Top Ten Pt. 2

Thanks so much for stopping by! If this is your first time stopping by the blog, or if you haven’t read it in awhile, be sure to check my previous post covering the first four of my “Top Ten Memories.”

Without further ado, lets get started:

6. My first weekend exploring South Africa

After my first few days in South Africa I was often bored to tears at night after my time at Living Hope and with the Ocean View kids. Thankfully, a ton of people showed up not long after I arrived.

Their first Saturday here we decided to rent a car. We picked up Big Ol’ Betty (Bob) and decided to simply explore the nearby area. We decided to drive to a local marketplace called Simon’s Town. Actually, I didn’t really decide, the girls did... You see it was myself and 5 girls that decided to go on this little trip! After they shopped we went to eat lunch at a very nice restaurant

called Bertha’s. Bertha’s had a very nice view of the water and the quality of the lunch was amazing. It was there I first learned that Cape Town was definitely more wealthy and nice than I would have imagined. After my favorite meal of the summer at Bertha’s we decided to simply drive along the coast. This drive from Simon’s Town to Cape Point is incredible.

The views were indescribable and the weather was fantastic. I was upset that I had to drive because I couldn’t soak in all of the beauty that was around us (I think the girls were upset I was driving but for different reasons ;). Every turn someone would “wow” or simply be in awe of the clear water crashing against the massive cliffs. We stopped on the beach and took several photos. The day was truly great and I can’t really explain it to you adequately. Unfortunately the more you live there the more you take for granted the beauty around you. Over the coarse of the trip I noticed how this began to happen to me and it made me wonder what else I have been taking for granted throughout my life.

One thing that I never did get used to was the gap between the beauty and the ugliness of S.A. All of that wealth and beauty was literally ten minutes away from many starving, lonely, and sick children and adults living in tiny tin shacks. It shocked me when we were driving back from the beautiful scenery to the devastation found in many living situations nearby. A moving and blessed day it was.

(Myself and some of the guys at Living Grace - top) (Aunt Joan & Uncle Jack - middle)

5.Working At Living Grace

This one is going to be hard to summarize... After the World Cup ended and children were supposed to go back to school, we stopped having holiday clubs from morning to the afternoon, to only having them in the afternoon. This gave me free time in the mornings to work with the homeless through Living Grace. It was here that I spent many a time singing loudly and off tune with dozens of the homeless. It was here that I spent hours sorting through rotten donated vegetables and fruits, cutting them, and cooking them in a massive bowl of soup.

The people I got to know here were a true joy during my time there. I will always remember Auntie Joan and Uncle John for what they did there and what they are still doing for the Lord. I also had the opportunity to speak to the homeless there a number of times.

It was a win-win situation for me. It was a chance to practice my preaching and also to share, what I hope to be, relevant messages to a people group who definitely need them. I am thankful that God gave me the chance to dive into His word on a regular basis and share it with those in a tough situation. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to gain a new side of ministry experience and for the relationships I developed during my month at Living Grace!

4. World Cup games and atmosphere

This is very difficult for me to sum up this part of the trip in a paragraph, but I’ll try. I am a huge soccer fan. I love playing it and I love watching it. The night of the World Cup opener a bunch of us decided to head to down town Cape Town to watch the match at the Fan Fest. You can read about this adventure in more detail here:

http://jsheptosouthafrica2010.blogspot.com/2010/06/beautiful-game.html

I will never forget the energy and enthusiasm that saturated the South African air when the first goal of the World Cup was scored by Bafana Bafana. It was electric. I love watching sports with genuine fans of the game and I was grateful to experience this little bit of their history with many of them.

I also had the opportunity to attend two of the World Cup games! The first one I went to was in P.E. The game was South Korea vs. Uruguay. I will never forget walking into that stadium for the first time. One of the best moments of my life, hands down. The second game I went to was similar. This time the game was in Cape Town. The match was between Spain and Portugal. The atmosphere at this game was infectious. Getting to sit less than 50 yards away from Ronaldo was a blast. My throat was a little sore the next day from booing at him the whole time! I am so thankful to my parents who purchased me the ticket as a birthday present. Best present I ever received I think! If you are interested in reading in any more detail about my time at the games here is the link:

http://jsheptosouthafrica2010.blogspot.com/2010/07/wow-it-is-pretty-hard-to-believe-that.html

3. Everyone I’ve Met

Now, it is nearly impossible for me to sufficiently cover how blessed I was this summer to meet, work with, and grow close to this summer. The people that I lived with in the Volunteer House were commonly an inspiration to carry on with a very often, stressful ministry. The people at Living Grace, like I said before, were such a gift to get to know. The people who work at Living Hope, ranging from John and Avril Thomas to Chantelle to many many others who I won’t write about, are doing the Lord’s work in Cape Town and I wish nothing but the best for them and for their ministries! I pretty much fell in love with the local staff at Ocean View. The people who live and minister there are such

Their love for the Lord shows by their daily words and actions. I can’t really describe all the love I have for Ocean View. The kids there were also my favorite. I’ll talk about them a little more later on. Basically all the people ministering for our Savior, Jesus Christ, in Cape Town, are definitely in my “top ten!”