Busy week...

Pic 1- One of the patients holding the "Serenity Prayer" This is what we read at the end of each group session. Pray that this prayer would become practice in the lives of the patients.

Pic 2-One of the patients named Patricia, she's a new believer!! She was led to the Lord by one of the staff of LHCC (Deb, my South African mom :)

Pic 3- This is a patient at the health care center named Mama Theta- see the blog below, "Theta walks" for more about her. She's walking better these days...baby steps everyday. Yesterday she walked all the way outstide to sit in the sun. This is the best picture of her that I've taken- sorry it's not great. This one was taken during a group session.
Here's just a short laundry list of what I've done so far this week. I plan to give you more details, but don't really have much time now :)

Tuesday AM- I attended a drug/alcohol addiction support group for "street people" (otherwise known to us as "homeless."). Wow!! I had lots of thoughts during and after this group. It was a great opportunity for me to be able to hear some very hard stories. My prayer for these men is that God would miraculously take away their taste and desire for alcohol and drugs. And also that they would come to understand the love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy of God Almighty. If I had half of the problems that these men have, I may be just like them- addicted to a substance that kills in every sense of the word. Pray that God would bring them true life, instead of the death of addiction. I plan to attend this group weekly, so you'll probably hear more :)

Tuesday afternoon- I attended kids club in a township called Masi. It was about 15 children of about 10-12 y/o. They were sweet and fun. I got to teach them a song (that was a little scary :) Then they sang for me!!! They sang a song that said "I want to go to heaven someday..." Except they sang it, "I want to go to heaven MONDAY!! (Wouldn't that be nice!!)

Wednesday- I went to a school called Zerilda Park with a team of 5 Life Skills Educators. We did 9, 30 minute classes in which they talked with the kids about making wise choices. It was so much fun, cause I was kind of in my element. I think they had as much energy in the first class at 8:00 as they did in the last class at 1:30. Me, on the other hand...I was almost dead the last half of the day! I'll plan to go with them to this school every Wednesday, so you'll be sure to hear more stories and see pics. The Life Skills Educators have been given complete freedom to teach on whatever they see appropriate for the kids of Zerilda Park. So that means they can tell the kids about the only real hope they could ever have- Jesus!! Pray that they'd be able to build trusting relationships with the kids and that their lives and words will speak of the hope of Christ!

Going on a mission trip this weekend to an area called Sutherland. It's supposed to be really cold- I'm not looking forward to bundling up again, but I'm excited about what God will do! Pray for safety and for open hearts of the people. More about that when I return.

I'm praying for rain in Nashville!! I'd love to trade weather...Lord bring some of Nashville's heat to CT and some of our rain to Nashville!!

Introducing...

Katie bug...

Just wanted to let ya’ll know that I am now on the road in South Africa!! My first few days have gone well- at least I think so, Nat and Zana may give you a different answer!!

So, the lady that we rented the car from gives names to all her cars. Our car is named Katie (sweet, right?). Sweet Katie is a little blue car that looks exactly like Tazz. I love Katie all ready- they only issue I have with her is that she has no radio or cd player. So I guess that gives me more time to pray for safety as I drive :). I think we’ll be pulling the iTunes on the laptop to break the silence!!

Katie doesn’t have power steering, so when you see me again, I’ll probably have HUGE arm muscles ☺ She has red seatbelts (we think it’s nice accent color.) She has power locks, but usually one door stays locked- and it’s always a different door everytime…so Katie likes to keep us guessing ☺ What else can I say about Katie…oh yes…she has a big green bumper sticker on her booty that says “Katie.” Kind of like a nametag, so she always knows who she is. I think we’ll call her Katie-bug (in honor of Nat and I’s sweet friend Katie Thompson). Katie sits a little low, so sadly…shorty that I am…I may have to invest in a little pillow to sit on ☺ Otherwise, I feel like I'm sitting in a hole and trying to see over the steering wheel.

My thoughts on driving on the opposite side of the road are these...it will take some getting used to- however, maybe not as long as I had originally thought. It’s kind of scary not knowing which direction cars are coming at me- but that’s why Zana and Nat are there, right? The windshield wipers and blinker are on opposite sides, so most times when I’m turning, I turn on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker (which I should tell you they call the indicator), and vice versa. I kind of drive slower than everyone else, so I might kind of make other driver's mad. So, I get passes a lot and they are not scared to ride the bumper or pass when there is not any room to pass. I'd say that South African driver's are a little crazy!!

I know that you're dying to see a picture of Katie bug, but we've had a little glitch in the whole uploading pics to our blogs. It seems that by uploading pics at Living Hope, we've pretty much used up their bandwidth for the month (oops...who knew they were on pre-paid internet service). So, unfortunately for you that means a lot less blog pics. Makes me said, but I'll still be posting them as much as I can :)

She walks...

This past week I’ve had the blessing of getting to know a dear little lady named Mama Theta. Before she arrived I had already heard so much about her, as she has been a patient at LHCC before. Actually, she was one of the first 10 patients of LHCC (the health care center opened in 2003, i think). So she naturally holds a dear place in the heart of the staff members (most of whom have been working there since the HCU opened). She has endeared herself as the unofficial mother of LHCC, kind of adopting the health care center’s staff members as her children.

Theta has several children, but they are grown and on with their own lives. The son that cares for her the most is around 18, and is working hard to finish up high school. However, he comes to visit her when he can.

The doctor has asked Natalie (she’s a physical therapist, or in South African a physio) to help Theta to get up and start walking so that she can care for herself when she has to go home. I had the blessing of getting to help in their physical therapy session yesterday. Nat had already been in once to get her out of bed, but she was too tired. This time though, she was ready to go!! With Nat supporting her on one side and me on the other, we began to take tiny, slow steps together. I could tell from her determined face, that we wouldn’t be stopping until she was ready. I didn’t expect us to go far, but as we walked she kept saying, “I’m not tired.” Interpretation: ”We’re not stopping!!” We walked all the way down the ward, into the reception area, and to the door to go outside! She probably would’ve gone outside if it hadn’t been raining! She just kept going and going, like the Energizer Bunny. Every time Natalie asked her if she was ready to turn around, she’d say…”Are you lazy?” Interpretation: “Can’t keep up??” It was so funny- obviously sarcasm is a universal language. We probably walked with her for 30 minutes…it was the highlight of my day.

Today, I found out that Theta’s youngest son, 16 years old, had been shot and killed over the weekend. Her family came to tell her on Tuesday. Today as we walked, she mentioned this and how she cried when they came to tell her. She wasn't even able to go to the funeral. I can’t even imagine what that must be like for her to deal with. Unfortunately, it’s probably a much more common occurrence than we’d like to think...

I just now returned from walking with Mama Theta again (I’m becoming a PT assistant, how exciting!!) After we finished she said that every day she will get better at walking, and when she goes home she will be able to go where she pleases. Then, she says that we must come to her every day!! Pray that God would continue to strengthen and prepare her body to go home, and also that God would prepare the way for her to be taken care of when she gets there.

Mama Theta is a strong and determined women, I can tell this by the way she walks (the focused look that comes over her face) and the way she talks of God, going home, and her family. She probably knows more about Gods strength and character than I ever will know.

If God sent me to South Africa just to walk with Theta, then that’s a good enough reason for me.

May the bread on your tongue...

Leave a trail of crumbs
To lead the hungry back to the place where they are from…

Take to the world…
This love, this hope and faith.
Take to the world this rare, relentless grace…
~"Take to the World," Caedmon's Call~

Thanks Caedmon’s Call for bringing me inspiration through my iPod on Monday morning!


Pic 1- Me and the girls at the Cape of Good Hope

Over this weekend I had the wonderful treat of spending time with a dear friend and former roommate-Kathy Pearson!! (It was lekkar- which is Afrikaanz for really good!!!) She has been working with Habitat for Humanity in Mozambique for the past couple of months. On her way back home she stopped in Cape Town for a few days to visit. Crazy that I'm a visitor in CT and she came to visit me!! We had the best time!! It was just like the “basement days.” If you didn’t know me when I lived in the basement apt. on Blair, then you won’t get that I guess. But I lived there with Kathy, Nat, and a couple of other friends (it was an incomplete reunion without Katie and Charis ☹

Anyway, we had the best time seeing the sites in CT and just hanging out and relaxing. Kathy is always kind of like a cup of cold water! She just refreshing, wise, and always bringing new and wonderful perspectives on life and the journey.

Probably the most memorable experience we had was walking on Fish Hoek beach and looking out and seeing 4 whales about 100 yards off the beach!!! We were way more excited than everyone around us- we kind of screamed and ran down the beach toward them! We may have looked silly, but hey…you can’t see that in TN!! We probably watched them for an hour. They were so cute, just playing and flipping around- it was precious!! Then I played fetch with a big, wet dog- and if you know me, you know that that's a pretty big deal!! And I loved it!! Wow- Boo has changed my world!

It was sad to take her to the airport- we all wanted her to stay- it seemed so natural to have her here! But, she had to leave…we just got back from taking her to the airport. With rush hour traffic it took us an hour and a half to get there!!

Something to look forward to this week…Well, brace yourself...I’m about to get out on the road!! WATCH OUT CAPE TOWN! I'm renting a car that will hopefully help me to be a little more mobile to get out and be a part of kids clubs and life skills classes in different townships. I’m excited to be able to be a part of more Living Hope excitement!! Just say lots of prayers that I quickly learn to drive on the opposite side of the road (and the car). That will take a lot of getting used to. I have to admit that I have a touch of road rage (anyone that has ridden with me could probably tell you!!), so I’m going to try really hard to keep that in check ☺ I have a feeling, a crazy video is in store for you!! I have to share the experience of driving with you, right?

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that Tazz (our car) got attacked by baboons this weekend. Ok, so you know how raccoons or possums wander around in TN? Baboons are the possums or raccoons of SA! We saw some walking across the road and stopped to take pics, then they kind of jumped on top of the car. You can only imagine the girly screams and laughter that erupted during this whole deal. All I can say is that I’m glad that our windows were rolled up!


Pic 2- I think he wanted Tazz to take him for a ride!!


Pic 3- Are they describing me or the baboons (I'm definitely attracted by food, I'm not sure about the dangerous part...well maybe when I'm driving in South Africa!!

Every day with Jesus...

...is sweeter than the day before...

This is the tune that has been ringing in my head all morning. One of the health care center patients has been singing this beautiful tune all morning! It's a welcome sound in the sterile, but peaceful halls of the wards.

Pic 1- She's working on the group activity!! She is the one who has been singing all morning long!! She is wonderfully helpful and helps me to set up for group and also helps to clean up!

Pic 2- The ladies with their beautiful creations!! I told them that they are artists!





Today was group day!! I look forward to these days for several reasons...1. I get to bake for the patients (any excuse I have to bake sweets, I take it!-today was peanut butter cookies), 2. It's just fun to get together with them and to see them interacting with each other, laughing, and smiling. We were kind of crammed into a tiny room and at one point it seemed like we were packed in like sardines. The staff members wanted to come in and see what was going on...we had patients, sisters (nurses), the cook, the doctor, me, and the patients packed in. I LOVED IT!! I could tell that the ladies enjoyed the activity- they created a collage- it was so fun to watch them create something all their own. Seeing them smile is pretty much the highlight of my day!

At the end of each group, we end by saying The Serenity Prayer (THANKS JULIE!!!). This prayer says..."God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." How this works is I say it in English, then it is repeated in Xhosa by the translator, then the ladies repeat after her. Then it is read in Afrikaanz. I can't tell you what a beautiful thing it is to see the ladies holding hands, eyes closed, and speaking this prayer. How beautiful!! Would you pray this prayer for the patients of Living Hope?

By the way, wonderful news around LHCC is that Fish Hoek Baptist Church (LHCC was started as a ministry of this church) is the recipient of The Courageous Leadership Award. This award is given by World Vision, Saddleback Church, and Willow Creek Church. This is an international award given to the church that is making the biggest impact in their community on HIV/AIDS. Isn't that amazing!! It will be exciting to watch how God uses this recognition to grow the ministry of Living Hope!

Love ya'll!!

Technical Difficulties

Just to update you...this week Nat and I have been filling in at the front desk at the Health Care Center. I think I've already mentioned that, but let me just tell you...it's not as easy as it looks :) It's just a tiny bit of chaos, sometimes I've felt like I was kind of in a tornado!! It's a pretty hectic place at times, but I'm enjoying getting to know all the staff members that come in and out. I haven't been around the patients as much this week, but I will be having my groups this week, so will let you know how that goes :)

Ok, gotta go, the phone's ringing off the hook and I need to try to help! Samantha (she's the receptionist) WE MISS YOU!!

Sunrise

OK, I know that these sad pictures can do the sunrise justice, but...

One thing that God has been opening my eyes to as I have been here is the beauty of His creation. I’ve never been too great at recognizing God through creation- I guess I’ve always just taken it for granted. But what a gift He gives, and what a picture He shows us of Himself through the natural beauty that surrounds us.

In Cape Town, it’s hard not to be completely blown away by the beauty of the ocean, mountains, and sky. My favorite part has to be the sky!! It’s so huge and beautiful here (I know it’s as big in Nashvegas, but it definitely looks so much bigger here!). Anyway, my favorite part of the day has quickly become watching the sunrise. You may be thinking, “Wow Laural, how great that you go outside and watch the sunrise every morning...look at you go!!” Well, not so much…I watch it from my kitchen window ☺. It’s not a complete view, there are a few buildings in the way. But it’s beautiful just the same. I come in to make my coffee and it’s dark outside, as I make my toast and eat my banana I watch the sky change from deep blue to pink, yellow, orange…whatever God feels like that morning. But it’s always beautiful and fascinating to me, and I just wanted you to see the view from my kitchen window ☺

P.S. The girls have been asking our landlady for a curtain to cover the window, but I’m secretly hoping that she won’t buy one because it will DEFINITLEY get in the way of my morning view ☺

Hola Amigos!

Pic 1- Nice view!!

Pic 2- Showing off our hiking wounds!!

It’s been a great week!! I’ll try to hit the highlights…

I’ve started a weekly support-type group at the Health Care Centre (HCC) and each group has gone really well so far. Yesterday I had a men’s group …I lured them with cookies (these came out a little better than the ones that I made for the ladies ☺). One thing that impressed me about these men (Malcolm, Mxolisi, and Nsikelelo)…they don’t have a complaint about being sick and in the hospital. They each commented on the great care that they receive at Living Hope. Malcolm even said that after going from doctor to doctor and hospital to hospital, he was relieved when they told him that he was going to Living Hope because he knew what wonderful and peaceful place it is. I think that says so much for the careers, nurses, and staff of the HCC- but most importantly it testifies to the Spirit of God that is present there. Please pray for the patients at the HCC- that not only would God bring physical healing to their body, but that He’d be the Healer and Restorer of their souls. I have found the patients to be joyful and smiling despite their sickness. Also, pray that I would move at the impulse of Christ’s love and take every opportunity to be a vessel of his love to those that I come into contact with.

I have enjoyed getting better acquainted with the staff of the HCC- they are a lively bunch (to say the least ☺). I am often hearing them laugh and sing hymns as they work. They have quickly “adopted” me into their family- inviting us (Nat, Z, and me) to Sunday lunch at their house, to the carnival at their kids’ school, sending home food for us, and doting over my poor dry and cracked hands (I promise that 2 of the ladies about died when they say how dry my hands were and then coated my hands in a bunch of different kinds of lotion- and even sent some home with me ☺). It’s nice to have South African moms, since my mom is so far away ☺.

For the next 2 weeks, Nat and I will be filling in for the front desk receptionist at the HCC while she is out on vacation. What a task this will be!! She pretty much holds the place together- so hopefully we won’t make it fall apart. I’m excited to be helpful in this way. So, if you happen to call you’ll hear, “Living Hope, this is Laural.” A couple of times I’ve almost said “Christian Women’s Job Corps, this is Laural.” I guess old habits die slowly ☺

This week in SA they celebrated the national holiday of Women’s Day. I’m not exactly sure what this holiday means- but we celebrated!! We had the day off from work, so decided to go hiking. It was a beautiful and warm day, so out came the Chacos (ummm…kind of like heavy duty sandals, outdoorsy type shoes). We went up the road to a park called Silvermine and off we went! Nat was our trailblazer and led us through a beautiful trail with gorgeous views of Cape Town! We decided to go off the beaten path to a rock trail that would lead us up to the top of a mountain overlooking the city. After we lost the trail, we began to climb…seriously climb…I mean up rocks and stuff!! Can’t say that I’d really done that before. For you who know me, you know that my balance is not too great, so I concentrated really hard on Nat’s wise words to lean forward and grab the closest rock. I figured that I might live or die by those words!! It was so much fun, and a tiny bit scary all at the same time!! Praise God that I didn’t blow off the side of the top of the mountain because the wind was blowing insanely hard! And the view from the top was absolutely amazing!! (do you think I used enough exclamation points? It’s hard to convey the emotion of the experience ☺)

As we climbed down, I had visions of myself rolling down the mountain and taking Nat and Z with me, but fortunately that didn’t happen. We all survived and had a few scratches and a little blood as souvenirs of our Women’s Day adventure!

If you are still reading, I imagine that you are probably related to me and laughing at all the typos!! I promise that I’ve proofread this a few times and so please be kind if I missed a few errors ☺

First time for everything...

My FIRST traditional South African meal…Vet Koek (I’m not sure how you spell it). It’s easiest for me to say Fat Cook- so that’s what I call it…or Curry Bunny. Anyway, we were served this meal at a goodbye lunch for our friend, Heidi, who is leaving to go back to the US today. Fat Cook is kind of a mince stew type thing (what the heck is mince?), with curry in it. They make these delicious buns, and you put the mince in it and eat like a sandwich. I know it looks kind of gross, but…yummy to my tummy…and I don’t even like curry!



My FIRST time to bake cookies! Added a little too much water since I wasn’t too sure what milliliters is (I know…that’s pitiful!), then that made the color on the M & Ms run- so they were a little strange looking and sticky cake like. But no worries on the taste- they were delish- and you can see the empty container to prove it! (I brought them to group with the patients and they ate them all!)



This is the best one…I hope you’re still reading! Today I held my FIRST support group with patients here at the Health Care Center. Last night, Nat, Z, and I prayed that today would be a sunny day so that patients would feel like getting out of bed and coming to group (they’ve not had a group before). And guess what, God gave us a beautiful sunny day!! I had a group of 6 ladies waiting for me when it was time for group to start. Everyone shared a little about their life and two ladies said something that has been ringing in my mind…

Maggie and Tambisa each shared that after coming to Living Hope life has changed for the better. By this they didn’t mean just physically better, they have become Christians since they came to Living Hope! It brings to mind the verse that says- what Satan means for evil, God means for good (or something like that). Without sickness they may not have come to Living Hope to realize the “sickness” of their soul. Satan meant for their sickness to bring complete death- and although they are not protected from death, their soul is now safe and will live forever. Sickness has actually now brought true life! That’s exciting! It’s so wonderful to be a part of a place where healing occurs- not just physical healing, but spiritual healing and deliverance from the illness of sin!

The first group went wonderfully well and I’m excited about what’s ahead- we’re going to do some fun stuff. As I talked about having a time to get together this week and talk, play games, and do activities together- they were all nodding their head in agreement that they need a little action in their day ☺.

By the way…today is a beautiful sunny day and the forecast is looking good for the rest of the week!! Oh yes, Thursday is a national holiday…Women’s Day…nice…shouldn’t we celebrate that at home?

Gorgeous days!!

Pic 1- Our flat is now complete!! Natalie has arrived...this is us on the first flat movie night- what a crazy Friday night!!

Pic 2- Kalk Bay pier

Pic 3- My feet and the Atlantic Ocean

Crazy weekend in South Africa!! Last night I got to do 2 of my favorite things…1. Eat sushi (yippee!! I don’t’ have to go with out my dear spicy tuna roll in SA), and 2. Watch one of my movie faves “Love Actually.” How could it get much better?

Saturday was wonderful too! Saturdays will be our adventure and exploring days, so we had a busy day planned. It started off with a morning run. This is the perfect weather to run because it’s cool, but not too cool. It’s like running on a fall morning in TN. The sky was clear and the sun shining- because of the horrible weather that we’ve had I get so excited about pretty days! Then we came back to the flat, Zana cooked breakfast and we did a little Pilates (I don’t think I’ve told ya’ll about our workout sessions of POWER Yoga and Pilates…we cram in our living room and crowd around my computer…it’s great- and a tight squeeze!!) Anyway, the morning started off so perfect that I couldn’t help but introduce my 2 roomies (yes…Natalie’s here!) to one of the best songs ever…”Oh What a Beautiful Morning,” from the best musical ever, “Oklahoma.” I should definitely note that this is my sister’s favorite movie- (I thought about you Bec ☺)

After we got ready, we embarked on our first day of exploration of this amazing town that we now call “home.” Cape Town is filled with all sorts of different areas and we decided to explore Kalk Bay and Muzenburg (basically because these are the only places we know how to find ☺). Kalk Bay is a cute area with lots of artsy shops, antique stores, and restaurants. There is a lot of Bohemian influence in the clothing, jewelry,and crafts in this area (and there are cutie purses everywhere- you know I love that!!)

In Kalk Bay there is a great pier filled with all sorts of brightly colored fishing boats. As we walked along the pier and looked out over the ocean, Zana, Nat, and I were all in agreement that God is pretty amazing to call us to such a beautiful place with so many new things to see and explore- and to get to do it all together!! We are determined to see and do everything we can during our time here- I am so excited!!

As we walked to the very tip of the pier- guess what we saw!!! A whale!! Whales come in to the bay around this time of year- except I think they are a little early this year. We definitely went out to Kalk Bay in hopes that we’d see one- but me in my usual pessimism figured that we probably wouldn’t see one. Thank goodness I was wrong, because we saw a huge whale surfacing several times! It didn’t seem that anyone else noticed or got to excited, but we definitely did! After we got our whale “fix,” we walked over to a restaurant that one of our friends had recommended. It was a beautiful, breezy place that over looked the bay- it was so beautiful- to bad my camera died so sorry no pics of this fun place.

Left the restaurant and the weather had turned a little colder, but we then went to a beach in Muzenburg where normally there are lots of surfers. Of course we went there to look for hot surfing men, but apparently they had all gone in for the day…sad. I got a phone call as we walked and all I could here was a man’s voice cracking up…finally I heard, “This is your dad!” That’s the last I heard, but I kept talking just in case he could still hear me. It’s amazing to me that I can get a phone call from Goodlettsville, TN all the way in Cape Town- but I guess it’s not that amazing because I couldn’t hear anything ☺

Last stop for the day, we went to watch the sunset at Noorhoek Beach- well we kind of missed the sunset cause I had to make a “pitstop” on the way ☺ I cannot even tell you how beautiful the sky was. I tried to take in all the sights and sounds of the beauty that God has created for me (and everyone) to enjoy. He didn’t have to, He just did! The colors of the sky were amazing- from deep blues to gold and orange. I shut my eyes and listened to the waves and birds and these are the words that came to my head…”The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty, let all the earth rejoice…How great is our God…Chris Tomlin says it well! Then I also thought of the Caedmon’s Call song, “God of Wonders.” This was a great way to end an amazing day of fun- that I feel so blessed to have!!

Oh yeah, another thing about my day is that I have had a horrible crick in my neck all day- it kind of runs from my neck to my back. So, I haven’t been able to move my neck really today, and it feels a little crooked. This time 2 years ago I had a stiff and crooked neck too!! If you didn’t know me then, it was from pretty serious and sudden brain surgery that I had in June 2005. So my crick today reminded me of God’s goodness to deliver me from that whole deal- He was so good to let me live and let me to experience all the wonderful things that I am experiencing here in Africa. I’m so thankful for that humbling and wonderful reminder! Mom and Dad dry your eyes ☺

So this is my long commentary on the day…stay tuned for more Saturday adventures…next week…cliff diving!!

These title stress me out, I can't think of anything creative!

Pic 1- You know the mall that I've talked so much about? Well this is it, and I'm usually following Zana around the mall- mom and dad can tell you that I'm kind of a slow walker, so here's your proof.

Pic 2- Zana and Tazz- So I'm not sure how much I've talked about our car, but it's always an adventure every time we hop in! It's kind of a jerky drive, but Tazz is really old and has lots of aches and pains. We think Tazz has a lot of abandonment issues because of all the volunteers that have used and abused her.

Well, I had this really long blog that I typed on another computer and now I can't open it up on this computer...dang Mac (just kidding Matt- don't cry :)

Today has been a good day. This morning I prayed with several of the patients here in the Health Care Center- I've decided that I'm going to pray with a few of them everyday. That's the best thing that anyone can do, right? I chatted with some of the men about American football and told them that my dear Tennessee Titans will be starting their season soon...I'm hoping for a good year for them- don't let me down Vince!

This afternoon Z and I went to deposit our rent- we go to this bank that has these strange doors. You walk through one door into this tiny glass room, then once the door behind closes, you can walk through the door in front of you to the teller. Tight security here in Long Beach Mall :)

Then back to LHCC to congratulate some of our new friends who got engaged last night. Sherna is a precious South African friend who is the Marketing Coordinator at LHCC- she took Z and I out for our first movie in SA ("Stomp the Yard"). Her fiance is Tony- from California- he moved here last year to help people in poverty to start their own businesses. He was also my "taxi driver" this afternoon as he took me to Masiphumele to watch a Life Skills Ed class. I think I'll be calling him a lot for rides during the work day :) Anyway, their getting married and now I'll get to go to a South African wedding!! I'm so excited!

Tonight is the night that my sweet friend Natalie arrives in SA!! I'm going to the airport to pick her up and I can hardly wait!! She is a dear friend and now they'll be three of us living in our cutie flat.

Love you all, but gotta go, time runs out quick in this internet cafe'!

Happy 1st day of August!

On Monday, I went to a school in Masiphumele, a township of about 40,000 people (that’s a very rough estimate). I went to a Life Skills Education class taught by an LHCC staff member- I have been waiting to get to go to a school- so I was really excited!!

We were in a 6th grade classroom, and I counted around 40 students sitting in a small portable. They were a pretty lively class- and of course me walking in- a white woman- caused quite a commotion! I’m sure the teacher really appreciated that ☺ Anyway, I was pretty surprised when they pulled out their books for the class- it was THE BIBLE!! Can you believe that? What a contrast from public schools in the US! The lesson was on self-esteem, and the text was Psalm 139. What a wonderful message is being given to children in schools all over Cape Town! God’s Word is obviously alive the schools! After the lesson, the teacher prayed a powerful prayer over the children. It was pretty incredible!

Praise the Lord that He has opened the door for 16 new Life Skills Education classes to be taught beginning this week! Pray that God would use these classes to bring children of Masiphumele, Ocean View, Capricorn, and Muizenburg to a saving knowledge of Him. And then that through their salvation, they would bring transformation and hope to their communities!

So far it has been a sunny and beautiful week here in Cape Town! It’s been nice to see the patients at the Health Care Center sitting out on the porch enjoying the sun, instead or curled up in their beds trying to stay warm. Yesterday I played a game of badminton out in the yard with one of the patients…I’m quite the badminton pro!