Arriving in Joburg, South Africa

At the airport in München

Wow – suddenly we are in South Africa! Well, it actually wasn’t really that “suddenly”…  First, we flew 5 hours to San Francisco, USA, had a 16-hour layover there (where some of us got to explore the city and I almost lost my wallet!), then we flew for 11 hours to Munich, Germany, had some real German cheese cake and Kinderschokolade during our 5-hour layover and finally got on our last leg for almost 11 hours to arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa. We got picked up from the airport and are staying with the “Joseph Project,” a Christian after school program (part of YWAM) that tries to even
out the shortcomings in education of the public schools in the area. Eungyu (South Korea) and Time (England), who are currently staffing the institution, were wonderful hosts to us from the very beginning! After

In front of the Joseph Project

a good night sleep, we first got to explore the community. Johannesburg is one of the two highest crime rate cities of the world and in our specific neighborhood, pizza does not get delivered anymore after 6pm because it is too dangerous to be outside after sunset… Unfortunately, Joburg shows all of the tragic after effects of the Apartheid: segregation between Whites and Blacks, the gap between rich and poor, and incredibly run-down communities. Since the Apartheid was over, the white people moved out of the cities and created richer and safer communities, while the streets of the cities and many sub-communities are almost exclusively full of black people who are still largely marked by poverty.

Mphu - the guy with the greatest smile!

For these first couple of days of our time in South Africa, our team decided to spend 72 hours in prayer for the community. Switching out in groups of two and meeting together several times a day as a whole group, we spent 3 days worshiping and praying with people all around the neighborhood – what a powerful and cleansing experience! Within these 72 hours, I made great friends with some of the African youths and we learned from each other the different ways that our cultures worship God – and we even got to exchange some African dance vs. swing dance moves :)  

"The Underground" aka our prayer cave :)

Tomorrow we will leave for White River to work with 10,000 homes – an organization that works with children that have lost their parents at a young age (mostly due to HIV) and are now running their households at the age of 8 or younger… 

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue our journey...