Howdy friends,
So I typed up an update yesterday and when I tried to load it the page reset and the update was gone. So who knows if today’s version will be as lengthy or as good but I am typing it first in word so that I can make sure the amazing internet in Africa doesn’t eat my work.
I am now back in Johannesburg staying with Dan and Janell Hartley. All of the Hartley clan is in town for John’s wedding and since I was going to be in South Africa visiting John graciously allowed me to crash the wedding.
Last time I wrote I had just spent my first full day in Swaziland. Let me pick up from there and share some highlights.
We spent two more days in Swaziland with the different staff and teams. It was great to get to see the fruit of what God has been doing there. I will post some pictures and some more stories about that when I get home. But my highlight was hanging out with our staff there and being able to see them in their element and to get to know them better. They are all awesome men and women of God and I was blessed by the time I spent with them. That part just went way too fast and as our group was leaving I couldn’t help but want to stick around and “do life” with them a while longer.
We left after a long day in Swaziland and didn’t arrive back to the Alabanza site in Pretoria until 1am on Saturday. After a few hours of sleep we were up and packing our stuff again so that we could drive to Johannesburg and catch our plane to Port Elizabeth. Chris Via, one of our staff there, picked us up from the airport and drove us about an hour to Jeffries Bay. Once there we hit the ground running and spent some time with the team at one of their ministry sites. They help with an after school program in one of the black townships in the area. It was great to run and laugh and play with the kids for a while. They even took time to sing and dance for us, talk about cute kids! My camera battery died at this point and since I was smart enough to leave the charger at home I am hoping to get some pictures from someone else on the team to show you.
We spent the next couple days hanging out with the team and staff in the area. It was great to see them. Chris and Christina Via are good friends and so it was great to spend some time with them. On Saturday I got the opportunity to teach discipleship with the First Year Missionary Team there and I enjoyed that. I was reminded how fun the team environment can be and it was great to interact with them for the few days that we were there.
The last day Ben and I met with all the potential staff who were traveling with us and work through a “now what” plan with each of them. God confirmed a lot for them on this trip, please continue to pray that God would lead each of them as they make decisions concerning what there involvement will be in missions and with AIM in the future.
All and all as I sit and type this update I will have to say that this trip was a success. The two things that would have made it better would have been, first and foremost to have Lisa with me and secondly to have more time with both the staff we have in country and those who are considering coming on staff with AIM. But neither of those things were possible so we did the best we could!
T
hanks for your prayers over the last couple weeks. I am excited to get home and to touch base with everyone but more than anything to catch up with my wife. So for all my friends out there let’s talk next week. This weekend if you pick up the phone to call me feel free to leave a voice mail :). My lovely bride is on the top of the list, but I can’t imagine I will get any arguments from that.
More soon,
scott
