Saturday morning, June 2nd by Deb

Open my eyes that I may see and my ears that I may hear …

We awoke to a cool, overcast day; just another day in paradise!   Our surroundings are in such contrast to our home for the past week – lush green plantings, a veranda overlooking a meadow as a wildebeest saunters by. 

After a leisurely breakfast of a choice of fresh fruit, omelets, waffles, a pretty much anything your heart would desire, we met with Mike and Michelle for a “where do we go from here” brain-storming session.  Michelle started our meeting off with a wonderful DVD they’ve made which describes our heart-wrenching week in less than 10 minutes.  (We each have a copy, so ask any one of us, and we would LOVE to share it with you!).

Ideas were bandied about of how La Casa could partner with Helping Hands and lots of questions were asked and answered.  The final outcome will surely become clearer as we all continue to pray and ask for God’s guidance.  It has been such an honor to be part of this visioning trip and to have the opportunity to get to know Mike and Michelle and what genuine, Christian, and caring people they are.  What gifts they are to the poor of South Africa.  I pray that someday my husband, Steve and I will have a chance to work more closely with them.

 

Saturday afternoon, June 2nd by Ron

Command those who are rich…not to be arrogant or put their hope in wealth…but to put their hope in God…command them to be rich in good works and to be generous and willing to share.
1 Timothy 6:17-18

We arrived at Sun City (South Africa!) in the early afternoon. It was a very sharp contrast to our initial six days in Mafikeng. Instead of immense poverty, we were in the middle of a Las Vegas-style atmosphere - complete with several casinos, high end shops and lots to see and do.  Sun City is a prime vacation spot for people from all over the world.

We walked through the gardens which were complete with several waterfalls, a swinging bridge which got very interesting to try to cross when a lot of people got on, and an aviary.  The aviary had a lot of exotic birds we had never seen before.

We also got a glimpse of one of the two eighteen-hole golf courses, one of which hosts the Million Dollar Shootout at Sun City, that I’m sure the diehard golfers will recognize.

Mid afternoon we went to the Lost Palace of Sun City for High Tea.  The Lost Palace had entrance doors that were 30 or 40 feet high, about six inches thick and ten feet wide.  The architecture of the entire palace was very African.  For example, the pillars were made to look like bamboo shoots tied together into a massive 40 foot high column.

The Tea itself was quite an experience.  We were served tea on fancy china with dainty little sandwiches and mini-quiches, followed by a dessert bar that had 30 or 40 different desserts to sample.

The final stop at the Palace was at the lookout tower, about 12 stories up.  From there we had a magnificent view of Sun City, the golf courses and the vast countryside with rolling hills and mountains far off in the distance. For me, after experiencing what we had in the villages, it seemed a bit “over the top”.  However, when I considered the thousands of jobs it created and the economic impact it's had on the people in this part of South Africa it was a little easier to rationalize.