We are finally here!

After a pretty non-eventful flight from Seatac to Heathrow and a pretty turbulant flight from London to Cape Town (11 1/2 hours and there were a couple of times we thought we might be going down - just kidding!), we are finally here! We arrive tired from time changes and backwards sleep schedules and let's face it, who likes to, or rather can, sleep on planes? But we are all excited to be here and we are taking it all in. And to make things even better, we are all safe and all of our luggage is also here safe and sound. Yay! Clynton is the manager of the team house we are staying at and he picked us up at the airport and took us through the city, guiding us along the way to our accommodations. It is beautiful! Luscious green mountains tower above us and the water practically surrounds us. It's a cold, blistery 56 degrees when we arrive and slightly raining, which quickly turns to a downpour, which then gets blown away and the sun arrives over the ocean right in our backyard. Wow! How blessed are we?

I spent the afternoon laughing with Yiyi (aka Sarah C) and Steph....we can be kinda crazy sometimes, especially with little to no sleep. That is a recipe for trouble. We had a good lunch at the teamhouse, and then Rachel, Joe, Steph, and I went for a wonderful, sunny walk on the beach. The waves were crashing against the shore and the sand is the good, sink-your-toes-in kind of sand! (Like Cancun, Mexico sand) - Rich and brown sugary. :) Now we are just relaxing before dinner and then in for some down time to set our internal clocks straight. I have not slept yet....I'm hoping I can get up on time tomorrow!

As we prepare for this upcoming week: VBC begins on Monday! I was reminded about in John when Jesus is talking to His disciples about the vine and the branches. He says, "Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15:4) In verse 5, Jesus says, " apart from me you can do nothing." And later in chapter 15, Jesus reminds us, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last." (15:16) How awesome are His promises to us! My hope and prayer for this team this week is that we may remain in Him, so that we can bear much lasting fruit, here at the teamhouse and also in the lives of the South African people we meet at church and in Overcome Heights. I also hope that we can continue to encourage each other in each of our seperate journeys and our journey as a team united on this trip. We are growing closer by the minute and I know all of these people will have special places in my heart forever!

We all love all of you out there praying for us and wishing us well! Sarah V. will be giving you more of the low down later. :) Talk with you all soon!

In Him - Jaclyn