Day 3 and 4

Day 3

Our first Sunday in Jo'Burg was spent at Christian Family Church (CFC) with Pastor Tony Mamarigane in Soweto. We were welcomed with hugs and handshakes. Our team definitely felt the love from our fellow brothers and sisters at CFC.

Tayen was asked to speak to the congregation and she delivered a wonderful message that was very well received by the congregation. We were also told that it was their Women's Month and they were celebrating their women with a special lunch that Sunday. We were fed a delicious, home-cooked meal and got to mingle and talk to all the ladies of the congregation. After speaking to the ladies and learning much from them about their values and their views, we exchanged emails, whats app messenger ids, Facebook information, phone numbers, etc. etc.!

We were sad to go, but we had a full day ahead of us planned with Pastor Tony and his wife, Constance. After we said our goodbyes, we headed to Kliptown in Soweto to visit our potential art gallery for our Connect Art Show.

After viewing the space for the gallery, we headed off to Pastor Tony's twin sister's house and once again were fed with a scrumptious home-cooked meal. We ate, laughed, and learned a lot from Pastor Tony and his family in regards to our numerous questions regarding Jo'Burg culture and world views and felt needs.

Day 4

We started our Monday extremely early and left the BIMS Guesthouse at 7:30am. Our driver, Vusi, took us to meet with the CCC Regional Director, Naton, in Midrand. We joined Naton's prayer meeting with his staff at the consulting firm where his offices are located.

We then had a brief meeting with Naton, where we discussed our objectives and goals while in Jo'Burg and then we headed off to the local shopping centers to meet the people of Midrand. We found that Midrand was much more diverse than Soweto, with a mixture of different ethnic backgrounds.

We met so many wonderful people, from Steve, the owner of the Carlswald Mugg 'N Bean to the security guard in the shopping center, mothers and daughters, and business men there for their midday breaks.

After we connected with Jo'Burg locals, we took a tour of a Midrand church who recently relocated to another city due to an increase in their attendance. It was a beautiful campus and interesting to see what a local church looks like in Midrand.

Our plans for tomorrow consist of meeting more locals and absorbing their culture. So far we've learned loads about the Johannesburg community and our nightly debriefing sessions are seemingly endless with reports.

We ask that you continue to pray for our health and safety. Please also pray for God's strength and wisdom to empower us and give us His courage when meeting the wonderful people of Jo'Burg. Continue to pray for the openness and receptiveness from the people of Johannesburg and that our team wakes up each morning with open hearts and minds.