Rock Harbor South Africa

**sorry we havent been posting! Our internet had been a bit spotty but we have been safe and having too much fun. here is a blurb from our first hours in South Africa

Day 1:

What a day of traveling it has been! Or three days I should say… It has been both exciting and exhausting, a day of laughs and the beginning of will later be tears.

Once we finally landed, we were met Di, and the two Clives, who picked us up so we could drop our stuff at the Retreat Center, and then go straight into the townships. Pulling up into what is considered to be a town was a surreal experience. As a team we have been preparing ourselves and each other for this. We know all the information there is to know, we have studied and planned. But once you get there, and start laughing with the children and have someone take you on your first home visit, something changes. Its not that you did not know there was poverty like this, because if you haven’t been to a dejected place like Sweet Home before you have at least seen pictures, but it is how happy and unaffected they are which propels in you a deep love and admiration for these people who you barely know. There is an element to each one of them that is so unique though—very different from what we see at home. Its almost as if you see their hearts or maybe even their souls through their eyes. In Orange County or the States in general we try immensely to only let a select few see who we really are, our raw true selves. But here, its different, and they are even more radiant because of it. When we were in Sweet Home, the township, we played and ran around laughing with the kids, begging them to sing and dance for us while we goofed around making silly faces and giving every child within reach high-fives. It was truly a beautiful scene. Ryan stole the show, making every little one fall in love with him instantly. Chris had a fleet of kids chasing him around and around while Kaila and Adam documented our time by following most of us, taking pictures of only the very endearing and embarrassing moments.

Afterwards, we all passed out on the bus ride back to the Retreat Center, got showered up for the first time in what felt like years, and then went off into the beautiful town to go out for dinner. We sat at a long make shift table together, recapping our triumphs and failures for the day, laughing and joking, talking and bonding.

These last few days have been a whirlwind, but they also have been absolutely incredible. I speak for the whole team when I thank each and every person who has both prayerfully and financially supported us on this trip. It has already been a truly life-changing experience, and we are all so incredibly excided to see what God is going to for the rest of our time here.

--Natalie DeAngelo