On Monday morning we did our workout and then went to the intern supervisor’s apartment to watch ‘Facing the Giants’ and talk about some of the aspects of sport’s ministry. There were 9 of us who carpooled together, and when we got there, we all got on the elevator together to take it to the 5th floor. The elevator capacity was 8 people, but we aren’t huge people, so all 9 of us got on. I don’t think the standards for elevators are the same in South Africa as in the US. I’m pretty sure at home we would have gone up the 5 floors just fine. However, we heard the motors turning for a while, like we were going up, but all of us had the feeling we weren’t going anywhere. Instead of going up, we actually dropped about 2 feet below the ground floor. We were able to pry the inside door open, but because we were below the floor, we could not get the outer door open to get out. Nine of us were stuck in the elevator. I called the guy we were supposed to be meeting and he came down and called the engineer, who came over rather quickly to get us out. We were only stuck for about 20 minutes, which meant the situation was more funny than anything else. No one was claustrophobic or had any major fears, although a couple people admitted afterwards that they were nervous. It was just a great way to start the week!
Wednesday we went to the ARK, which is a homeless shelter outside of Cape Town. The part of the shelter we visited housed orphans from 18 months up through teens, mothers with children, single women, and elderly women. There is a separate camp for men and families, which we weren’t able to visit. Every person we met wanted to be with us and talk with us. The little kids clung to us in seconds, wanting to hold hands, look at our cameras, and follow us everywhere we went. The older kids were just finishing school and working on their homework, so they were a little less interested, at least outwardly. A couple of the Ambassador’s women were working with a large group of girls, teaching them soccer. So, we split up teams and played with them for a while. Their skills ranged from good to not so good, but, they all had a good time. We talked with them for a little while afterwards as well. I think that they were the girls that Ambassadors does the most work with. They teach them soccer to build relationships, but they talk with them individually and apart from soccer a lot also. It would be nice to go back there and get to know some of the girls and talk with them more.
I’ve been praying for a couple of the girls on the soccer team specifically also. I pray that I will have opportunity to disciple them more individually, so I pray for relationships to form and opportunities to challenge them.
Friday we climbed Table Mountain. The route we took was straight up a gorge on huge step-like rocks. It was a muscle burning climb, but it was beautiful and well worth it. We were given a target time of 1 hr 45 min to climb, and we did it in half an hour less than that. The day was beautiful and the view from the top was spectacular. I would love to go back up again sometime, maybe on a different route. We rode the cable car back down, which was a fun experience as well. The inside of the car rotates as you descend so you can see all around.
Saturday Ambassadors hosted a soccer tournament, so the interns put a team in. I was the only girl playing in the tournament, but I didn’t care. I don’t have the speed to keep up with guys, but I did alright anyway. I scored a goal; it was actually the game winning goal in the quarter final game of our section. So, that was fun. Our team sort of fell apart in the semi-final game though, and I got really frustrated with some of the guys. It wasn’t frustration over losing to a team we should have beaten. I was frustrated because we ended the game with 2 yellow cards and a red card, which was not the way we should have been representing Christ. The game got physical and our team (or some of the team) just responded the wrong way. We even talked about that exact thing this week as well, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. I really fear that the opposing team saw nothing different in us, nothing that would make them want to know Christ. I really wish there was a way to rectify the situation, but I’m not sure how to do that. I do want to talk with somebody about it and see what can be done. It was definitely not the way the tournament should have ended for us.
I visited 2 more Church of England South Africa churches today and I enjoyed both services. The sermon tonight was very good; it was challenging and Christ-centered. I think the closer of the 2 churches will be where I decide to go. It is a fairly large and diverse congregation with a lot of young people. I was told that 60 young adults went on a retreat this past weekend and 100 regularly attend their small groups. I am going to try to go to their young adult Bible study this Wednesday and see how that goes.
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