Update from South Africa

Greetings friend,

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been in Africa for nearly 3 weeks. Our trip here was long but miraculous in that Caleb slept for the majority of 3 flights. This was especially miraculous for our 16 hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa. The woman in the seat behind Caleb asked where he had been the entire flight…this was with 2 hours left till arrival. Thank you to all those who were praying for us as we journeyed halfway around the world, we know the Lord answered those prayers!

Upon arrival we spent 2 nights in Fish Hoek, Vishoek in Africaans, which is on False Bay – famous for its great white sharks and Seal Island. Those of you who watch shark week on the Discovery channel should know what we mean. (Gary pretty much thinks its amazing and terrible all at the same time…paranoia of snakes in Panama has morphed into sharks and the Cape cobras that live up in the near by hills) Fish Hoek is a lovely town on a great sandy bay and for our tired family it felt like a safe haven. For the first time in 3 months I was able to cook in the little flat where we’re staying, which was amazing. We also have a million dollar view of the bay and town from our hillside perch. I was a bit reluctant to leave this slice of heaven for our next journey.

From Fish Hoek we joined the rest of our team, who had been staying in a Youth Hostel. Together we would journey up to Worchester, where we would be staying for a week long Uof N Conference, which is held in different locations every 2 years. We drove up along the coast for a stretch through the sand dunes which were covered in low lying bushes and calla lilies. I was able to enjoy the beauty despite being frozen. The first week in South Africa was so cold especially as we had just come from Panama with 90 degree weather and 84% humidity.

The conference for us was about getting over jet lag, reconnecting as a family in our Rondovel (round house), attending the general sessions of the conference and swimming in the hot pools. This was the only way we could be warm as apparently they don’t heat their homes/buildings in South Africa….again….freezing!!! The conference finished up on Saturday night and Sunday morning we headed to our next destination.

Paarl is wine country and we were staying at a Christian retreat center for our DTS Debrief. Unfortunately Caleb was very sick during debrief with the flu. He had a horrible croupy cough and no energy. In fact he spent most of his time bundled in blankets in his stroller drifting in and out of sleep. The only benefit for us is that we could both attend the debrief sessions together and he wasn’t a disturbance. Our last night together as team, we had a great graduation ceremony and we were given official graduation certificates. Pretty fancy! It’s hard to believe we survived DTS as a couple, with a 2 year old and being pregnant. This also marked our first contact with the “outside world” via internet thanks to a café in town. I was able to get a very brief birthday greeting to my mom who turned 50. Sorry Jon…50 trumped 28! Happy birthday though!!!

On Thursday we left Paarl amongst tearful goodbyes knowing that we most likely will not see most of our now ex-classmates again this side of heaven. About half of the students went straight to the airport in Cape Town and the rest of us drove back to Cape Town where we would be staying for various amounts of time in locations in and around the Muizenburg YWAM base. We are fortunate enough to be back in Fish Hoek, which is a beautiful 10 minute train ride from Muizenburg. We are staying in a little beach cottage that has two bedrooms. For the first time since April our son is sleeping in a separate bedroom…I thought it would never happen.

We had a long weekend to adjust to our new surrounding, stock our cupboards & fridge for the month ahead, and generally enjoy being a family of 3. It’s such a relief to be parenting in our own home…or the closest thing to it in the past 18 months. The beach is just a short walk through the sand dunes and so far we have enjoyed the sun, rain, whales, seals, surfers and walking barefoot in the sand; life’s simple pleasures. Fortunately for us the weather has improved greatly which is wonderful. We still had to purchase some winter clothing for Caleb but thankfully we found some amazing deals and were able to get jeans and 3 long sleeve shirts for about 100 rand (Which is around $15 currently thanks to the dollar decreasing even since we arrived).

Monday we met with Dave Fisher who runs Voice for the Voiceless South Africa, along with his wife Laura. We will be working with them for the month along with 3 of our fellow DTS classmates. The ministry in South Africa is much more hands on than the international ministry of PhotogenX/Voice for the Voiceless in Kona. We have a lot of freedom to pursue whatever interests us but they have asked if we would consider focusing on the issue of alcohol abuse as that is a major problem here. It is in all spheres of society and is linked to violence, rape, incest, unusually high car accident rates, etc.

At this point we are generating ideas about how to encompass this issue within a month long project. We will be back in the office today for a meeting to talk through our ideas, etc. Dave and Laura are very busy helping get the first leg of the track program up and running as it starts within the week. I’m not entirely sure how much they will be involved with this project, other than to provide oversight and some direction with contacts. Please join us in praying and believing that our little band of photographers can leave something behind that will positively impact change in and around Cape Town.

During this month in South Africa we are also considering what the next step is for us as a family. We have of course been kicking around different ideas and opportunities for the past few months. It would be impossible not to in the context of “what are you going to do after DTS?” questions. We know for a fact we will be in Seattle till at least the end of February but beyond that nothing is set. Again we ask you to join us in seeking direction for our future as a family in ministry. The decisions ahead of us will greatly impact the course of our future and we want to be planted where we will both be used within the scope of our gifting for the sake of the kingdom.

On a final note we wanted to report an amazing answer to prayer. As many of you know we had expressed our need for around $2000 to see us through to the time of our arrival back in Seattle. Within hours of leaving Panama we received an email saying a donation of $1000 was coming in. Then when we were in Paarl we received an email from Colink indicating that not just $1000 but actually $2100 in donations had come in. You would think I would be done being amazing at God’s amazing provision during this season, but alas I am not. I am repeatedly blown away by the generosity of friends, acquaintances, family, and how the Lord uses them to bless us abundantly. Indeed the Lord is faithful to complete a good work.

We will keep you posted on how the work with Voice for the Voiceless goes and if there are any developments on our future plans. Our internet access is limited still so it probably will not be frequent communication. We will just have to catch up when we get back in the states. We can’t wait to hear all the Lord has been doing in your lives over the past 8 months.

Love,

Jenn ( Gary & Caleb)