Some sunshine!!

These are a couple of pics from our "tour" around the area yesterday. Can you belive how beautiful Cape Town is?? This is a view of False Bay and the other picture was taken in a township called Khylitsha. It is a township of about 200, 000, I am told, and everyone lives in shanty type houses. They build them out of whatever scraps they can find-tin, wood, etc. And no "in-house" plumbing, they have community toilets.

Today I am in need of prayers from you!! Please pray for boldness, creativity, wisdom, and pro-activeness :)

During lunch, Zana and I took our clothes to be washed...our first visit to the laundry mat. We are completely out of clean clothes!! I'm a little particular about the way I wash and dry my clothes, so it was hard to leave them in someone elses hands :) I guess I'll know by this time tomorrow if they all get shrunk!! Tonight we'll go have dinner with a team that is here from California. They invited us over for Mexican food!! If you know me at all, you know I have a deep love for the chips and salsa- so needless to say I'm excited!

More sideways rain

Enoch made it home safely- got word on Wednesday morning that his family had picked him up! Praise the Lord for safe travels!

One week down at Living Hope!! It was a good week- I have learned a lot and really gotten to see how God works through this ministry. By the end of the week, I’ve gotten an idea of some of the things that I’ll be doing here (although I’m sure that it will change a couple of times…that’s just the way things work here!). I’ll be doing several groups each week with the patients in the Health Care Center. One time per month I’ll be having group with the Life Skills Educators (they teach character ed in public schools). And I may have a chance over these next few months to teach Life Skills and an area called Capricorn. I’m excited about all that is ahead- but I really need your prayers to help me to do these tasks well.

Looking back on this week- one thing has been on my mind the entire time…and that is that the needs here in Cape Town are absolutely overwhelming. There is no way that LHCC can meet all the needs of this area. It’s a little disheartening to think about the scope of the needs- but I am beginning to learn to look at it from the perspective of the lives that are being touched by the ministry of LHCC, and not focus on all those that are still in need of help. Despite the hard things that go on here, our God is mighty and at work all over the place!

The cold and rainy weather has continued over the past few days- I have to be honest it’s getting a little annoying. But I know that God is trying to teach me something even through the weather!!

This weekend we have gotten to spend a lot of time with 2 missionaries from the US- they have kind of shown us “the ropes” and taken us to their favorite restaurants and scenic spots. Would you believe that one of these ladies is a student at Union (my dear sweet alma mater!!) It’s amazing the people you’ll run in to across the world!

Today is Sunday and we went to 2 worship services- one at Fish Hoek Baptist Church- that is not too different from Rolling Hills or Parkway. Then, we went to Masiphumele Baptist Church- an entirely African experience! Completely amazing!! They know how to praise the Lord and don’t ever seem to get tired of singing! I really enjoy worshipping in Masi- even though I can’t understand what they are saying! Today as they sang I read 2 Samuel 7:18-28 and 1 Kings 8:22-61- these verses are great with the background of an African choir!

Will attach a few pictures tomorrow ☺

Sideways Rain

I've decided that the titles to the blog will the weather-related :) so that way you'll know the CT forecast :)

I’ve enjoyed the first few days that I’ve been at Living Hope. I’ve gotten to ask lots of questions about the social situation here in Cape Town. So, I’ll share what I’ve learned- I’m sure it will be in a jumbled up, fragmented way—but you love me anyway, right?

The unemployment rate is really high here- especially in the poverty stricken townships. This is a pretty complicated issue, I’m sure, but one reason is because it is really hard to find work here. Every morning on our way to work we see men lining up on the streets hoping for work- waiting for someone to pick them up for some random job. I wonder how many of these men wait and wait until they finally give up and walk back home. Another reason for the high unemployment is lack of motivation for work. People can oftentimes live off pensions or the goodwill of others- so there is no point in working. Alcoholism, crime, and drug abuse are rampant here- so also factor into unemployment.

Another major issue here is education. During the days of apartheid, black and coloured people did not have access to good education. Even if they did go to school- what would be the point- they could not get good jobs because the rules of apartheid kept them from achieving anything. So, there are generations of black and coloured people who see no value in education, so why would they care if their children were educated. So, children are encouraged to do well in school. Also, the gov't does not effectively regulate enforcing children to be in school.

But…there is a generation of children and teens now who really value education and learning. The farther SA gets away from the apartheid the more and more things will continue to change for the better. Jess, LHCC social worker, says that things have come a long way since apartheid ended—and will continue to change over time.

I know there is a lot more to learn and I’ll be excited to share it! Oh...the pics are of some of my new friends here!

Well I have to go, I’m off to help serve afternoon tea to the patients in the Health Care Unit! (Don’t you think we should have “tea time” in the US?..I definitely do ☺)

Have a wonderful day! ~L

See for yourself...

In the next few months, you'll definitely hear from my mouth- well not exactly- anyway, you'll hear from me about the different issues and concerns here in Cape Town. If you'd like to do a little more learning and research on your own, there is a great website called DATA- this stands for "Debt, Education, AIDS, Trade Africa." It's full of great info about each of these issues and gives great facts and figures on each African country- you should definitely take a look!

Also, if you'd like to learn more about Living Hope Community Ctr, take a look at their website. It will give you a great picture of the ministry that goes on here- and out from here :) With a better idea of the ministry- you'll be better equipped to pray!!

(links to these websites are on the left-hand side of this page :)

Rainy day...

I think I've figured out the uploading pictures issue...these are a few fun moments...

1. First home cooked meal in CT- Zana, me, pasta, and Seinfeld (on my laptop)!

2. Me in my office entertaining myself with the self-timer button on my camera :)

First day

I have been sitting here for 30 minutes waiting for a picture to upload to this page and I'm finally giving up!! I'll just have to do it another day. This was the caption..."The first home-cooked meal in our flat…Zana, pasta, and Seinfeld on the laptop. This is living!!"

I wish I had time to tell you of all the interesting things that we have encountered- but that would take too long! One of the oddest things is that we have to buy electricity for our apt. at the BP station down the street. We found that out after we lost power!!

Today was my first day at Living Hope. I was excited to meet Jess, the social worker that I’ll be working with. She is a very busy lady- working for all 5 LHCC centers- but she only really has time to effectively serve the Health Care Center. A couple of weeks ago they hired another social worker, so I also got to meet her- she’s still in the orientation phase. I got to go with them to a meeting with some support group leaders in a very impoverished area called Capricorn. It was there that I got to see some familiar faces of ladies that I’d met when I was here in Feb. They remembered me!! Isn’t that crazy!

The rest of this week, I’ll be kind of following Jess around and watching and learning from her. She said that after I get acclimated to tell her the areas that I’d most like to work in. I was glad to hear that from her- please pray that God would give me insight and wisdom to see the areas of which I can most effectively serve.

I’m almost done, but I want to tell you a quick story. When I arrived this morning, I met a young man named Enoch. He is from Malawi and came to Cape Town to find work. He got very sick and was somehow referred to LHCC for medical care in Sept. The doctor and nurse all told me that Enoch ahs been quite a handful- he ran away several times and had frequent hallucinations. However, with the care that he received from LHCC and strength from God, he has gotten back to good health. This morning he left LHCC for a 3-day bus ride back to Malawi! What an exciting thing to witness on my first day! I was almost in tears as I stood with Enoch and the staff to pray that God would protect him on his journey home. Say a prayer for Enoch’s safe journey- that He’ll make his bus transfers, take his medicine, and that his family will meet him in Malawi.

This is where I live!

Hope you like these pics, just wanted to let you see a little of what my world looks like here!

I hear from my “copy editor” named Mom that I need to proofread my blogs!! Ok, I promise I have proofed them all a few times! I’ve always been good at spelling and grammar- I guess I’m loosing my touch ☺

Today was the first outing in the car- Zana’s the driver! She did great considering she’s driving a stick on the opposite side of the car and the opposite side of the road. I was only afraid for my safety twice ☺

Don't have a title

Kristen, if you read this…this corny picture is for you! I found the Mugg and Bean!

Today (Friday) started off with a run…yes, I got to run and we’re in a pretty good spot to keep that up- good sidewalk. I’m not to confidant to run on roads with out sidewalks today cause I’m not too sure which direction cars are coming. They drive on the opposite side of the street- and I’d hate to get run over ☹ Anyway, I ran up a little hill and turned around to run back, and the view from there was absolutely beautiful to me…mountains with houses built up on the side and low lying clouds covering the tops of the mountains!! I got about as excited as you can get when you’re completely out of breath and feeling completely out of shape!! How exciting that that will be my view for the next 5 months! That was a great moment of realization of the beauty of this place, and the beauty of God’s creation that He made for us to enjoy…not just to enjoy, but to move us to glorify and worship the Maker. There is obviously beauty all around us no matter where we are and I hope that I never take it for granted again, but see it as the gift that it is.

So let me tell you about what we’ve found to be our second home (after 24 hours of being here). The mall!! We live across the street from it and have found it to have pretty much what we’ve needed so far. Dinner last night at the mall was Kentucky Fried Chicken (no biscuits here…a little disappointing). This morning we have had to leave our apt. cause they have sprayed for bugs. So to the mall we go…ate breakfast and a restaurant not too different from Starbucks, browsed through a home store not too different from Pier One, browsed through a bookstore not too different than Barnes and Noble. And now I’m sitting in an internet café, where today they are running a special…1 hour of internet use for 15 rand (that’s just over $2). What a bargain!!

Why do I share with you all these monotonous details? Well, if you know me, you know that I usually share way more details than necessary. But the main reason is because I want you to get a taste of what life is like in Cape Town. My goal is to share with you these things so that God will plant in you a passion and desire to pray for the people of Cape Town. I want my excitement for this place to jump through the internet to you ☺ If you read this and pray for me- that’s wonderful and I really appreciate that so much… But if by the time I leave here, you have not prayed for the people here or developed an interest in or a heart for them- I will feel a little bit like I’ve failed. I will leave here, but God won’t. So, the point is to pray, not just for me, but for the people of this city!! His work will continue forever in this place, long after I leave. So, in a nutshell, that’s my goal!!

Another side note…I will be living and working in 2 different settings- so very soon, I’ll be telling you more about the “hard” situations and experiences that are happening in this city. Those stories will be a lot different than coming to the mall, using the internet café and browsing through bookstores. But though I know I’ll encounter hard things, I know that I’ll encounter MUCH MORE hope!! I can’t wait!

I can’t believe how long this is- and how many times I said “so.” I’ll try to work on that!

The journey begins!!

So I made to Cape Town!! And I'm writing a blog!! This is a pretty new thing to me, this blog stuff (where did the word blog come from anyway?). So, be patient with me :)

As some of you know, I kind of lamented over a name for this crazy blog- and I know you are completely impressed with the title- I know it's very original :) But I do want to recognize the title that came in a close 2nd to "Letters from Cape Town." My sweet sister Becca suggested "Put on your CAPE and come to TOWN!" Isn't that great!! She was pretty sad that I didn't name it that, but you can't win 'em all! Thanks to all of you who tossed around suggestions- ultimately, the boring title won out.

So, just some quick thoughts...on the many, many hours on planes that it took me to get here, I had lots of time to think (in between the movies, iPod, reading, and being miserable and uncomfortable). As I sat and sat, I thought and thought about how thankful I am for 2 things...

1. That leaving is hard to do...Although it's just for 5 months, saying "See you later," to my precious family and friends was not easy- and there were some tears shed (if you know me at all, you know that really means "a lot of tears shed" :) How sad it would be if it was easy to leave because I didn't have significant relationships that I would miss. God has richly blessed me with so many deep and loyal friendships, and an amazing family that I can't even express how precious they are to me (and a dog that I love too!! who would've ever guessed!) So one of the ways that God shows His goodness to me is through relationships with people that I love and who kindly love me back!

2. 2nd thought...That God works through peopple allowed me to be a part of His story. God is God, and can pretty much bring salvation and redemption to the world without the help of anyone. However He has chosen to allow us- selfish, broken, and sinful people- to do His work. What a privilege to be allowed such a thing- that the God of the Universe has chosen you and I to display His goodness and glory to the world. That's quite a responsibility!! He doesn't have to use us, but He does! So, wherever it is that you are, God has chosen to put you there to do His work and display His glory! How exciting!!

This is longer than I planned, and I used way to may exclamation points--oh well!!