Follow Up and Testimonies

To read a followup and testimonies regarding our trip, go to Useful (and fun) Links! on the right and click on the Follow Up and Testimonies link there.

Sunset at Cape Town

At the Penguin Colony

Where the Atlantic & Indian Oceans Meet

Atlantic Ocean on Left & Indian Ocean on Right

The oceans meet somewhere beyond this point.

We met these special students

Some students & a teacher at Durban Deep

Home

After nearly 24 hours in a plane, we made it back to Kansas City around 10:00 this morning.  We had safe flights that were mostly on time.  There was a lot of rain in Washington D.C. to welcome us back.  I will add a couple of pictures as well.

Thank you for reading along about our trip.  Be sure to ask any of the team members about any questions which you may have.  May God richly bless you.

9/11 Saying Goodby to South Africa

We will have a debriefing time in the morning with J.P.  After debriefing and prayer, we will have a last couple of hours to go shopping, to pack, or whatever.  We will leave Cape Town at 1:50 to fly back to Joburg.  From there we will fly to Dulles and then back to Kansas City.  We have packed so much into our trip and consider ourselves very blessed by God to have made this trip to see the people, animals, and beauty of South Africa.

Our Final Full Day - Sept 10

This morning we drove along the coastline with the destination of Cape Point which is considered the point farthest south on the continent of Africa. 

Our first stop was Chapman's Peak which was a great overlook of a cliff and crashing waves over Chapman Bay.  We walked up to the overlook which was breathtaking.

From there we drove to Cape Point where we could see both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.  Some walked up to the lighthouse and some took the Funicular (Cable Car) to the top.  All were amazed at the view of the oceans.

Baboons were running wild in the area.  One girl, not in our group, who was eating an apple was attacked by a mother baboon who was carrying her baby.  She was told to throw away her apple.  She did and the baboon immediately grabbed it and ran off.

After Cape Point, we got fish and chips as take away (carry out) and took it to the Penguin Colony to eat.  So we watched the African penguins swim and play.  We also went to Boulders Beach where J.P. and Larry went swimming and many of us waded and looked for shells in the cold water.

Then we started on our drive back, stopping along the way to have coffee and cake to celebrate Jan's birthday.  We also drove through wine country and along the bay for our last African sunset over the water.  It was cold and very windy, but still an awesome view of God's creation.

End of Ramadan

While driving along the beach and coastline Thursday evening after watching the sunset, we were simply amazed at the number of Muslims who had gathered for block after block after block to break their fast. 

Cape Town-Shopping, Ocean, & Black Tie Party

Thursday morning we were at Robben Island.  Thursday afternoon was Shap! Shap!  Thursday evening we took an ocean drive and enjoyed waves, cold wet feet, shoes, and jeans, and a fabulous sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.  Yes, the Atlanta Ocean, check your maps.

Returning to our hotel we were invited to join a black-tie corporate function.  So in our jeans and flip flops (not exactly black tie attire), we enjoyed great appetizers and "no calorie" desserts.  All of which were scrumptious and more than fulfilled our needs.  The corporate attendees looked very nice and were very welcoming.

Robben Island/Constitution Hill

Our visits to Constitution Hill and Robben Island were sobering.  Our guides on Robben Island were political prisoners on the island in the early 60's.  Facilities and treatment of these political prisoners were appalling.  Apartheid ended in 1993 and Nelson Mandela was elected President in 1994.

Spring has Sprung Again

We are enjoying our second spring season - the buds and flowers on the trees, wisteria, pansies, African daisies, irises, to name a few, are all in bloom.  Spring clothing colors are for sale in the stores.  We marvel that things can bloom when it is so dry.  In Joburg, we asked when it would rain again, expecting to hear maybe next week.  The answer was "October".  Today in Cape Town we were barely sprinkled on.  That is the first rain we have felt while we have been here.  You have not heard about the weather because it has been so near perfect.

Devotions

We have all taken turns sharing devotions each morning and have learned how God is speaking to each of our hearts.  It has been an encouraging start to our day.

10 Things We Laughed About...

Driving on the Left Side
Windshield Wipers Used as Directional Signals (for passengers)
It's at the church!!!
Visiting McDonald 3 Days in a Row
Square Toilet Seats
Scrambled Eggs, again and again and again
No desserts? (McDonalds here we come)
Not another impala
Stop Signs and Red Lights are Optional
Each Other

Top 10 things that we can laugh about now...

Driving on the Left Side
Lost Passports
Visiting Mice
Forgotten Backbags
Showers Not Working or Stopped Up
Heels Used as a Bathtub Plug
Taking a walk and the van not picking us up
Five Women Sharing a Bathroom
Hearing & Language Problems
Each Other

Top 10 Interesting Foods

Meat Pies
Vetcoek (Fat Cooks)
Ostrich Sausage
Tripe
Mopani Worms
Pickled Fish
Melipop & Tomato Saus
Froccacia Bread Pizza
3 Full Meals on a Plane
Cadbury Chocolates

Goodbye's

With bittersweet tears we said our goodbye's to the people and children of Durban Deep and of Cornerstone Church late Wed. morning.  From there we left to the airport to fly to Cape Town.  We arrived safely Wed. afternoon, rented more vans, and found our Holiday Inn Express.

Arthur

On Wed. morning we also realized that one of our Team Members had adopted an orphan with an African name and was carrying around his picture.  And to our great surprise, it turned out to be Arthur, one of the children that had worked side by side with us all week.  We were aware that he was an orphan living with his sister, but because of the name difference, we had not realized it was one of our adopted orphans!

Orphans

Due to the South African service workers strike, the Principal of Durban Deep did not feel it would be safe to gather the orphans at the school for the zoo outing on Saturday.  As a result and with disappointment, we worked on Saturday instead of the outing.  If any of the teachers were at the school teaching or working during the strike, other teachers who were striking would come and disrupt.  This could be dangerous to teachers and children.

On Monday the strike was suspended for 21 days, we finished our work at Durban Deep on Tues, and the students and teachers came back to school on Wed. Sept. 8.  God's timing was divine.  So on Wednesday morning we were able to return to the school to hear the sounds of children's voices and laughter in the classrooms and meet some of the teachers.  18 of the orphans were excused out of their classes so we could meet them.  However, none of the sibling orphan pairs were at school.  Many pictures were taken.  We enjoyed seeing the fruit of our labor.  The children were simply precious!!!

Today September 7

Today we are tying up loose ends at Durban Deep; weather stripping, lighting, curtain hanging, etc.

This afternoon we plan to visit Constitution Hill which gives the history of Apartheid.  Then we will go to supper along with some of the local people who have faithfully worked along side of our team.

I do not know when I will be about to blog again but hopefully will be able to in Cape Town.

Don't forget lunch!

Washing Chairs

Painting the Containers (Portable Classrooms)

Our Helpers & Watchdog?

The Kitchen Sink

The Sign at Durban Deep!

Key Verse - John 15:4-5

Before we left for South Africa, Lauren Ashley and Nathaniel Tredoux came to share with us, to help us prepare spiritually for our trip.  Lauren shared John 15:4-5 which is "Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who remain in me, and I in them will produce much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing."  We have claimed these verses as we have been working out at Durbam Deep and have had these new experiences.  God is with us.

Curtains

Before leaving for South Africa and as we were preparing to go, one of our team googled quilters in Joburg.  She then was given the e-mail address of a quilters group near Joburg so she sent an e-mail.  Incredibly (or it was a God thing) the lady e-mailed right back and was very excited about our project and wanted to provide help for sewing the curtains for the staff room, kitchen, and two classrooms at Durbam Deep.  So plans were made for the quilt lady (Shelley) to come pick up the curtain material on Friday.  She then took it back to her quilting ladies,  they sewed the curtains for us, and brought the completed curtains back to us on Sunday.  This morning we are going to hang some of the curtains so that the rooms will be completed.  We have so enjoyed the involvement of the local people who have worked with us.

Kitchen, Painting, and SIGN!!!

And yes, more chairs, we simply could not believe we found more chairs to wash, but wash them we did.  But the big projects that were completed yesterday were the new cabinet for the kitchen sink, all of the painting that we wanted to complete outdoors, many curtains finished, and more walls, ceilings, and floors washed.

The big event of the day, however, was the arrival of the school sign.  It came around 4:30 after we were mostly done working and cleaning up.  The sign was made and provided by a member of Cornerstone Church.  And it was simply beautiful.  It was put inside the maintenance workers fenced yard so hopefully there will be less chance of it being stolen.  We hope to get a picture of all of us under the sign later today.

Labor Day

I have just been told that it is time to go.  So I must run.  We did want to let you know that we are laboring on Labor Day while you are all on holiday. (Violins anyone???)  Until later.

Sunday at Cornerstone and with the Tredoux Family

We were once again warmly welcomed at the Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene where we attended the Sunday worship service and fellowship.  We enjoyed seeing our host families again and spending time with the church members there. 

Then we went to a place called Trek Place where we ate a delicious and plentiful buffet lunch with the Tredoux family.  We had the privilege of meeting Johan and Naas' parents, two brothers, their sister, and families.  It was a beautiful spot with a delightful family. 

Saturday and Rugby

On Saturday we started painting the outside of one of the containers (portable classrooms).  By the time all of the supplies were assembled, we did not have much time to paint.  Also the inside of a couple of more containers were cleaned.  I have forgotten to mention but all of the toilets have been repaired and are in better working condition.  Some of the guys have fixed them one by one.  Plus I had thought that all of the chairs were washed, but we found more!

After working we got to experience real South African Rugby.  Those interested drove to a public viewing space where we watched the South Africa Springboks play the Australian Wallabys in an exciting Rugby match.  We got to watch on a big screen TV with other South Africans.  Unfortunately, Australia won in the last seconds of the game.

We also had the privilege of watching musical water fountains.  They were much like Christmas lights or fireworks set to music but it was water fountains shooting water high into the air.  It was a nice way to end the day.

Our Second Work Day

We have just finished our second work day.  We have finished painting the staff workroom, cleaning classrooms, and  washing over 800 chairs.  Plus the maintenance guys continue to replace door handles.  Tomorrow we are hoping to do some painting on the outside of the building, replace the cupboard in the kitchen, and continue on the cleaning projects.  We have had more and more children watching from outside the fence and more people stopping by to visit.  We have completed two productive days. 

Our Work

We had a productive day at Durban Deep Primary School yesterday.  Since there was no school because of the strike, we were able to get the first layers of paint on the staff room, cleaned classrooms including ceilings, cleaned desks (tables) and chairs, swept floors, picked up trash, and one crew replaced door handles and did other maintenance work.  The school is built at a mine site so the ground is poisoned with uranium and arsenic and the water there is not safe to drink.  The mine building is not being used but the office building for the mine is being used as the main school building.  Then there are many portable classrooms (containers) on the site.  There is so much dust.

Let the Work Begin

We are currently purchasing paint (now how long will that take the guys at the hardware store).    The strike is not over but we are being allowed to get into the school to begin painting, maintenance, and making curtains.  They just told me that the guys are back so I have no more time and no time to post a picture.  Hopefully we will be able to later but TIA (This is Africa) so I am not sure.

Back to Joburg Sept. 1

In South Africa Sept. 1 is the first day of spring.  They will have Joburg day here to celebrate.

Once again we loaded the vans to head out at 8:00 in the morning.  We made our last drive through Kruger and were rewarded to seeing many elephant, giraffe, a rhino, and more birds etc.  We arrived back at the Good News Conference Center at 7:30 that evening.  They graciously kept dinner heated for us.  Then we were taken to our chalets and cottages. 

Kruger National Park Aug. 29-Sept 1

We met again at 8:00 the next morning to head to Kruger National Park.  We hit the interstates in our three vans for the drive across the countryside to Kruger.  We made the normal stops at travel stops (gas stations with Steers (similar to Burger King), restrooms (the loo), for lunch, and to buy groceries for 20 people, etc.  Kudos to our drivers, John Paul, Steve Croucher, and Rich Keener for getting us to Kruger safely at 5:30 p.m.  We were then divided up to sleep in our rondavils and tents.

Our first day out in Kruger, due to God's grace, we managed to see all of the Big 5 while we were out on our drives.  The Big 5 are the animals who are decreed by nature as the strongest who live among the weakest.  They are the Cape Buffalo, Elephants, Lions, White Rhinoceros, and Leopard.  Unfortunately we never did get close to lions but we were really close to two leopards and the others.

We also saw many giraffe, zebras, impala (an over population), warthogs, verbit monkeys, kudu, elephants, vultures, eagles, mongoose, meerkat, bushbabies, waterbuck, porcupine, crocodiles, and many birds.  We also were amazed at all of the stars that we were able to see at night and to be able to see the Southern Cross.

Tuesday morning John Paul and I drove into the small town of Komatipoort to find an internet cafe and send a blog.  It was a small African village near Mozambique.  We found the internet cafe, but there was no electricity, so alas (ag shame) no blog.

On Tuesdays we got to see a hyena and watch him eat his kill (very fresh) with vultures or eagles flying overhead for their portion.  We then saw a leopard kill (a impala that was hanging in a tree).  Unfortunately that time we did not get to see the leopard but knew that he was around.  At our picnic spot that day while we were being trained by Naas and Heather a hyena circled through, was scared off, and circled through again.  We were really close to him.

Departure Aug. 27 & Arrival Aug. 28

We left MCI at 8:15 on Friday morning.  We got to Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. at 11:30.  Since we had a six hour layover, some of us took a shuttle to the Smithstonian Air & Space Museum.  Then we departed from Dulles at 5:40 p.m.  We flew an eight hour flight from there to Dakar, Senegal, on the West Coast of Africa to refuel.  After an hour layover, we had another eight hour to Joburg.  We got varying amounts of sleep on the flights. 

We arrived in Joburg at 4:30 p.m.  It took awhile to disembark, go through customs, and get our rental vans.  We were warmly welcomed at the airport by Paul's aunt (tanta), Georgina and two cousins, Charls and Michael.  From there we drove across town to Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene where Naas and Heather Tredoux are pastors.  Once again we were warmly welcomed by church members with a bountiful spread for us complete with Five Roses tea, coffee, and delicious food.

We were each introduced to our host families where we divided to spend the night.  Ah the luxury of a comfortable bed.

A Computer & Internet!!!

Finally we have internet and access to a computer.  We are now back in Joburg (Johannesburg).  We are in Day 7.  Everything is lekker (good) here but we are definitely on Africa time:

Now - means right now
Just Now - means around 15 minutes or so
Now now - means an hour or so

Lauren Tredoux had sent us off with the words of John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you so that is what we are trying to do.  I am now going to go back to Day 1 and come forward.