Cape Town Day 1

It is winter in South Africa, but warmer than we left our belated spring in Wisconsin. Even Cape Town is pleasant rather than the cold and rainy we expected. We lived in South Africa from 1993 to 1996 and again 2005 to 2008, so when Steve was invited to speak at a conference for leadership of 30 Bible colleges, I came along to visit old friends and favorite haunts.

We arrived in Johannesburg Wednesday evening after the long trip via Amsterdam and went straight to bed in a local Kempton Park guesthouse a few blocks from where we used to live. It could have been worse. We were able to upgrade our flights and sleep flat instead of sitting up in a padded kitchen chair, i.e. coach class on the plane. Next day we caught a flight to Cape Town.

Friday Steve visited the Baptist Bible College while I attended the SIM Day of Prayer with members of the office staff and guests. 

I saw a couple people I knew from the old days (Henriette Sandon, formerly from a radio ministry in Mozambique, and Pookatu Paul, the new interim South African director). Also met some young guys who have been working in a soccer ministry in local township and inspiring young men to be more than thugs and drug dealers. They have gotten a very positive response. The young man who sat by me in one of our prayer rotations studied theater and has written some poetry and short stories. I gave me my card and invited him to send me some of his work. If I lived here, I would be asking them where I can fit in with story hours like I did my Johannesburg days.

John Berry who does a lot of the recruitment and mission/church relations took us for a quick falafel lunch on the Miuzenburg beach (packed with surfers despite the chill) and then to meet an elderly lady named Helen who does a missions program on the local Christian station. She wanted to interview us about how we became Christians and how we got into missions and then a separate 10-minute spot on prayer. She seemed genuinely surprised when I said I rotate through praying for specific fruits of the spirit and other qualities God wants to see in my life.

Muizenberg Beach

Friday evening we went out for Indian food with Pookatu, who was a colleague in Johannesburg in 2005-2008. We were just sorry that Molly is in the US with family and couldn't join us. Great to catch up.