Between the Lines

So I am sitting in the Amsterdam airport after an eleven hour flight. Thought we would never land. We have some time till our next flight to Boston and I would like to offer some final reflections on our time in South Africa but I think it's too soon. It will take a few days to process through everything we experienced, saw and heard. What I do know is that has been one of the most if not the best experience of my life. Just to catch you up, yesterday we went to church at Barcelona (where we were last Saturday) and we were able to share communion with them and a great time of worship ( the service lasted almost three hours but it was worth it). Following that we grabbed some lunch before going up to Table mountain which was just icing on the cake because the Lord couldn't have given us better weather for that. We then gathered our things and then ate supper at Bonnie's house. Bonnie is the missionary team coordinator for all IMB missionaries in South Africa. It was so h...

DAY 8 IN SOUTH AFRICA Wow, the end is almost upon us. Today is the next to last day for our team here in South Africa. Today was another fun day for us as our mission work is over and we were able to visit some more sites. Today we spent the majority of our day at Robben Island. For those of you who aren't history buffs, Robben Island is the notorious prison several miles off the coast of Cape Town. It is the place where political prisoners during the Apartheid era here in South Africa were kept, most notably, Nelson Mandela. It is now a museum. There was a 40 minute boat ride over to the island itself where we were then given a bus tour of all of the facilities on the campus as well as the story of what happened. We then went into the maximum prison where we were given a tour of the facility by a former prisoner. We were able to see a lot of the facility, most importantly the former cell in which Mr. Mandela was held. We learned a lot about what happened at this facility and i...

DAY 7 IN SOUTH AFRICA Today was a very special day for our team. We were able to work with a totally different group from what we have been working with this week. We spent the morning and early afternoon with a group of support group leaders from Living Hope. This group was all women except for one male, and this group has a very important job. They work with HIV positive patients beginning with their diagnosis and then continue on through their treatment. This is a tough job, and these people work tirelessly each day, and they often don’t have a lot of times to cut loose and enjoy themselves. They work to encourage and empower people to find work and live with the sickness they have contracted based on a Christ like compassion of love and care. We spent the beginning portion of the session doing get to know you games where our team was able to interact with the support group leaders in a fun way and break the ice somewhat. Then we made a few simple crafts that they a...

DAY 6 IN SOUTH AFRICA Today was somewhat different from our previous days working in Masiphumelele. On Thursdays, the crèches do not come to kids club, so we spent the morning touring all of the Living Hope facilities around the Cape Town area. This may be a good time to provide somewhat of a summary of Living Hope ministries. The Living Hope (LH) ministry motto is “Bringing Hope, Breaking Despair”. They go about doing this through four distinct ministries which make-up LH. The four ministries are Living Care, Living Right, Living Way, and Living Grace. Living Care is what started LH and it is the organization’s effort to compassionately support the health of the community which includes a 25 bed health centre (yes that is how it is spelled here in South Africa), home based care, and what started it all, HIV testing. Living Right is an educational arm of LH that tries to teach people in the townships about proper hygiene and basic medical care they can do at home. For exam...

DAY 5 IN SOUTH AFRICA Hello everyone, I hope today's entry finds you doing well and blessed. Today we were back on the ground in Masi, but in a different way. Due to a threat of rain, this morning's preschoolers were not able to come to the church for kids club, so we instead split up into three groups and went and visited each of the creches from which the students would have come. Creches are the preschools here that are located in the townships, and there are nine in Masi (three different creches visit the kids club each day Monday-Wednesday). This was a great change for our team because we were able to walk through the township some and visit the kids and preschool workers in their own environment. Our team leader, and Campbell University campus minister, Faithe Beam and I teamed up to visit a creche along with one of the Living Hope Life Skills Educators, Natalie. While there we were able to read a book with them, pray with them, and sing songs and dance (their favorite...

DAY 4 IN SOUTH AFRICA Today was not as crazy as it was yesterday because we were more familiar with the area we were working in. We were back in the township of Masiphumelele working with the preschool kids club program in the morning and then the teens club in the afternoon. The morning had us back at Masiphumelele Baptist where were able to spend time with preschoolers from three different preschools (different from yesterday's group). In summary the time consisted of 1) Singing, 2) Bible Story, and 3) Games/Snack. It is just a blessing to be in that room when the group of about thirty children are gathered in a circle and signing songs like Jesus Loves Me, Kumbaya My Lord, Happy And You Know It, and a load of other songs in their own language. These are kid ages 2-5 singing as loud as they can, and they are the most respectful kids I have ever seen. We were intermingling with the kids as this was going on, but the most touching part is when they all pray together. It is a pr...

Today marked our first official day of mission work with Living Hope (livinghope.co.za). The theme for the day certainly focused on responding to the unexpected. It started early this morning after breakfast. We had planned on leaving at a certain time, but were unexpectedly contacted as we were washing dishes and asked to come to the Living Hope facility for an orientation and briefing meeting. This was 30 minutes earlier or so than we had expected to leave, but we were flexible and just left early. I was very impressed with the organization and structure of the Living Hope ministry, and I want to devote adequate time and space to that, so I will bring a full description of the ministry on a later post (most likely after we return home, or at the earliest, this weekend). Following the meeting, we drove over to the township in which we will be working for the week, Masiphumelele (Ma-c-pu-ma-lay-le). Masi is one of the townships in which Living Hope is working, and they bas...

Hello everyone from beautiful South Africa! Today was a gorgeous day here, and I hope that this entry finds you warm and blessed... its rather chilly here as South Africa is about to head into its winter season. This morning we began our day with breakfast before going to worship at King of Kings Baptist Church in Nordhoek, South Africa. This was a service that was very similar to a contemporary service you would find back in the States. They sang songs we all knew (such as Blessed Be Your Name), and the entire service was in English (which is the official language of the country). The highlight here was being able to fellowship and worship with people thousands of miles from home, and despite differences, we were still worshipping the same God! I hope you all can see that no matter the distance, we are all a part of the same body, and it was so powerful to be worshiping in that place with people we didn't know. It didn't matter to them who we were, or where we were from (tho...

Finally, able to post something. We are having some internet problems where we are staying, but I think I have enough of a connection to post this. Well we made it obviously, and everything I have heard about the scenery of Cape Town was spot on. This city is absolutely beautiful! It is breathtaking with its mountains and the ocean. It really is gorgeous. Though that beauty is shared equally with the poverty and needs of the people of Cape Town. This morning we woke up, had breakfast, and then we drove into the city under the guidance and skills of our trusty driver/guide Fransee (FRAN-zee). We spent the morning at the market in downtown Cape Town where we were able to bargain (discuss an acceptable price for items), and I picked up a few nice souvenirs to take home from South Africa. Following the morning, we went and had lunch at the mall, which is just as nice if not nicer than any mall in the US (stores included: Lacoste, Gucci, Polo, and Burberry). Then after lunch, we drove...

Well the first leg of our journey was a success. I currently am sitting in the Amsterdam Airport awaiting to board our flight to Cape Town. This flight from Boston to Amsterdam was fun because I got to experience my first ever in-flight meal, and it was delicious! I also was able to watch movies on the video screen in front of me, so I got three in on the 6 1/2 hour flight, The Descendants, 30 Minutes or Less, and The Artist. The Descendants was a great movie and I highly suggest that. As I sit here writing this, there is a gentleman over by the large windows here in the terminal which overlook the runway, and he is currently going through the traditional Islamic practice of prayer, consisting of the kneeling then standing and recitation of the prayer, all while facing Mecca. As I watch him do this, I have two major thoughts running through my head. First, a deep sense of respect and awe for the commitment he exhibits to his faith and the rituals that go with it. No matter what Chris...

This is it. In just about 13 hours, our team's flight will be taking off from RDU headed to South Africa. It is odd, but I feel a complete sense of calm. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely excited about this trip, but as far as nervousness... I don't feel any. It is sort of like I told our Pastor tonight after Bible study, I feel like I am getting up tomorrow to go to work just like I would any other day, it is just that tomorrow instead of going to work in Buies Creek or Roseboro, I will be going to Cape Town. That sort of feeling lets me know that I am definitely doing what God wants me to. Our trip to South Africa will neither be a short one or a direct one. Our flight leaves RDU and then heads to Boston where we have a short layover before hopping the next plan for a six and a half hour flight to Amsterdam. Once we make it to Amsterdam, its a four layover before taking the final grueling ten and a half hour flight to Cape Town. We leave Thursday at 1 PM and arrive in...

I have always wondered what it would be like to join the world of blogging. My good friend, former teammate, and roommate CJ Oates has had one for the past few years (visit his Tumblr here:  http://iamnumero2.tumblr.com/ ) but I never felt that I had anything worth saying to start one. Jump to today, and if you are friends with me on Facebook, you know that I am going on a mission trip to South Africa... in two days! So with that momentous occasion coming up, I thought this blog would be a good way to let people know what goes on while our team is over in Cape Town, and maybe give me a good enough excuse to continue this thing beyond our return from the other side of the world! So let this serve as the first word for what I hope is not a temporary thing. Come back as I divulge my pre-trip thoughts, emotions, and anxieties, as well as day-to-day updates of the team from Campbell University's activities in South Africa. Be Blessed!