My apologies that I have not blogged - our accommodations' internet service has been down since Thursday night. I will try to update as much as possible in this and subsequent posts.
Day 2 - Friday, August 1 - Quote - "4 Seasons In One Day" - Gordon, our driver.
Today's weather was interesting and warranted this quote - from clouds and cold weather to hard, side-ways rain to beautiful sun and warmth - all in one day - the first day of August.
Our first day of workshops at Belhar were really good. Boggs and Shane opened the day leading praise & worship. I had forgotten just how responsive the people of Cape Town are in worship. We all agreed - oh how we long for the passion, emotion, and energy of these people would somehow "spill-over" onto our congregations.
Boggs and Shane led (4) consecutive sessions on Vocals. These two guys were magnificent. They are an amazing team. Everyone was talking about their classes - why not - they are skilled, compassionate, sensitive, and just downright funny!
During these (4) sessions, Doug & Doug led (4) consecutive sessions on Audio. They had the perfect size group with which to work because it allowed them to be on stage to observe as well as most all fit into the tech booth to observe and learn.
The thing that always fascinates me about these workshops is how God moves works throughout the day - and if we are listening and paying attention and being sensitive - we adapt and change accordingly.
Today's final sessions were a perfect example combining the vocalists with our tech group to emulate a SundayAM sound check/rehearsal and a "sample" worship segment. It was wonderful to watch everyone learn from each other.
Since Gordon (our driver) lives in Belhar, Avril (our host and sponsor) drove us back to The Team House with stops at a music store and Pick-N-Pay (grocery store). The visit with Avril was fantastic.
side note - no one on our team wants to sit up front in the van because of the strangeness of sitting on the side where Americans sit when we drive - except the driver sits on the right side over here and drives on the left side of the road.
Dinner at The Team House tonight was relaxing, and we had nice visit Jakes as well. She is such a great Team House host because she is genuinely interested in the teams who come over here.
I have laughed heartily and often with this team that God has assembled. Sarrett, Shane, and Boggs are relentless with non-stop humor. I thought Jakes was going to fall on the floor tonight when the 3 guys got on a roll. Laughter is amazing medicine.
Today was another reminder of the incredible work and influence that Radio CCFm has on the people of Cape Town.
An unexpected moment today was a visit with Pastor Timmons - the pastor of the church that is our host for the workshops. He has been pastor of this church for more than (15) years. He is warm, personable, humble and engaging. When asked by Avril, he told the story of how their church building was built. It took them 15 years because it was built totally on faith by the members of the church – spending most every Saturday literally constructing the building one section of it at a time – debt-free. He told me how they borrowed power from a neighbor’s house using a long extension cord, and borrowed water from another neighbor’s house when they had to mix concrete.
What a testimony to this community, not to mention of people’s faith and the body of Christ coming together to build a meeting place for the people of this community to gather to worship God.
(note – for those of you who have been to John Thomas’ church, King of Kings Baptist Centre, this church in Belhar is a slightly smaller version of King of Kings – and just as nice on the inside).
Since I am at a friend’s house using their internet service, I need to close for now.
I hope to catch up on blogging tomorrow........
