Emotional Roller Coaster!

Hi everyone, Kaila here!

This post is a bit late due to our internet issues but I wrote about our day on Thursday January 9.

I volunteered to write about one of our most interesting days here so far. When I say interesting it's because we started the day with an extremely emotional goodbye and ended with an exciting day exploring Cape Town.

It's hard to explain the emotions everyone was feeling this morning as we woke up knowing that we had to say goodbye to the OVC kids. After only 3 days with these kids, relationships were formed, memories were made, and hearts were invested. Caitlin said something I hadn't thought of before. She said something along the lines of "God doesn't work on time like we do so He can make miracles happen in short periods of time.” I think this is the exact thing that happened here. It was so amazing to see what we had been through together in just three days. After breakfast we shared our last moments together with some free time. We watched a slide show that Adam put together and the kids loved it! At one point one of them started to sing to put some music to the photos and everyone joined in on a worship song. It was a touching moment to see them praise God in that way. Then the time came for goodbyes, hugs, and tears. I’ll be honest and say I did not expect to feel what I did this morning. There was a much deeper connection with them and our team. Each of us had our own one or two kids that we formed a special bond with and letting go was heartbreaking. You could see those kids felt the same way. There was a relationship in particular between Ryan and a sweet young girl that we all knew was undeniably meant to be. God had brought these two together and watching that goodbye was the hardest. At first she avoided him because she was having a hard time facing the goodbye. Soon enough though he had her in his arms away from the group and she just held onto him and cried. He told me that he was praying over her and sung “Jesus Loves Me” to her. It is connections like theirs that make me know that God is working through us. She had love from him.

At first our sadness came from not wanting them to go, but then the harsh reality of them going back to the tough lives they lead in their townships began to sink in. They were going back to extreme poverty, danger, disease, unstable families, and brokenness. I know I can speak for every one when I say that we were all wishing we could take them home with us. It was really tough to say bye but we are left with changed hearts and I know we are all happy that we met each other. Not only did we get to love on these kids, but they loved on us too. They taught us more than they will ever know. Please pray for these amazing kids who desperately need it for protection, love, health, food & water, happiness, and especially to know God in their lives. We miss them already.

As we walked back to the retreat center I could feel that our team had bonded over this. We shared such an intense moment and we needed to lean on each other, support each other, and cry with each other. It was something I won’t forget.

We had some cleaning to do so we blasted a little Need To Breathe to help with the pain and got to work. After lunch we headed out for the day to explore Cape Town. We were excited because after the emotional morning a little distraction and time to reflect was much needed. First stop was at University of Cape Town where we got a personal tour from Sinethemba, a Bridges alumni who graduated and went on to college there. It was at the base of Table Mountain and had a view that was so beautiful! For anyone reading this who is deciding on where to go to college, you’re welcome. We took off from there to go to the Green Market where we did a little shopping and bartering (Natalie is a bartering wizard! Who knew?!). It was fun to wander around and talk to the people and see all the treasures they were selling. Next we headed to Camps Bay and stopped at a lookout point along the way. I’m sure you will all be seeing an abundance of photos from this spot when we get home. It was breathtaking! When we got down to the Camps Bay beach we took off our shoes and ran to the water to put our feet in. It was Amber’s first time in the Atlantic Ocean! The water was cold, the sand was white, and we were just happy to be there. Our final destination was the Water Front in the Victoria Wharf where we had a relaxing dinner. Pretty much everyone passed out in the car on the way home, trying to recover from our busy, roller-coaster-of-emotions day.

Our day off was such a blessing. It allowed us to refocus and refuel for tomorrow as we prepare for the Academy kids to arrive and our classes to start. I am so thankful for this team. Please be praying for strength, rest, energy, wisdom, and happiness.

Xo Kaila

Ps, big hugs to Taylor and my family and friends. I love you and miss you!