Our Last Post Until Arrival

Our last update…

It is sad that we have come to the end of this journey, but we are so excited to be on our way home. In so many ways we have grown as a family. We have been strengthened, challenged, and unified. We come home with a new vision and new mandate upon our lives. We eagerly await our arrival so we can begin.

I (Gary) have grown accustomed to sending out photo essays. So in keeping with this theme, I have decided to end with one last set of photos.

Can anyone say cheese! Yes, our amazing son has begun to mimic his father’s passion for photography. Caleb’s latest attempt to take pictures is with his camera, made from one of his toys. He has gone from setting up our tripod and pretending to take pictures, to his blocks. We found out, from one of the staff working with Voice for the Voiceless, they make a real camera that is indestructible for preschoolers. We’re thinking this should go on Caleb’s Christmas gift list this year.

The next best thing to taking pictures is playing in the rocks and sea shells that have washed up onto the shore. On one of our Sunday walks, we walked on a trail that went along the ocean. We stopped for a few minutes to let Caleb play and Jenn was busy finding interesting sea shells to bring back with her, for future art projects. She has come to realize how much she loves painting and has been inspired by her travels, to come home and take up where she left off, with a renewed passion.

A wonderful combination of this boat washed up on shore and Jenn & Caleb walking on the beach. We are going to miss this wonderful place called Fish Hoek. It has been one of the best times for our family to rest and hear God's voice for the next step of our lives. We will never forget the amazing beauty of this side of the world.

See, Caleb is watching his father working hard at getting the perfect shot. No wonder he wants to take up photography at an early age.

For all of you who have wanted to see a picture of Jenn’s belly, here it is! Jenn has walked so many places while being in South Africa. She is staying fit for being pregnant. She told me that she's going to have to not eat as much when she gets home. It’s going to be cold out, so getting around will be by car and not feet.

Enjoying the wild life of Simons Town. The safest city of all South Africa. Jenn is attempting to take a picture of her shoes. She is done trying to get the perfect penguin picture. Yes, South Africa has penguins, which I bet most of you didn’t know. As we were told, a couple of penguins some how found their way to Simons Town and decided not to leave. From their offspring, a large population of Jack Ass penguins has emerged. They have become a huge tourist attraction for many to come and see.

Here’s the proof that penguins truly do live in South Africa naturally. Honestly, not all penguins live on the ice of Antarctica. Caleb had the time of his life seeing all the “Happy Feet” as he calls them. If only you could have seen and heard the excitement from him. Each time Caleb would see a penguin along the walking path, with the loudest excited voice possible, he would repeat “Happy Feet” “Happy Feet” We thought for sure Caleb might scare the penguins away, but he didn’t.

This picture is the reward of hiking up a mountain at 5:30 in the morning and being able to catch the sunrise. Elsie’s Peak, as it is called, can be climbed to give you a spectacular view of False Bay. I was told that you do need to be careful when you hike up any of the mountains in the area. They have two poisonous snakes to watch out for, The Puff Adder and The Cape Cobra. Most fortunate for us, it was early in the morning, blowing cold wind, and praying not to see any crawling creatures, that we never saw one. On the other hand we saw a whale in the ocean, which was cool.

Here I am with the three of us that climbed Elsie’s Peak. Jenn wanted to climb the mountain, but she was in a lot pain from her back, so she didn’t come. Good thing, because the wind was so cold. After seeing the sunrise and getting our photos, we didn’t stick around for very long. We hiked up the mountain for about an hour, took pictures for about 25 minutes, and then quickly made our way back down to get something hot in our stomachs to warm us up. Thanks Cathy for leading the way and Lindsey for joining us to embark on this most amazing view to write home and tell my friends and family about.

The waterfront in Cape Town! O.K. I have to say, after going to a lot of the tourist spots in a city on the water, I think they are all like. They have their unique landscape, but all shopping stores you would typically see are pretty much the same. I think I am getting to the point where I don’t want to go to the typical tourist spot, because once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Don’t get me wrong, Cape Town is a beautiful city because of the surrounding mountains, but I think the next time I go to visit a city in a foreign country, I will think twice before walking to a hotspot for tourists. Ultimately, going to these places you’ll end up buying overpriced souvenirs, where if you went to the places that were really worth seeing, you’d end up with souvenirs that were cheaper and helping the people who really need the business.

Many of you will never know what it means to walk into a township in South Africa, but if you do, you will see a large community of thousands living in a remote area just outside from the surrounding city. It was Apartheid that segregated the whites from the coloreds and blacks. It was the ruling party up until Nelson Mandela that made all non-white South African live in townships. Now coloreds and blacks can live in any community they want, but many still live in townships, because of poverty. Capricorn, one of the local townships in the area where we visited quite often, is the home of 20,000 people. The homes there are made from whatever material can be found. Some of the homes are better than others. I was told that a family of four living in a township could live off 20RAND a day. This is almost $3.00. Sadly though, what they would eat is not that healthy. For the three of us, we thought we were doing well if we could go to the store and make a simple meal for $7.00. Poverty is real; the hard part is to know how to best serve these people, because giving money to problem in many ways, makes it worse.

This wonderful woman, who went by Sister Margaret, was one of the most faithful in coming to the home groups in the town ship of Capricorn. I mention and include her in our photo essay, because this past week she went home to be with the Lord. She was a sweet and wonderful woman who had a passion for the Lord and deep desire to see her daughter saved. You would've loved her tenderness and the joy she had in meeting new people. May she be remembered for her heart to see her community change for the kingdom! She will be missed by many.

Will you keep us in your prayers as we transition home and get back to the life of being in United States! We have an exciting adventure ahead of us as we start the process of planning the next step of what we believe God is calling us to do as a family. There is going to be much work for us and we are going to need help. We look forward to soon revealing our plans and hope that many of you will want to join in our adventure also.

Until we see each other soon


Gary, Jenn, Caleb & soon baby Land.