Sunday, October 1st

Hello, Family and Friends-

We have arrived safely at Capetown (tired and rumpled, but safe) and are enjoying our first day here. After having missed our connecting flight in Johannesburg yesterday and then being delayed and split up on different planes, we finally made it to the Team House where we are staying for dinner, a quick devotion, and much-needed rest!

This morning we celebrated with over 400 people John Thomas' 50th birthday. John is the pastor of Fish Hoek Baptist Church here in Capetown and the Executive Director of the Living Hope Centre where most of us will be working over the next 9 days. While John was away preaching at Fish Hoek this morning, we set up tables and chairs for 500, prepared and set out lunch, and decorated the school where the celebration was being held. After morning services were over, people began to arrive--many from John's church, many from the Masiphumulele township, some who've worked with John in the Christian radio industry here in South Africa, his friends, and family. Many of these people spoke briefly (or not so briefly) about their relationship with John and his work and ministry in and around Capetown. It is amazing to see everyone socializing together-white, black, and colored-given the politicial/racial struggles of the not-so-distant past. Clearly many of those present today came from very different backgrounds with respect to race, financial status, education level, religion, but they were all there in support of John and his efforts. Very cool. After the party, we cleaned up, washed dishes, broke down tables, and washed more dishes. We had arrived around 8am and left shortly after 4pm, so it was quite an all-day event.

I think this week will be a lesson for each of us in flexibility. We have wonderful plans for what we hope to accomplish and what needs to be done, we'll just have to take it one day at a time, fully expecting that our plans will change as we go.

Thank you for your prayers and support while we are here.