We are sitting in the very tiny East London airport waiting for what I hope is not a very tiny airplane!  We have now been gone for almost a week and a half, so we wanted to send a little hello to our friends and family back home. 

Today we had the incredible opportunity to meet some of the women who work at Ons Plek (“Our Place”), a shelter for girls living on the streets of Cape Town and beyond. 

Glen provides a second video update from South Africa.

Sunday and Monday were days of celebrating after all of our hard work at the Thembani Centre.  We started by joining the Xhosa church that we had painted in worship.  Next, we headed south to the Schotia game reserve. 

Thembani On Friday, we ventured into the heat and even deeper into the South African countryside.  We started with a visit to Neville’s Newtown Philipton Primary School, where the 2007 group spent a full day. 

Julia’s friend told her, “When you meet anyone in Africa, it’s like you’ve met a long-lost relative.”  If that’s true (and I think it must be), tonight was our family reunion! 

When the seven of us “newbies” entered the Samaritan Care Centre today, all we could see was a bright, beautiful, clean home-away-from-home for those with chronic illnesses.  But just one look at the faces

Check out Glen’s video message from South Africa.

We are a diverse group, your emissaries from Country Club Christian to South Africa. There are 14 of us in all, seven who’ve been on the trip before, and another seven of us who have no idea what we are in for.  I was ready for some fresh perspective and a break …

No “official” blog from the team yet, but Glen posted the following on his Facebook page about 2:45 a.m. our time today: “…in East London, South Africa with 13 folks from Country Club Christian Church.

Update from Nancy Lear at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday from Washington, D.C. We’re all on the plane, waiting to take off. In a mere 15 hours,

On Mar. 7, 14 members of the 2009 South Africa Mission Team will leave for East London, South Africa, to continue Country Club Christian Church’s work with our mission partners there, Dawn and Jon Barnes.