The two day travel combined with the lose of 7 hours time had left a toll on the body and mind. The several days time to recoup and adjust were vital. It also gave an opportunity to experience the city, sites and food. Yet the work was about to begin.
I arose early to finish preparation for that morning. I could tell that my body was still torn between the time zones. I had gone to bed shortly after talking with the family back in the States. My body woke up at 4:30 a.m. I needed to pass on some information for my Sunday School class so I was able to chat briefly with the family who only now were looking at their bedtime. This can be disorientating when one’s mind and body feel split between the to time zones.
We left for Blackheath which is a suburb of Cape Town. There is a little congregation which met Steve through Anathoth. Steve has since taught there. They have continued to grow and this is currently their third location. It’s a congregation that is never without new visitors and will likely need to re-allocated within this year due to the growth. Their music is very energetic and passionate. French is the language that binds them together as they have people from the Congo, South Africa and Zimbabwe. A number of them do speak English as well but it was necessary to have a translator. Claude was the translator who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and translated the message into French. He did an excellent job helping me to communicate to the people.
Prior and afterwards the people were very gracious and the message was received warmly and with great attention. Following the service I was greatly encouraged when several of the men approached me. They wanted to know more about what I was teaching and several now have a way to contact me when I return to the United States. Apparently the leaders of the congregation had talked and an evangelist told me that he had listened from the beginning all the way to the end. They felt this was strong meat and they thought that I should be teaching this material to the leaders of the churches. It was a strong and very encouraging statement.
Years ago I had seen a picture of the minister Kiku and his wife Gorette. I regret that I was unable to meet him as he was at an oil rig with his work for three weeks. I was able to meet his wife. It was a productive time and several hours passed quickly.
That afternoon Steve and I were able to go to a local craft show which is held once a month. It is filled with artisans from around South Africa and further. We head to a late lunch near Table Mountain. That evening was open for study, reading and good time to talk about the culture and mission.
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