Holidays and such

I didn’t think I could stretch the gap between two blogs more than the previous two, but apparently I can. Way too much has happened since my last entry. I will try to briefly tell some of the things which I have done and been doing.

Firstly, Cape Town has so clearly and effectively became a home away from home. I have grown to love this place and its people immensely. Every day is a clear demonstration of God’s great love towards me and I am grateful beyond words for where He has lead me. I did write a ‘newsletter’ of sort for my church so I’m just going to copy some of that on here and then tell you a bit more

Two and a half months have gone by since I first landed at Cape Town International Airport. Though I haven’t been as disciplined about my blog duties as I should have been, I hope you may have been able to follow some of my experiences and their due reflections throughout these first essential weeks. They have been an incredible time of appreciation towards the bountiful amount of blessings which God has bestowed upon me. A time of constant reflection reflected through action. In other words, a time where the lessons I learn are not just being kept within me, but represented in the love which I wish to show others in my daily life.

I want to give you a little idea of where I am today. I am continuing to live in Ocean View, located in the Southern Peninsula of Cape Town. It is a vibrant Coloured township which few to no foreigners take chances to live in (I believe the Princes are one of two white families.) It has a large Muslim population; I’ve heard 40% of the 40,000 people living here. Its negative reputation doesn’t do the positives justice. Despite, and perhaps because of the insecurity and high crime rate, there is an incredible feeling of community and communal protection. Everyone knows everyone and their business and news spreads quite quickly. Neighbors keep an eye out for each other’s well being. This concept has been made clear to me in a few occasions. On one of them, I had left my scooter parked outside, thinking my family would be back at about 7 PM, before we move it in the house at nightfall. I was going to be gone until late that evening but knew that my family would keep an out to make sure no one got too curious towards the bike. As it turns out, my family didn’t get back until 11 PM. Seeing that nobody was home, my neighbor across the street kept a nervous eye on the scooter. After half an hour of this, he decided it would be best if he moved the bike into his own house, just to assure the 5 guys wandering up the street at the time wouldn’t proceed past their prying looks. As soon as my family pulled in, he hastily made his way over to explain the situation. Though I’ll never be able to tell if it really needed to be taken away into his home, it was a great opportunity for me to really appreciate the community in which I lived.

Casey and Sarah Prince live just a few blocks away, making it quite comfortable for me to pop in whenever I need. Their yard continues to be a safe haven for Ocean View’s children. Whether they show up to play soccer, ride their bikes, or just hang out, it is a great opportunity for us to show them the love of Jesus Christ. I find it incredible and worrisome that they are allowed to wander around all day, implying a lack of family structure in their lives. While we will never be able to fully supplement the absence of their parents, hopefully our presence may give them a sense of self worth.

Though simply spending time with the children has been a great form of ministry and relationship building, our official Ubuntu Sports Outreach clinics have been greatly successful as well. The first ones were held at the beginning of December, the last week of school. Because we are in Africa, children spent the last two weeks of school doing absolutely nothing. When Casey and I showed up to let them know that we wanted to play soccer with the kids, the principals and teachers were eager and excited that we would be giving their students something productive to do. The clinics took place in four different primary schools. Two, Marine and Kleinberg, are in Ocean View, a few blocks from my house. Another, in Masipuhmelele, the Black township just 5 minutes down the road. The last clinic took place in Simon’s Town, the white Navy town just around the Peninsula. In the smallest clinic, only 8 kids showed up; in the largest, 40 or so kids made their way down to play with us. While we would love to reach out to a great number of kids, it can be really hard to handle that many 9 to 13 year olds. All the same, the clinics were greatly successful and seemed to effectively let kids know what we were all about.

While I am not playing soccer with the kids, with Ubuntu or not, I have been working a bit with Living Hope, the large AIDS organization in the Southern Peninsula. There, I go to Kid’s club in Capricorn, a mixed township where many refugees have made their home. I spend about 2 hours playing with these amazing kids, most of them aged 4 to 11. It is an incredibly rewarding experience to able to love these kids to whom affection is rarely shown. While at club they are also fed, as that is often the only meal they receive for the day.

As part of being here, I inevitably go through the process of knowing myself. The thing which I have found out, however, is that the only way of truly knowing yourself is doing so through others. This is the basic idea of the word Ubuntu. The concept explains that everyone is interconnected, that everyone’s well being is directly correlated with the well being of others. During Apartheid, Desmond Tutu explained that the dehumanization of the victims was equally as dehumanizing toward the perpetrators. When the White police treated the Blacks like animals, they themselves became animal-like. Through a translation into my life, I have found that the love and goodness that I show others is the love that Jesus Christ shows me. My devotion to others is what makes me a follower of His. It is a concept which may make more sense in my head than I am capable of verbally explaining.

Through the last three months I have also discovered that I find myself relating more to those older than me than to people my age. It may be because I rarely get to be with people my age or because most of my friends are in their mid twenties. This has made the thought of going back home and going to college a bit of a challenge.

That was some of my newsletter. I figured I should tell you a bit about the awesome places I’ve visited as well.

I think it was between Christmas and New Years that I visited Boulder’s Beach. This place is a magnificent one not just because of its stunning view; it is also the home of many African Penguins, formerly known as Jackass Penguins. They are the best combination of goofy and cute in any living creature. I think most of you have a general idea of how penguins walk. This, and the way the jump in and out of the water, made for a humorous excursion. The best part of visiting the penguins was when me, and the two friends I was with, took a nap among their home. Lying on a giant boulder with one of the most amazing views of the Ocean, quietly listening to my iPod’s speakers, and watching the penguins walk two feet in front of me as if I wasn’t there, all the while dozing in and out of sleep, was an overwhelmingly great experience.

There are times like these, or like when I see myself driving a manual scooter on the wrong side of the road, which simply make me smile. The scooter part mainly makes me laugh, but seeing where I am today brings me great happiness. With this happiness also comes an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness towards my Heavenly Father.

I also saw baboons for my first time. On our way to Cape Point, 20 or so of them were hanging out by the road. They’re angry, funny looking creatures. However, they are also some of the smartest animals in the world. The stories you hear about them are incredible. If you throw something at them, they throw it back. When breaking into a house, they will send the smallest one through a small open window so that he then opens the big window for the rest to come in. If you’re in a car taking pictures of them with an open window, one will distract you to take pictures while another sneaks in on the other side of the car where no one is looking. They’ll go through your backpack and steal all your food while leaving everything else behind. To me it’s quite humorous, but they are obviously quite dangerous as well.

Staying on the topic of dangerous animals, there was a shark attack last week in the beach that I go to just 10 minutes away. A Great White, the size of a mini bus, or about 20 ft long, devoured a 30-some year old Zimbabwean. I think that’s the only attack since I’ve been here, but the shark flag has gone up 3 different times while I’ve been at the beach. They try to keep this information from the public, but apparently there are around 30 of them in the area. The father of the house where I live works in the Navy, who is responsible for keeping track of everything going on underwater.

During the holidays I also got to visit Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The views from the top of the mountain there are simply breathtaking. Cape Point is the southernmost tip of Africa. The Cape of Good Hope is the peninsula that all the European explorers had to sail around when trading with India. As a history lover, I couldn’t believe that I got to be there.

This past Saturday I got to go to the first ever game played in Green Point Stadium (the World Cup venue in Cape Town). While the soccer was terrible, it was an awesome and exciting time. Being in a World Cup is going to be the single most exhilarating, purely joyful things that I ever do. If you can’t tell, I’m pretty pumped about it.

I’ve done a lot more touristy stuff but my brain is worn out so I’m just going to tell you about things that actually matter.

The holidays were the hardest time for me so far. Christmas and the weeks preceding it were the first time that I truly missed home. Every once in a while I get to missing Raleigh, but the holidays were more consistently home sick times. I spent Christmas morning at Church and then with the Princes eating at some friend’s house here in Ocean View. I did really enjoy New Years though. One of the churches that I attend the most and where a lot of good friends are, holds a New Year’s service every year. While it may sound like a strange concept to us at home, I thought it was an awesome idea. You are receiving the New Year in the House of our Father with people whom you love. It would be pretty cool if churches in the U.S caught on to this tradition.

Please continue to pray for me as I hit the three month mark. I have just over 5 months to spend here and it really is going to be terribly hard to leave. While I am excited about getting home and seeing everybody, I realize how hard it will be to be back in Raleigh and leave everything in Cape Town behind. Through the power of prayer, I have made Cape Town my home away from home. It will undoubtedly be hard for me to leave the friendships, my home, the kids, and the city itself.

Please pray for the youth of South Africa, that they may get to know Christ in a very real and personal way. That this year, such a huge year for the country, will be one where the love of Jesus is revealed to the children that Ubuntu is working with. Pray that our work here may be efficient and broad; that we may be able to represent the love which is shown to us every day. Even though this is closer to you than me, please pray for the people of Haiti. That hearing the stories will break our hearts as it does God’s.

I love you all very much and miss you and hope that you don’t freeze during these cold minds.

Love,

Andy