The First Days of SA

    I have been having such a wonderful time in South Africa! Everything has been such a blast and so encouraging and full of joy. From getting to just hang out with the local kids to working the sound system during VBS and to the best, which was worshiping with the local churches, all of it has been an absolutely wonderful experience. I never thought that just after two days here I would feel like such a part of the family. I remember the first night I got here and my grandfather picked me up from the airport. The plane landed a little bit after 10 (SA time) and I had no problems walking out and finding my grandfather. I was so worried the following morning of how I was going to be accepted into the group. I felt like I was barging in on their mission trip experience and that I was forcing my way into their family. Yet after just one day, even less than a day, I already felt like I was part of the team. Everyone was so welcoming and encouraging that I felt like I had been a part of the trip from the beginning. I still have such a hard time believing that I've only been in SA for such a short amount of time! This trip has been full of so many blessings and realizations of how the Lord has changed me and my heart for Him.
    On the first plane I got to sit next to a girl from London who was traveling the world. She was on a gap year between secondary school and college and was going all over the place and meeting friends she had. Just 19 years old and she had already been in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, just about all of Europe, and she was still on her way to Australia and then to the States. I was totally blown away after talking with her and hearing about her adventure. It was so funny though when I first met her though. I have a bit of a love for talking in accents and British (or more appropriately Aussie for those of you that want to get technical) is one of my favorites. I have a bad habit though of accidentally going into my British accent whenever I hear someone talking with one. So of course, when she says hey and asks me how I'm doing I just couldn't stop myself when I said I was fine with an accent. Gah that was funny! I felt bad though so as soon as she asked me where I was from a made sure to say the States in my normal southern American accent. After that she had no problem letting me practice my accent, though it didn't seem to help much because I still sound Aussie. Oh well. The second plane ride was also really good. I got to sit next to a girl from China who was studying in SA. She was so fun to talk with and share about our different cultures and how they felt about each other. She was really nice and so helpful when we finally landed in SA. She waited for me when we got in to make sure that I found my grandfather and had a ride. From that point on the trip, having already started off as such an incredible blessing, only got better.
    Like I said earlier, the next morning I was really nervous about meeting the team because I felt like I was in a way barging in on their mission family. However, those butterflies flew away before we even made it to lunch time. Looking back it was so funny how that first day went. We got on the vans to go to Deflt Baptist, the church that we were helping with the VBS, to have something that was like a logistics meeting for all of the volunteers from Delft and all of us to come together and have a short run through of how things were going to go. I soon as we got there though I found myself just gravitating towards the locals and within 15 min a was in the middle of a group of them cutting up and having a great time. I guess that was from my time in Kenya. I had been around black people for so long that I just felt more comfortable with them. I should point out that they have three different people groups here; there are blacks, colored, or white. Even though most of the people I've been with have been colored, I still felt more comfortable around them at first then I did around white people. It was a very strange feeling to have.
    The rest of the day went great as I got the chance to meet the team and really begin to feel like one of them. It really is incredible how God can bring together anyone and everyone that he needs and from anywhere in the world. I found out that just as the team was leaving, a guy had to drop out and so I ended up getting his room. It turned out that the guy that couldn't come was the one who really knew how to run the sound equipment for the worship rallies and now that he was gone they weren't sure what they were going to do. Then God sends me to South Africa with them and it just so turns out that I had learned how to run the sound equipment during the past semester at school. That was one of the biggest affirmations that God gave me saying that, yes, I was supposed to be here. I can't wait to see what else he has for me here. So far has been absolutely amazing and I know that the rest will be even better! Love all of you guys!