muizenberg so far.

We arrived at this lovely little town last week by train, where an intense discussion broke out amongst some coloured people about race and culture. What's interesting to me is that that it's not just whites who act negatively towards blacks or blacks who act negatively towards whites, but colourdes against blacks and vice versa. What baffled me about this situation was that the man who initiated the whole kerfuffle was coloured, who started telling another coloured that he had no culture. The first man had obviously had a lot to drink, and halfway through their argument a large empty bottle fell out of his bag, causing a huge commotion from the other passengers. No one was physically hurt, but it was a little frightening, and it opened my eyes to the reality of racism. It was a totally different atmosphere than the one we'd just come from in Jbay.

When we arrived at the old hotel that serves as the Cape Town YWAM base, we dropped off our belongings and went to supper at a cute cafe called Kosie's Place. We went back to the base for a brief orientation, unpacked, and went to bed. In the morning I was looking for my pencil case and simply could not find it. I thought that maybe it had been kicked under the bed and I told myself I would look for it later. Then my roommate Jenna said, "I can't find my watch." I said, "I'm sure you'll find it - I can't find my pencil case but I'm sure its just coincidence - if anyone was going to steal anything, it would be my camera." The unthinkable entered into my mind as I went to check if my camera was still in the cubby I'd put it in the night before - and it was gone. I was shocked and sad, but overall pretty calm. Then I realized that my passport was in my camera bag, and I got a little concerned. I reported the stolen items to my leader, Carol, who told me to wake the other girls in the room up so that they could check if anything else was missing. As I did so, my bunkmate and fellow Canadian, Sarah, discovered that her purse was gone - along with her glasses, money, debit cards, and - you guessed it - her passport. What was strange about the whole thing was that my purse, which was very easily accessible, and Carol's watch and earrings sitting on the bedside table were left untouched - which I'm thankful for. The girls in my room prayed right away and I had some time during the morning to do some major thinking. And these were some of my thoughts: 1) my camera, and even my passport are just material items that can relatively easily be replaced.
2) I knew that taking my camera to South Africa would be a risk. I knew very well that it could get stolen and it was a risk I was willing to take.
3) It was amazing that not one out of the ten girls that sleep in our room woke up during the break in. Who knows what might have happened if someone had? Over the next couple of days we received encouragement from people saying that God had protected us. I spoke with a staff member named Taz that day who told me that she'd woken up at 4am the night of the break in and felt like she needed to pray for our protection. Also, that day I received an email from a friend from Jbay who knew nothing of the situation, which said, "Psalm 121:7 is for you." Psalm 121:7 says:

The LORD will protect you

and keep you safe

from all dangers.

I don't know what might have happened if one of us did wake up, but I thank the Lord that no one did.
4) The thought of my passport being gone was a little scarier since I needed to be get a new one in just three weeks. I suddenly realized that if I didn't get it in time, I would have no choice but to stay in my new favourite country a little bit longer. As I pondered that thought, a little tiny part of me HOPED that it wouldn't come in on time. As I thought and prayed and talked to people over the last week, I realized that I actually DO want to stay and it would be smarter for me to stay in South Africa until the middle of April, when I need to go back to Canada to stand up beside my bosom friend as she ties the knot. (Yay Steph! I'm so excited for you!)

So, the plan is to go back to Jbay on the 19th of February with my teammate Kristen and her daughter Mia, who are staying there for close to a year. I'm hoping to live in the same place as I stayed in previously, and volunteer at a school/shelter for street kids called the Joshua Project. I am really, really excited to go but I'm trying hard to focus on God's plans for our team and Muizenberg, because He's called us here just as much as He called us to Jbay. I've been enjoying my time here so far - every day I like it a little bit more. The people at this base are very friendly and I'm quickly making new friends. We've been praying in different ways for the last week, and for the past three days we've done 24 hr prayer - 2 people praying at all hours of the day and night, with our whole group praying together at 8am, 12pm and 5pm. It was challenging at first to pray for people and circumstances we don't know a lot about, but God has shown us some amazing things and the time we spend praying is increasingly interesting and meaningful.

As I write this portion of my entry, I'm sitting on a crowded train beside my team leader Karl and across from fellow Canadian Sarah and friend from the base, Ketani, who is from Zimbabwe. We're heading into the city of Cape Town to apply for new passports from the Canadian embassy. It really is quite a process to get a new passport, but Karl has sorted everything out for us and has been extremely helpful. I'm so thankful that I don't have to do this by myself!

To say a little bit about Muizenberg itself - it's a fairly wealthy surfing town with plenty of large, beautiful homes on the side of the huge mountains that surround the majority of the town - the other bordering feature is the ocean, which is beautiful and bright blue and constantly covered in waves. The wind here is incredible. I have never experienced such strong winds so frequently. Even though the sun is bright and the temperature is warm, the wind makes it seem like a spring day in Canada. Too bad I only brought one pair of pants! The last two days, however, have been baie lekker(that means "very lovely" in Afrikaans, which I'm attempting to learn more of every day!) - the wind has died down a bit and I've been able to wear shorts and t-shirts again. When I walk down the streets I feel like I'm in Europe rather than South Africa - everything is relatively clean and neat and there are tons of cute little shops and cafes everywhere. Even the architecture seems more European. It's been awesome to experience another part of this beautiful country, but it will be a happy day indeed when I arrive back home in Jeffreys Bay.