South Africa - Running Diary - Part I

I lazily attempted to keep a running diary of my daily events during our trip to South Africa. What follows below is that lazy attempt. The words in quotes are the actual things I wrote in my journal, followed by a brief description (if necessary) to describe the words I wrote and the significance behind them. Whenever possible, I tried to document the time (local time depending on what time zone I was in) at which these events occurred. This Running Diary will be broken up into parts, with a couple days documented on each entry. Hope that makes at least some sense…enjoy.

Friday, January 15^th – 10:01 am: “Man just tried to bring a gun thru security at the airport…amazing!” We had just passed through security and were grabbing our bags and shoes off the conveyor belt when someone noticed that there was an object that looked just like a handgun in a man’s bag as it passed through the x-ray screen. He tried to tell the officers that the gun was a collectors item and didn’t want it getting lost in the checked luggage, but needless to say, he was arrested. But I think the worst part of the entire experience was the look on his wife’s face. Something tells me he’s safer in jail than back in the house with her…yikes!

Friday, January 15^th – 11:46 am: “Leaving on a jet plane.” Boarding our plane to Washington DC…needless to say, we were all very excited to be finally leaving after all these months of planning. In a few hours, we would be boarding another plane heading to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Saturday, January 16^th – Sometime over the Atlantic Ocean: “Juno and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” Watched some quality movies on our 18 hour flight. What did people do before personal entertainment systems built into each seat?

Saturday, January 16^th – 9:34 pm: “It is well with my soul.” All 12 of us were gathered around having a nightly devotional when this song ran through my head…not sure why exactly, but it’s an amazing song…and an incredible story surrounding it’s meaning. Click here for video of song.

Saturday, January 16^th – Bed Time: “Ryan + Kevin = Snoring.” These two guys could snore. Ryan was quite proud of his abilities, and even brought earplugs for all of us, as all 6 of us guys were sharing one room. Kevin on the other hand was in some sort of snoring denial all week. We attempted 3 separate times to document his snoring on film, but all three times were unsuccessful. It’s legend ranks right up there with the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot.

“Lights Off = Wide Awake.” My mind raced pretty much all night about what our trip would reveal to me, what we would see, how messed up my internal clock was, etc. I think I slept a total of 2 hours that night. The fact that my mattress transformed into a mathematical parabola (thanks Jonathan) as soon as I laid on it didn’t help either. PM medication was party of my nightly sleeping routine every night after that.

“Sinus headache still exists.” I had a sinus headache that started an entire week prior to this night, and every day it got gradually worse. Medicine was no match for this one…even my jaw was in pain. Luckily, I think the change of climate fixed all that the next day, and It’s been gone every since.

Sunday, January 17^th – 9:54 am: “It’s later than it’s ever been before.” This was a great line spoken by the one and only Pastor Willie Dengler Sunday morning at church. Willie was saying that if Jesus returned tomorrow, would you be ready? People often try to makes deals with God, or say that they’ll follow him ‘someday’, after their finished having their fun. He was speaking directly to those people, asking about their urgency…if Jesus returned tomorrow, or if they never work up the following day, where would that leave then. Great message.

Sunday, January 17^th – Evening worship service: “I could sing of your love forever.” One of the songs that was sung that night…and it was just a beautiful moment…don’t even know how to describe.

“How will I use this time here back home?” This was the first time that I thought about being home, and what the next several days would do to me, how they would change how I live back on my side of the world. I’m still wrestling through a lot of those things, as I’m sure everyone else on the trip is to. Excited to see how my time spent in Africa will impact me and many others here at home.

Part II to follow soon...