Mr. Ford (our driver) picked each of us up from our host families this morning. It was quite different to not be with each other all the time, but a lovely change nonetheless. From eavesdropping on all the conversations in the car, I can honestly say we all adore our host families who have treated us with upmost kindness.
We anticipated the drive to be far longer to the Fikelela headquarters, so we were left with an extra forty-five minutes. In order to not waste a second of our time, we stopped at the waterfront and enjoyed the beautiful waves crashing upon the shore. Cramming back into the van, we continued our journey, making one more stop outside the soccer arena in Cape Town.
Reverend Rachel Mash, the founder of Fikelela, told us all about her project and what they are doing to help curb the spread of HIV/AIDS . It was an incredibly inspiring experience, especially after we met one of their agents for change, whom are students our age. The agents for change are placed in a role of leadership and role models who promote change by changing themselves.
After our lovely meeting, we grabbed a quick bite at a restaurant known as Nando’s for lunch before heading on a hike. The hike was much warmer than the rest of the day had been, and we were all sweating by the end. The view at where we stopped, however, was worth it and entirely breathtaking. A place where we all took a moment to breathe and reflect. A moment of peace and silence, we all spent some alone time connecting with our wonderful Creator.
Ravenously, we arrived at the home of Ms. Sandberg where she fed us a delicious dinner of hot dogs, salad, and fruit, with donuts to follow! With our stomachs full, we followed Zach and Gershwin to the church down the road to the youth group. Youth group was so much fun. It was student-run too… something we should try at home. Course, without the wonderful seniors, I’m not sure how that would work! ;) We played fun games, engaged in a meet and greet, sang some worship songs, oh! And we learned the “waka waka”. For those of you who don’t know, that is the song from the World Cup. One thing is for sure, we danced like fools and tried our hardest, but we don’t quite have the rhythm they do, especially me! The dancers of our group nailed it pretty well! Nonetheless, we provided many laughs as they attempted to teach us their moves.
Lots of Hugs and Love!
Kelsey
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
We're in Cape Town
We arrived safely in Cape Town a couple hours ago, and we're getting ready to have a wonderful dinner at Gershwin's mom's house. Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog. The students are all excited about updating, but the internet went down just as Nicole finished the Day 2 post. You are just now getting that. Then we were in Kruger National Park from Monday until last night. Shannon and Kim's stories of our time in Kruger. This morning we said a quick goodbye to Gigi and Sihile before jumping on the plane to Cape Town. More updates coming later, but for now know that we're safe in Cape Town and can't wait to share our stories of the last week. Now I'm being called to dinner... :)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Ahh...day two.
Love. Compassion. Trust. Laughter. Tears. Acceptence. Faith. Friendship. Family. Care. Hospitality. Richness. Poverty. Gratefulness. Humbleness. Today these words took on an entirely new meaning for all of us as they were weaved throughout what we did.
We started off the morning with a great breakfast at the 'Castle' which was served promptly at seven. We were then hearded into the cars we have rented and prayed for our lives as we braved the backwards streets of 'Joberg.' If you think that us Colorado teens aren't the most capable of drivers..you should go for a ride out here!
After a few missed turns and plenty of laughs, we arrived at the Soweto Community Church. It was an incredible service with some of the most loving people I have ever had contact with. We were greeted with hugs from literally every person in the room.
From there we went off to yet another amazing meal in Soweto. Although the sound of ox tail was far from appetizing, I will have to admit it was some of the best meat I have had in a long time. We even got to joke around with some kids playing soccer. We wanted to join the game but Dad (Gershwin) wouldn't let us, only thinking about protecting our vulnerable shins that he was convinced they would shatter. With Sihle's help, I was able to regretfully turn down a playful invitation to stay at a young kid's "five star shack." ;)
This is about when God drowned us in His undeniable presence. Unable to ignore it, we saw God today. We journeyed to an orphanage in Soweto that is one of the most incredible places I have ever been. We toured the three bedroom home that proudly housed 45 joyous kids despite broken plumbing, crumbling walls, no refrigerator, few beds, and the lack of a working stove. 'My Sister' opened her home to kids in the late 80s and has been hard at work since then. Whenever they were able to draw us away from the kids we now adore, we were also put to work! We washed clothes by hand (thank you, Mom, for having a washing machine), tore down a roof, fed the kids, and helped with whatever else was needed.
We then went to dinner at one of Gersh's good friend's, Ashley, house. We all fell instantly in love with him. He is the regional director of Scripture Union (a version of Young Life). He was charismatic to us all and had a great time with us..at first observing and then jumping (literally) right into our antics.
A few minutes ago, as a bunch of us were just hanging out, Kelsey pointed out, with a decent scream, that there was a lizard in the corner. I, pretending to be Crocodile Dundee, decided to pick it up to take it outside. Great idea until the little monster bit me. haha! In the end, we got it outside and do not worry, I will be just fine despite the fact that I am foaming from the mouth and have occasional convulsions. KIDDING!!
Much love and lots of hugs,
Nicole
P.S. We are heading to Krugar in a mere few hours and will most likely not have internet so do NOT panic if we miss a few days of blogging, we will phone if there are any casualties via hungry lions, trampling elephants, stumbling giraffes, mad hippos, vicious rhinos, or angry youth leaders. But really, don't worry. :)
We started off the morning with a great breakfast at the 'Castle' which was served promptly at seven. We were then hearded into the cars we have rented and prayed for our lives as we braved the backwards streets of 'Joberg.' If you think that us Colorado teens aren't the most capable of drivers..you should go for a ride out here!
After a few missed turns and plenty of laughs, we arrived at the Soweto Community Church. It was an incredible service with some of the most loving people I have ever had contact with. We were greeted with hugs from literally every person in the room.
From there we went off to yet another amazing meal in Soweto. Although the sound of ox tail was far from appetizing, I will have to admit it was some of the best meat I have had in a long time. We even got to joke around with some kids playing soccer. We wanted to join the game but Dad (Gershwin) wouldn't let us, only thinking about protecting our vulnerable shins that he was convinced they would shatter. With Sihle's help, I was able to regretfully turn down a playful invitation to stay at a young kid's "five star shack." ;)
This is about when God drowned us in His undeniable presence. Unable to ignore it, we saw God today. We journeyed to an orphanage in Soweto that is one of the most incredible places I have ever been. We toured the three bedroom home that proudly housed 45 joyous kids despite broken plumbing, crumbling walls, no refrigerator, few beds, and the lack of a working stove. 'My Sister' opened her home to kids in the late 80s and has been hard at work since then. Whenever they were able to draw us away from the kids we now adore, we were also put to work! We washed clothes by hand (thank you, Mom, for having a washing machine), tore down a roof, fed the kids, and helped with whatever else was needed.
We then went to dinner at one of Gersh's good friend's, Ashley, house. We all fell instantly in love with him. He is the regional director of Scripture Union (a version of Young Life). He was charismatic to us all and had a great time with us..at first observing and then jumping (literally) right into our antics.
A few minutes ago, as a bunch of us were just hanging out, Kelsey pointed out, with a decent scream, that there was a lizard in the corner. I, pretending to be Crocodile Dundee, decided to pick it up to take it outside. Great idea until the little monster bit me. haha! In the end, we got it outside and do not worry, I will be just fine despite the fact that I am foaming from the mouth and have occasional convulsions. KIDDING!!
Much love and lots of hugs,
Nicole
P.S. We are heading to Krugar in a mere few hours and will most likely not have internet so do NOT panic if we miss a few days of blogging, we will phone if there are any casualties via hungry lions, trampling elephants, stumbling giraffes, mad hippos, vicious rhinos, or angry youth leaders. But really, don't worry. :)
Day 1!!!
I am sorry that this post is belated, but we had quite a busy night last night. Yesterday was amazing and such an eye-opening experience for us all. The day started off with a great homemade breakfast at the "castle" that we're staying at. After that, we spent nearly four hours at the Apartheid Museum. It was absolutely huge and it was amazing all of the information we took in. After that, we went to a huge mall to eat lunch. There were hardly any white people in the mall, but it feels so weird being such a minority among so many people. One of the most surprising things that I realized was how nice and accepting everyone is! The children are among the most loving people I have met in my life, and they seem to never be able to give enough love. We met manhy children like this in a huge "informal settlement". This is basically a gigantic city made solely out of shacks. No matter who we met, we were granted with names, hand holding, and plenty of hugs. We have been so blessed to meet as amazing of people as we have. Many of them work at Soweto Community Church and they have been very amazed how wrong we have proved the steriotypes of whites. Time for bed!
-Andrew Martinek
-Andrew Martinek
Friday, July 23, 2010
In the beginning...
So here we are in a suburb of JHB called Chartwell West, it's 5:32AM in the morning and I cannot sleep! I guess that's what comes with traveling 26 + hours (a 16 hour flight straight from Atlanta in JHB no less). But we're here...our feet has walked on the African soil...although at this stage it has just been the paved halls of an airport and the parking garage.
Today the exploration and adventure starts in earnest. Last night looking into the eyes of 13 tired, unsure, excited high school students I talked again of just simple honesty. I short time to remind us that if we are able to show up to this with honesty and openness that God will do the rest. I don't say that in a coy or flippant way but I say that having done enough experiences like this to know that there is an overwhelming desire to want to control, to want to label and to just make sense of. It is much harder to show up open, honest and say. "I don't know to much of anything right now...can you please show me? Can you please lead me?" That will be our aim spot, to show up asking, pleading and hoping.
Today, we jump right into the cauldron! After breakfast it's onto the Apartheid Museum with our friends Gigi and Sihle (who have just been phenomenal hosts) and then for the rest of the day with them and some other friends in Soweto and another informal settlement where some of their church members live. From here on out Lara and I are less likely to be doing the posting and you are more likely to read the words, thoughts and experiences of one of the 13 great young people we have with us.
So..."Lord, today it will be very easy to want to control, pretend like we know what's going on. It will be very easy to just breeze through everything just looking but not really seeing, to hear all these noises and sounds but to never really listen. Our confession is that we to easily label and try to define, we feel like it makes things easier that way. Teach us today to not just to look, but to see, to listen and not just to hear. Today, teach us..." AMEN
Today the exploration and adventure starts in earnest. Last night looking into the eyes of 13 tired, unsure, excited high school students I talked again of just simple honesty. I short time to remind us that if we are able to show up to this with honesty and openness that God will do the rest. I don't say that in a coy or flippant way but I say that having done enough experiences like this to know that there is an overwhelming desire to want to control, to want to label and to just make sense of. It is much harder to show up open, honest and say. "I don't know to much of anything right now...can you please show me? Can you please lead me?" That will be our aim spot, to show up asking, pleading and hoping.
Today, we jump right into the cauldron! After breakfast it's onto the Apartheid Museum with our friends Gigi and Sihle (who have just been phenomenal hosts) and then for the rest of the day with them and some other friends in Soweto and another informal settlement where some of their church members live. From here on out Lara and I are less likely to be doing the posting and you are more likely to read the words, thoughts and experiences of one of the 13 great young people we have with us.
So..."Lord, today it will be very easy to want to control, pretend like we know what's going on. It will be very easy to just breeze through everything just looking but not really seeing, to hear all these noises and sounds but to never really listen. Our confession is that we to easily label and try to define, we feel like it makes things easier that way. Teach us today to not just to look, but to see, to listen and not just to hear. Today, teach us..." AMEN
Johannesburg!!!
We've arrived safely in Johannesburg and are in the process of getting everyone settled in their rooms for the night. Lots of exhausted faces and blurry eyes at this point, but everyone is in good spirits and excited to be here. Flight was really looooonnnnngggg, but we were met at the airport by our wonderful host couple despite the fact that the flight was late. The students grabbed dinner with them (hooray for food that wasn't cooked on an airplane!) while Gersh and Lara got everything set up with rental cars and cell phones.
Lara's cell: 011-27-82-379-5748
Gersh will be switching to a South African number tomorrow morning, so we'll get you that number tomorrow.
Driving on the left side of the road went well too... We were all so slap happy at that point that it was pretty entertaining. :) Thanks for all the prayers over the last two days for safe travel!
Right now.... must sleep.....
Lara's cell: 011-27-82-379-5748
Gersh will be switching to a South African number tomorrow morning, so we'll get you that number tomorrow.
Driving on the left side of the road went well too... We were all so slap happy at that point that it was pretty entertaining. :) Thanks for all the prayers over the last two days for safe travel!
Right now.... must sleep.....
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Welcome!
Thank you for joining us on our South Africa journey! Our intention is to update this blog regularly throughout our trip, so we can communicate with friends and family back home. Each of the students and leaders will be contributing posts, so our hope is this page will be filled with a variety of thoughts and experiences as we embrace what God has in store for us.
One week from today we will be boarding the plane... it's amazing how fast this time of preparation for the trip has gone. We are grateful to everyone who has supported us over the last several months! Next Wednesday, July 21st at 6pm we are having a time of prayer before the group leaves the following morning. All are welcome to come join us. We will meet in the high school room at Greenwood. Hope to see you there!
One week from today we will be boarding the plane... it's amazing how fast this time of preparation for the trip has gone. We are grateful to everyone who has supported us over the last several months! Next Wednesday, July 21st at 6pm we are having a time of prayer before the group leaves the following morning. All are welcome to come join us. We will meet in the high school room at Greenwood. Hope to see you there!
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