Sometimes Jesus just wants to give us a nice pair of socks.

Oops that I haven't blogged in a month. 

Here is a blog about my weekend.

Friday, our team had to go to Home Affairs for some visa business. Paperwork smaperwork. It took all morning. After that, we hung out in Cape Town for the day. We had team lunch at an Eastern Bazaar and all bought hipster glasses off some street vendor. It was fun.

That night we had youth group. The Holy Spirit was doin' His thing, and in small group, Mariana told me that she needed more of Jesus and that she wanted to give her whole life to Him. So, in my arms, tears running down her face, she prayed Christ into her heart, and she meant every word of it. It was quite possibly the best moment of my life. Words cannot begin to express my love for that child. So I'm not really even going to try.

Saturday, Jayda and I took Geraldine and Mariana downtown. It was "freedom day" here, so all of the public museums in Cape Town were free for the day. We went to a slavery museum, an art museum, and an animal museum. We ran through exhibits and screamed at the tops of our lungs. We touched paintings we weren't supposed to touch and played instruments that were strictly for looking at. We danced in the streets and played on escalators and chased ducks around fields. We fed squirels and put flowers in our hair. We ate cotton candy and ice cream. We just followed the lead of 2 little girls who never get to be little girls. It was a wonderful day.

I came home that night to find Arielle and Karson, 2 of my best friends from the other side of the squad at our house for a sleepover! So I got to catch up with them, which was just refreshing and really really good. 

This morning I went to church. Pastor wanted some of us to speak about where God is leading us after this trip. Of course I had to speak, and of course I didn't want to. I've never liked speaking in front of big groups because I'm just not good at it. I stutter, I make awkward hand motions, I forget my words, and heck, sometimes I forget what I'm talking about altogether. So, this morning I struggled trough that once again, and after speaking and listening to the others speak, I was just annoyed at how much better everyone else is at it. Again. And again, I asked Jesus to make me better at it. Why wouldn't He just make me better at it? And all He said was, "You don't need to be good at it."

After church, Stefan and I went on a walk to visit our Muslim friends throughout the town. We ran into a man who we'd never seen before at a stand that has never been there before. He was also a Muslim and was selling all sorts of Islamic gowns and head scarves. He and Stefan got into a pretty deep conversation about Jesus, the Quran, and the Bible. All I wanted to do was to have something to say to him. I wanted to make a point. I wanted him to see Jesus from our perspective. "Jesus, just tell me what to say, just give me one sentence to say to this man right now, please." And do you wanna hear His response? "Buy some socks from him." "I don't want to buy socks from him. I want Him to know You. Just help me out. One sentence." "They're really comfortable." He persisted. So I picked up a pair of socks. They did seem really comfortable. And I ended up buying 3 of them. Sometimes Jesus just wants to give us some nice pairs of socks.

This afternoon, I took my little sister, Daniel, surfing for the first time. She told me it was the funnest thing she's ever done. 

Then we went and visited our homeless friends, gave them some sandwiches, and prayed with them. Some of them were drunk. Some of them were bleeding. All of them were happy to see us and the Jesus in us.

Now I am sitting by the fireplace, drinking Coke out of a glass bottle, watching Pocahontas.

Here are some photos.