capetown

I have not blogged for a long time! The past three weeks have been crazy. I have been so busy. After I left Pietermariztburg our group of 52 drove along the coast of South Africa, called the Garden Route. We drove from PMB to Capetown. We spent each night in a different city. We stopped in East London, Port Elizabeth, and George. Each place we stopped in was different from the last. South Africa is truly a unique country. It is so diverse. The beauty, the people, the landscape is all so different. During our drive we went from sprawling fields of green, to large villages, to mountains, to areas of desert. I am still so amazed at how different this country is. Each area has soemthign so unique about it. I love South Africa. As we were driving I was just blown away at the beauty of south Africa and how blessed I am to be able to see so much of the country that has captured my heart. As we were driving I was overwhelmed at the situation I am in. I am half way around the world, in an incredibly beautiful country, rich with culture, and I am blessed enough to see the entire country and experience things that the citizens of this country will never have the opportunity to experience. The more time I am here in this country, the more I have realized how deeply moved I am by the people of the country. It has During our garden route drive we were able to do a few different things. One day we did these adventure caves which as crazy. We crawled through caves. It sounds kind of lame, but it was really cool. After the caves we went to an ostrich farm. Random, yes, but also fun. We were able to ride the ostriches. I am quite positive that they are one of the ugliest creatures on this planet. Along the way we were able to go bungee jumping. We went bungee jumping off the highest bridge in the world. I loved it, absolutely loved it. It was crazy. By far one of the coolest experiences I have had. The bridge overlooks these beautiful mountains and the ocean. The jump itself is about 7 seconds of free fall. It was so much fun. I would love to do it again.

I have spent the last week at the Bible Institue of South Africa. It is about a twenty or thirty minute drive, or 45 minute train ride, into the heart of Capetown. It is in a city called Kalk Bay. It is a little beach town. I love it. It kind of reminds me of home. It is absolutely beautiful. Our campus overlooks the ocean and the mountains. Every morning I run on the beach while the sunrises. I love it. Our group has been split in half, so while half of us have been here at the Bible Institute, the other half of the group has been living with homestays in a nearby coloured community called Ocean View. I will be switching over to Ocean View this evening and staying with my host family, Clive and Lucy for a week, then we will all meet up again as a group and spend two nights together in capetown before the group flies home to the states and I fly back to PMB. This part of the semester has been interesting. I have loved the freedom and being in capetown. The city is beautiful and I am beyond blessed to be able to see the things I have been seeing and experience a whole new side of south Africa, but I miss Haniville. I miss my friends in Haniville. I find myself constantly thinking about the people there and the relationships I have formed. Being at BI though has given me a lot more time to just unwind and really examine why I am in South Africa. I had a really interesting talk with Njabulo the other day. I called to check in on him and see how he was doing and we ended up talking for an hour or so about Haniville and the reason I am going back. he asked my opinion of South Africa and I asked him his opinion of APU students in Haniville. He told me that the people of Haniville can very easily tell when people are there to truly get to know the people, or when people are there to take pictures, build a house and cross it off their list. That hurt my heart. Njabulo was passionate about this. He explained that the people of Haniville are not just something to be observed, which I completely agree with. It made me think a lot. I have really been wrestling with God’s plan for this summer and what his purpose is of bringing me back to South Africa and placing me in Haniville for the next three months. I am confused. As I was talking to Jay about Haniville I told him that I see a lot of hope within his community and a lot of the people I have met have so much truth and joy within them. He told me he didn’t see this, that he is ready to get out of Haniville and that he himself does not see the hope. It made me think. Who am I to come into this community and try to encourage the youth to be the leaders of Haniville and stick around when that is the last place they want to be? I have no idea the pain and the struggles that come from living within a township. I have been praying earnestly that God will reveal to me where my role is with this. I have been praying for wisdom. I do not know whether or not I am supposed to be encouraging individuals to rise up as leaders in Haniville or help them find a way to leave Haniville. I have been praying for divine intervention and for the holy spirit to truly guide my time there. During. our conversations a lot of my prayers were answered in different ways. I have been praying that God will convict my heart of things that are not of him and I realized that lot of the things I had planned for this summer, were my plans, I had not consulted God, I had not prayed for his guidance. I was really convicted of this and humbled. I really sat and thought about what this summer is about. I realized that I need to continue to put God at the center and give each day to him. I want my time in Haniville to be used for his glorification and praise. I need to be reminded and humbled, day after day, that my life is not my own, my time, my plans are not my own, they are HIS. I pray that I will be able to give each day to him while I am in south Africa and put my trust in him. His plans are so perfect and beautiful, far greater than anything that I could try to think up. I am praying that my time here will not be my own, but that it will be his. I am praying for divine appointments, for wisdom, for trust and for God to really just reveal his plan and purpose of my time in Haniville. One of my biggest prayers is that the Holy Spirit will be the guiding force of my time here. Another thing I have been struggling with is what difference does it make? What is my time in haniville actually doing? It is worth it? I have to continue to remind myself that God has brought me here for a very specific reason and I need to trust in that. Sometimes I get so confused. I have been convicted lately of this idea of loving my neighbor and what it should look like in my life. I have a hard time with this concept because for me I have an intense love for South Africa, and for the impoverished people of this community. I have grown to deeply love and care about Africa. My passion for this country is only growing my the day, but is it wrong or pointless for me to spend all my time here, when there are people in my own house in America, on my own street hurting just as badly, just in different ways? I am confused, to say the least.

During my time in cape town I have been reading a lot more. I just finished a book called khayelitsha. It is a story of a white south Africa living in a black township in the heart of capetwon. This story is beautiful. I loved the book. It is all about his experiences as a white man in a township and the journey that it led him on. During his time in the township he was forced to confront his own racial prejudices face to face and also learned a big lesson in community and genuine friendship. I feel like these are things that I am also discovering. I have been looking at my heart a lot lately and doing a lot of thinking. The way that south Africa works and the way they approach race has made me do a lot of self examination. I have been looking at my own prejudices. As the writer of the book described his time in Khayelitsha and the impact it had on his life, I was moved to tears over and over again. The words he used to describe the love he ahd and the way the community had treated him overhwlemd me because it describes the way I feel about haniville. I can see myself living here, in south Africa, in a township and being completely content. The toehr day I as talking to sihle and he asked me when I was coming home, I told him august 1st, because that is hwen my flight to America is, and he said, no allie home to haniville. I am blessed to be able to say I have another home in South Africa. Haniville is quickly becoming my second home. It is shaping me more and more each day and the people there are becoming more and more like family as I am able to deepen relatonships.

On Wednesday we went to Langa township. Langa is the oldest township. It is predominately Xhosa. Our group went on a tour of langa. I was so frustrated and angry that “township tours” actually exist and that APU was taking part of this. Yet I went, and I actually had a good time. We went to this place called Mzoli’s Meats for lunch. It is a place where rich and poor, black and white, South African and foreigner meet and share a meal. It was a beautiful image of the growth that is going on within South Africa and the reconciliation that is possible. One thng that I never get used to in South Africa is the contrast that exists within this country. Even within Langa, a township, there were very distinct contrasts. We walked through a neighborhood called Beverly hills, which was really nice, then across the street was the informal settlement where the immigrants live. I was amazed at this. I was also forced to think about the impact that American culture has had on life in south Africa.

On Thursday our group went to Robben Island, where Mandela and hundreds of other freedom fighters were imprisoned for years as political prisoners during the struggle against apartheid. Mandela was imprisoned for twenty-seven years during apartheid. When he came out he easily could have created a civil war, yet he came out asking for peace and reconciliation. The story of Mandela and South Africa is one of the most beautiful stories in history, in my opinion. I have no idea how any human being could come out of prison after nearly thirty years with open arms, ready to forgive and move forwards towards peace and forgiveness. I feel so privileged and blessed to be able to see a place like Robben island. It holds so much history and so much beauty.

Yesterday our group hiked up table mountain. It was hard. Oh my goodness that is nature’s ultimate stairmaster. I am so sore today. Table mountain is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is a 360 view of capetown. I love it up there. Once again, South Africa’s beauty never ceases to amaze me.


Everywhere we go in south Africa there is a giant buzz about 2010, the world cup. It is crazy here, understandably. As the nation gears up for the world cup, I cant help but feel a little bit discouraged by the things that are happening around world cup. There are buildings being built in front of shantytowns to hide the squatter camps. There are thousands of dollars being poured into things to make the nation look beautiful, while hiding places where, in my opinion, the beauty actually lies. I hate that the government is spending money on hiding the problems instead of fixing it. It enrages me. As world cup hype grows I am also aware of all the danger that lies within 2010. The children of south Africa are now a huge target for child slavery. Prostitution has been legalized. Human trafficking is going to go through the roof here. It hurts my heart, deeply hurts my heart, to think of the things that are going to happen this summer in South Africa.
I leave for homestays tonight. I am so excited. I am excited to be living within a coloured community and get to spend time with a family. My prayer is that I will really be able to listen and engage with them. I have so much to learn about south Africa. I want to hear more about the things that shape everyday life here. After my homestay I will be heading back to Haniville. I cant wait for may 5th, when I get to go home!

II Corinthians 5:
Heavenly dwelling.

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."