Over the next week we are making our way to Cape Town, South Africa to officially begin on Friday June 6. Pray for us as we travel!
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We will be welcomed by Bishop Garth Counsell of the Diocese of Cape Town over lunch, and HOPE Africa -- our hosts and partners for the trip -- will provide orientation. (HOPE Africa works with Episcopal Relief and Development and is ERD's partner in Southern Africa.)
Our program is hugely exciting!
We kick off with the weekend in Cape Town, including a project involving a marimba band at the Mama Afrika restaurant!
Celebrations are in order for the 20th anniversary of Wilma Jakobsen's ordination as a deacon, an inspiring event that was attended by George and Mary Regas, Rick Felton, Hannah and Russ Kully, Peggy Phelps, Karen Hayes, Kathy O'Reilly and Brian Sellers-Petersen all those years ago!
That trip was organized by Brian, who was working at All Saints at the time and now works for ERD. And this time our group includes Richard Hoff, ERD Regional Director in the SouthWest -- teaming up with HOPE Africa and the Anglican Church throughout Southern Africa and Africa. And so this time around, the reception and celebration service in St Georges Cathedral will bring together people from many parishes and communities that were part of a very special journey.
A visit to Robben Island and a church service in Bonteheuwel, ending the weekend with a workshop with the Michael Lapsley and the Institute for the Healing of Memories make this a very exciting weekend.
Off to the rural area!
We then spend 4 days in Queenstown (Eastern Cape), working in a project of the Diocese of Grahamstown, the Tshwaranang Resource Center.
This center includes a paralegal office, computer training, vegetable gardens and food sustainability programs, HIV/AIDS counseling, care of vulnerable children, hospice, and more. Each of us will spend time in the different projects each day, and debrief and reflect at the end of the day, facilitated by Petrina Pakoe and other Hope Africa staff and field workers.
The urban edge
We will end our trip with a couple of nights in Soweto, and a visit to the inspiring Constitutional Court.
This trip will surely change our lives! Stay tuned for stories, picures and reflections!
