Here is a little glimpse into our life here in Plettenberg Bay. This is a typical day, though things can definitely vary. Our ministry contact Mandy told us that in South Africa you have to be flexible, you never know what the day is going to bring. We told her it sounds like the World Race!
6:30am – Get Moving/Quiet Time: I have been waking up on my own really early here, which is a good thing because my alarm clock broke in Albania. Plus, we are sleeping in our tents this month on a farm so the sun/birds/monkeys do a good job of waking us all up. The farm is a beautiful place to sit outside, read, pray, and connect with God.
7:30am – Breakfast: My teammate Cory and I were on breakfast duty. We made scrambled eggs over the fire for 24 people. The farmhouse on the property has a kitchen to put all our food stuff in but no stove or oven so we cook our meals over the fire. Going to the grocery though for 24 people can be interesting at best. Our contact took two of us the first day we got to Plettenberg and we had 3 carts piled with food. The ladies checking us out told us to please come back!
9:30am – Worship Time. This month we are living with two other teams, Team Living Liberation and Team Unchained Rhythm and we have a time of communal worship every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There is something about worshipping together in one spirit and purpose. It’s awesome!
10:15am – Language Training: Mandy, our ministry contact, gave us the basics of Afrikaans. A lot of the children we will be working with understand English, but their first language is Afrikaans. We have a young woman from the Netherlands staying and working with us and she said it is very similar to Dutch.
12:00pm – Lunch: Yea for peanut butter sandwiches for the fifth day in a row! And last month, I was craving peanut butter; the Lord definitely has a sense of humor.
1:15pm – Ministry: We are split into 2 groups for ministry. The group I am in goes to the Harkaville school which is about a 30 minute walk from the farm. Today we a mini soccer camp with stretching, a little bit of hokey pokey to get the body moving, soccer drills, and then a game. I played a little bit to make even teams and then sat with 6 year old Julian. He is sweet. The children here just crave love and attention. We did some songs and then shared the Word, as our contact calls it, and had a snack. We pick the kids up and walk them back home. We usually sing on the way back – Jesus loves me, Jesus love is bubbling over, deep and wide, etc. It is interesting to me to see the contrast here. We are in a very touristy area and the town closest to us, Plett, is right on the beach. There are beautiful vacation homes and condos and then right across the road from that are the townships. Literally the townships are rows and rows of little shacks. The kids that go to the Harkaville school do not live in the townships, they live out in the country, but it’s the same thing. We walked back to their homes to pick them up and it was tiny little shacks spread throughout the beautiful woods. It makes me give hugs more often and we have just been praying for the Lord to fill us with such love for these children and to see them as He does.
4:45pm – Debrief: The team that went to the Harkaville school debriefed our day and talked about how we can serve the children even better. We debrief at the gas station near the farm. The gas station has become the place to go if you are a World Racer. Cindy, one of the ladies that work there, knows me by sight now.
5:30pm – Down Time: We usually have some time before dinner to talk, play some Dutch Blitz, read, or take a nap.
7:00pm – Dinner: On tonight’s menu there was mashed potatoes, butternut squash and baked beans. This is on a budget of 3 dollars a day per person. It was really good – butternut squash over the fire is excellent.
8:00pm – Team Time: Tonight we did our feedback and then my teammate Jessie was in charge of team time. She used the Cru tool of Solarium to have us all pick a picture that described our day. Everyone has a day that they are in charge of our team time. We always do feedback and then we can pick to watch a movie, play a game, worship, intercessory prayer, etc. Every Wednesday our team does Bible study. We are studying the book of Romans.
10:00pm – Bed: I have been going to bed early in South Africa. Love my tent home…it’s messy already. Usually I read before going to bed. I just finished Forgotten God by Francis Chan and started Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Thank you to my fellow squad mates for the loan of both books.
