The last week in Cape Town for me was unfortunately spent on the couch quite a lot. It was ordered by the doctor and really hard to do, but I managed to spend the afternoons working on papers, starting to clean up the apartment I was about to move out of, and thinking about packing. "Thinking" being the key word. My personality can't just sit around though, so any chance I was offered to get up and leave, I took it.
Some of the fun things I got to do during my last week in Cape Town:
1) High Tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel- Something my great grandmother would have absolutely loved. It was a chance to get all dressed up and try all different kinds of tea and eat fun little finger snacks. Even people who weren't "tea people" still enjoyed it, and I ended up even buying some local tea and bringing it home to the States. My younger sister Catherine would be so proud because she has always had such a great appreciation for tea and I never liked it, until now.
2) Final Celebration in the Township- We as a whole group, all 150 of us, got to have a huge celebration in Sir Lowry's Pass one afternoon and it was one of the most fun days of the whole 5 weeks. Kids from the township and students from the States performed together and separately. They did everything from sing songs to choreograph dances. One of my favorite acts was the "Bokstreet Boys". Some of our SpringBOK boys practiced for hours and then danced to a mash-up of Backstreet boy songs and it was epic. The guys did a fantastic job and definitely seemed to be one of the favorite acts.
3) Sunset Champagne Cruise- Despite the fact that we missed the sunset, the majority of our group climbed onto a boat around sunset time, got a class of champagne, and took tons of pictures out on the deck of the boat. It was absolutely beautiful and seeing the lights of the city one last time was truly breathtaking. We also got to see whales, and it wasn't even whale season! After it got totally dark, we went back inside in the bar area of the boat and had a huge dance party. It was an absolute blast being able to look around the room, seeing everyone have so much fun, and realizing that we all got to share something so special together over the past 5 weeks. It was also fun being able to look around and realize that I knew almost everyone's name, a big change from the first week when I only knew about 8.
4) Final Sunday at Hillsong Church- I truly felt at home at Hillsong in Cape Town, so saying goodbye was a little bittersweet. Thankfully, Passion City Church is very similar in Atlanta so I knew I was coming back to somewhere great, but I was just so encouraged to see the Lord working so powerfully half a world away, and I loved being reminded of that every Sunday. At the last service we actually saw and met another group of American students from Oklahoma, and it almost felt like we were passing the torch on to them.
The journey home was of course extremely long, but so worth it. Thankfully there were no complications with the leg, and there were plenty of decent movies and shows to keep everyone occupied for the most part on the plane. My dad met me in the airport, and I can't even describe what seeing him felt like. I don't think anything could have made my huge smile go away. My mommy always told me that I was a daddy's girl when I was little, and after being away from daddy for what almost feels like a whole year with college, I understand how truly special a daddy and a daughter's bond is. I could write a million more pages about how much I love my daddy and why he is so wonderful, but I will leave it at this- he has always encouraged me to do the unusual and push myself to constantly try new things, and I always know he is praying for me and loving me no matter where I am in the world.
So my journey in Cape Town is done (for now), and my journey out to Colorado starts in just a few days. I'm very excited to see what the Lord has in store for me. It's been a harder summer than I anticipated in a good way, but I have gotten to do some of the most amazing things and the Lord is teaching me so much. I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be and for that I am thankful. I want to thank everyone who prayed for me while I was in Africa. If you think about it, please pray for the kids we are taking to Young Life camp next week: that the Lord would touch their hearts in a very special way, and that He would use all of the leaders to the best of their abilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment