May 17, 2006 (8:10 pm South Africa Time)

I am finally in bed after a long day of more travel and getting to South Africa! We arrived in Johannesburg early this morning (in fact almost an hour and a half ahead of our arrival time) and proceeded to deplane. We were about to get in the line for customs when we switched and stopped by the bathrooms first. I'll spare the complete details, but I will say that it took me quite some time to be done with my business. When I finally was finished and washed my hands, I left the "gents room" and walked outside to see my complete team staring at me with half smiles. As I got closer I realized they knew what had just happened. Smiling back awkwardly at them I suddenly burst into nervous laughter which caused them to do the same. "I win!," I said laughing hard. "I'm the first!" It was good to break the ice and see us all laughing. We gathered our bags then waited and finally got cleared through customs. Our luggage was practically waiting for us at Carousel 4 and then we left the baggage claim area and was quickly greeted by our host, Chuck Lockard, his 15 year-old daughter, Annika, a student at NTC (Nazarene Theological College) named Francois and Yakob, the on-campus security and maintenance coordinator. We then went and exchanged our U.S. dollars for South African rand. Once we all were done we walked outside the airport to the "parkade" (garage) and loaded our bags and began the 45 minute journey to NTC's campus. We all were amazed at what we saw. We were here, finally in South Africa. Our ride back to campus was short but eye opening. South Africa is one of if not the most developed countries on the African continent. We drove by many people who came up to the van when we were stopped at the "robots" (traffic lights), trying to sell everything from hats to sodas to cell phone chargers. This was just a glimpse into the poverty that also exists here. 50% of the South African population falls under the poverty line. While others are becoming wealthy and more wealthy as South Africa develops. Another clear example of this was when we were again stopped at an intersection and saw Gary Player's mansion on the corner and directly across the street were squatter camps filled with shacks and make-shift homes. Not too long after we arrived to NTC's campus, the gates opened and when they did they revealed a group of about 20 male students. When we got out of the van they each welcomed and introduced themselves to us one by one. After we all met they joined a circle together as they "wanted to sing us a welcome song." We joined hands and they began singing "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God." The sounds of their voices were overwhelming and yet so uplifting. I closed my eyes and the breeze that came by was soothing. I could feel God in that moment through the voices I heard and the love I saw on the faces around me. The students had class to go to so we said goodbye and took our bags to our rooms and settled in. The girls are staying in one of the many "chalets" on campus up on the hill overlooking the valley and Johannesburg skyline. The campus of NTC is a former resort so much of the buildings are with thatched roofs and the setting is quite nice. Steve (one of our leaders) and Michael and I went to Chalet #10 which was to be our new home for the next three weeks. We were living in luxury from what were told to prepare for. Separate beds with plenty of blankets (boy are the nights cold!) and a bathroom that is quite nice with a full on bathroom and separate shower. We settled in and decided to take a quick walk around the campus and take some pictures. We did that for a little bit and we all were so tired and jet lagged that we walked back to our chalet and napped. We woke up just in time to get ready for dinner at 5:00 p.m. We met the girls at the dining hall for dinner which consisted of rice, yams, "country fried steak type meat," salad, potatoes, and a sweet custard like pudding for dessert. Once dinner was finished we moved into the chapel for "church." By then it was very very late San Diego time and we had been up for some time. The sermon was rough as it was very hard to stay awake! Probably the most impacting moment came at the end of the service. We all were seated in the center section of the chapel and Chuck (NTC chaplain and our host) had the congregation gather around us and join hands in prayer around us. "We're just gonna do it up NTC style and pray," Chuck said and with that everyone around us began offering their prayers aloud in more than 7 languages from what I later learned. Once the service was done and we had met even more people we walked out of the chapel into the classrooms nearby and had a time of orientation and questions with Chuck. We ended our time and walked back to our chalets. We took the girls back and then walked back to our place and called it a night. Even though it was 8:00 p.m. I was ready for a good night's sleep!