R & R

We've now had 2 full days here in beautiful George, South Africa. I've been blessed to visit some pretty incredible landscapes over the years, but they all pale to this place in comparison. When we drove from the airport in Cape Town to the Out of Africa Missions base (Makani) in George, I spent much of the time gaping at the mist rolling in over the lush, green mountains. Yesterday we woke up to find monkeys climbing all over the roof and a peacock in full plumage hanging out on our back porch.

The past 2 days have been fairly low-key, which was a welcome blessing to our jet-lagged team. We spent yesterday morning bonding with the OAM staff and life academy students (featured in Johnny's video blog #2), and then went to cheer on the OAM girls netball team. Netball was a brand new experience for us. I've decided it is basically a version of no-contact basketball played only by passing and with no backboard on the hoop. Our girls won!

Today we visited George Methodist Church, which bore amazing similarity to my home church, Neighborhood Christian Fellowship. We had a lovely time worshiping together, and afterward we walked through a botanical garden that can only be described as simply breathtaking.

Some of the team members and I have decided to work our way through CS Lewis' Mere Christianity during our time here, and we had our first "book club" meeting after lunch--definitely a highlight for me! The book launched us into a rousing discussion of human nature, sin, and the goodness of God. We're all looking forward to our next chat. :)

We spent the afternoon at Victoria Bay (or Victoriabaai, in Afrikaans), a cove near Makani in which the mountains run right up to the beach. The water was a bit too chilly for me, but we had a grand time hunting for seashells in the tide pools and playing touch football. (Dad: you'd be proud of me, I scored a touchdown.)

Our rest period has now come to end, and tomorrow we start working with some maintenance projects around Makani. Please continue to lift us up in your prayers! Much love to everyone back at home.