African PENGUINS!!!

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger for nearly a MONTH now!! It's hard to believe that I've been home from Africa for nearly a week now, and away from my daily routine in Cape Town for two weeks now...but my last week in Cape Town, I was able to see the cute (but stinky!) African Penguins!

But to be perfectly honest, the animal title was simply the way to suck my readers in again....these nowhere close to the highlight of my week, so I'll move on!  It was my final week in Red Hill and my final time to spend with not only the kids and teens of the community, but also with the wonderful Life Skills Educators (LSE) and long-term volunteers I had been working with.  I was so fortunate to have lunch with this group of dear friends TWICE my last week - both times at the well known South African chain called Spur, which I could categorize and a mix of Applebee's and Chuck-E-Cheese...aka Awesomeness!!! They have a special Spur sauce that is for fries and salads and it reminds me of the pink sauce that you get at Japanese steak houses - so good!!!

L to R: Julia (long-term vol from VA), Kylie (summer vol from Australia),
me, Lumka (Red Hill LSE), and Pastor Kennedy (RH LSE)

But aside from meals and fellowship with one another, I was given the opportunity to lead the devotion for Teens Club my last Tuesday.  I was so nervous, but everyone was so supportive and I think it went pretty well overall.    The teens were so respectful and listened to what I had to share and I can only pray that they heard and understood my message and will take it seriously.  It was based on "self-talk" and how important it is for us to believe in ourselves and how difficult it can be to always choose a positive life perspective, especially when life gets tough!  But I see so much potential in the kids and teens of this community that I know they can and will do BIG things if they put their minds to it and believe in themselves!  As I said goodbye to so many of them on my last Thursday of club, I started to cry.  So many of them gave me the biggest hugs and told me not to cry.  I tried to explain that they were happy tears because I loved them so much and was just bummed to be leaving for now, but that I looked forward to seeing them again one day!  There is no doubt in my mind that Ryan and I will be visiting Red Hill again some day in the future, and I can't wait to see how those kids have grown and developed!

Tania - one of my little angels who loved sitting quietly and learning about Scripture.

The kids are also so eager to learn.  More often than not, when the Bibles are handed out, they get quiet and are so anxious to find the memory verse and follow along with their fingers.  They seem to have such a reverence for Scripture and it's beautiful to witness.  Not to mention listening to the cadence they have when reciting the Lord's Prayer in unison.  Oh my goodness, it brought me to tears nearly every day!  And on more than one occasion as we were washing up the dishes after serving them lunch on a "hot food" day, one of the little girls would offer to help with the dishes.  They are just so grateful for the work Living Hope does in their community and so much look forward to spending time there!  But as much as they love that place, I love them 10X more...they taught me so much that I will be able to carry with me for the rest of my life, and for that, I am forever grateful.

The last Sunday that we were in town for church, we all went to Capricorn Community Church.  Capricorn is another community in which Living Hope works, and the church was actually planted in 2009 by John Thomas, the founder of Living Hope.  I had been dying to attend this church because the main worship leader is a 17 year old boy named Basil who Ryan had mentored in music during his year in Cape Town.  I was able to meet Basil and witness him leading this community in praise songs.

Now I knew how excited I was to meet him, but I had no idea what a treat I was in for...he embraced me as though we had known each other for years, he offered to share his incredibly difficult and moving life story with me, and told me how much he admired Ryan and viewed him as a brother.  Needless to say, I cried more than once that Sunday morning!!  His voice is amazing, his spirit is inspirational, and both his attitude and his smile are contagious!  I was SO glad that we made it to Capricorn that last Sunday and will remember that morning for the rest of my life.

I don't think the hike up Table Mountain has made it to my blog posts yet, but that happened...and boy did I feel it for a few days following! I was so sore, and my joints hurt - ha! I felt like such an old maid since all the college kids with me didn't exactly feel the same pain!  Anyway, despite the freezing cold wind at the top, the views were so worth the pain.

Katherine and I had a few glamour shots up there, and Berrit gave us a few "Ber-attack hugs" on the teetering edge!  But we had a blast - aside from battling the dussies, which are these little weasel looking things that are supposedly related to the elephant?!? (still hard for me to believe...but I trust my Ryan!)  Then after the hike, we drove all the way to the other side of the bay from Table Mountain to what's known as Table View.  Tim and Natasha, the volunteer coordinators for Living Hope who hosted us in their home every Monday night for a devotion, met us there for dinner.  We spent some time on the beach, watched some of the Olympics in the restaurant, and ate a delicious dinner after a long, exhausting day!  

I really savored every last moment of my final week in Cape Town and the time I spent in Red Hill.  I treasure the relationships that I was so fortunate to have built and hope that the miles do not separate me from keeping up with my new and valuable friends.  On our final Sunday morning, Mrs. Bernadette and her sweet mommy, Ms. Anita, came over to cook a hot breakfast for us before we hit the road for the Garden Route Tour through South Africa.  I will be sure to make one more post this week that includes all of the adventures we had on that road trip!  Despite the exciting life changes that I still have ahead of me this summer, I am missing my friends in Cape Town dearly...rather than saying "goodbye" we just said "until next time!" and I cannot wait for that to come true. :)