WE ARE HERE!

As you can imagine, traveling 3 continents in 3 days on 3 flights with 3 delays can be a little tough on the body-not to mention the smelly feet, greasy hair and oily skin! But, we are safe and ready to do the Lord’s work!

Our time in Paris was much needed for our team to continue to learn more about each other and bond. On the train ride, we met a girl who goes to UNCW…small world!
Then, it was off to prayer time in Notre Dame Cathedral, hanging at the Eiffel Tower, and walking down the streets in one big blob due to the freezing cold and icy rain-we had a blast! It was great to sit in a classic French coffee shop and share how God had tugged on our hearts to serve in South Africa, as well as talk through some of our nervousness.


Upon our arrival in Joburg, our new friend Richard greeted us at the airport. Richard is an Agathos staff member from Seattle who is currently serving an 8-month trip in Loskop, the village where we will be staying. He took us to the Apartheid Museum in Joburg, where we brushed up on South African history. The information we learned about Apartheid was truly amazing. Feelings of anger, embarrassment, sorrow, and shame, amongst others, traveled with us during the tour. However, it was a great tool for us as we try to minister to the Zulu people.

After the museum, it was time for our four-hour trip south to Loskop. This, as we found out, was not as easy as it seemed! With Richard having just arrived in South Africa 2 months ago and Nick riding shotgun and navigating, we began to take the “scenic” route. It came to the point where we were continuing to see the same things over and over again! But, as you can imagine…the Lord had a reason for all of this!

We pulled into a gas station to ask for directions and to grab a quick bite (think of how tough this was seeing that the number of guys in the van overwhelmingly outweighed the number of women!). When we parked, a little African boy was searching through the trash for food. Brian offered to buy him some dinner, and Nick started to talk to him and learn his story…His name was Jeffrey and he is a 13 year old in Grade 8. He was wearing a worn down pair of boots that were about 3 sizes too big for him. About a month ago, his mom died in an accident (most likely Aids-most of the Africans are in denial and never say that Aids is the cause of death). He has 3 younger brothers, and they now live with his Grandma. But, she doesn’t work and cannot collect any insurance money because she doesn’t have an ID. Jeffrey has tried to get odd jobs, but people always tell him he’s too young. So, he told us that to provide for his family, he has to go around and beg for food and money. At 13 years old! While we continued to chat with Jeffrey, he told us about an experience he had at Sunday school earlier in the day. The teacher had asked a question about where Jesus was, and Jeffrey raised his hand and told her that Jesus was in the sky. She corrected him and said that Jesus was in our hearts. He was SO excited to tell us about Jesus being in his heart! Can somebody out there shout AMEN for what the Lord is doing!

Before we headed back on the road, we sent Jeffrey off with food for his family, soccer cleats (which he wore home), a soccer ball, toothbrushes, soap and deodorant. Numerous times he thanked us and said, “God bless you.” What an amazing way for the Lord to start us off!

Our anticipation increased as we continued on towards Loskop. Unfortunately, our gas in the van did the exact opposite, and we ran out of gas! Yes, you read that right…in the middle of South Africa, at night, on a deserted highway, we ran out of gas! Luckily, a tow truck came by after a good while and took Richard to get some gas. What are you trying to show us now God?! (read on to see…)

About 20 minutes outside of Loskop, we laughed and talked about how our day could not have been any more interesting…that was, until we almost ran over a body in the road. In the middle of another dark, desolate road, was a man lying smack in the middle. Obviously, our first thoughts were that this man was dead. We immediately called the police, and turned our van around to go see if we could help him. We all got out to examine the man, and to our joy and astonishment, he was breathing! Actually, snoring…we assumed (and hoped) that he was really drunk. It was a rather peculiar situation-remember, we were in the middle of NOWHERE with nothing around us! We then all realized that this could very well be a setup for us to get car jacked or robbed, so we decided to get back in the van, lock the doors, and wait for the police. This turned out to be an extremely tense 30 minutes, thinking the entire time that something was going to happen-a passerby who approached our van to see if we needed help even showed us that he was not armed…our faces must of given away our nervousness! Just before the police arrived, a taxi van came barreling down the road. Although our van was facing this taxi with our flashers on, it barely came to a complete stop, almost hitting the man in the road. (Just think…if our flight didn’t arrive late, if we didn’t get lost outside or Joburg which gave us the opportunity for a longer stop to minister to Jeffrey, and if we didn’t run out of gas, we would of not been there to see the man in the middle of the road…and without us there, he would of most likely been hit by that taxi…WE SERVE AN AMAZING GOD!) By the way, the police came, and the man WAS drunk…he finally woke up after three of the officers carried to the side of the road.

So…pretty interesting first day in South Africa to say the least! We want to thank you for the continued prayers. Please lift up Becky, as she is still not feeling well, and Ryan and Brian, as they were unable to sleep on the planes and have been up for 2 days straight. Also, please pray that we will continue to feel the Lord and have Faith in the crazy situations that have already begun to occur over here…we’re sure they aren’t the last!

We’ll end today with a quick “shout out” from Wendy… “To Cole and Clay, mommy loves you! Love you Rick, water the plants” J

We’ll talk to everyone tomorrow!