Week In Review

Wow,  last week was great! We picked up the two American boys, Nate and Chase, last Monday.

On Tuesday, we had our soccer clinic in which we taught the approximately 44 boys who showed up, 4 turns and 2 moves. Plus, we taught them a life lesson about choosing the right friends, and how your friends can affect your future. One of their parents actually emailed us later saying how that was the first time his son had ever heard anyone talk about God during a soccer camp, and how glad he was for his son to attend our clinic.

On Wednesday, I took Nate and Chase to Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope and on the way we passed a small troop of baboons (Nate and Chase were pretty excited to finally see a baboon). We climbed up to the lighthouse and several of the lookouts up there. Then we trekked down to one of the coolest spots I've ever been to on earth (see the picture on left) and chilled for a little there. After climbing around, I drove them to Simon's Town, where we had fish (hake) and chips at the Salty Sea Dog (which is apparently one of the best fish and chips places in the area).

On Thursday, we had the closing session of the soccer clinic and taught the kids 4 more new turns and 2 more moves, as well as another life lesson. Later that day, since it was the 4th of July, I took both Nate and Chase, as well as a girl named Carley who's working with us till December, to The Toad to get dinner. After a fantastic dinner, we brought an offering of ice cream to a house in Ocean View where rumor had it that a bunch of Americans were celebrating the 4th there. We pulled up, were led into the garage, and met like 20 Americans who were working in Ocean View. Most of them were World Racers (www.theworldrace.org - a mission trip with 11 countries in 11 months), and I'm working on helping get them plugged into helping with sports ministry while they're here. We also met several girls working with Mzansi and another NGO. They were really nice and it was awesome getting to hang out with fellow young Americans for a bit. The World Racers had some crazy stories about robberies, healings, and deliverances and how through everything, God always prevailed! It was great listening to them talk about their adventures. Afterwards, I dropped Carley off at her host home, and Nate, Chase, and I went down to the beach to try to make a little fire and roast marshmallows in celebration of our nation's independence. Sadly, the celebratory fire didn't last too long, thanks to a strong wind front and several guard dogs. So we instead roasted marshmallows at their host's home over the stove. Great fun!

On Friday, I took Nate and Chase up both Chapman's Peak and Table Mountain which resulted in some spectacular views from Chapman's summit, and a extraordinary time hiking through/in a cloud on Table Mountain. Afterwards, we drove to the Royale Eatery and had some delicious burgers. On the way back from Cape Town, we swung by Rhondebosch and picked up another volunteer, Sasha from UNC who's working with an NGO medical organization that helps teach doctors about a cheaper method to fixing club foot that is similar to braces for the teeth (only for the foot). Then we relaxed in Kommetjie where Nate and Chase are staying.

On Saturday, we woke up early and headed out to Wynberg to scout some U11 and U13 soccer games (in the hopes of finding the new Messi), and after braving the cold and biting wind for as long as we could, we headed back to Ocean View and planned our next scouting session (Sunday after church). In the evening, I fixed Casey's car's immobiliser and attempted to fix a broken toilet in Treswill's house, but failed at that. Haha, every day I keep learning new things and I'm loving it. 

Sorry that this blog post is about a week late. I've been kept pretty busy with showing Nate and Chase around the Cape. I'll put up a new post soon about the happenings of this week! Please keep us all in your prayers!

Thanks and God bless,
John Chau

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