On Sunday, January 10th , I took off from Atlanta, Georgia, and after a 13+ hour flight, landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. 13 hours is a long time on a plane, but still not long enough for it to sink in that you’re traveling to the other side of the world. When the plane landed, I told myself “you’re in Africa” and it seemed unreal. I’ve been dreaming about doing missions in Africa for a long time, but I had no idea what it would look like when it did happen. It didn’t seem real. And frankly, it still hasn’t sunk in all the way. Apart from the long days of travel, South Africa has felt like home. Especially here in Cape Town.
Our living situation here is fairly different from where I came from, but it has become home. Our team of six women lives in the house of our ministry host, John. He has children of his own, but they are away at YWAM and boarding school except on weekends. But he has taken us in like family. He is very protective of our team, and has given us valuable advice about locals, travel and safety, and treats us like his own daughters. He is also very passionate about helping our team grow closer and stronger, as well as closer to God. Also in the house is John’s dad, who we all call Pa. He’s sweet and hilarious. Pa spends much of his time tutoring one of our other family members for the month, Luciano. Luciano is a pastor from Brazil who is staying here to learn English. He’s a quick learner, and also has some wicked good skills on the guitar. He taught us some Portuguese, and some songs in Creole, which was an interesting process, because most of it was done through mime and broken attempts at the other’s language. But boy, was it fun! John’s son Azariah comes home from school on weekends, and his daughter Michael brings her laundry home from YWAM every Saturday.
And that’s another part of the family that I can’t leave out – the YWAM-ers. There is a base in the nearby town of Muizenberg, and we have had the opportunity to hang out and do ministry with Mishael and her teammates from all over the world.
Another thing that makes it feel like home here is the sheer similarity to the Yakima area, even in the little things. The dry summer heat feels no different, and I can’t go outside without getting goat heads stuck in my shoes. We’re surrounded by mountains with vineyards growing on the sides. Even the ministry we’re doing kind of reminds me of being part of The Brand in Yakima.
Even though I’m so far away from the people and places I would normally call home, I miss them terribly, and am often stretched and uncomfortable, God has blessed me with this home away from home in Cape Town, South Africa. I really like it here.
