Friday

Our trip is half over here in South Africa-can't believe it.

It has been a long but rewarding couple of days for the team. The construction team has had their hands full at Masiphumelele Baptist Church, and the work is almost completed. Thanks to the team, the church has a new ceiling, new fascia boards, gutters, and downspouts outside, new flooring for storage, and a new fence (well, most of a new fence.) Also, the entire inside (walls and ceiling) has been newly painted, the windows washed inside and out, and the curtains washed and re-hung. We still lack a second coat of paint and to re-install light fixtures, but I think the construction team has earned their keep this week.

The nursing team had the opportunity yesterday to participate in support groups run by Living Hope in the Masi neighborhood. The people have so many questions about health and medical services, and Carol and Kate were warmly welcomed by people so curious for answers.

I don't think I've mentioned our IT team here with us this week. It is a very capable team of one--Bobby Stewart--who is working to install telecommunications cabling at several of the Living Hope locations around town. He has spent much of the week working out logistics at the Muizenberg location and getting cables run. Besides needing reliable Internet access, the various community centers need local networking among each other, and (to the best of my IT understanding) this is what Bobby is working on.

Tonight we had dinner with several teachers and life counselors who work with Living Hope, along with John and Avril Thomas. It is amazing to talk to these people who, in the midst of such need and pain, find ways to bring help, hope, and joy to the people they serve. I talked to John specifically about helping people who have no concept of life outside their shack or the poverty their family has lived in for generations, and he said the key is to give people hope, to let them know that they have value as a child of God, and that their life is worth so much more than even they realize. Give them something to hope for, to aspire to, a reason to try to better their situation. And it works. It happens. In one week's time, that is what I've seen Living Hope doing in so many ways and for so many people, one person at a time.

Tomorrow we are off to do some sight-seeing around Capetown and be tourists. It will be a nice respite from a week of hard, often labor-intensive work. Please continue to pray for us.