Good bye Asia…Hello Africa!
Since I first had the inkling of becoming a missionary, only thirteen years ago…Africa has been the place to go, the place I thought all real missionaries go. Yes, my projection of what it would be like hadn’t changed much during that time until now; grass huts, flat desert for as long as the eye can see…tall, barely clothed, black people with amazing hospitality but not much food to offer, flies on the young children from all those infomercials, etc.
Nothing shatters a stereotype of Africa than arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa like we did on June 3.
A beautiful airport with World Cup 2010 fever in the air, Beamers and Mercedes pulling up to the terminal with well- dressed, white people getting in and out of the vehicles, major brands like Subway, Toys R Us and Mugg & Bean (nice coffee shop) everywhere…I can see why some people call this “Little America”.
We hung out in Jo’Burg (Johannesburg) as a Squad of 52 racers for two nights and then carried on up to Nelspruit, which everyone stops at on their way to Mozambique. We were totally blessed with lodging at this missionary guest house, called Betor House, for five nights while our squad leaders figured out where the teams were going next. Check out this awesome video of how we filled much of our time during those five days, a new favorite squad past-time called Corn Hole Toss (or bean-bag toss) . We really felt like a big family, living at this house with Papa Kent and Mama Shay and an ex-World Racer, Teri, providing some amazing meals and rest for us as a Squad.
Finally, the teams found out where they were going and how they were going to get there. One team going up to Zimbabwe, six to Mozambique and Team Luminous staying right here in Nelspruit, South Africa. The tricky thing was that there are just not many options for good, safe transportation here in Africa, so to get the seven teams to their destinations, we had to pay $350/person for bus tickets (round trip). On a $500/person/month budget, that doesn’t leave much money left, so all teams are trying to pay $4/person/day for food, lodging and local transportation. If you think we have it difficult, I’ve heard that South Africa has a 55% unemployment rate.
Team Luminous is living in the Eastwood Estates (aka “The Farm”…it looks like a deserted, retirement community) and cleaning the houses from top to bottom so that it can become a “Children’s Village” by the middle of next month. We are partnering with IRIS ministries in their assessment of which children are high priority to move into this unique housing arrangement, helping with their after-school feeding program, their pre-school on Friday mornings, getting involved in the local church (youth services, and school assembly visits) and so far two trips to Cork, a growing, Godly community about an hour from here. I even helped out our ministry contact, Jean, with some Excel spreadsheet work the other morning. There is lots to do, the plans are always changing but we are loving what we are doing and who we are doing it for. 
Last night we stayed here at the Betor House, which is why we are enjoying some Internet time now. We went to a local Christian singing competition last night, where the guy we were cheering for (Wimpie…a big guy, son of the main butcher in town) won first place and will be watching a Rugby game this afternoon. A Safari at Krueger National Park, as well as a good South African brie (Barbeque) for Canada Day and Independence Day and the ultimate corn hole toss tournament are all scheduled sometime during debrief (June 28 – July 3). So we work hard and play hard and that is why, I think, our ministry contacts are impressed at how much energy and enthusiasm we have at this point in the race (just over half way!).
A huge THANK YOU, to all our supporters for giving Lindsay and I the opportunity to serve alongside each other this year, to see these sights and make these memories, to make new friends and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ ALL OVER this world this year. She was truly amazed at how many cards she received on her birthday (more than one every hour for the whole day) and just all the amazing family and friends we have. We miss you all and think of you often! 
