Hello again. Here's some more updates:

Tuesday, June 8th: We got up and went in to Stellenbosch to buy some things we needed and look around the souvenir markets. Once we got back, we had lunch and then had a big scavenger hunt over the whole town. We were in three groups mixed in with the Brazilians that we had met the night before. Each team had a map with coded coordinates and a list of questions to answer that matched up with each code. The map would then lead us to a place where we would find the answer. The language barrier with the Brazilians made it quite interesting! That evening we had dinner and just relaxed.

Wednesday, June 9th: We did a lot of planning on this day. We all got in different groups, such as memory verse, ice breakers, games, or drama and organized what activities the children would be a part of for each of these stations. The memory verse group had to make huge banners with the verse of the day painted on them, but the catch was that they had to be written in X'hosa so the helpers from Kuyasa had to help translate. Kuyasa is the program/facility in a township called Kayamandi, which is a really poor area where everyone basically lives in tiny shacks. The ice breakers group came up with fun and goofy songs and quick little activities to get the kids settled in and warmed up for the day. The games group organized which games they would use to teach the biblical principles each day of the program and the drama group created skits to go along with the Bible lesson for the day.

Thursday, June 10th: This day was full of every kind of team building game you could possibly think of. It was a day to bond as a team, getting to know each other better as we were challenged to accomplish different tasks. We did things like playing tug-of-war, building catapults from sticks and string, carrying water buckets with a balancing contraption, completing a low ropes course, solving tricky jigsaw puzzles, making our way through a "land mine" maze, and more! It was a very fun and interactive day that helped us prepare for how to communicate with each other in times of struggle or conflict during our programs and outreaches.

Friday, June 11th: This was a big day! The opening of the 2010 Fifa World Cup!! Everywhere we went we could feel the excitement of the country getting ready for the opening match. In the morning, we had a special time of praise and prayer to lift up to God everything we were about to be involved with over the next few weeks. After lunch, we went in to Kayamandi for the first time. All the kids in the street were so excited and blowing their vuvuzelas (horns). When we got to Kuyasa, there were several hundred kids gathered together watching the performance that had been put together by other kids who work with the Kuyasa program. I will try to post a picture later, but it's not working now. Then we went to the big tent that had been set up for the viewings of the games. It was so loud in there with everyone blowing their vuvuzelas at the same time that you couldn't even talk to the person next to you. We did face painting for the kids, who mostly wanted the South African or the Brazilian flag. Watching the opening game there was fun seeing how excited everyone was. We left before the game was over, though, because we were going to a game of our own! We got to watch the France vs. Uruguay game in the new world cup stadium in Cape Town. It was awesome! Again, pictures will come soon.