erinn, have been wonderful and have done so much of the ministry scheduling and prep work for us already. The first half of the week has been very chill and the only time we really went off of the compound was to visit the Apartheid Museum and get SIM cards at the mall. 

Friday we had out first ministry day. Impact Africa has about five ministries that we will be helping out with each week. Before lunch we had training and a quick run through of what we would be doing that afternoon. Jubalani (happy) Kids is very similar to VBS but on a smaller scale. They take a bus to a township (community) and set up a speaker to play music and we went out and invited the kids to come to the class. A lot of the kids by now recognize the vans and the music and immediately began flocking. We had about 80 kids show up to our first class. My group went to two townships and another group went to two different ones. 

Sorry this blog was so loaded with details. I wanted to catch you up on the whirlwind that has happened since I left. We do not have wifi at our compound (which, I can’t lie, is really nice), so about once a week I think, we will get to come to the mall where I can get internet and post a blog. Pray that during this easier first month God would bring my team closer together and continue to purge from us anything that would be a distraction or hindrance in our ministry to each other or to others. I’m grateful for the health and protection God has given me. It’s a comfort and it lifts my spirit knowing that you and so many others are praying for me everyday. Next week will be full of a variety of ministries and the pace will definitely pick up, but I’m looking forward to all that God has planned and excited to play a part in it.  

(Pictures are taking a very long time to upload so I may have to post them on my Facebook site from now on.)