Rest is always good.

Sunday was a rainy day making it a relaxing day.  We all left at 10:15 to go to Common Ground Church about 20 minutes away.  Tim and Natasha both go there and invited us to tag along with them.  I absolutely loved it!  The church, located on a vineyard, meets in a marquee tent that is used for wedding receptions.  Beautiful.  Even though it was raining, it was still a really cool experience!  They played a lot of the same music that we sing to in the States.  I walk in and immediately hear "Beautiful Things" by Gungor playing over the speakers, which reminded me of the Shiloh service at Samford. It definitely made me miss that good ol' Shiloh community!  If you are not familiar with that song, click the following link to hear it! "Beautiful Things".  The pastor is currently on a sabbatical, so the speaker was actually from California, but now lives in Cape Town with his wife.  He preached on David: [Warrior. Fugitive. King.] and how God constantly protected and empowered him throughout his journey.  He made the point that even the most dedicated believers are impervious to selfish decisions.  If we just hold on to God, we will see God's provision eventually come.  Great sermon accompanied with great music, ending with great fellowship afterwards. 

So cool. 

Once we left, Tim and Natasha took the 7 volunteers out to lunch at Nando's, which is a chain restaurant that started in South Africa.  I had chicken with rice on the mild meter.... let's just say I drank an entire pitcher of water by myself.  There is no way that seasoning was mild.  Goodness gracious alive.  Nevertheless, it was still painfully delicious. 

We got home around 2:30 or so.... I went upstairs, read more of Radical and then took a 2 hour nap! BOOM.  It was fantastic.  I woke up, read more of Radical, ate dinner, and then went up to the room with Berrit.  We had some really great conversation covering all sorts of topics; including, the monarchy system in England, college life, mission work, etc.  We share some of the same feelings in terms of our current place in our walk with Christ too, which is really encouraging to hear each other's thoughts on the matter.  We both brought up how grateful we are to be living in this nice house, while the kids we work with every day go to bed with 10 other family members in the same 10x10 foot space.  I really enjoyed talking with her and getting to know her even better.  Thankful for those conversations! 

So, today (Monday) was a bit of a different schedule now that holiday clubs are over.  We still have afternoon clubs, but sometimes it will be in Mountain View rather than Ocean View.  I believe I had mentioned before about the amount of prejudice that is evident between both communities and how the kids choose to stay segregated.  It is so sad to hear this and truly see it playing out each day.  This morning, Tim (our volunteer coordinator) had us come to the main LH office for a curriculum training, led by Pathway Church in California.  I actually know a couple of guys from Samford who are from there, so I met one of their brothers this morning and got to talk with him for a little bit - SMALL WORLD!  All of the LSE's (life skills educators) from the different townships were in attendance as well to hear the curriculum that they were giving us.  It was actually a lot of fun!  I sat with Melissa and Laureezy and we basically laughed the whole time.  Ashwyn was cracking jokes most of the time too.  I absolutely love all of the Ocean View staff/volunteers.  Definitely a fun-loving group!

Made our own crowns and masks at training!  Ashwyn (right) kept singing
Phantom of the Opera when he was wearing his mask. 

Laureezy- my love

The session ended around noon so the 7 of us went back home to eat lunch and chill for a couple of hours.  Will and I left around 2:30 for Ocean View afternoon clubs.  Now that holiday club is over, afternoon clubs take place in the townships.  We pulled up to Ocean View, walked in and immediately saw a team of about 20 people having a meeting.  Turns out, it's a group from Mountain Brook Baptist Church!  They are here for a little over a week to help serve within the community.  I spoke to a few of the girls who know the Brookwood kids, so that was neat to have them there! 

Instead of working with the kids in Ocean View today, Lauren and I took half of the group to Mountain View for club.  It's a much different atmosphere in Mountain View because of the environment they live in.  Usually a family ranging from 5-10 members all stay in one "house" (room) that is no bigger than a standard size kitchen.  This week in club, we will be focusing on personal hygiene and how to stay clean and healthy.  Lauren and I came up with a song and dance that goes to the rhythm of the Cha Cha Slide..."Freeze! Everybody brush your teeth!"  They really enjoyed it!!

The kids in Mountain View are a little bit rougher in the way they act, so several kids were sent home within the first 20 minutes of being there.  Unfortunately, I had to send two boys home because they were hitting each other constantly.  Another boy was actually caught with a switchblade that I saw he was trying to hide in his rainboot.  It is crazy to think that boys as young as 10 years old have possession of a knife.  It's a heartbreaking statistic, but the average age that a child becomes involved in a gang within these two communities is 11 years old.  Please pray that these kids can be changed through the power of the Holy Spirit and that they may be brought up to be the men and women of Christ that God has called them to be.  

It was a busy 2 hours, but it flew by so quickly!  The Mountain Brook team were very good with the kids and very helpful to Melissa, Lauren, and myself.  We really appreciated having them on board with us!  Looking forward to working with them more this week. 

David picked us up around 5:15 or so.  We went straight home and rested until dinner at 6:15, which was chicken alfredo!  Delicious.  After dinner, I went into the kitchen to help Ms. Bernie with whatever she needed.  While I was doing the dishes, Ms. Bernie made the comment, "Oh, I'll work on those now now."  Okay, so if you didn't know, South Africans use the following terms: now, now, and now now which all mean totally different things.  As Americans, now means now.  Period.  Well, I have learned that now means basically in the next 5 minutes; now means now, or I will kill you (words from Ms. Bernie herself); and finally, now now means later that night.  SO STRANGE.  She said they all understand the meanings, so it makes sense to them!  Kudos.  

I love learning about little cultural differences like that one.  I am always fascinated by people's lifestyles and how each one differs from another.  So cool! 

Tomorrow morning I will be working in Fish Hoek at the Living Grace ministry site!  I cannot wait!  It's the homeless ministry branch, so I will be preparing food and mingling with the people there.  Looking forward to it! 

Thankful for the prayers!  God is so good.  

Cheers,

Katherine

Psalm 10:13-15

"Why does the wicked man revile God? 

    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”? 
¹⁴ But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you; 
    you are the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked man; 
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out."