Jo'burg

Three flights and two countries later we arrived in Jo'burg. I am excited to finally be here. As we drove out of the airport toward our home for the next four months we got a glimpse of the area. They are still decorated from the world cup with flags lining the street lamps down the highway. This is an industrial city and at certain points doesn't look like "africa", although we did go to an area that was more "african" and less "western". While it may look similar to the states it is definitely very different. I had a bit of culture shock coming here and going to buy groceries was overwhelming and a sensory overload. It has a bit of a european feel to it and they drive on the opposite side of the road, making it confussing at times.

We have mainly been getting settled in the past few days but have started to work some. We worked with a local church on saturday morning where they were holding a clinic but do to the location and the fact that people aren't big on going to churches they didn't have anyone show up, but we were able to talk to some of the congregation there. We took the long way back home and were able to see a different part of the city and passed through a lower income housing area and passed a couple mosques and hindu mosque all within a few square miles. Saturday was the day that I first saw the difference between the wealthy and non wealthy. As we were driving down the highway we passed a slum which was about a mile long and streched back but then right across the highway there was a subdivision (i would say middle class). There is a line between the rich and not so rich.

This is a city full of diversity. We have diversity in the states but this diversity is different. There are people here from other parts of Africa, Europe, India, and Australia. So when we go out you can just sit and listen and see the different cultures that make up this city. And for those wondering I have seen three McDonald's and about twelve KFC"s. They like KFC over mcdonalds here.

We have been walking around our complex trying to meet some of the neighbors but people don't really come out of their house, but those that we have met have been friendly. We will be meeting with a woman in the complex weekly with her and some others so we will be able to meet some other neighbors that way. It is finding different ways to reach people in the complex that is going to be a challenge. We are going to join a pilates class to meet some people.

We went to the local church we will be working with and I think it is going to be amazing. They have so many different outreaches that we can get invovled in besides helping with the youth. We will be checking out those in the next few days. THe main thing we will be doing for the rest of the week is getting to see the different ministries and continuing to find ways to get involved.

Continue to pray for us as we continue to find ways to reach people. Also just for safety not only for us but for the other teams across africa.