Our last Sunday in Africa

Sunday we went to a different church. This one was in the area where the mission team had worked the preceding week. During their visits, they invited people to come to church with them. It was great to be there and see the people God had touched that week come and be with the team.
This church had less music than the other two, and the service started at 9. This was the shortest service as well, lasting only 2 hours. This was also the only church we attended where the regular pastor preached. It was good to be there and hear his passion for the Lord.
They took three offerings. One was for the church, one was for the Sunday School, and the last one was for the pastor’s food. There were people who brought up sweet corn, some potatoes, some brought money, others brought other produce from their gardens. It was like churches in America did in the early part of the 1900’s. They called it a pounding. At Christmas time, the congregation would give the pastor a pound or more of food. The first church we were in did this one Christmas. However, they neglected to tell us what that meant. Three days later we opened the presents from the church to find a pound of bacon wrapped and under our tree. Seeing the church do that for the pastor in South Africa brought back memories of that Christmas.
After the service, they had a meeting for the members, so we left. As we were outside, we were taking pictures. When many of the young children saw the camera, they would come running up and get in the picture. We were surprised that some young adults asked if they could be in the picture too. One of them is in the pictures you see here.
One the way home, we stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought some for dinner. The chicken tasted familiar, but it was a little different. Jenn says everything in South Africa is different. However, they did have great soft serve ice cream. It was creamy, cold and flavorful. What made it even better was the fact that a nice sized cone was 25 cents.
We got home and Andy and I finished caulking and plugging holes in Jenn’s place. Marty was packing our things away, getting things ready for tomorrow so we wouldn’t be rushed packing the car. Our plan was to eat breakfast at Wimpy’s, a restaurant that is usually connected to a “one stop” gas station, convenience store, etc. I guess it would be like having a Denny’s next to an AM/PM store, Circle K, Quickie Mart, etc. More about that tomorrow.
We spent our last evening in South Africa at the “living room” (where the team and interns gathered most evenings for fellowship and games) and said goodbye again to the interns and the mission team that was there. It was great to hear their stories of how this mission affected their lives. One couple said that as they were visiting in the houses of people, they realized that they didn’t know their own neighbors in America. They were going to do things when they got back to get to know the people around them better. Others were sharing how they saw the hand of God at work in the places they went and the people they talked with. God is working in South Africa. We are so glad to be a part of His work.

I had been driving around Thrive when Jenn was busy, and today, Marty drove.  She looks right at home driving from the right side of the vehicle.  The hardest thing for us was when we would be at an intersection.  I would constantly think we were turning into traffic when we would be turning with traffic.  Jenn did a great job driving us all over the country.