It is good.
I talked with a friend recently. He said people undervalue that statement. And I think he’s right.
“When God makes something, he creates it and then he says—it is good. He doesn’t have to say—it’s awesome or amazing or great. Just good.”
So when I say that the last two weeks have been good, I mean it to the fullest. As our new South African surfer friends would say—these two weeks have been totes rad, completely stoke-worthy. Talk, bruu. Spread the stoke. Flare for days.
Yes, it's true. They actually talk like that. And surprisingly, I find it rather endearing.
As many of you know, the six of us—Abby, Molly, Jesse, Jan, Kyle, and me—arrived in South Africa on June 2nd. We spent about nine hours in Jo-Burg, then got on a bus headed for Cape Town.
There were six World Race teams on that bus. The other five knew exactly where they were going, what ministry they were working with, and who was picking them up at the bus station. We, however, knew nothing.
We arrived in Cape Town Sunday afternoon, not knowing where we’d lay our heads that night.
Then through process of elimination (aka where can we sleep for less than $10/day?) we secured a room at Penthouse on Long, a hostel in the city center. It was an amazing place—loads of interesting people and free coffee. But we knew our budget could only handle five nights in the hostel.
We spent our days asking the Lord for direction and researching unsung ministries in Cape Town.
Our fifth night rolled around. We were supposed to check out of the hostel the following morning at 10 am, and we had no where to go. In less than 24 hours, we’d be homeless.
A friend of mine from home connected me with a missionary couple, Greg and Angie Pampell, and we were invited to their house on Thursday night for a young adults small group. Greg and Angie live and do church ministry in Fish Hoek. So instead of panicking about our housing situation, we boarded a train for Fish Hoek, a town south of the city center, and trusted that God would work everything out in his own timing.
The small group was awesome. It was as if the Pampell house contained the absolute perfect blend of people for that moment.
Jesse talked with Greg and Angie. Molly and me with Anika. Kyle with Ian and Chase and Tony. Jan with somebody… or probably everybody. And Abby with Raymond.
Raymond is one of the church elders, and Abby was explaining our mission to him. Long story short—this guy, who is now like a dad to all of us, walked into the sunroom around 9 pm and said, “I found you a home. I just talked to my wife, and you all can stay with us for as long as you need to.”
Jaw-dropping expressions were followed by smiles.
We left small group that night, went back to our hostel, packed our bags, and headed to the Wynne household the next day. Raymond and Lindsey have six dogs, two horses, a cat, monkeys, pigs, rabbits, birds. It’s like a farm on the ocean that's surrounded by mountains. And as if it weren’t enough that God upgraded our accommodation tenfold, the Wynne’s went above and beyond serving us.
They hosted a braai for us Friday evening. That's a South African version of a BBQ. Every free minute, Raymond and Lindsey were planning something for us. He took us hiking. She took me horseback riding on the beach. We had an impromptu worship service at their house. And we watched rugby together. They cooked us dinner every night and took us to eat pancakes at their favorite coffee shop. I’ve drank more coffee with those two than I have many of my closest friends.
All the while, Raymond and Greg were working on connecting us with ministries in the Fish Hoek area, and our new friends from the young adults group were becoming like family.
All of that happened in three days.
On Sunday we went to The People's Church, and before Greg’s sermon, Raymond spoke to the congregation about us. By the time we left, we were hooked up with a new home and a new workplace.
On Tuesday, we moved into two flats in Simon’s Town, a town like Fish Hoek that’s about five miles further down the coast. The Paterson family said we could stay there for the rest of the month. The same day, we started ministry at Rainbow Preschool in Masi, a township in the Fish Hoek area.
The preschool is run by Cornelia, a member of the church. Monday thru Friday, 54 young children come to her house from 6 am to 6 pm. The kids are from poor families. Many of them are abused—physically and sexually. But when they’re at Cornelia’s, they’re safe. They learn and play and eat and laugh. They do things children should do. And they just want to be loved.
This goes without saying, but I want to type it anyway… Cornelia is an incredible woman. She is strong.
Greg also connected us with Living Hope. We start ministry with them tomorrow in a township called Red Hill, and we’ll work there throughout the rest of our time in Cape Town.
We've met with some other ministries in the city, and our hope is that we can establish a sustainable environment here in which future World Race teams can come and serve. In exchange for their time and labor, they will certainly be blessed. I know we have been.
We are so thankful for Greg and Angie and Raymond and Lindsey. We’re thankful for Cornelia. We’re thankful for the Patersons. We’re thankful for the unsung heroes in Cape Town and for what they're doing. We’re thankful for the opportunity to participate in the young adults ministry at The People’s Church. And we’re thankful for all of our new friends—Tony, Chase, Tyler, Micaela, Luce, Mandla, Ian, Anika, Claire, Sara, Gareth, Chad… all of you.
This place, these people, and our God… they are good.
Big love,
Julie
