Understanding The Bible & Mid-Year Outreach

Wow! What a busy last few weeks it has been!! I apologize for not keeping up with my blog! So I will make up for it now. We've gotta go back to March, so let's time travel a little bit.

March 14-18

Monday: We started our class called Understanding the Bible. I really enjoy this class! After class, I had lunch and then chilled in the afternoon. I went to Waterglen with Megon and Chanel and we had so much fun! It started to rain a little bit and we headed back and Chanel and I went to Apologetics. It wasn't an actual class, just a start up for next term. So we got to ask questions that we have about religion and the Bible and in the next term they will cover those questions. In the evening we had our final house time for the term. We played games and hung out with each other. It was such a fun time and I am so thankful for these friends that have become my family!

Tuesday: Class was normal and it went by fairly quickly. Then I went to hang out with Rufaro for a bit. She led our 2014 O2 Network mission trip to Swaziland and I haven't gotten to see her much this term so it was so lovely to catch up with her! (She is doing well, and sends her love to y'all back in TX!) In the afternoon, the girls and guys split to have a quick meeting. We discussed the importance of friendship, and it was a nice chat. Then Lesinda and I hung out for awhile until fitness. After fitness, I had a PFT with Kerry. And that was about it for the day.

Afternoon naps outside. LOL. 

Wednesday: Before class started, a few people in charge of certain volunteer areas came to speak about where we can volunteer in the church. There are SO many different areas to volunteer, it's almost impossible to choose where to serve! Anyway, afterwards we had class as usual. Nothing much happened in the afternoon. That evening, we had our final flock time for the term. Kerry took us to the church and she had set up an Easter "Four Sections of the Cross" thing. It was an incredible visual of the importance of Easter. Kerry washed our feet, and then we wrote things on post-it notes and stuck them on the cross, and there was an empty "tomb" set up, then we had communion together. It was amazing!

Thursday: We talked about tracks and things we can do next term before class. Then we had class, and we were finished. We had to clean up our cupboards and rooms before the weekend, so I started that in the afternoon. Mainly, I started to pack for our Mid-year outreach. That evening, I was asked to be wash-up leader for next term, and of course I said yes! I'm super excited!

Friday: We did plotties in the morning and then had a meeting in the foyer hall about the holiday. Then we were finished! A lot of people went home right after the meeting, but Nonto and I went to Waterglen to get snacks for our road trip! Afterwards, I had to move my stuff over to Emmanuel house. Then I went to the Noviskie's house to see them before I left for outreach.

Me, Kerry, Raqeul, Nonto, and Cuan

March 19-28
Mid-Year Outreach -- Cape Town

Saturday: We woke up EARLY in order to leave at 4am. Yes. 4 in the morning. But we packed up the van and started driving, and driving, and driving. Let me quickly tell you about my team. As you know, Nonto and I are the only mid-years now, so it was us, our leader KerryAnn, and Cuan and Raquel (the directors of YOYL). Morne caught a lift with us to his home town, and Fred drove us. It took us all day to get to Bredasdorp, our first stop on our outreach. We spend Easter weekend here, and Fred and his family took good care of us. It was so cool to be in a small South African town!

Sunday: We went to church in the morning and then we got to go to Cape Agulhas, the southermost tip of Africa. We walked along the beach and even went up a lighthouse. Then we got to back Visser's home (a fellow YOYLers home that we got to stay at) and rested until a braii that evening with Fred's family. When we came back, Raquel, Nonto, and I stayed up and chatted until late. It was so nice, and we all got to know each other a little bit more just by spending time together.

Josh praying with his team at their touch rugby match

Monday: We packed up and made the trip to Cape Town. It was just about two hours away from Bredasdorp. On the way, we stopped at a beach near Hermanus, then found out that my house leader's touch rugby team made the finals in their tournament and so we got to go that. It was so fun! I honestly couldn't really tell what was happening but it was entertaining and fun to watch! Afterwards, we headed to where we would stay for the next few days. It was a nice, little apartment flat outside of Cape Town. We were right across from the beach and across the bay was Table Mountain, and Robben Island. After we settled in, we headed to get groceries for the week. When we got back, Raquel began making supper. It was delicious! We ate a bit late, so after that we chatted for awhile and then went to bed.

Nonto, myself, and Kerry on top of Table Mountain

Tuesday: We began the marketing part of our outreach. Our goal for the outreach was to go to schools and churches and connect with them and give them information about YOYL and hopefully get Hatfield connected with more places in the Western Cape. So we drove around to about five different churches in the morning to leave packets for them. Then we got to go to Groot Constantia vineyard in the afternoon. It is absolutely beautiful there! Then we drove on to Hout bay, which is also incredible! We walked around and put our feet in the (cold) water and saw some seals. Some where in between there we also had a picnic lunch at the Cecil Rhodes memorial.  Then we drove by Camps Bay on the way to Charly's Bakery. We had a delicious slice of cake there, and then went to St. George's Cathedral to hear a dramatic reading about the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It was quite intriguing. Then we headed home. We nicknamed our flat "Jonah House" because we would only be there for a few days and it's a YOYL thing to name houses. So we got back to Jonah house and Raquel fixed another delicious dinner. It was a long and crazy day but it was so fun!

Mandela's cell

Wednesday: Wednesday was a purely tourist day. We got up early to catch our ferry boat out to Robben Island. We had to park fairly far away from the pier, so we had to run to catch our boat, but we got there in time! The island was remarkable. We got filled with tons of history and we saw where Nelson Mandela spent 17 years of his imprisonment. When we got back we had lunch on the Waterfront and then we had time to go to Table Mountain. Kerry, Nonto, and I went and it was so fun!! Those were the only things we did that day, but they each took up almost half a day so we had no time for anything else. We had a nice supper again! Jonah house was truly best with incredible food on our outreach.

Robben Island

Jonah house'a new pet penguin

Thursday: We began the morning with more marketing at schools. It was our last day in Cape Town so, we spent the afternoon in Simon's Town and we saw penguins on the beach!! That evening, we met up with a YOYL alumni's parents for dinner. They took us to the Eastern Food Bazaar and it was so cool! There was a variety of different options from Chinese, Indian, and other Eastern foods. It was amazing. The couple was very sweet and we had a great time with them! We came back to Jonah house and had tea and Cuan and Raquel told us YOYL stories from when they were students and leaders. It was so fun!

Table Mountain

Friday: We got up and we got to attend the Good Friday service at Hillsong! That was quite an amazing experience! Then we headed to Citrusdal, to Cuan's Uncle and Aunt's farm. His uncle and aunt are so sweet!! They showed us our rooms when we got there and then we got in the bakkie (truck) and drove around the farm. The farm is absolutely amazing. It's in a valley, so the landscape is gorgeous with the mountains in the background and citrus trees in the valley. We had supper, and then just chatted.

Saturday: Cuan's uncle and aunt let us sleep in a bit and then we all got up and went for a hike! We walked around and up the mountain. It was lots of fun because we basically just got to spend the whole time enjoying the scenery and chatting with each other. After we got back, we had lunch and then in the afternoon I learned how to ride a motor bike! It was tons of fun!! Once I finally got the hang of it, I drove around the farm and dam around the house. Then we ate dinner, and spent more time chatting.

Sunday: We went to church in the morning and got to see more of the town of Citrusdal. After we came back and ate lunch, Kerry and I watched a movie and then relaxed the rest of the evening. I think it was a very refreshing time to just spend with my team and get to know Cuan and Raquel better. And I know they enjoyed catching up with their family. So it wasn't a normal outreach, but it worked out and was a very incredible experience for us.

Monday: We got up early again to head out. My parents had arrived in Cape Town the evening before, so I was dropped off at their hotel and that was the end of my outreach and the beginning of vacation with my parents.

That's all I'll write for now, but I'll get around to talking about my holiday experience. I had an absolutely amazing time!! The Cape Town outreach will definitely be one of my many YOYL highlights. I am so thankful for the opportunity to go and see more of this wonderful country!

--sea'sadventures--

Baby "dropbox" at a church we visited

Nonto and I on top of the lighthouse