Journey to a New World

I still don't believe it. 81 days ago, I was standing in the living room of the 333 House with my teammates, being commissioned to South Africa by the majority of our community. Tearful goodbyes with lots of smiles.... Anticipation and anxiety over what we were about to get ourselves into... Excitement at what we were about to embark upon as a family.

A hodge-podge team. 

That's what we were. 

A jumble of people. 

Still uncomfortable with each other, committed to spending every day for the next 10 weeks together. 

What were we getting ourselves into?

We loaded up the van with 19 different types of bags and suitcases, a guitar, and a djembe. Then 11 people piled in. (2 school leaders; 3 outreach leaders; 6 students.) And we were off to JFK in NY! 

It was going to take us 3 hours and 33 minutes.

Definitely a sign from God. 

He likes giving our community "333"s.

We left Harrisburg at 9a and finally arrived at JFK International Airport in New York at 1:30p... Our flight didn't leave until 6p and we couldn't even check in until 4p so we all piled our stuff against some divider and chilled there. Still anticipating the next 6 weeks of our lives. 

Our first flight was from NY to Zurich, Switzerland. Going through security was surprisingly smooth. We were all beginning to get hit with the reality that we were going somewhere where we couldn't use our cell phones (unless in Wi-Fi), we didn't have our computers.... The airline purposely separated our group so we were all scattered throughout the entire plane.... 7 and a half hours all by myself with an airplane TV and airplane food. It had been almost 4 years exactly to the date that I flew to Seychelles. I couldn't keep from wondering how different South Africa would be in comparison.

We landed in Swizterland at 7:30a Swiss time and we had one hour to go through security again and get to our next gate. Security checkpoints in other countries are always so different. About half our team had their bags searched for different reasons, much to the amusement of the other half. 

We all traipsed along to our gate, freshened up, and stretched, waiting for our next flight that was to be 10 1/2 hours long.

This time we all sat next to each other :) It was weird, though, because after we boarded the plane, we sat on the plane for at least another hour and a half before actually departing....

As long as they were, the plane rides just flew by... (pun intended). Before we knew it, we were landing in Capetown at 10:30p, while back in Harrisburg it was only 3p in the afternoon. 

We got off the plane and went through customs, preparing to tell the officials we were tourists here on holiday. (Apparently if you tell them you are a missionary, they pull you into the interrogation rooms for questioning....they aren't too fond of missionaries.) 

Let. Me. Tell. You. Something: It was freaking hot. Humid hot. Icky hot. But waaaay better than dry-cold Harrisburg. 

I feel as though the long flights were not only the perfect transition continent-ally or time zone wise, but looking back I remember having 2 intense thoughts:

1. God is so freaking happy with us.
2. Now it's time to step into what we have spent the last 3 months preparing for.

I literally could feel the joy He had in my entire body for whatever reason He had that we still didn't know. All we knew was He said, "They HAVE to go. They WILL go." There was not another option. The way our team struggled financially before we left, we were prepared to go on outreach as a faith journey, if it meant not eating...actually, if we didn't have food money, we were planning on multiplication miracles. So we still would have had food. ;-)

It was overwhelming. Having no idea what you are going to, expecting the worst, hoping for the best, wondering about what God is going to do in the country and in your own heart. Who were we going to meet? Would we get robbed? What trials would God allow us to face and what would we look like 6 weeks from now? How much could really be changed in us and through us in six weeks? 

It sounded like a long time... In reality, it wasn't enough.

To be honest, I am not quite sure where to start on blogging about Africa... I have over 1,500 photos... I am not going to share those all with you. 

I will, however, try and give a break down of the entire trip, maybe by the location. That might be the easiest place to start. 

When we arrived in Capetown, we spent the next couple days recovering from jet lag and adjusting to the fact that we are in freaking Africa. What the heck... Is this even real life???

We walked around the neighborhood we were living in and it was beautiful...

Our host, Jeff, also wanted to take us to Chapman's Peak as he spent the day figuring out logistical stuff with our leaders and giving us some information about the area.

Finally, Sunday (Dec. 16) morning we had breakfast with Jeff and his family and we had a really good discipleship moment.

On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:3-4

Jeff taught us that if the purpose of prophecy is to build up and encourage, then encouraging someone in their walk with the Lord and encouraging them in their godly actions is prophecy. So, for instance, if I am hanging out with Tommy, and Tommy is such a servant, so humble and loving, me telling him that he is such a servant, so humble and loving, and then encouraging him in how much like Jesus that is, I am prophesying to him. So simple, isn't it?

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29

So building each other up is Biblical! 

*Revival Training Moment (we did this within the community -- more later):* A good way to practice this Biblical principle is every time you think something nice about a person, tell them. So often we think a lot of nice thoughts and never tell the person, but we can say a million kind things about them and their character -- try sharing it with them sometime!

That evening, one of our contacts, Meyer, picked us up from Jeff''s house and he drove us to Durbanville, where we stayed 1 more day at his house preparing to leave on our 20 hour journey to Transkei. 

We braai-d chicken (South African BBQ), shared stories, got to know each other....and we also went through Meyer's cabinets to see what sort of things South Africans eat.

Finally, everything was set to go! We had been given a Quantum to use for free (sort of like a van), Meyer had his special Quantum license, and the Quantum was packed with our bags, dishes, and some food for the 20 hour drive to Port St. John's village in the Eastern Cape.

Halfway to Port. St. John's, we stopped in Graaff-Reinet at Aan Die Oewer Bed and Breakfast to spend the night. The owners were friends of Meyer's parents and they offered us rooms and breakfast for free --- such a wonderful blessing! The B&B was suuuper adorable. I felt like it belonged in Beauty & the Beast.

Testimony: In South Africa, KFC is really popular there (unlike America). Also unlike America, KFC in South Africa is actually really yummy. So Meyer took us to KFC for dinner and some of our team decided they want to pray/prophesy to some of the staff. After a few minutes of this, all of the staff had come around the counter out into the dining area and formed a line to receive prayer. Amazing! The harvest really is plentiful and ready! That evening became such a challenge to me to never take a moment as one that is not an opportunity to share the good news of JESUS!!

The next morning we headed out bright and early to finish our drive to Port St. John's.

Ahh... South Africa is so freaking beautiful! We were all in complete awe at the South African sky... Ahh!!

Testimony: On our way to Port St. John's, we stopped to get gas and Meyer begins talking to some random guy in an English-Afrikaans-something else mix (South Africa has about 11 languages). Meyer gets a word of knowledge about this man having back problems. A guy on our team prays for him and Jesus heals the man's back!

If that wasn't a way to start off this adventure... Within the first few days we definitely saw the need and desire for Jesus in South Africa.

People are hungry for Jesus!!! South Africa is hungry for Jesus!!! America is hungry for Jesus!!! 

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

Luke 10:2