On Final Approach...

It is Tuesday night, 22h30 South African time, as I sit here at my laptop. My Internet has been down for all of this evening, so this will only be posted (hopefully) tomorrow. Strange to think that in a week's time (at the time of my typing - not of the actual posting) I will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, on final approach to Chicago. This will be my first trip to the United States, and most definitely the longest travelling time for me. It's around 36 hours, give or take, from when I lift off in Cape Town, South Africa, to when I land at Dallas, USA, late this coming Tuesday. I'm not looking forward to the many hours of flying lying ahead of me. I don't mind flying if it's a nice short day flight, but I do mind the long haul flights. I can never sleep well and usually just sit there, eyes glued to the plane's progress on the screen... But I am looking forward to seeing some familiar faces in the United States and to see what God has in store for me. The first familiar face I see will be at Dallas Fort Worth Airport. A good friend from the ship last year has kindly offered to fetch me and put me up for a few days at her house in Dallas, before the Gateway course starts on the Saturday. (Thanks Lisa!)

And I am also so excited about the Gateway course. I've been reading a couple of prescribed books over the past few days and am really being challenged to shift my perspective in how I think about the modern church - as well as how I communicate to people of other cultures. Interesting stuff. I pray that the course itself will blow me away!

But enough of that, these past few days have been extremely busy, as I get things sorted out for the next few months. I am glad that I am only packing for about six weeks and that it is summer up north of the Equator... Definitely means I can pack light. And I'm glad that I have a month in Cape Town before I head back to the ship in September.

This coming Sunday I have my commissioning (or sending out) service at my church (Claremont Baptist Church) here in Cape Town. This will be a great time of celebration and also a time to show a little presentation on Mercy Ships to the congregation. But the cherry on the cake is that the Rev. Henry Gwani, who was the Head Chaplain of the M/V Africa Mercy, during our time in Liberia, has agreed to take the sermon. Henry is a wonderful speaker and is such a loving man of God. This Nigerian national is married to a South African girl, Mampho, who he met through Mercy Ships. They are both helping in the SA office of Mercy Ships. I'm so excited to see them again! I hope to do one more blog before I leave for Texas, probably on Sunday afternoon, and I hope to tell you all how the service went. (And hopefully get some pictures up too...) Until then, God bless!