Incredible.

Good morning, followers!

I apologize for not being able to update any sooner. Here in Graaff-Reinet, there is no wireless internet whatsoever. The only internet access we have is at a local internet café down the street from our hotel, and we have not yet had time to even get over there. We have been very hard at work with crafts—in fact, as I’m writing this, everyone else is laboring away on Ruth and Boaz masks for the kids to color. But first, let me back up and tell you all that has happened since my last post.

On Sunday morning, we attended Pete and Fran’s home church simply named George Church of Christ. They meet in a school building classroom, and it is absolutely amazing. My dad, Andy, was even given the honor of preaching the sermon with an interpreter by his side, and Andy frequently would add in the only Aafrikans our group knows—“Baie Dankie”, which means “thank you very much”. We joined around fifty other brothers and sisters in Christ in worship, and I truly believe that every single one of us was deeply touched by their presence. If you’ve never been on a mission trip before, I can’t tell you just how incredible it is to witness people worship our Lord and Savior in different languages. The same God we worship with our electric and bass guitars, keyboards and sound systems, is the God that South Africans worship with only their voices, using their Bibles as drum sets. As Pete told us prior to attending church, their ways of worship is not inferior to ours, but just different. I know I personally had tears in my eyes listening to them worshipping with their whole beings—not half-hearted, not partially involved, but with full and true passion. It was beautiful. I pray that we can bring that enthusiasm and passion back home with us to share with our church.

After church, we ate a nice brunch at, none other than, McDonald’s. It was quick, easy and delicious. Once we were full and happy, we packed up again and left for Graaff-Reinet. The drive was about five hours through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. We drove through mountains, followed by a desert-like terrain, complete with cactus plants, tumbleweed, sheep, cows…and monkeys! There were adorable grey monkeys along the road we were driving. We also saw Springbok, a native deer resembling an antelope. It reminded my family of Arizona, but as soon as we saw the Springbok and monkeys, we were reminded of our presence in this beautiful country.

Once we arrived in Graaff-Reinet, we checked into our hotel (which was very nice!), and headed to the home of one of the church leaders, Max and his wife Priscilla, who fed us a delicious meal of African meat dishes and finger foods. And no, in case you were wondering, we weren’t eating monkey, zebra, giraffe, or even Springbok. It was mostly chicken, a little beef and even some lamb. It was absolutely delicious! We also met most of the members of the congregation of the local church, who hosted VBS, and they were very kind and generous to us, like everyone here in South Africa has been. We were very grateful.

Finally, Monday morning came. The morning we had most anticipated of the entire trip—the purpose of us being here finally coming to a head. Vacation Bible School would begin at 2:00pm, and we were anticipating around 500 children to come the first day. We had a great craft planned, and were prepared with bags of cotton balls and glitter, glue, coloring pages and construction paper. Terri and Sandy were even prepared with their flannel board story of Noah’s Ark. After grabbing a quick breakfast at everyone’s favorite breakfast diner Wimpy’s, we arrived early to decorate the school building with streamers, balloons, signs and inflatable cones. We even prepared a PowerPoint presentation so the kids who could read English could follow along. We left to go eat a quick lunch at the hotel, and headed back to the school building to prepare for their arrival.

When we arrived back at the school, we were already blown away. Children were everywhere, lined up all along the entrance. Hundreds of kids were anxiously waiting at the door to be let in the school. We literally had to squeeze through to finish preparing everything before we allowed the kids to enter. But of course, we were able to take a few pictures of some of the adorable kids, who were thrilled just by our presence. Once we were ready for the kids to come on in and we opened the doors, the real fun began. We sang, we danced, we played, we listened, we colored, we glued, we were sprinkled with glitter, we laughed, and some of us even cried. But I think the most mind-blowing moment of the day was the shock of how huge the crowd of children truly was.

The church anticipated 500 children.
There were 721 children.
And it was only the first day.

It was incredible! Terri and I led the worship with Fran and Cornell (the interpreter), Matt and Denzil worked sound and the PowerPoint, Ashlyn took tons of pictures, and the rest of the group held children, danced, and laughed together. We were all having a blast in our own way, and it was amazing! By the end of the day, most of us had even broken a sweat, which is really saying something in this weather! It truly was thrilling!

Above everything else, it was so obvious that God was right in the middle of that auditorium. He’s been with us every single step of the way, in every person we’ve encountered, in every child we’ve touched, and in every volunteer working this entire event. It’s clear to every person working that the Holy Spirit is surely intervening in this trip, and it’s incredible.

As I [finally] conclude this post, I want to thank you again for your prayers and support. I can speak for the whole team when I say we are incredibly blessed and thankful to be here. Today we may even have more children, so continue to pray for us as we prepare the crafts and activities for the children to use.

And, as the Aafrikans say and our team has learned to say, Baie dankie. Thank you so much for all your prayers!