Never have I been so tired in my life, as when traveling to South Africa. The traveling began at 4:30 am Monday morning and when I finally got to sleep, really sleep, it was 1 am Wednesday morning.
The trip here was not without it’s issues for several teammates. On our flight from Washington, D.C. to Johannesburg, South Africa (a.k.a our longest flight) a good amount of luggage was lost. Also, at some point during that trip a passport was lost. It was not until we got to the Johannesburg airport that one of our leaders, Melissa, realized she lost her passport. As many steps were retraced as possible, but in the end, Melissa was deported by Customs. I ask that you each pray for Melissa in this time. She was not sure if she would even have enough support to head back down here once she was able to replace her passport. It is all in God’s hands and as overwhelmed as she must be feeling, I ask that you also pray peace and total surrender to whatever outcome God has for this situation.
The luggage that was lost I’m told, will be arriving at our base here soon. I know that several of my teammates will be thrilled to have their clothes and necessities back soon.
As far as our base goes, we are living in a compound called UCSA. We reside in cabin/dorm-like houses. There are five or so girls to each room and each house has two rooms. The boys, well, they all fit in one house because they are few. The rooms are small and filled with bunk beds and a contained amount of storage space. They told us ahead of time that we would be living in cramped quarters and it’s true. No person on this team will ever be alone for the next three months at least. For some of us, myself included, that’s going to be difficult and a major learning experience.
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Day one we had free time after breakfast. We all walked out in groups and explored some around town. It was nice just to see what Jbay looked like, as it was so dark when we arrived. Some people went shopping, especially those that needed the items the airline had lost. After lunch we had a meeting and then more free time before dinner. I saw more of the town the second time we went out and it was so fun but odd (in a good way) to look around and say, “This is our home now.” Walking around and meeting some people, some of us also learned a few “what not to do” things. It’s crazy to think how here, just moving your hand in a certain direction can be offensive. It’s got a few of us paranoid about what kind of trouble we Americans and Canadians will get ourselves unintentionally into. We have to be so careful about the things we say and do 1) Because we’re still learning what’s ok and not ok culturally 2) Because we represent AIM and most important 3) Because we represent Christ. It was fun to meet some locals already, but it will be a challenge to remember that especially in this small town, we are missionaries every day when we go out, even on our “free time.”
After dinner, there was more free time. (And no, this trip will not be filled with so much free time every day. I think they’re taking it easy on us because of training camp and the long travel time.) It was truly wonderful to see that we turned our free time into spontaneous worship time. It was a time of praise and just plain fun. It was also a wonderful way to end the night.
It’s so odd for me to think that as I’m writing this it is 1:42 am but in Knoxville it’s only 7:42 pm. That said, breakfast is at 8 am and I should really get some sleep. I don’t know if jet lag isn’t going to hit me or if it just hasn’t hit me yet. Unfortunately, I’m not all that tired. I’ll try to post this blog some time today, as it’s now Thursday. Know that there will definitely be one blog a week, as mandated. As far as e-mails and comments on here go, know that I will respond to them when and if I can. Frankly, I just don’t have time for them all though as we have to pay to use the internet. I do read, am blessed by, and appreciate them all however. I just wanted to throw that little disclaimer out there. :-p I hope you all are well and thank you for the prayers and support!
