Apologies.

I wasn't very good at updating while I was gone. I apologize for that. It was kind of a torn thing - I didn't want to be on my computer while I was there, you know? But I did want people to feel involved and part of what was going on. In any case, I'll be updating more about the trip now that I'm home. For now, here are a good chunk of pictures that I narrowed down a little from the 4,000 I took. Enjoy!

Traveling via London, arriving at The Farm, and having a culture night with the Academy (high school) kids:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066892&id=68601067&l=c63a804c3a

ASP Camp:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066899&id=68601067&l=8bf832172d
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2066905&id=68601067&l=fcc52683b6

Bridges of Hope Academy:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067165&id=68601067&l=04b881c9c2

Aquila Safari:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067166&id=68601067&l=455c1a1bc6

Robben Island & Cape Town with the facilitators:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067167&id=68601067&l=0d649db830

Birthday Party, Bonfire & Goodbyes:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067201&id=68601067&l=ad80b00d11


Love,
Erica

ASP Camp

Well, ASP (After School Program) Camp is well over now!  We had one day to rest and then the Academy kids (high schoolers) came back from Easter weekend ready for us.  We've had a blast with them these past few days, but first I'll talk about camp... (this was written a few days ago)

The 77 children arrived on Wednesday morning around 10:30, and we greeted them with hugs and cheers as they got off the bus.  There were also 14 "facilitators" - young adults around ages 18-25 who came with them; these are their leaders during the After School Program they are in, and also their counselors here at camp (along with our team).  We were all paired with a facilitator or two and the kids were put in cabins.  Each of the girls is paired with another American girl and a facilitator or two, and each boy is on his own.  Even us 4 leaders have cabins, which is really fun for us!  We each have around 5-6 kids, and one girls' cabin has 12 (but there are 3 Americans together in that one!).  It is so fun trying to communicate with these kids - most of them at least understand some English, but a lot of them are also quite good at speaking it as well!  Their native language is Xhosa, which is a language that has English lettering, so it's easy for us to sound out, but it also has 3 different types of "clicks" in it, which makes it really funny when we try to learn some of the words and phrases!  Apparently it's considered one of the hardest languages to learn in all of Africa!  But we're trying, and having fun with it :).  For some of the little kids who don't know any English, there are always other ways of communicating, especially with children.  And the facilitators help us a lot with translating!

We have spend the last few days playing games in the sun, jumping on the trampoline, swimming with way too many kids in the pool (who mostly don't know how to swim haha), making crafts, singing songs in Xhosa and English, and sharing lots of interesting meals together.  It has been wild; there are so many kids here!!  But it's just like any other church camp - we have morning and night talks and testimonies, and cabin times afterward.  Some of our students have had really cool stories about their kids sharing prayer requests and asking good questions and having discussions.  We're really excited about what God is doing in the lives of these children and the facilitatiors we've gotten to know.

No one has gotten sick or hurt (besides the normal scrapes and bumps of camp), and we really didn't have any jetlag or trouble adjusting.  God has taken such great care of us!  The weather has even been great :)

I can't think of too much else to update on... I think my brain is a little scrambled from the low sleep and mixed languages around me! Haha. Sorry if this has been rambling or if I haven't given you all the information you were hoping to get!  Feel free to ask any questions, specific or general, and please continue praying for us!  Pray that this last day and a half of camp can be really effective in getting the kids to understand what kind of relationship they can have with Jesus.  And pray especially for the facilitators; a good half of them are not committed Christians, and we've gotten to be good friends with them and care about them a lot.  Pray for sleep for our team, but other than that we really are doing so great! We just want to be effective leaders for our kids!

Missing you all!

We Made It!!

I'm so tired, I have to go to sleep, but I'll post the email I just sent out to all the parents and supporters and expand more later! Love - Erica

Hi everyone! We made it!!!! ☺. It is currently 9:25PM here in Franschhoek and we feel like it must be at least 3AM. Haha. It was a looong journey (which we expected), but everything went quite smoothly minus a few small bumps along the way (also to be expected!). We didn’t end up with much time in London, but we did get to walk around and get some fresh air as well as catch a few photos of Big Ben and Parliament. It was a fun couple of hours together!

South Africa is beautiful. It’s very green with big mountains and long rolling wine country. Just beautiful! On the drive between Cape Town and Fraschhoek we got to see where all of our kids have come from or will be coming from, a township called Phillipi (and a few other townships which are very close by). It was just a long stretch (probably a mile or two long) of tiny shacks lined up along the other of side of a wall beside the freeway. Very impoverished, and very sad. But I think it was good to see that, so we get an idea of what these kids are getting to escape for the week they’re at camp (or for 4 years for the ones who go to the Academy).

Tonight we had a fun cultural night with the Academy kids (high schoolers who live and go to school here). I’ll give more details later, but it was really fun and they made us chicken's feet for part of our dinner - cultural for sure!☺. Tomorrow morning the College Team starts teaching at the Academy, and our team will prepare for our 80 ASP kids (2nd through 7th grade) to come to camp (at 10AM)!

We’re a little bit exhausted, but mostly thankful we get to be here and excited for what’s coming.

Keep us in your prayers, of course! At this point what we need prayer for is just some good rest and to make sure we’re prepared for camp.

We’ll try to update every few days; the internet is a little finicky. But know that we’re very safe here and already having a blast with the Academy kids and the staff. God is so good to us!!

Sending much love from the Southern Hemisphere,
-Erica & The Team

PS: Please feel free to pass this email along to anyone else you know who might want to be updated! I don’t think we ended up getting a full list from every student before we left.

Just Sittin & Waitin!

Well I just typed out a whole message & then it deleted! But we are still sitting in the airport to board - we were supposed to take off at 340 & it's now 515! But you have to just let go of the control & trust the Lord with the time He's given to you! I think we're finally going to start boarding. Pray for patience & endurance! We're still really excited & positive, but wearing a little thin from 5 hours of sitting in the airport :)

Love,
-Erica

Aaand Panic.

The past couple of days have been total panic for me. Not really because of going to Africa; more because of what I'm leaving behind and will have to come home to - school. I guess I didn't really think missing an entire week of school would be too big of a deal. I guess I wasn't really thinking at all! So after a whole day of tears yesterday and feeling pretty ready to drop out of school, I stopped being ridiculous, prayed for awhile, and now I'm fine. I mean, don't get me wrong, those stresses and fears and anxieties are still there, but something inside me just picked them up and handed them over to God. Let go. So today I am spending my emotional energy being thankful and learning how to trust. I don't have any reservations or even fears or anything about the actual trip - that part I learned to trust God with a long time ago. It's the rest of life I'm still trying to control! Haha. Anyway, pray for me - that I would continue to learn how to "let go" and how to trust. And selfishly, pray for my classes, that I can keep up and pass them all.

T- 3 DAYS!!!!

Love, Erica