South Africa-the End is Near

After a pretty good night's rest on Saturday night, we headed out on Sunday morning to King Of Kings Church.  We finally were blessed enough to hear John Thomas preach.  The church was celebrating 10 years of Living Hope and it was absolutely marvelous to be there on such a special day!  Part of the celebration was that some of the kids from Ocean View happened to be there performing!  So I got to see them and some of the LSEs one more time before heading back.

After worship there, we went to visit Masi Baptist Church which is a small church in the township of Masi.  Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when I got there, but what I experienced sure wasn't what I had in my mind.  In this very small church building, there were a nice handful of men and women.  There was some talking going on when we arrived.  Since it was all in Xhosa (pronounced CO-sa), I wasn't exactly sure what was being said.  After just a few minutes, this congregation spontaneously busted out into a praise song.  And I'm not talking about your "Shout to the Lord" with a full orchestra either.  I'm taking, loud, beautiful South African music begin sung by these men and women using only the beat of a makeshift drum.  It was so...native.  I wish I had a video of it.  This went on for a while and then they started moving about and praising.  The song would come to a close and then someone would begin to testify.  This went on for a while until we had to leave.  During the time I was there, even though I had no idea what was being said or sung most of the time, I could close my eyes and know these people were praising the same God that I did.  It was the experience of a lifetime and one of the highlights of the trip to be sure.

After church (the second time!) we left and headed to lunch, which ended up being at KFC which makes me laugh.  We all got a big kick out of going halfway around the world to eat KFC.  Then we went to Haut Bay which is pronounced HOT bay if you want to say it with a South African accent.  :)  We spent some time at the Sunday Market where I bought a couple things and then Clynton took us to see the seals nearby.

Clynton called this guy "Big Daddy"  :)

After running around sightseeing most of the day, several folks were sick and tired and so we got back to the Team House.  We were given the opportunity to spend our last night in South Africa at a house in one of the townships in which we had served.  Now, I'm just going to be honest with you all.

I did not want to do this.

And the primary reason was because I was terrified of what I might be faced with.  But from even before we left the US, I had said I was interested.  I just had a feeling even then that God was wanting me to again, step outside my comfort zone.  I was determined to do it.  Once I committed, there was no going back.  Ultimately, of the 6 of us that stayed the extra days, 4 of us decided to take advantage of the opportunity.  So, after we packed up, Clynton dropped myself and my teammate Dustin off at Bernadette's house in Ocean View.  It was nothing like I expected.  The house was small, but comfortable and inviting and Bernadette was a fabulous host. 

We hadn't been there long when her little girl, Aimee, came in with a friend.  Aimee was not able to attend holiday club, but much to my pleasant surprise, the friend (Tatum) she brought inside had been to holiday club every day!  It was so nice to see her again and the girls entertained us by doing VBS songs and trying (unsuccessfully) to teach me the circle games.  I mean...just look...are they not the cutest!?  Plus, they really loosened up around us.  Tatum said I was using "whitey language" and they couldn't get over that I didn't "plait" my hair but would sleep with it loose.  One of them asked me if my teeth came out and not understanding what she was getting at, I said "No, do yours?!" and she then showed me her wiggly tooth.  Apparently, in South Africa (or at least in their home), when you pull a tooth, you put it in your shoe and a mouse comes and gets it and leaves you money.  SO adorable.

The evening with Bernadette, Ivan (her husband), Aimme and Robin (her son) was quite enjoyable and I werer pleasantly surprised.  In the morning, Bernadette fed us breakfast and before we knew it, we were on our way back to the Team House for the last full day in Cape Town.

I think it was about then that I started feeling sad to be leaving.  Up until that point, I was able to just not think about it.  Tomorrow I'll blog about the last few places we went and about our last day/evening in Cape Town.  Stay tuned friends...