South Africa Update #2

It's day 8 of the trip and things continue to go well. Thanks to all of you who are praying for us. Here is a quick recap of some of the things we've been up to...

Monday the team visited the Sisters of Charity home (a place for severely disabled kids). I missed that portion of the day as I was seeing a doctor about my back, but many of the team members were moved by what they experienced there. I met up with the team later at another children's home run by a woman called Mamma Mary. We served the kids lunch there, played with the kids, spent some time with Mamma Mary, and then headed home.

Tuesday we went to the prison in Pretoria and worked with the 13-17 year old kids in the morning. Dave gave a short message and then we just hung out, played games, and talked with the kids. In the afternoon we headed to Danville (an inner city area) and worked with an after-school program for a few hours. We also got a tour of one of the "apartment" buildings there. The living conditions were astonishing. In the evening we attended a bible study at 3rd Place (the small church plant that meets in a storefront down the road).

Wednesday we met some folks that wanted to talk to Dave about twitter/church, then we walked around downtown to meet the folks who run a ministry called PEN (Pretoria Evangelsim and Nurture) that runs down there, and to get a view of some of the inner city needs.

Today was a day off for the Pure Hope team (the group we have been working with each day) so we went hiking at Hartbeepoort Dam and had a picnic lunch up on a peak.

Tomorrow we head back to Mabopane to spend some more time with Mamma Mary and the kids at the children's home. We'll also go to Plasticview, a township (or shanti town) where Westwinds funded two shack builds in 2008. We hope to meet and spend some time with the people who recieved those homes and find out how their lives have been impacted.

Please keep praying for our team as we continue to serve alongside the Pure Hope team. And, keep praying for my back, I am finding some slow improvement. Thanks!