weddings, welcomes and further thoughts about the USA

robert and nicki welcomed us
at the airport

after leaving washington DC we made our relatively sort journey to augusta, georgia, where we hooked up with all sorts of people for what was to be the thembalitsha wedding of the year. we have so many friends who have visited us on trips, both short term mission and longer term individual volunteers, to the village of hope and it was truly wonderful to meet up with some of them at nicki and roberts wedding.

on arriving in augusta with it's unusally small red brick faced airport we knew we had arrived in the real united states, gone were the relatively familiar low level buildings and european city feel of washington DC, hardly surprising since it was designed by a french man named L'Enfant, and what welcomed us were huge expanses of land, mostly of trees, and wide lane freeways, traffic lights and shopping malls.

there seemed to be every conceivable drive through experience as well, not just the familiar MacDonald's that we have in england and south africa but Starbucks coffee, which we suppose isn't that surprising, but an ATM/bank drive through or pharmacy store drive through really!, there was even a drive and 'donation drive through' where you could drop off you unwanted but still use able donated goods which would be handed out to the poorer people who couldn't drive everywhere without even getting out of their car!

a visit with jon and regan

we had also arrived in 'the bible belt' and there seemed to be a plethora of huge churches with parking lots the size of some towns on every stretch of road, they even have traffic cops directing the cars as they arrive at these venues which seems like a great use of police time.

americans seem to have thought of everything however one thing that seems to be missing in this whole drive through and churchy culture is a drive through church!, we've heard that there are 'drive in' churches but our concept would be a drive through fast food style option, we could expand but wouldn't want to be heard as heretics so we'll leave the options to that idea open to your imagination, however if that ever happens to come true then you heard it first on this blog!.....thinking about it perhaps we should come over and start one just to see if the concept works!

we digress so back to the reason we were in augusta, we had made this long roundabout trip to come celebrate the wedding of some friends who had actually met on a missions trip to south africa where robert was leading a team who stayed at the village of hope. we were met at the airport by robert and nicki which was a real surprise and privilege given all the planning and sorting that they had to do prior to the big day later in the week. they shared a starbucks coffee and cake experience with us before settling us into our first home stay, we are thankful for them and the time they spent with us!

the happy couple

one thing we have learnt about people in the USA is that they are very welcoming and keen on making you feel right at home the minute they meet you, karla (garrard) had sorted out a whole schedule (pronounced very differently over here to what we are used to in england!) of people who were going to provide accommodation, cars and meals throughout the week and we are so blessed to have had her around to make us feel part of the family.

keith and mary were our first hosts and made us feel very welcome in their lovely home in north augusta, which is actually in the state of south carolina, and during our stay with them we had some lovely walks along the savannah river and meals both at their home and at restaurants, including our first experience of chick-fil-a a very southern thing apparently.

our first home meal was with melissa and matt, two people whom we have grown to love from their trips to south africa, we think the best thing that we have experienced so far on this trip is the home cooked meals and being able to see the real america that many tourists would miss by stopping in hotels, it is a true blessing to have made so many good friends and we thank God for that and those people he has drawn across our paths.

meeting up with thembalitsha friends

we had opportunity to talk at keith and mary's weekly home group, where we encouraged their friends, who all attend the In-Focus church in augusta, with stories from our lives in south africa, the group was very responsive and we hope that we inspired them to get involved in all that God is doing be that way away in africa or right here in augusta where there are still great opportunities to serve him and share in his kingdom work.

keith also lent us his car, a very luxurious nissan complete with a 3.5litre engine which we have driven around to the various events, including the wedding, it was quite strange to drive on the right hand side of the road, but one soon gets the hang of it and without the need to change gear it was really plonk your right foot down to accelerate and brake and make sure you followed the signs to ensure there were no accidents. driving at night was a slightly more scary experience with little or no lighting available even on major junctions and the lack of cats eyes and clear central lines made even short journeys a bit of an adventure.

on thursday we had quite an unusual experience, tim visited a hairdresser!, this was so rare that it was the first time he had visited since his birthday last august and also the first time he had let his luscious long locks surrender to the scissors for nearly six years. the result was a short cut which tim is quite happy with but maz seems the happier!

a hot chick eating chic-fli-a

it's great to see what God is doing around the world and we were privileged to spend some time catching up our friend john and his wife reagan who have purchased some land to start their own ministry, it would seem that human trafficking is as much a problem here in america as it is in the rest of the world and their hope is that they will provide some safe accommodation for young ladies and perhaps their children who have been trafficked, we visited the site and it was great to share some time praying and sharing ideas with them on their new adventure.

by thursday the wedding was looming large and it was great to joined the wedding rehearsal that even, thankfully the event was more than the english style rehearsal which normally involves a lot of standing around and getting people in position prior to the big day, this one included speeches and a meal afterwards. it was wonderful to meet up with old friends, both young and old and from all over the states including people from trinity church in dallas and shannon jones, a volunteer all the way from california.

don, patty and nathan

friday saw the day of the wedding and it was fantastic to be able to share this special time with nicki and robert as well as their families who had joined the party from all over the united states. the venue was stunning over looking some rapids on a wide part of the river, the sun came out and everyone was smiling but with a tear in their eyes on seeing these two wonderful hearts come together, they truly are a dynamic couple and we can't wait to see where their paths will take them as they set out on this new adventure together.

over the weekend we moved to patty and don's home which is on the other side of augusta, this couple seem to be on every mission trip that is sent from InFocus church and therefore have visited the village of hope on many occasions but to be welcomed their home was very special and we thank them for all the hard work that they had undertaken to make sure we had a good time with them, we met there wonderful boys including nathan who made us very welcome and kept us entertained during our stay.

wholehearted worship at infocus

we have really enjoyed our week in augusta and our last days were spent with a trip into the wilds to have dinner with brent's (karala's husband and pastor of In-Focus) mum and dad in their timber home on the banks of a very large dam, we went fishing, which confirmed tim's thoughts that the exersise is really just about drowning worms as we didn't actually witness a fish being landed, however we enjoyed another BBQ, this time cooked by pastor frank from our home church in somerset west, sorta home from home really!

we couldn't leave before attending a service at the In-focus church, our friend charl (ex-wholehearted) led the worship, brian, current lead singer of wholehearted played along side him, and pastor brent bought a good word. we actually attended the last of three services and we don't blame don and patty for rushing to a near by mexican restaurant afterwards for some refreshment on what is a weekly busy morning for all leaders involved.

bbq or braai

before we sign off on this part of the trip we must also thank tom and linda for the breakfast they provided for us on saturday morning, we did have some interesting things to chat around and for terra and her husband kyle for sharing a wonderful meal with us, and krissy and amanda from thembalitsha, last night. 

with all this hospitality we are sure to have put on a few kilos so this next week we will try to make the most of the sunshine and beach that we hope to find in florida to try to work off some of the excess weight!

Sorry that there aren't any photos on this post but our cell phones are on strike, we hope to have them back up and running to update this sometime during the week!

boulder couple plus thoughts on the US of A

view from the airbus 380

it seems that so much has changed since we last posted on our personal blog, our eyes have been opened to an american culture that we had only witnessed via the media and we know that there will be so many other surprises during the next few weeks but we thought we'd better get something down in writing before it all becomes a bit of a blur.

last thursday morning we made our first transatlantic flight, which just so happened to be on an almost empty british airways airbus 380 which was a true Godsend, boy those planes are BIG, and upon our arrival in washington we were met and then hosted by our 'boulder couple' kyle and sammar.

washington memorial

we met kyle and sammar on a boulder in camps bay, cape town, about eight months ago, they were in the middle of a round the world journey of a lifetime and minding their own business enjoying the beauty of their surroundings, the ocean to the left, lions head rising straight ahead and to the right the mighty table mountain which majestically sits a watch over cape town itself.

our first meeting was one of those moments when you realise that there is this divine figure orchestrating much of what we would see as random acts, this meeting and our further time with kyle and sammar is perhaps best seen by the post on their blog soon after their time with us, follow this link for their thoughts on the topic!

honest abe

we didn't have much expectation around our time in washington DC, we knew of some of the sights we might see but to be hosted by two people who have a very similar outlook on life and therefore sorta enjoy doing and seeing the same type of things it has been easy to let them guide us towards both the touristy things and the real life america that so many people who visit this nation would miss.

steps where martin luther king spoke

kyle and sammar live in a wonderful home quite close to the city centre, this neighborhood seems to be very up and coming but we are very aware that our local surroundings have a very different recent history and the city a much more of a world wide impact. last night we spent some time listening to around 20 drummers in what was unofficially called the malcolm X park and the race riots that followed the assassination of martin luther king happened only a few blocks away from where we're sitting right now.

vietnam war veteran by the vietnam war memorial

it's been funny to watch our own reactions to those things that we had only experienced on TV or seen on the movies, our first real american fire truck, or fire hydrant, newspaper stand, trashcan, even a target store and experiencing taco's,  black beans and cheese dip. but then there are the those things that we thought that we'd see which were so different to our expectations, the white house is so small and the theater where lincoln was shot has a modern facade that takes away the immemce history of the place.

the white house!

kyle and sammar hosting!

that said we have also had some incredibly semi spiritual experiences, the time spent wandering around the world war 2 memorial which sits between capitol hill and the lincoln memorial was very special and to stand on the very spot where martin luther king delivered his 'i have a dream' speech and thinking around the impact that that had for both him, this nation and even the world was so powerful.

a few bottles of bourbon later

over the weekend we had the opportunity to visit our good friend helen and her husband chaz at their beautiful home in maryland, it seems that americans live up to their expectations with food playing a huge part of the way they host and spend time. chaz fired up his gas weber bbq and cooked us some amazing ribs and real hamburgers, we also enjoyed some real bourbon over the meal. tim even got to watch the first grand prix of the season!

helen has visited the village of hope on five occasions so to spend time with her and also introduce her to kyle and sammar was very special, we certainly will be back!

maz and helen at the friary 

on sunday we attended church with helen, it was our first time in an american church and a catholic one at that, two firsts there!, the service was short, the music a little unfamiliar but the sense of God via His Spirit through His people very evident. the church wasn't just a church either it was set on a friary and was led by some of the monks that live there, thankfully they seemed very friendly and welcoming which bodes well for the rest of our trip when we return to england where we have a week at a monastery planned in july.

helen and chaz

we returned back from the countryside of maryland, which still had drifts of snow lining the roadside and hedgerows, to georgetown, a small and very upmarket part of washington where it seems the architects had visited parts of london for their inspiration, after a walk along the canal and river potomac we attended evening song at christ church in georgetown, this was also a simple service and although very different to the catholic expression of the morning captured the diversity of God who meets men where they are in whatever way He sees fit for them to engage with Him.

today we've spent our last day in washington where headed out to hike in the great falls national park, this was a an amazing end to this part of our trip, the snows had just melted so the potomac river was running very high over the falls which was a sight to behold. we also enjoyed a pic-a-nic overlooking some crazy guys kayaking and even paddle boarding around some rapids.

around georgetown

so tomorrow we head down to augusta to join nicki and robert for their wedding this coming friday so will hopefully update this blog sometime next week after that part of the adventure.

family time....

sunday roast with family!

well we have been back in england for nearly two weeks now and although we are still feeling very sad to have left one part of our lives in south africa we have enjoyed some wonderful times with family and friends who are obviously very important to us.

'a traditional english meal' with beth and alex
(curry!)

firstly we were welcomed back by our great friends trefor and mandy who have once again made their home available to us and although we are having to process the fact that we have passed on the batten of the village of hope and the wider work we were involved with via the thembalitsha foundation in grabouw to others their home is a place of peace for us and we are truly thankful for that.

tref and mandy left for a well earned holiday over the first weekend so we had free reign to invite family over for a sunday roast, which was a time for us to catch up with mum's and dad's as well as sisters and brother in laws, josh also joined us which was great.

qpr v arsenal at loftus road with josh

after a few open days of chilling, which included a meal with beth and alex and the feeding of the dogs and horses and a trip to watch the mighty queens park rangers play arsenal at loftus road with josh, we made our way down to bristol to stepped up to the plate of being parents and grandparents to our boys and grandchildren.

birthday skype with uncle arry

football fun with uncle ash

we don't think anyone can really appreciate the sacrifice that we had/have made over the last six full years towards our paternal duties, to be a full follower of Christ we are called to pursue him with our full hearts and sometimes that means forfeiting those duties that the world would hold dear. during the time we have spent in south africa we have had to daily put aside all those thoughts towards our own family as we shared God's love towards those children we were able to provide a home to at the village of hope and or to go beyond ourselves to serve the community in ways which aren't fully understood or seen by others. in a way its the lack of recognition that encourages us to follow God into his calling however it's only when one returns to the 'normality of life' that we see back in england that one fully appreciates all that our family have had to endure during our time serving overseas.

reliving our african adventure with the boys photo book

after a weekend of birthday celebrations, long walks, church services, family meals, playing table football, cuddles with babies, skype meetings with arron, fun in the water with the grandchildren during a balmy spring day and a sickness bug (less said about that the better!) we made our way to spend a couple of nights with our friend and mentor mal calladine who guided us through some of our further planning of our sabbatical which was welcome and we value his wisdom and kind words.

so tomorrow we're off to the united states for the first time, where we will be visiting our american friends who we've made during our time setting up and hosting volunteers at the village of hope, we are praying for a safe flight and simple entry into the USA.