We have arrived!

Hello friends and family!

We arrived Saturday afternoon safely at East London Airport. We were welcomed that evening at a Braai (South African BBQ) at Pastor Barry's home. Everything was delicious!

Sunday morning we attended church services at First City Baptist Church and Shad Mashologu Memorial Baptist Church. Unfortunately for the attendees at the Shad Mashoulogu Memorial Baptist Church we were asked to lead a song on stage. Our attempt at singing "Amazing Grace" was shameful compared to the beautiful voices of the Khosa women. Following church Bebe and his wife Ethene welcomed us into their home for a Sunday lunch comparable to that of our Thanksgiving Dinner! After lunch, it was back to the church to plan for Holiday Club. We spent a couple of hours prepping crafts, stories, and sorting all of the supplies we brought. Thank you so much to everyone who donated supplies and clothing...they have been and will continue to be a great blessing! Just when we thought we had eaten enough food for the day, it was off to Paula and Louie's for dinner.

This morning it was up at the crack of dawn to start Holiday Club! We were greeted by 100+ children who were divided into 4 groups, and who were rotated through 4 stations: Story, Craft, Games, and Music. Our theme for the week is "Bible Boot Camp" which will equip the children to face life's challenges and giants. Today's focus was on courage and we used the story of David and Goliath to illustrate this point. Overall it was a crazy morning meeting all of the kids, but they were very happy to have us and we were even more overjoyed to show them God's love. Following Holiday Club, we split into 3 teams: 1 team went on a tour of the villages with Bebe, 1 team painted the outside wall of the newest building which will house grades 5-7 in the future, and the last team shoveled fill and debris to form a platform which will hold the school's new water tanks. These water tanks will collect rainwater which will supply the school with the water it needs and therefore eliminate the need for the schools to pay for city supplied water.

Currently, we are prepping crafts and props for tomorrow's lesson, so tune in tomorrow to hear all about that!

 Love,
Hillary and Stacey