Aug. 20^th 2009 – Pietermaritzberg

I arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa Sunday morning. It is late winter here in South Africa – the clear sunny skies (second bluest in the world!!) and cool wind make the weather lovely.

We stayed in Johannesburg for 3 days and had a tour of Soweto, Freedom Park, the Voortrekker Monument and the Apartheid Museum. All these sights allowed at least a little insight into what the people in South Africa went through and allows you to understand a little more why there are so many struggles that persist throughout South Africa.

The highlight of our 6 hour drive from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg was definitely the game of “Name that Tune,” followed by a few impromptu hymn sing-alongs. Since then we have been staying in Pietermaritzburg (one hour outside of Durban) at Joan and James’ house. After attending an Annual General Meeting and a chapel service at “Project Gateway” I got a feel for the “African way” of doing things. Two minutes into the meeting, a director/a pastor at Project Gateway commented how boring the meeting was and proceeded in starting a friggin sweet sing-along. Everyone jumped up and joined in with awesome rhythms and such powerful and joyous voices filled the room. I was so surprised but just loved it so much! The chapel was much of the same. So much energy. So much joy. So many amazing voices.