This is part two of a series I’m writing to update everyone on what my parents and I have been up to for the past two months. To read part one about our time in India, click HERE.
From India, my parents and I flew to Johannesburg, South Africa to attend an annual meeting of all the regional directors for Walk Thru the Bible from around the world. The directors from Argentina, Kenya, Ukraine, South Africa, United Kingdom, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other nations all came to a retreat center outside of Joburg to spend a week together learning a new course and strategizing about ministry goals for the upcoming year. Going into the week I was planning to follow Chris Tiegreen, WTB’s Communications Director, and learn as much about photography and videography from him as I could. I had gotten to do a little bit of that in India, but God had other plans for most of my time there. It turned out the same was true for South Africa. I came in thinking I knew how I would be spending my time, but before the first day of meetings was finished I realized I would have a new challenge to take on.
All of the regional directors either grew up speaking English or have learned it since beginning their ministry with Walk Thru, but sometimes when they get together all their varying accents can present a problem for their comprehension. If we’re being honest, it’s sometimes even hard for me to follow what is going on in the meetings, and I’m a native English speaker. Pretty quickly we realized that the director from Argentina was having trouble following what everyone was saying, and as a result his voice was not getting heard as it should in the meetings. My dad pulled me aside and asked me if I could be available to translate if he needed me to. I thought to myself, “Wow I haven’t spoken a word of Spanish in eight months…I’m not sure I can just pull it out and translate right now.” But then I thought about the years I had spent working hard to learn Spanish. I remembered walking into Spanish class the first day of 9th grade not knowing what to expect, and walking out 50 minutes later determined that someday I would be fluent. I went to the trouble of learning Spanish so that I could help people communicate and facilitate international ministry, so obviously I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to do both of those things with a group of leaders who I love and respect. So instead of running around taking pictures, I got to spend the week hanging out with my friend Alex being his personal translator. I didn’t get all the grammar just right, and I realized that I’ve forgotten some things since translating on the World Race, but it was great practice and so worth it to see him able to communicate fully what he was thinking to his colleagues. The week was a great reminder of how far I’ve come since deciding to learn Spanish. God has honored my hard work and continues to give me cool, unexpected opportunities to use my gift to connect people and help them in their ministry. Spending the week in the Spanish side of my brain got me very excited for the next trip we had planned to Central America, which I’ll tell you about in the next blog in this series.
I turned 24 somewhere over the ocean between Mumbai, India and Johannesburg, South Africa. For some people that might seem like a bummer of a birthday, but traveling is where I want to be!
Once all the regional directors rolled in we celebrated.
My dad and I spent the first day touring Soweto and learning about some of the uprisings that happened there under Apartheid.
My mom and I visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.
I got to spend a little time playing with one of the staff member’s adorable little boy.
My dad with Philip Tutu, the director from Ghana.
My mom and I with Elvis, the director from South Africa.
We had a typical South African braai to end the week.
After almost three weeks on the road and a lot of work, we decided to take a few days in Cape Town to relax and enjoy the beauty of South Africa. This definitely makes it high on my list of favorite cities.
We went up Table Mountain to see one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen.
Signal Hill from Table Mountain
The view of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain
Looking out over the Twelve Apostles toward the Cape of Good Hope
The front of Table Mountain on the way down
We spent the next day exploring the Cape of Good Hope and meeting these little guys.
I’ve always had an adventurous spirit. Since I was little I’ve loved hearing stories of the early explorers who circled the tip of Africa and the end of South America. Two places I’ve always wanted to go were Tierra del Fuego and the Cape of Good Hope. There is something magical about standing at the end of the world with a massive ocean in front of you and a strong wind blowing. Places like this make you feel free with limitless possibilities.
Because of its changing tides, the Cape of Good Hope has been the site of many shipwrecks over the years.
There are wild ostriches roaming around out on the Cape.
Sometimes in Africa if you leave your windows open, this is what happens.
The perfect end to a great trip, that will definitely go down as one of the most beautiful days of my life.
