We finished painting in building two, and painted about half of building one, with a little bit of molding left to put up, though cut.  Looking back at the project, we all wish we could’ve finished both buildings, but still have a great sense of accomplishment at the large amounts of work that were completed. 

After work, we said goodbye to Pastor Erik, and the children in the preschools on site, with one last rendition of our favorite “Can you feel it!?” song from the kids.  It is so hard to say farewell!  I hope and pray that the gospel and Holy Spirit remain alive and powerful among these people!

We had a wonderful farewell dinner out with Hoppy and the rest of the gang, with good ice cream for desert afterwards.  My favorite part of the evening was that there on the beach many fireworks were being set off, in honor of Guy Fawks day (sp?), and were a special treat. 

Tomorrow we head for the beach and curio shops in the morning, then check out of the B&B, pack up the crates at Hoppy’s house, then drive to the airport with Freddie to head back to the States!

It seems very appropriate to end with the famous line, “Remember, remember the fifth of November” to commemorate today, as well as this team’s journey  and work here in E.L.   We certainly will always have fond memories of our time here, and have been forever changed by it as well.

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the site we started the base coat of paint, putting strips up to cover the seams from the ceiling tiles, and finished the last few square feet (‘scuse me, meters…)  of ceiling tiles.  The painting for building two is nearly complete, and building one may get started tomorrow, provided everything is cleaned and ready for the paint!

There was another great soccer day today:  started drizzling a little at first, but God allowed us to play, and Bobby to share some very encouraging words to motivate the men to come to church.  One thing we rejoice and laugh over is all of the soccer balls that have been kicked over the fence into the township:  all of them have the gospel written on them in Xhosa!  We started off with about 100 balls, and there were only a few left in the church yard that people were playing with   Thirdly, we handed out the rest of the salvation bracelets to the kids as well as backpacks: pray the reminder would be strong, and that the Holy Spirit would use the seeds that have been planted!

Dinner at Hoppy’s house was another wonderful experience: lasanga!  It was so very good, and reminscent of home, though I still prefer my mom’s

Tomorrow is our last day!  Pray for energy and focus to finish this task He has set before us with all our might!  Isaiah 40:31  is definitely a verse to claim for tomorrow. 

Love in, by, and through Christ!

Here at the B&B there has been no internet for the past few days; so therefore first I apologize for the lack of posting. We have had an amazing three days; Sunday we went to church at Amalinda Baptist, the church where we are working in Amalinda Forrest, and then in the evening back to Amalinda Baptist before dinner at Hoppy’s which we have all come to enjoy immensely. Hoppy preached the first sermon, reminding us of what it means to be called to follow Christ. The church in Amalinda Forrest was absolutely amazing. I don’t believe I’ve ever been that literally awestruck as when we opened the door to the van and heard the church. They were singing acapella in perfect 4 part harmony beautiful songs all praising our God; it’s incredible to me that we can be a half- world away and Jesus is still the same. In the evening service Kurt spoke again after Jim shared his testimony, giving praise to God for never letting us go, even when we don’t realize it! Bobby and Ryan also played with the praise band while Tabitha drew an eagle to fit the night’s theme of Isaiah 40:31. What a day, what a day!

Monday: First day of work! An excellent day of putting up studs for ceiling tiles (aka rafters), and smoothing out some of the stucco/ plaster on the walls. We finished putting up tiles in the center room of building 2. In the evening we had an hour or so playing soccer with the church team: way outmatched but so fun! We had dinner at Hoppy’s and heard testimonies from Ryan and Wolfgang.

Tuesday: Second day- finished putting the ceiling up on all but the large areas on building two, started putting it up on building one. We had an AWESOME time playing soccer afterwards. For me, the best part of the day was seeing the soccer field take shape, as some of the same friends from Monday came and cleaned up the field, and before our tournament our group was able to hand out salvation bracelets and explain what they represent. We had a quick 5v5 tournament, which turned into 6v6, with each of the four teams having one team member on them. Our representatives were Kurt, Bobby, Ryan, and Rob. The winning team won 300 rand, and because I know you’re dying to know, Kurt’s team won. Dinner at Hoppy’s was next, where Rob and Mike shared their testimonies.

Wednesday: Another great day of work! Our team finished all the ceilings except two small closet spaces in both buildings. Everyone has been working with all our effort, and so the project has gone very well; we hope to be finished tomorrow, Lord willing! We had a little rain this afternoon, but not until it was time to leave, which was a blessing for the work, but the planned soccer event had to be cancelled. Please pray for this to happen before we leave, so we can encourage and live Christ to these men through soccer! Bobby has prepared an excellent presentation for them. Tonight, Tabatha (sorry for previous misspellings!) and Kurt shared their testimony, and this writer has been reminded once again about what it means to be called for Christ: it is truly laying down your life, loving Christ, and the most important thing is your relationship with Jesus. Every avenue of our lives as I have seen and heard through all our sharing has shown how truly dull and dead life is without Christ. He is a friend, father, guide, mentor, path- maker, and faithful to His people! If you do not know Jesus, please seek Him out!

South African vocab lesson:
Bucky:  small truck, usually filled with tools and stucco.  Great for late night transport as well
Dugga:  homemade mortar
Mind your head:  watch your head
How it is/ Howsit:  a greeting, like “How are ya?”
(food)
Chutney: aka fruit jelly that is used very frequently, an ‘aquired taste’
Slop- chips: greasy french fries in vinegar and salt.  Excellent meal filler, thumbs up!
Fatcakes:  fried dough, extremely delicious, though could use some powdered sugar!  Also used for sandwich bread
Coke light: aka diet coke
Appletizer:  best soft drink in SA.  Similar to Welch’s sparkling grape juice but better.  Grapetizer exists as well.
Ginger beer:  Simiar concept to root beer, but ginger flavored.  Must like ginger… A LOT… to enjoy
.. soo we’re being fed well…

one other tip.  If you need to use the restroom, ask/ look for the toilet…

  hope you enjoy!

We then spent the evening at a church member’s house to experience the rugby finals in South Africa, compared to the Super Bowl’s intensity.  Trevor’s home was mind numbing to me-  a legitimate tennis court in the front yard is not a usual thing!  The ruby match was good because we were able to learn a little about it and see the passion the people have for the game.  After another great meal Bobby and James shared their testimonies with us, telling of God’s grace and faithfulness in all our trials and situations.  Church in the morning is going to be wonderful!  Please pray for the services, and for Kurt as he is sharing at the church in Amalinda Forrest.  Praise be to Jesus that we are able to worship Him with brothers and sisters halfway across the world! 

WE’RE IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!  This has been an awesome journey- we had to recheck our bags in Joburg, which was not a convient (or cheap) detour but by His grace we made it through- even our four or so poles to attach rollers, which was a blessing.

We made it to the Bed and Breakfast about 10:30 pm last night, SA time, after meeting Hoppy and a few other Amalinda Baptist folks.  The main story of the night was the Hadidad (Ha- de- dod as i understand how to say it).  Everything here is very quiet, and in the middle of the night this bird started screaming, which of course was a wonderful scene-  i’m wondering if the bird(s) will make it through the week… 

This morning was wonderful, had a great breakfast then drove out to Scenery Park Baptist church, which is Church plant of Amalinda Baptist, and met Pastor James, some of the day care kids, and a few AIDS patients.  For some of us, this was also our first time to see the squatter camps and living conditions of many people here.  We also traveled to Amalinda Forrest, and the Holy Covenant Ministry Church for People, where we will be working on two houses to house orphans.  Next we visited Amalinda Baptist Church, ate lunch at local hamburger place where we ate slop chips.  Next was the beach and runnign up a [huge] sand dune to have a devotion, and saying “hi” to the sharks in the Indian ocean; completing two more of the five tasks to be “strong like Africa” – the first being eating slop chips and our last two being to eat Chutney, and play rugby on the beach. 

Tonight we have a Brie, or barbeque, at Hoppys house where according to rumor we will be eating Baboon (craaaaaazy!).  I’ve also attached some pictures of our travel and today! 

Talk to you just now!

Team 3 will be leaving in a few weeks.

This is my second trip to South Africa.   Many of the things are the same like Hoppy and his unbelievable ministry, the “on fire” churches we visited, the beautiful country and the great diversity.   This year had new experiences and blessings and blessings for me.   One difference was that this year the work project and vacation Bible school was in the middle of a squatter’s community.   The poverty and lack of basic needs were all around us and easily seen and experienced.   You could get on top of the building and see small one room buildings for miles.   Many of these were made of tin, plywood, signs, sticks, block or whatever material the Xhosa people could find to build a home.   Most didn’t have running water or power.  Still, like last year, the children were adorable and always smiling and wanting to be loved.   The VBS team did a great job in loving the children and telling them about the good news of Jesus. 

We also visited a public hospital last night with a couple of ladies from Hoppy’s church.   They visit the hospital almost daily to pray for and with the sick and tell them about Jesus.   We went to the medical ward with rows and rows of very sick people, most of them dying from complications caused by AIDs.   The site of the sick and suffering was stunning and the condition of the hospital was sub-standard and unthinkable for America.   The smells, sights and sounds were something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.  Yet, this is probably one of the better public hospitals for Africa.    Still, these precious ladies led us through the wards to hand out Bibles (in Xhosa), tracks and pray for over a hundred patients.  Their boldness was moving and convicting.   We prayed with many of the patients, even though most didn’t speak English.   Everyone was excited to get a new Bible, especially in their native tongue. 

We will be heading home tomorrow.   Team 1 and 2 have accomplished a lot in the last two weeks.   We keep imaging the children who will soon be running, playing and learning in the new homes.   Most of all, we will know of the love and hope the children will have in Jesus Christ.   

God bless.

Tim McGill