July 9th-16th

Well since things have gotten a little crazier around here, I have decided that I am just going to do the blog by weeks. So here is what we did last week. On Saturday we climbed Table Mountain. I had a blast. It was such a cool experience. The hike up was really tough though. I mean I have done lots of hiking in Colorado but the Rockies have nothing on Table Mountain. The hike was pretty much five miles straight up. We went from and elevation of two thousand to five thousand feet. The good part was that it was basically stairs all the way up, but the stairs were different sized rocks and they were spaced pretty far apart. Like some stairs would be two feet while others would be four. It was a tough trail. But we all made it. This was also the first time that I was with the rest of the Texas group and the North Carolina group. I will say that the trek up was a fairly good bonding time. It was a bit awkward at first, but after the initial uncertainties wore off we got to know each other pretty well. Anyway back to the mountain. The view up top was beautiful. I mean the pictures don’t do it justice (which I got some up by the way). But it was awesome. We were going to also try and hike up Lion’s Head Mountain, but after spending the amount of time that we did on Table, we ran out of time. So we hiked back down, going down was much better, and then headed to go get dinner. We drove over to the harbor for dinner. There is a nice mall and several restaurants there and so we spent the majority of the evening hanging out. On a side note I am getting out of shape. The hike was pretty rough and so I guess I am going to have a lot of work to do when I get back. Oh joy… Well moving on. On Sunday we went back to the church that we Drew and I went to the first week we were here. It was a good experience again. I will say that I felt a little bit left out. The majority of the kids at the church were at the camp that Drew and I missed, so they had formed relationships with the other group that we hadn’t. But it wasn’t that big of a deal. After church we went to Mug & Bean, the South African equivalent to Starbucks, and had lunch there. We were there for like two and a half hours. I guess that is what happens when you have sixteen people come to eat in one group. After that we went back to SCAS and hung out the rest of the afternoon. Some people hiked to a local waterfall while others ended up playing rugby on the soccer field behind the building. We then went and ate dinner and had a devotional. The devo was a bit more contemporary than I was used too in regards to devos. I did enjoy it though. Soon after that we headed off to bed to get a start on the next day. On Monday we went back to Kuyasa. This time since we had a large group they had us put on a “kid’s games” program in the morning and then help with the sports teams in the afternoon. That was pretty fun. Again, like the first time Drew and I went to Kuyasa, we were mauled by the little kids. I had them in my lap, on my shoulders, and climbing on my legs. If there was a definition for a human jungle gym, I was it. However, it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed getting to play around and then hang with my fellow interns. After we got done at Kuyasa we went and got our laundry, yes it was about time that that was done, and went back to Dei Eiland (The Island). Once back we had dinner and then had a devotional together. The devo was great. We had some pretty good conversations and the worship was pretty good. We started to teach the North Carolina group some of our C of C songs. After the devo we messed around for a bit and then went to bed. Tuesday and Wednesday went pretty much the same as Monday. On Thursday school was starting back up. As a result, Kuyasa didn’t need us to do anything in the morning. So we went to the market. At the market I got some souvenir shopping done. I am not going to tell you who or what I got, that would ruin the surprise. Let’s just say I did work. After the market we ate lunch and went to the Stellenbosch botanical gardens. After about ten minutes I was ready to go, but we stayed there for about an hour. After the gardens we went to Kuyasa for the afternoon program. Upon arriving we found out that there was nothing going on there for the day. So we waited around for about thirty minutes and then headed out. We went and did some shopping at the Spar, and then Casper took us to the Lanzerak wine farm. That place is beautiful. We got out of the vans and walked around the grounds for a bit. I mean this place was ritzy. I don’t think that I would be able to afford a night there, even with all of the money that I raised for my trip. It was beautiful. We stayed there for a while and then headed back. At the Island we had our devo. This was a bit of a different night. It ended up being a very special and emotional night. The initial devo went about an hour and a half. After that we felt that the Lord was doing something so special that we decided to continue what was going on. We split up between guys and girls and continued our conversation. It got very personal. I know that the guy’s conversation lasted until around 11:00. It was a great experience. After that we were supposed to have smores but since it was so late we just went to bed. On Friday we took the day off and did some sightseeing. We went back to the harbor and had the option of going to the beach or Robin Island. I decided to go to Robin Island. It was really cool. We took a thirty minute ferry ride over. Once there we took a tour through the prison. Our guide was actually a former inmate there. It was a very informative tour and helped me to see the injustices that the apartheid attributed to. After the prison tour we got on a bus for a short tour around the island. Once that was over we decided to try and go see if we could find the penguins on the island, there are some there. However, we couldn’t find any. In fact we only saw a glimpse of one on the bus tour. I mean I was looking forward to kidnapping one so I could bring it back, but no such luck. After that we headed back to the ferry to go back to the main land. This time around I was lucky and got to sit on the top deck of the ferry. Let me tell you, that is a much better seat than the one on the way. We were down on the bottom level very front row. I got to look at one of the water tight doors the whole time. Let me tell you, that was a nice view. But on the way back I got some really good pictures. When we got back to the harbor, we went and had lunch and then headed to Lion’s Head Mountain. We started hiking at around 4:00. The hike as a little easier than Table Mountain. We got up on top as the sun was starting to go down. The plan was to watch the sun set and then use the full moon to hike down. It was really cool. However, we didn’t wait too long after to hike down. There were a lot of people there that had the same idea as we did. So it was pretty crowded on top. Also let’s just say that some of the people there were not the most discerning. There was beer, Champaign and wine being guzzled all over the place. We decided that we were going to get out of there before all the drunk people headed down. Once we got off the mountain we headed back to the Island. On Saturday we got up and drove to Cape Point. It was a beautiful drive. At one point we actually saw a pod of dolphins. I got a couple of pics. It was really cool because they were feeding just off shore and there were at least a hundred of them. It was definitely a good sight. When we got to the Cape we were given two choices. Once was to go to the upper light house and the other was to head down to the beach. I decided to get the lighthouse over with since I wanted to have my legs. So a group of us hiked up to the light house. It was really cool, but the best part was going a little further down to the tip of the Cape. This is where I got some really good pics. It was really beautiful and the pics I did get just can’t do it justice. Once we got all of the view that we could we decided to head to the beach. So we hiked. On a side note I know why rugby players and people in general in South Africa have enormous calves. It is because they have to hike down to the beaches and then hike back up once they are done. Let me tell you, that is a workout. Once on the beach it was another sight that must be seen in person. I tried to get a couple of pics but it just doesn’t do it justice. After standing there I decided to get in the water. The water was the pretty turquoise color and looked just awesome, but don’t let looks deceive you. It was cold as all get out. I was in there for only about five minutes and couldn’t feel my toes. So I got out and went to sit on a rock to just dry off and take it all in. After a while the rest of the group got together on the beach and we ended up playing some sand rugby. That lasted for about twenty minutes until we were all dead tired. Running on the sand is not fun. So at around 5:00 we headed out. We had to be out of the park at a certain time, or be fined. We drove back and had a bit of a surprise on the road. Baboons. There were baboons playing in the road. So we waited for them and watched them play a while. On the way back we went a different route that took us around the twelve Apostles Mountains. It was really cool. We stopped on the side of the road to watch the sunset, which was exceptional. After a bit we went to a different part of Cape Town and had a really nice meal. We went to a sit down restaurant and had a great meal. After that we went for ice cream and then headed back to the Island. The next morning we got up and had a church service at the Island. Hein and his family came and he did our lesson. It was a really good one, and I think that there are some things that he said that will really stick with me. After the service we went to Mug & Bean for lunch, that seems to be the Sunday tradition, and then hung out for the rest of the afternoon. The group split up in two and went two different ways. One group went to hike to another waterfall and the other went to the Asara vineyard. I went to the vineyard and had a very relaxing afternoon. We just set on a hill by a lake in the sun and chilled. It was fantastic. After that we headed back to the Island so that the North Carolina group could finish packing. At 8:00pm they were supposed to be at the airport. Originally we were all going to say our goodbyes at the Island, but due to some issues I had to go help turn in the vans. There might have been a minor traffic incident that was by no mean my fault, but I still got a ticket for. If you want the whole story, ask me some time. Anyway, we went to the airport and saw the group off. I will say it was a bit sad. I had grown too really like these people in the previous week, but I have a feeling I will see them again at some point. South Africa has a way of affecting people and I think that they were affected just like I was. Once we saw them off we headed back to the Island. The next week we start ISL training. That should be very interesting. I also had something come up that can be a great opportunity. Please be in prayer for this situation and that God will use me how He sees fit. Well this is Ryan Dillon signing off.

More Work at Kuyasa

The boys at Uva Mira

The girls at Uva Mira

"It's hot, it's hot, and it's going to get hotter! Why? Because there's a shark in the water!"

Rejoicing after the all-girls soccer game.

Hein, the leader of SCAS ministry with his son, Jayden

So this past week we worked at Kuyasa through Thursday. Monday through Wednesday we did kid’s games and soccer like I said in the last post. Wednesday afternoon we also repaired the roofs of a couple of houses in Kayamandi. Note that I use the word repair loosely. The walls and roofs of the houses are made of pieces of sheet metal, sometimes lots of little pieces just thrown together in patches, and the two houses we worked on had leaky roofs. So our repair jobs consisted of covering the roofs with tarps, stapling/duct taping the ends over the edges to the walls of the house, and then putting things on top of the tarps to hold them down. We proved that duct tape really does fix anything. The first house we did used big blocks of asbestos to hold the tarp down which made us all a little nervous, and the second one used blocks of cement. Two of the guys in the group, Clark and Ryan Blalock were the brave souls to get up on the roofs. The houses don’t have studs anywhere except for where the walls meet the roof, so the only places they could stand were on the very edge. There were a few times I thought they were going to fall through the roof. Then on Thursday we just went for a little while. There wasn’t a whole lot of work to do so we picked up some trash in the neighborhood and played with the kids for a little while.

The group from North Carolina left today, so we had Friday through Sunday off to do some touristy stuff. On Friday we went to Cape Town. Some of us went to Robben Island to tour the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 16 years. It was really interesting and really educational. Our tour guide was actually an ex-prisoner there. He was held there as a political prisoner charged with high treason, and he told us a bit about his story and crime. It’s interesting to me that apartheid happened during my lifetime and that racism still has a big affect on the people and cultures of this country, so it was cool to learn about the history of South Africa from someone who actually played a part in making it. As insensitive as this sounds, that won’t be possible in a few years. That night we climbed up to the summit of the Lion’s Head (a little mountain peak right on the beach in Cape Town) to watch the sunset over the ocean and then watch the full moon rise over the city. We then hiked down by moonlight. The sunsets over oceans and mountains (and sometimes both) and just the scenery in general never get old here. I would go so far to say that South Africa is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.

Then on Saturday we went to the Cape of Good Hope where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. On the way we stopped and saw penguins (yes they are native here), and then we also saw baboons in the middle of the road at the cape. I can’t even describe how amazing all of these places are, and pictures definitely do not do them justice.

Today the North Carolina group left, much to everyone’s displeasure. They all wish they could stay longer, and so do we. We got a lot of work done and had a lot of fun while they were here. Our teams meshed better than anyone could have expected and they were a real blessing to have around and work with. Tomorrow we start our Level 1 sports leadership training. We will be doing the Level 1 training until Thursday, and then we immediately start the Level 2 training until next Thursday. It should be really good.

Once again, thanks for reading my blog and thanks for all of your prayers. I’ll post again soon.

Coming up for air!

FCA Camp 2011

Kids arriving at camp ready to move into their rooms.

Working hard to carry their suitcases.

Team huddle to work out their strategy.

We began our camp of 45 kids on Monday and have not stopped singing and dancing since. We split the kids up into 4 teams with two team leaders in each group. We also had three young men from one of the local high schools that have started a sports ministry team at their local church join us for the week long camp. Each one of these we put with one of the teams so that any translation issues could be addressed. What a blessing it was to have these young men around to help us. We had the Rhinos, Lions, Sharks, and Cheetahs. We began the day with calisthenics around 730 followed by quite time where we encouraged the kids to really spend time one on one with God. We ate breakfast around 830 then it was off to the fields and a day filled with sports and devotionals. The kids were so responsive to the lessons about John 15 and how we as the branches must stay constantly connected to the vine. We have a few children that actually accepted Christ and some that rededicated their lives to Him. The highlights of the camp where the testimonies that we were able to share with the kids from our own personal stories. The emotions and tears that were shared where very genuine. The experience was one that we will not soon forget and one that has forever changed our lives. We will continue to update and share pictures as we get the chance. Continue to pray for us and the calling that God has placed on each of our hearts.

Girls showing off their stuff in the soccer goal.

Walking through Kayamandi to "gather" up kids for Kids Games in Kuyasa.

What's more fun than jumping on the bed? Jumping on the bed outside!

Kids working together as a team to help their team win the competition.

Huddle 2: Lions!! Rooooaaarrr!!

The guys were great sports and became the cheerleaders as the girls played their soccer match.

Letitia and Lize hanging out during the sports time of camp.

View of Die Eilands's camp site and the kids playing soccer during the FCA camp.

We made it!

Hello everyone! We made it safely to South Africa yesterday (Saturday) morning around 8:00 am our time. Everything was pretty smooth with the flights... just a few delays here and there. Hein, the leader from SCAS, and George, Casper's best friend, picked us up from the airport. From there we went to Spur, South Africa's closest resemblance of a Chili's, and ate lunch with Casper's mom and brother. Then we walked around the mall to buy some bare necessities, but Luke came up empty handed with his long john search.

Once we all realized that we were about to pass out, we decided to go back to "The Island" where we are staying and take a "quick" power nap that lasted two and half hours. By the way, in Afrikaans, the place we are staying is called "Die Eiland", but fortunately it is pronounced "Dee Island". We woke to Hein wandering through our rooms wondering if we were ready to go, which obviously we weren't, so we hopped up, put on about three more layers of clothes, and headed out into the frigid cold. We went over to Hein's house to watch the semi-finals rugby match in the Super 14 tournament and got to eat our first amazing home-cooked South African meal. After this we went home and were all sound asleep by 9:30 pm!