We're in South Africa!

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It's just before 9am in South Africa on Wednesday, June 29th as I write this. Late last night we settled in at our hotel in Meyerton. We had a great flight to Johannesburg and Evan was phenomenal. He slept about half the flight (around 7 hours) and was as happy as could be for the remaining eight hours. 

We have already seen and felt God working through our trip. We met a mother with her three children flying from Minneapolis to Atlanta. She and her husband planted a church in Spokane, WA, but prior to that they were missionaries in Malawi and her son (who sat next to us on the airplane) was born in South Africa. There were two men that sat near us on the flight from Atlanta to Joburg who we got to know a little and who helped keep Evan occupied. Miq "Mick" used to live in Joburg and now resides in New Jersey. He gave us some some great tips on what to expect and kept reminding us that we'll "never see barbecue the same" after spending time in SA. I'm now excited to try Biltong (South Africa's equivalent to jerky), and just about any other slab of meat I can get my hands on! Grant, who sat across from Evan on the plan, had moved to Atlanta a few months ago and was returning to Joburg with his daughter during her school break. He and I talked politics for a while during the flight and he shared with me more about the culture, language, and environment we can expect during our trip. He introduced Angus Buchan , a popular South African evangelist who focuses on men's ministry and has a really interesting background. 

We arrived late into Johannesburg last night and met pastor Josiah and Jerry. After renting a SIM card and getting my phone up and running we packed our bags into Jerry's SUV and hit the road for the short half hour drive. All in all, we're doing great so far. The hotel we're staying at (Merchant Hotel Hebron) is far nicer than I expected and will be a nice home away from home for the next couple weeks. The next three days we will stay busy preparing for our team which arrives on Saturday morning. Below is a picture of Emily, Evan and I during our travels and a shot of my first ever view of the continent of South Africa, out our plane window. 

More pictures and updates to come!




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