Our Day Off

Today was our first day off really since we got here. We were supposed to have off last Thursday, but when the Robben Island was cancelled on Wednesday, I did that on Thursday. All that to say, we have had a full week and today was my day to regroup. For me, this couldn’t have been better timing. Last night, I was feeling kind of homesick. I realized that I haven’t ever been away from my own bed for over two weeks. We are now in our third week here in South Africa.

A group of us headed out to the huge mall - Gateway: Theatre of Shopping here in Durban. It has the largest rock wall in South Africa (maybe the world, an indoor wave for surfing and a whole bunch of theaters. You could spend a week there and not get bored. Keep in mind that I don’t go to the mall at home, but to be in a mall today, was so comforting to me. We even ate lunch at the mall - I had pizza that tasted like something I’ve had before!

With all the new experiences that I’ve had in the past two weeks, most good, some more challenging that others, I was so glad to be able to just relax and mindlessly take in a mall. Surprised even me how good that felt.

If you want to check it out, you can see all about it at www.gatewayworld.co.za!

Sunrise over the indian Ocean

I woke up this morning about about 5:20, my usual time in the States. Finally just after 6, I got out of bed, gathered myself and headed across the street for the beach to see the sunrise over the Indian Ocean. What an amazing experience. Can't exactly describe it, but you'll have to trust me it was amazing.

Adding to the glory of it all was a group of young Africans. As the sun was close to breaking the plane of the horizon, they gathered at the water's edge and were signing. To me, all African singing sounds joyful, so I didn't know what to think. As the sun rose, I realized that they had gathered for several baptisms. I asked one of the group to confirm what I thought was happening. Not wanting to be presumptuous, I asked if this was Christian baptism. She nodded, but I wasn't sure that she understood. As I walked away, I was near a young woman who had been baptized. I asked her if it was a Christian baptism and she said "yes", but with a question in her voice. At that point, I simply said, "Jesus!" to which she responded with a broad smile and clearly we had communicated.

What a sight to behold!