South Africa - 15 (Journal Day 10)

Tuesday, August 25, 2009               

Today is our last day in South Africa. We fly home tonight.  My emotions are swinging like a proverbial pendulum.  Ready to go, want to stay, ready to go, want to stay.  But go I must, and hopefully I will return another day to this beautiful land.  We had a nice breakfast this morning at the Golden Crest. There were other guests at the lodge. This picture shows where we stayed.  This lodge was the one surrounded by a concrete fence and a razor-wire electric fence - and that is after you get through the locked iron doors that front the street.  The crime in Johannesburg is rampant.

We ate with a pastor and his wife from Australia, and they were accompanied by a lady named Merle from New Zealand. She was on her first mission trip and was 73 years old! She had been making dolls for a long time and brought lots of dolls with her to give to the children in the shanty towns. I enjoyed her company very much.

Our breakfast was served to us by Dahlee, pronounced Dolly. She had a hard time understanding me because I talked way too fast for her. But her smile was sweet! 

After breakfast we were picked up at the Golden Crest by Rodney Grobler, the Multi Ministries associate. He helped Gary load the ministry vehicle with our luggage so that we could travel to the airport directly after our official debriefing meeting with Dr. Harold Peasley.

We had a great meeting with the Multi Ministries staff. I cannot say enough good things about this ministry. Dr. Peasley wanted to know about the highs and lows of our trip and what their ministry office could have done to assist us in any way. They are a first-class organization wholly dedicated to international missions. There was nothing that we would have changed. They gave us many opportunities to minister and gave us downtime to reflect and see their beautiful country as well. Over the years they have learned that there is a delicate balance required on a short-term mission trip. There must be some diversion and rest provided among the ministry times. If not, people are easily overwhelmed. Most days we went from daylight to dark. For me, this trip was more challenging emotionally, but it was not strenuous or physically challenging. I adjusted very well to the time difference!  Our accommodations were adequate and we were well cared for everywhere we went. There were several times we knew we were not in a safe environment, but we knew to trust in the Name of the Lord our God!

We are taking home some invaluable lessons, the most important one I can think of right now is the knowledge of how very blessed we are – both as a family and as a nation. With all the issues and problems our country faces, it is still the greatest place in the world!

After we said our goodbyes to Brother Rodney at the airport, we went through customs again. Everything went smoothly!  And as much as I really dislike flying (and I do), this was a welcome sight to behold!