Malibongwe

Day Eleven

     We then left Moletsane and traveled to Regina Mundi, a Catholic church that was a pivotal part in South Africa's history of segregation. The tour guide however, was a bit sauced and very handsy with our group. He would periodically go up to one of us during the tour, grab us and tell us to go stand her or over there, or look here to see some of the interesting things from the past. We saw bullet holes in the ceiling, a cracked marble altar that was brokenby an officer with his rifle, and a broken marble fencing leading up to the altar, broken by students trying to escape the church. All of this happened when students gathered into Regina Mundi to protest apartheid, and during the chaos that ensued when the police opened fire on them. Very real and intense things happened here. I can barely begin to reason with why they had to happen.

     After the church tour we exited the building and saw that afternoon had settled upon Soweto, and we made our way back to Moletsane. Upon arriving the kids mobbed our van. Never before had I experienced the reality of being famous or popular before, but I believe it was something close to that. The group kind of all looked at each other like, "what should we do?" So, I opened the side door first and stepped out as six kinds latch on to me at once. The burdens I take for this team, I tell you what...

     Once I was able to detach the majority of children from me, we started to gather into the church and spent time singing and talking with the kids before parent's night had started. Sammy then got to the pulpit and pointed to two women sitting in the pews and they began singing, "Malibongwe" (Let His name be praised) a traditional praise hymn which was so amazing to hear them singing in their native tongue. The congregation then began to join in, and it was so very beautiful to hear them singing. The evening concluded with our team giving a presentation of what we did during the week and after Pastor Sammy began preaching.

    After Sammy had finished his message, we served the kids and their families supper and spent time with them. I began passing out American Tootsie Pops to the kids and was able to pass some to the families as well and began talking with a few of the which was great to be able to connect with the different families that had come. One of the boys sitting next to me then took a particular interest in my smart watch and asked if he can have it. His reasoning was,

     "You're an American, and you can just buy another one when you get back home."

     I slightly chuckled at him, but I believe he was being serious. As we spent some time in fellowship with everyone, Pastor Sammy came up to me and said,

     "Nathan, you always look so serious but when children are around you, you melt and start playing with them."

     Which I chuckled and replied, "Guilty as charged, Sammy."

     Night then fell upon Soweto and as we said our goodbyes to the children and their parents, a few of the children didn't want to let us go. They kept wanting us to play and talk with them. As much as it pained us, we made our way into the van we started our trek back to our camp; looking back I could still see a few children waving at us from inside the church.

     We made our way out of the neighborhood and turned onto the highway we were greeted by nighttime rush hour. Hundreds of public transport vans and other vehicles lined the highway out of Soweto and the progress back towards Johannesburg was filled with close calls and near misses weaving in and out of heavy traffic thankfully Ruth was very used to this and while we all cowered and gasped in the back seats, she made it look like just another Friday night.

     Back at our camp we all began to talk through the week and what things stood out to us, and what things changed us. We all had varied answers but a theme that was consistent is how blessed we are in America, how safe we are, and how much God has given to us that we take for granted. How we are very thankful for this opportunity to see how others worship God in their corner of the world, and how we are blessed to encourage these children and their families and how they encouraged and taught us in return.

     The meeting then concluded with a time in prayer and a reminder from Ruth, that tomorrow we would have to get up early for our next adventure at Pilanesberg Safari. I can't wait to see more native animals tomorrow and to see what God has planned for us!