Home sweet home

Good morning friends! The team (minus Kirk who is leaving Cape Town tomorrow) landed in Atlanta around 8:00 AM yesterday. We arrived with all of our luggage and in fairly good spirits despite the extremely long (18 hour) flight. God has truly blessed our team and our experience in South Africa.

The sets came together late Friday afternoon. They look amazing! We all agreed that the best part of the trip was seeing our hard work come together in the form of the Upstreet and Waumba land sets we created. Our prayer is that the new sets at Stellenberg will create an irresistible environment to draw children into a relationship with the Lord. We want to raise a generation of Christian leaders who can make a difference in Cape Town and potentially all of South Africa.

Friday night we celebrated our hard work with a traditional African dinner at Moyo. We enjoyed the delicious food and live entertainment while seated outside wrapped up in tribal blankets. Thank you to Trudi, Kathy, and Colin for taking us there. We had a wonderful night there with you! On Saturday, the team split up. Half of the group went shopping and did some sightseeing in Cape Town. The other half went to see the penguins at Boulder Beach and to the Cape of Good Hope. We all met up back at the Precept House for a debrief with the leaders of Stellenberg. I don't think there were any dry eyes in the room as we all shared what we experienced throughout the trip. What an amazing day!

I want to give a special thanks to Kirk and Danielle for their expertise throughout the construction process of the trip. I also want to thank every member of our team for all of their hard work. It was an honor to serve God with you in South Africa. We all want to thank everyone at Stellenberg for being such phenomenal hosts while we were in Cape Town. We are extremely blessed and honored to have such a special and unique relationship with all of you. I know that we will all rejoice together in heaven one day. Lastly, I want to thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for blessing us with this opportunity. We love you Lord.

I want to encourage you to go on a globalX (or any type of mission trip) trip if God is calling you to do so. The experience you will have will absolutely change your life in ways you might not think are possible. God will change your life and your world if you let Him. He longs to be in your heart and to accompany you on an amazing journey.

Thank YOU for your prayers and support. Our team was not just comprised of the 13 people who went to Cape Town. It is made up of everyone who prayed for us, donated to our trip, and served with us in South Africa. We are eternally grateful for your generous gifts of love, support, and prayer. May the peace of God be with you all of your days.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20)

Mag God Met Julle Wees

Good morning loves! We had a fantastic evening last night. The team split up into groups of 2-3 and attended various community groups at Stellenberg. Once again, we were all blessed with the amazing hospitality from our South African friends. Some dined on bobotie (a traditional South African dish) while others dined on pizza, soups, and sandwiches. We all got to partake in various "puddings" or desserts as we say. Milk tart has been a team favorite so far...it is similar to cheesecake, but it is not as sweet and much tastier in my opinion :)

We were blown away by how each community group opened up their homes and hearts to us. The ongoing "sacred echo" in our hearts has been that God is a global God. He is omnipresent to you, and to me. He is everywhere all at once...in the earth, in the trees, and in each of us. The Lord yearns for us to seek Him and rest deeply in His mercy. Please continue to pray for our safety, well being, and team unity. We have no doubt that God has begun an amazing work here in Cape Town. Thanks be to Him for allowing our team and our church to have such a special partnership with our dear friends at Stellenberg.

Cheers to you

Good morning friends! I hope this finds you well. The week has been amazing so far. We have worked extremely hard all week as we continue to build the Upstreet, Kid Stuff, and Waumba Land sets. Monday night, we had pizza at the church followed by a meeting with Stellenberg's volunteers. We provided feedback from Sunday's service and offered suggestions based on what we do at North Point and Buckhead Church. After the meeting, we had waffles and ice cream...yes, you read it correctly. They eat waffles with ice cream here for dessert. It is a fantastic combination! Our SA friends were quite surprised that we had never combined these two foods before. I recommend that you try it as soon as possible :)

Last night, we went to dinner with Trudi and Kathy at Primi Piatta at Canal Walk. We had a lovely dinner together. A few of us went over to the Old Mutual building this morning to lay out the jungle scene fabric for the Waumba Land set and to take some measurements. We are making good progress and are very excited to continue our work here in Cape Town.

We had a minor hiccup Monday night. Unbeknownst to us, someone entered the building during our meeting and stole Colin and Drew's laptops. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and we are all in good spirits. There were about 25-30 people here, and none of us saw anyone enter the building. Satan tried to bring us down, but he did not succeed. God will always be stronger and will prevail against any obstacles. Thank you for your prayers throughout our trip. Please continue to lift us up in prayer...the Lord is in control, and His grace and mercy will set us free. We also ask for you to be in prayer for Stellenberg. It seems as if someone has been targeting their church as they definitely know the layout of the building. Please pray for their safety and well being as a church. They are all outstanding men, women, and children who glow with Christ's love and passion. We are beyond blessed and honored to call them friends.

Friday Night Team Photo

The team at Friday night's braai.

An update from the Cape

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to help transform an area of an office/business complex (the Old Mutual Building in Pinelands) into the new Stellenberg Church. From unloading the trailer, to creating childrens' classrooms using cafeteria furniture, to hanging signs and everything in between, we were hard at work by 6 AM. The people at Stellenberg could not have been more grateful.

During the service we got a chance to volunteer in the different enviroments - childrens, parking, registration, etc. After the service, they hold a second service for volunteers which we attended. We had a great time and somehow all of the kids (and Northpoint volunteers) survived, despite the fact that Drew was in charge of directing traffice.

It was quite little humbling to see how hard the SCC volunteers work on Sunday mornings. They are at the church at 6 AM every Sunday setting up for service. During setup we heard over and over that the reason they are there is not so that THEY can go to church each week; they are there each week in hopes to create an enviroment that will attract other people. I think we take for granted that we get to just show up on Sunday mornings, and everything is ready to go. We forget about all of the hard work that goes into creating the enviroments we love to attend...and that is exactly why we are here. We are here to help Stellenberg create "irresistable environments" for others. We are here to do something for the people of Cape Town that someone else did for us in Atlanta years ago when they began Northpoint, Buckhead, and Browns Bridge.

Later in the afternoon we headed into Cape Town to do a little sight seeing. Luckily the rain held off, and we were able to visit Camp's Bay. From one direction you can watch the huge waves crashing against the rocks; turn around, and you see a variety of shops and houses with towering mountains in the background. Don't worry, Grandma Hattie took plenty of photos.

We enjoyed a nice winding drive from Camp's Bay to a the Waterfront area where we were able to do a bit of shopping before dinner. I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep, the fresh ocean air, or Clint's charming sense of humor that had us laughing all of the way from the Waterfront back to the house. We managed to make it through a quick little group meeting and then laughed well on into the night before heading to bed.

Today we are back to work - building, painting, and cleaning. Tonight we will stay at the church and join in on a leadership meeting followed by waffles and pudding :)

Karaoke, Power Tools & Paintbrushes

I hope that everyone across the pond is having a wonderful weekend! Last night's brai (BBQ) was a huge success - the team met so many warm and friendly people, and the food was amazing. Many thanks to the members of Stellenberg Community Church for making us feel so welcome and blessed to be guests in such a wonderful country.

We definitely can't forget the karaoke - Clint & Elizabeth serenaded us with Shania Twain's Man, I Feel like a Woman, but Clint wasn't feeling very womanly and Elizabeth had to take over. Later, Matt & Clint performed a duet tribute version of *NSYNC's Bye, Bye, Bye. The entire party sang Happy Birthday to Danielle. And, Matt finished up the evening with a surprise encore to Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby...One More Time. I suspect a few of these performances may mysteriously show up on video...

Today, we're continuing to work on the KidStuf sets for the church. We've only been working for a day and a half, but the sets are already coming together. It's such a blessing to see God's plan for a team unfold.

Tomorrow, we are volunteering at Stellenberg Community Church for their Sunday services. All team members will be assisting with greeting guests, parking assistance, running the resource table, and working with kids in WaumbaLand & UpStreet along with any other tasks the Church may need us to perform. I know the team is excited to see God's work in action with our strategic partner here in Cape Town.

Thanks for all your support and prayers! Keep an eye out for more updates and photos.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

(Proverbs 16:3)

The Eagle has Landed

We arrived in Cape Town yesterday afternoon around 4:30 PM...all 12 of us (Kirk went ahead of time on Monday) and ALL of our luggage. The flight was LONG but fortunately uneventful. We flew from Atlanta to Dakar, Senegal and then from Dakar to Cape Town. We didn't see much of Dakar...just a waiting room for about 30 minutes. But, I know we will now all say that we have been to TWO countries in Africa ;) Kathy, Baby Stephen, Trudi, Colin, and Kirk greeted us with smiles and hugs at the airport in Cape Town. After exchanging some money at the airport, we went to the Precept House to get settled in and have supper.

After getting a good night's sleep, we went to brunch today at Maestro's. What a stunning view of the beach! Next we went over to the Old Mutual building to see where Stellenberg has church every Sunday. The building is modern and quite impressive, and our team is very excited to add to the Sunday morning environments. Our goal is to lead people into a growing relationship with Christ by creating irresistible environments...we hope to do that and more!

We are currently at Stellenberg starting construction on the Upstreet and Waumba Land sets. Captain Kirk is showing the guys how to build panels while the girls are painting. Today is Danielle's birthday, so we sang Happy Birthday to her and had a delicious chocolate and coffee cake. One of our vans is having some battery issues, so we have had several Little Miss Sunshine moments as we ran behind the van and pushed it to start.

Tonight, we will be joining the SCC volunteers for a brai (BBQ) and karaoke. I'm sure that we will scare our South African friends away with our renditions of various 80s and country songs. Overall, we are really seeing that God is a global God...He is the same God here that we serve at home. We are blessed and thrilled beyond belief to be here and serve God by serving the local community.