We made it!!!

Siobahnne here!

Wow. Just, wow. I don't think it became real for many of us until we saw that stamp in our passport. The million hours worth of flight time (slight exaggeration), the plane food, the airports, the cramped seating and long bathroom lines... none of it felt real until we actually got here.

But we're here. We landed safely around 8am this morning, went through customs easily (except Jared, who was detained without us knowing at first... but he's okay!) and were greeted by the friendly staff from Bridges ready to help us wheel our luggage to the vans and head to the Academy.

We want to thank you all for your prayers for safe travel and all the support you've offered us. Our team is really bonding. The long flights and just the feeling of being so out of our natural element have helped to cement our bond as a team. It's been such a blessing to watch us all further get to know one another, share in inside jokes we weren't even aware we had yet, and laugh over the absurdity of being THIS tired.

We got to the Academy, were shown our rooms and given an hour to freshen up. I've never seen so many women sharing one bathroom at a time, but you'd be happy to know it was well handled and we even had to deal with our first spider! We made sandwiches for lunch and sat down to orientation. Many yawns later, some wonderful prayer, and accidentally using dish soap in the dishwasher instead of the dishwasher stuff (oops...), we're now resting in some shape way or form. Many are napping, reading and journaling. Some of us that were still awake got to tour the school facilities as well!

We're excited. Tomorrow begins all the craziness and we're praying for the strength and wisdom to get through it all. Please check back with the blog often and leave comments for us to enjoy. You can help by praying too!

Pray for...
...The team, the staff and the kids: may our hearts be in the right place and our hands firmly reaching for God in all that we do.
...Health, both physical and mental. We're already a bit tired, and we're bound to get more tired. Emotions may run high and stress can get to us all. Pray that we handle it well and support each other in all of this.
...Our spiritual relationships. We're all seeking to be closer to God in everything that we do, and I know many of us our yearning for a deeper closeness with our Heavenly Father on this trip.
...The people we are going to meet and the opportunities that will present themselves.

We're really here friends. And God is with us. And so starts a beautiful journey.

Much love and blessings,
The January 2011 South Africa Team