South Africa 2 - gimme the keys

Friday 18th

We went to the morning chapel service for the staff of project gateway which was brilliant - our first full-on experience of zulu worship - absolutely fantastic - so loud and joyful and there was some english mixed in!

we were all dressed up smart to create a good impression - which was a good thing coz we got asked to come to the front to be introduced and prayed for! got lots of postive feedback afterwards so it was all worth it!!



Then Becky showed us round PMB city centre which was dirty, bustling and full of interesting monuments - like a lot of cities!

Found a lovely tea-room(!) in the art gallery and so had late elevenses there!

then came back and attempted to cook before the power cut coz of load shedding (1600-1830)

we managed (just!) and played some Uno in the dusk/dark - which was good fun as we were straining to see what colours or cards were!!



Then we went to PCF's (the church onsite) youth group and watched a dvd about relationships
DVD was brilliant; the kids were sooo excited to meet us and more zulu worship :D
We also actually got an early night so that was nice :P


Saturday 19th

we were up early (left PG at 0730) to go team building

we went into a forested/bush area and did some silly team games. then some hardcore trust games (falling backwards off a 3ft wall to be caught by everyone certainly challenges you!). then coffee, then a wires challenge and a blindfold challenge. in pairs one person blindfolded the other guiding just with touch or just with voice. then lunch. then another blindfold challenge but with the roles reversed.

then a swing challenge

the challenges are pretty difficult to explain but were pretty exhausting. As was walking through the bush. so needless to say we were all completely shattered when we got back

i was absolutely covered in dirt, a shower has rarely felt so good!



That night we went round to Sheelaghs for pizza. so wierd being in normal size rooms again, felt a little strange&slightly scary!
i have become incredibly used and comfortable with the confines of a cell!

we played a few board games with becky, samke (becky's assistant who also came team-building), Umtogo(the site manager) and kylie (who is from england helping out in the Karen Millen school of fashion which was started here in January!)

Then came back home and crashed out - all of us had very wierd dreams and woke up with our bedsheets all over the place - was funny to compare stories!

Sunday 20th
We went to NCF church at 1000 - Dean (the guy who heads up the cell group we will be joining) helped us out with lifts and finding the church. The church is very much like a lot of churches in the western world - and is aimed at a completely different demographic than that which PCF aims at - the worship is abit hillsong-like and there is no zulu worship (which to begin with was a tad disappointing)
tho there is something nice about not having to be worried about the culture and how we will fit in - it is a large church but once we get to know the cell grp i think we will all feel far more settled.

The rest of Sunday was spent chilling out and relaxing - we were all still tired frm sat - and it was chucking it down sooo much - we didn't want to go outside - the rain&thunder was so loud on the iron roof of the church that they cut the sermon short coz no one could hear - even when the preacher was miked up!!

and we then went out to NCF in the evening for a music event which they hold every couple of the months with a short msg -- its a type of outreach i think!
the event was great - even more like hillsong than in the morning - but we were all very aware that hannah wasn't feeling very well (she's back to being fine again - just needed to catch up on some sleep) and so headed back early.

Tho Abby, Phil, Jonno and I all stayed up pretty late playing cards (i'm definitely hitting the pillow early 2nite!)

Monday 21st
We have spent most of the day in the monthly meetings that the admin dept have with each project to get feedback on everything....so interesting - and so much to be done! still haven't decided which project to be a part of - but listening to the reports gives you more of an insight into what is going on and which areas of need there are (apart from the very stark financial need that comes from every project) i have a feeling i will be doing a heck of a lot of fundraising when i get home.

I drove to the SuperSpar with Abby&Phil this afternoon to do a big shop for the rest of the week - its pretty amazing how much food seven ppl eat in one week! but is equally amazing how cheap the majority of things are! We were aiming for the Spar which is closest to us but ended up at another Spar nearer NCF - not entirely sure if this was the one the person who gave us instructions was aiming at - but we got there in one piece and without driving into any dodgy areas so thats good! I am gradually getting used to non-power steering and beginning to enjoy the africa driving experience even if our car has very little acceleration at all&there is a rather interesting squeaking noise emanating from the bonnet - we have a car!!!

Wedsnesday and Thursday we are heading out to the feeding projects at two of the local hospitals at 0530 - so we're going to be pretty shattered on friday when we make final decisions about which projects to work on (we are doing visits to projects on weds and thurs during the day)

On Thursday evening R.T Kendall (look him up on Google if you've never read any of his books) is coming to preach at NCF church due to a mix-up on his teaching schedule in Durban and we are all going to go. Its pretty wierd that we're in South Africa going to listen to a teacher who used to work in London! but not turning down the amazing opportunity!

It has not rained today but has been persistently cloudy (and dare i say it; cold! :S) we are told things should be back to 'normal' tomorrow - all i can say is: I hope so!

Feels so strange that we will only have been here a week 2moro - it feels like so much longer than that! am so settled!

Peace out x