Lasts

Whew!  What am I doing writing when I should be packing?  I just don't want to forget ANY of these last days and experiences!  We fly out a week from today.  ONE WEEK!  We've been soaking up all of our "last" moments.  We've had our last team time, our last time at the orphanage (sad goodbye), our final braai with our Western Cape team, our last trip in the cable car up Table Mountain (only to encounter the FREEZING and fierce wind, have a coffee in the cafe, and come back down), our last time in our car (it sold on Sunday, praise God!), my last time running out of petrol on the way home (oops...I mean the first and last time!  Borrowing a friend's car, and there was no final indicator!  Luckily we were only a block away from home and a kind man stopped and pushed our car to the shoulder.  Christian was there within minutes), our last holiday in South Africa (we LOVE Hermanus!), Lily's last play date with her best friend from school, Therese, our last date night (enjoyed watching the sun set over Table mountain) and quite possibly our last blog from Cape Town (crazy!).  We just keep giving thanks.  How timely Thanksgiving was this year! It was actually full of firsts!  First time cooking a turkey (make that 2), gravy and pecan pies.  First time celebrating Thanksgiving with a pool party!  Thanksgiving day we were hosted by my good friend, Lauren, who had looked up and recreated decoration and celebration ideas on pinterest, and made delicious new recipes from Southern Living that will now be incorporated in future Thanksgivings!  Both days of Thanksgiving were such a special celebration with friends.
Lily and Anya have been processing leaving in their own little ways.  Anya keeps things positive with all the things she has waiting for her at home (family and Christmas make the top of the list).  Lily has shed some tears and talks about how she's going to miss Therese.  She keeps taking "pictures in her mind" to remember each place we go.  It's been so sweet.  Our holiday in Hermanus was such a special time together as a family, full of cherished memories.  We got to see whales breeching, and enjoyed beautiful warm days on the beach.  We ate out for dinner one night and had a good chuckle at Anya.  Often times at restaurants in Cape Town, they will bring mints or candy when they bring the bill.  So in the middle of our meal Anya always asks "Can I please have some of the bill?"  That night she asked "Mommy, can I please eat the bill?" She really thinks the candy is called "bill"!  Lol!  And she is so sad when the bill doesn't have candy.  One time at Woolworths, the waitress saw how sad she was and she went and BOUGHT candy in the grocery section just for Anya!  Now that's service! :)
Lily cried when we left Hermanus and went to each room of the house we stayed in and "took pictures in her mind".  She said she was really going to miss that place.  I think it was the first of the "lasts", and has helped her to begin to process leaving.  So sweet.  The other day when we were leaving Thanksgiving dinner, Lily excitedly told me "Mom, someday I'm going to meet my prince, and he is going to love God, love me, and he is going to be beautiful...I mean handsome!"  Sounds good! :)
My head is so full of details and things that need to happen that I don't always know what I'm feeling each moment.  But I do know that I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  The Lord is so good, faithful, loving, attentive, personal, sustaining, persistent, gentle, and kind.  This year has been more than I could have ever imagined it would be. We're grateful to have shared it with you! I'll have to post the pictures later...need to get some sleep!

Our Apartment: bedroom

Kitchen/Dining

Living Room

Girls' room

Last time at the orphanage

Pastor J and Mama Irene
www.unakho.com

Last vacation~ Hermanus

Sold the car!

Last walk around the lake to the "benches" by our apartments 

Last team time

Last date night

Last date night...an amazing sunset over Table Mountain just for us!

Last movie night for the kids

Last time at our beloved small group

Lily's last day of Grade R at Welgemoed (with Teacher Trudi and Dinah)

Last day of school with Lily's best friend Therese

Last time with Therese's family~ James, Carolyn, Therese and James

First and last Thanksgiving pool party! (Lacy, Steph, Anya and Lily)

A special American Thanksgiving hosted by my dear SA friend, Lauren.

Last braai and time with Louise, Guy, Ariella and Gabriel (First time in their new house!)

Last time with Ariella and Gabriel

Last walk through a vineyard

Last time with Western Cape team

Last time as neighbors at Cascades (Shannon, Lacy, Katelyn and Tyler Williams)

Halloween and other adventures

We have 27 days left in Cape Town, and so much to do! The last few weeks on campus were full...full of encouraging leaders with "vision plans"(a written encouragement of strengths and suggestions for growth), of prayer, details and "lasts".  A couple of students were experiencing some intense spiritual warfare, but after much powerful prayer and posting and claiming scripture, it has subsided.  In fact Halloween was a sort of "dark" time here.  It is WAY different in South Africa than at home.  Mostly because it is an actual spiritual holiday, and therefore is not recognized or celebrated by Christians here.  There are many forms of witchcraft and Satanic worship that are practiced in Cape Town, but between October 22-Nov 1st, it is more intense.  So needless to say, we not only saw some out workings of  the darkness of those days, but also experienced some tension between "tradition" of how we usually celebrate Halloween, and the culture and reality here of Halloween.  We ended up fighting the spiritual battle through prayer and the Word, and continued to rest in the power of Jesus and security of knowing our King reigns.  And we did a little American "dress up and trick or treat" time to our apartment, the Williams apt., and to the apartment of the girls on our team.  We didn't make it a big deal.  Lily came in to our room that morning before school and said "Mom, I've decided not to dress up like a ballerina...instead, I'm going to be the Tooth Fairy.  I'm going to dress all in white, like a tooth, and carry a purse that I can take on and off that will have a tooth on it"  I was so surprised! Not only did my daughter (who normally doesn't like costumes or dressing up...or the thought of the tooth fairy coming into her room at night for that matter) want to dress up, but she also thought of her whole costume! I was so impressed!   That afternoon the girls were anxiously anticipating their opportunity for  getting candy, and Shannon was decorating their apartment to make it more festive.  Lily came back from their apartment and said "Mom, Shannon is decorating.  We need to do something.  Why won't you help me decorate?  Let's make some pumpkins to hang up or something."  Another sign that Lily is my daughter...first thinking about what to wear, and now decorating!  So we did.  We "carved" pumpkins out of paper and stuck them on her bedroom door.  It was really a fun and special time with Lily.  I know she was confused as to why we weren't totally into celebrating Halloween all of a sudden.  She asked me why I didn't like it anymore.  I was just wrestling so much in my mind with the difference between "commercialized" Halloween in the States, and "spiritual" Halloween in South Africa.  We didn't always know what to say or not to say about it.  We prayed.  We asked the Holy Spirit to help us discern.  In the end, Lily and Anya's innocence and excitement in the day made it fun.  But honestly, I was just glad when Halloween was over!

Lily, Noel, Lacy, Nala, Katelyn and Anya

All year we've driven by this place down the street from us called "Cool Runnings".  It's a toboggan track and it said it's fun for the whole family...but we didn't really know what to expect.  Our staff team decided to check it out a couple of weeks ago.  We prepared ourselves by watching the movie "Cool Runnings" the night before:).  It ended up being a blast!  Lily and Anya rode with us, and they squealed and laughed the entire time!  They each rode down at least 10 times!  So glad we didn't leave Cape Town without experiencing Cool Runnings.  In fact, we might have to go again before we leave!

Last weekend our friends, Catherine and Ernst, invited us to come to their parent's beach house in Kleinmond for the weekend. We first met Catherine and Ernst in the hospitality room of our church (Common Ground) the very first time we came, back in January!  Catherine and I both felt like we'd met each other before...it was the strangest thing!  We quickly became friends and joined the small group they lead.  They have two children, Arden (3) and Nina (almost 1), and we had an awesome weekend with them!  The weather was a little cool and windy, so we didn't get to play on the beach like we'd hoped, but it was a relaxing weekend away.  They made us a lamb "potjie", which is kind of like a stew made in an cast iron pot over the fire.  It is an art form.:) Though we were too hungry to let it simmer for the full 3 hours, it was still delicious!

This week we have been meeting to evaluate and debrief our Stint year.  Praising God in remembering all He has done and will continue to do! We have excited spirit-filled students in place to lead on all three of the campuses we've been working on.  Praise God!  We also found out that over the course of the year, we (our team, students, and summer project) have presented the gospel over 900 times and seen 85 students accept Christ.  I'm so grateful for the many ways the Lord brings people to himself.

These last few weeks Lily will continue to go to school, and we will start packing, tying up loose ends, sell our car, saying goodbyes and visiting the orphanage for the last time.  Please pray for time management; that we would leave well and prepare physically, spiritually and emotionally for home!

The Tooth Fairy

Tinker Bell

Anya's first hair cut! 

At first she was ok

Then she was a little scared!
But she did it!

Lily got a trim as well,
but wasn't too thrilled.
The bribe of stickers did the
trick! :)

Anya and I on after our toboggan run

This is a screen shot of the video we took of Lily's first ride.  Beyond excited!

Our first meal at the beach house "cabin"

There was a fun tree to climb out front

You can't see them, but there are flamingos just behind us out of the picture!

Catherine, Arden, Ernst and Nina

Anya and Arden could be twins!  

A walk on the beach

Lamb Potjie

Anya's revelation about peanut butter

Well, it's been a few weeks since I last posted.  Time keeps flying by!  We only have three more weeks on campus in Cape Town (CRAZY!).  Last week Christian and the UWC team officially transitioned leadership into the hands of 6 excited students!  It has been such a fun adventure to see how God is moving in the hearts and lives of these student leaders; all of whom have a passion for knowing God and making Him known.  One of the student leaders texted Christian after their official "transitioning" meeting and said "The meeting went smoothly and easily...all trusting God.  Thank you for bestowing your trust upon me and the rest!" As we look at the faith-filled student leaders the Lord has raised up, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for the Lord's working in each of their lives, and are challenged by their zeal and faith in their walks with the Lord.  So many answers to prayer!  Please pray for our final few weeks as we wrap up our year on the campuses of Cape Town.  Pray that we (through the power of the Holy Spirit) will continue to breathe life and encouragement into our students as we come alongside them in their leadership.

Anya has been sharing her own little interpretations of the gospel lately.  A few weeks ago our babysitter, Megan, told us that Anya confidently informed her that "peanut butter takes away our sins"! Lol!  Sometimes she says the funniest things!  Lily and Anya both like to make up songs as we are riding in the car, and I love to listen to the lyrics, as it gives such insight into what they are processing.  They sing about all that God has made and how much He loves them.  Music to my ears.  Sometimes Anya will say "This one is in Afrikaans", and either make up words or just sing "Afrikaans, Afrikaans...".  Today she added some "Xhosa" clicks in as well.  Lol!  They just bring so much joy and laughter to our lives!

Last week our team helped to host a 40 year celebration of CCC in South Africa.  Our CCC president, Steve Douglas, spoke, and there were about 100 people from all different seasons of the past 40 years of ministry at the breakfast.  It was a fun celebration (though super early- Christian had to be there at 5:30am!).

As our time winds down in Cape Town, we are trying to make the most of every day.  We went to a really neat concert with some friends last weekend.  It was called "Symphonic Rocks".  Basically, there were 13 rock bands (12 of which were South African, and the other was "Collective Soul") who would each play one or two of their songs with the accompaniment of a symphonic orchestra.  It was fun to be with our South African friends, learning about South African bands, and enjoying such amazing music!  Plus, I didn't even realize I am a fan of Collective Soul!:)

We've also discovered an amazing (and beautiful) Mexican restaurant at a vineyard.  A taste of home with a beautiful vista.  There is so much still to be discovered in Cape Town! 

Orphanage update

Lily's teacher, Trudi, had tears in her eyes as she informed us yesterday that Lily came up to her and asked if she (Lily) could pray for the class that day! We were both shocked!  Not only that Lily would initiate it, but also that she would pray in front of the entire class.  What a huge step of faith!  Someone prays at the beginning of class each day.  Lily told us later that she'd been wanting to make sure she has a turn before she leaves.  I asked what she prayed and she said "All I can remember is 'God, thank you that we all get to be here today.  I pray that we can all have a good day and that there won't be kissing'"!  What?  Kissing?  Lol!  She said "Because we aren't allowed to kiss at school, Mom." Oh!  Well that's a good rule:).  Her teacher said it was a beautiful prayer (and didn't mention the kissing part:))  She also told us that Lily has really come out of her shell this semester.  We're so proud of her!

Lily and Lindo

After we picked Lily up from school, we all headed over to the orphanage.  A couple of weeks ago Lily's friend, Lindo, wrote Lily a note saying she missed her and asking about her since we hadn't been in awhile.  The kids are always asking to go, and they LOVE it!  They feel so comfortable there.  We had a great time playing with the kids and fed them biltong and orange slices.  But in the process of talking to Pastor J and his wife, we learned that they are completely out of food and money for the month. In South Africa, everyone gets paid once a month at the end of the month.  So, the last part of the month is always tight for people, and then the stores explode with people after pay day.  But to hear that the kids couldn't have lunch at school yesterday, and that they were crying and confused about why, broke our hearts.  It obviously breaks their heart as well to not be able to feed their 22 children.  I asked Mama I what supplies we could bring tomorrow (today), and she said red meat and chicken.  Our team pulled together resources and is going to bring them groceries today.  The problem is, that it's raining.  When it's raining, the dirt roads in the township that lead us to the orphanage get washed out and it's difficult to get to them.  Please pray that we can get the food in to them today.  Pray also for God's DAILY provision for their every need.  They are so full of faith, and rarely share their need, but they are really struggling.  Thank you!