God’s Amazing Grace

When we woke up on Sunday morning, it looked like the rain was going to hold off for most of the day. Vicky made “fat dough” for breakfast, which reminded me of fried dough from Old Orchard except it was rolled into a ball and had marmalade inside. Very good, but it made us want to go climb Table Mountain as soon as we left! We also had riboois tea with milk and sugar which has to be one of my favorite things that I have discovered in South Africa. It has the most delicious taste, and I never thought about putting milk in my tea, but now I love it! Mom, I bought some to share with you when I get home! Vicky had a group coming over for lunch (she literally has groups coming in and out of her home all day everyday!) so she walked the six of us over to the church but couldn’t stay.

From the outside, one would never know it was a church building, but we could hear the voices from down the street! The congregation inside was just remarkable! They immediately welcomed us in, and the pastor went and got someone who could translate for us from their native language of Xosa (prenounced kosa). The singing and dancing and praising was non-stop, and it was great to actually be in a church for the first time in over a month! I just let the music wash over me, and just said prayers of gratitude the entire time. At one point, the pastor invited us up to the front to introduce ourselves. Then he wanted us to sing an American song for them…uh-oh, we weren’t prepared for this!! We ended up singing “you are my sunshine” because that is the first thing that popped into our minds! It was silly, but they all laughed and clapped, so it didn’t matter.

Eventually it was time to leave Vicky’s. I gave the kids the few little toys that I had brought, and gave the last hugs and kisses. I held on tight to the little girl who had lost her mother to AIDS. She has forever put a human face on the epidemic for me, and the millions of orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa just like her. I want to do something…

The afternoon we left Vicky’s it was time to go up Table Mountain on the 360° turning cable car! When we got to the top, the first thing I noticed was that it was FREEZING. Being the smart and prepared girls that we always are, Katie and I wanted to look cute at the top of the mountain so we wore skirts, without thinking that the elevation might cause a drop in the temperature! So we basically ran around the walking path as fast as we could, and rounded Table Mountain in about 20 minutes, stopping for the occasional video or picture. But the panoramic views were spectacular!