I have made it to South Africa!

First know that I have made it safely to South Africa. Actually I arrived here on Friday, April 17. Things were pretty busy when I first got here and then I just didn’t have much motivation to blog. But let me catch you all up, and then I will blog as often as I can.

I didn't blog about my Visa difficulties and it seems like a distant memory with needless stress. My poor brother-in-law, Doug, was wonderful with me through my stress of that whole process, bless his heart. He had to go through me breaking down crying, yelling at him in times of frustration, and then even more tears. Sorry, Doug! ;) Long story short, I got my Visa the Friday before I left....yes, on April 10...and I left on April 15. It involved a ton of paperwork, a quick trip to Austin to pick up one part of the paperwork my darn self, and a LOT of prayer!

I had wonderful visits with friends and family before I left, including a 5 day trip to Indiana to visit my oldest sister, Mindi, and Ryan, Riley and Leah. I miss all my sisters and nieces already! And of course my Mom, Dad, and BFF Amy.

The flights over were long and I didn’t get much sleep on them. So as you can imagine, I was pretty exhausted by the time I got here. But I was excited at the same time! I flew from Dallas to London, where I met up with Ken (our team leader when the team comes to South Africa) and two of his friends he was bringing over to see all the projects. We all had separate travel arrangements for getting to London but then we were on the same flight from London to Johannesburg. I must admit we had it really, really rough at the airport in London. Being able to lounge around in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse with showers, couches, any food and drink we wanted, internet access, neck massages, etc….was so rough. HA! My fellow traveling buddies had first class tickets with access to the clubhouse, which was GREAT! However, even with taking two benadryl I didn’t sleep but about 45 minutes on a couch as they had music blaring. Anyway…after a 12 hour layover, we were off to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Once there, the guys went on to East London where Lake Pointe has another partnership and I was headed to Durban, to see them just two days later when they made it to Port Shepstone. Robin, Debbie, and her two daughters were there to pick me up. It’s all really a blur at this point since at this point I’d been traveling for 48 hours with probably a total of eight hours of sleep. I don’t operate too well without sleep…

We drove to the South Coast, which encompasses Port Shepstone, Shelly Beach, and several other small towns. Port Shepstone is where the church/organization are and Shelly Beach is where my apartment is. We met with the man that owns the apartment I am leasing - for him to show me the place and for us to sign the lease and make payment for the month of April. Robin and I then made a run to the store for some essentials. Once back at where I will for sure be living for at least 6 months, I took a shower, took an Ambien and passed out for the next fourteen hours. Oh how I needed that! I think I woke up on Saturday and did a couple things and then took a three hour nap! Finally unpacking came, along with tears. Here I was…and what the heck was I doing here?! Already I missed my family and my friends. I let out some tears and then sucked it up and knew I was still so exhausted. That night I went to dinner with Mike and Robin, and then to church the next day.

Ken got here that Sunday night about 10pm, the 19th, along with Bill and Brian Starkey (father and son). Bill and Ken are good friends and worked together awhile back. They checked into where they were staying, an apartment that’s available for rent for people on holiday. Apparently it was hot and humid in there so they opened the sliding glass doors and windows to let it air out. They decided to keep the doors open while they slept. The next morning Bill woke up and reached for his watch, which was right on the night stand next to his head. It wasn’t there. As things developed through them all waking up, Ken noticed his bag he had ready for that day was gone….which had all his camera equipment, passport, money, credit cards, etc. Turns out they were robbed in the night. Y-I-K-E-S! Brian remembered waking up to someone coming in his room and he said ‘ok, ok, I’m up’ as he thought it was Ken and Bill waking him up. He heard someone rush out and say something in another language but thought Ken was just playing a joke on him. So he laid back down and fell asleep for awhile. All that being said, they were not hurt….praise God! They were completely unharmed…just without some things they’d brought along. Of course they were a little shaken up, mostly at the thought of someone being THAT close to their beds by taking things from the night stands. The police came and got a report. Bill told us that the head police found out why they were in town (for missions work) and he stated something along the lines of Satan always trying to control situations and take focus away from God, and to not let that happen. AMEN! The first thing I heard Bill say when I saw him that morning was “Ya know, that’s all just stuff….we were not hurt.” Another AMEN!

So…as you can imagine, me being a single female staying alone, I was pretty freaked out Monday night when I was home alone. I didn’t really sleep that night….just tossed and turned. I emailed my family and asked for prayer for safety and reminded them and myself that that was never a fear I really had with coming over here. Yet there it was. I cried myself to sleep that night after I sent that email. I prayed and prayed to God….and jumped at every little noise I heard. I had taken half an Ambien and even that hadn’t knocked me out. The next day as we visited projects, I was overwhelmed and rather emotional. I talked to God that whole day, pretty much all day. As I sat in bed that night, I literally felt God surround me and felt the prayers being lifted up for me like I never had before. A complete peace came over me and I was able to sleep pretty well. AMEN! Thanks family, and anyone else that was praying that day. It worked and continues to.
Moral of the whole thing....don't leave your doors wide open at night....;)


Ken, Bill and Brian left on Wednesday afternoon. We joked that they were giving me a hard time throughout their time here to make it easier to say good bye to them. HA! (By the way, Satan did in fact interrupt Ken’s day on Tuesday - since his passport was stolen he had to go to Durban to get a new one. Thankfully he got a complete new one that same day!….how often does that happen?! Thanks be to God the turn around was that quick!) Bill and Brian are great guys and I fully enjoyed spending time with them. Who knew a big time banker/cattle rancher could be brought to such tears in the work of the holy spirit? Well, I suppose I can….South Africa will do that to a man….and woman. Bill, if you read this, looks like you CAN be a feeler at times, huh? ;)

This blog is already long enough and that’s my fault for not blogging sooner and having so much to catch up on. More will come but I want to share this quick story with you all.

As Bill and Brian were shown the care centre on Tuesday, I walked with them. I noticed a young girl sitting up in bed, with her lunch before her. She was squeezing her hand. I broke off from the tour and went to her to see if she was ok. She said her throat hurt just to swallow. I asked her name, and she said her English name was Faith (I couldn’t quite understand what her Zulu name was…). She looked up at me, a bright smile on her face and a little laugh in her voice and asked “WHERE are you FROM?!” I told her “America”. She went on to say she was just 19 years old and they were trying to find a place for her to go after leaving the care centre because she had no family left and her Mom died a year ago. I told her I would be praying for her and that I’d be back the next day to check on her. On Wednesday, Sharon, the Manager of the Care Centre, told me that she had been taken to the hospital because she’d gotten worse. They would give her an IV to help ease her pain and then she would be back. On Thursday, Sharon let me know that she had passed away. Just like that. I said “Already?! That soon?!” She didn’t seem close to death when it comes to how those that die of AIDS ‘typically’ look. Golly that sounds so naïve I am sure but hopefully you know what I mean. She still seemed to look healthy….not thin and bony. So all I can pray is that she is up in heaven dancing with Jesus and her family.

Please pray for me - peace, safety, and comfort. Please also pray for the same things for the people here and all over South Africa.

Love to all…and until next time, which will be soon! -Ami