March 31, 2009
5:00am. I awoke to the most amazing sounds of exotic birds this morning. Exotic to me that is, not to South Africa. They were bird calls quite different from the bird sounds from my home in San Diego. The sun rose just like at home but to a chorus of birds very foreign to my ears. I knew I wasn't home. I was in AFRICA!!
7:00am. We were up and out of the secured gates to drive to Rainbow FM 90.7's studios to drop of a vehicle but saw a McDonald's on the way. One note though, since we are driving on the left side of the road (unlike how I normally drive on the right at home) I keep turning on the wipers instead of turn signals- they are on opposite sides compared to back home. So, I turned on the wipers and made a left into the McDonald's. The guys who are traveling with me in my vehicle are starting to get my strategy. When the windshield wipers come on I will soon make a turn. I consider it an advance turn indicator!
One of the pictures below I am with Ronald McDonald in Johannesburg. Can you see the hidden Donald Duck? OK, Forrest says its the wrong color to be Donald and that technically its Daffy Duck. But we don't have the heart to tell Luke's little son who sent "Donald" on a trip to Africa with us. Keep an eye out for the "hidden Donald Duck" in our future photographs!
Also, in one of the pictures below you will see the countdown of the FIFA World Cup Soccer 2010. There are signs, banners, balloons, and more all over South Africa celebrating and advertising the upcoming World Cup. The countdown continues.
8:30am. We arrived at Rainbow FM 90.7's studios and were ushered into the studios to our surprise to do a live broadcast. All four of us talked and Forrest even shared about Christmas tree farming to all of Johannesburg.
9:30am. Visits to banks can be fun and they cannot un- fun. This was not a fun visit. Steve spent well over a hour trying to get some funds out of our account to pay some vendors. He went from line to line, and then back in the same line. Nothing like not being able to get your own money out of the bank. In the end he succeeded and fixed the confusion. I had a similar experience at the Post Office across the street and was told that if I bought stamps today they would cost more tomorrow. I was really confused. Eventually I understood. April 1 is the first day of the 2009 stamps and they cost more. Of course, I thought, this could be an April Fools joke!!!
2:00pm. We arrived at the Ebenezer Care Center where we are building five homes next week. They have built a kitchen house for us, moved the communications trailer closer to where our groups will be camping, and have almost all the materials at the site for us to start making slabs. We are so eager to get started building!!!
3:45pm. Steve and I drove to our main building supplier in Lenasia, just a few miles from Ebenezer. This is where I truly get to see Steve in action. Its amazing to Steve and Achmed working together. Continually drawing diagrams on pieces of paper, questions shooting back and forth, answering with careful details, each sharing a new angle, a new way to do something. Creating a masterpiece in concept. I feel like I am witnessing a symphony. Each one playing their part, solos at times, in concert at other moments, pauses to smile and enjoy their work. Its truly amazing to watch. The picture below is Steve and Achmed at work at the building supply office. Let the concert begin. At one point Steve said, "I want to build a home I would be proud to live in myself." Later, Achmeo replied, "I am more interested doing this for God than in making money." "When I retire I want to come and work with you guys", he replied with a huge smile. Note, Achmed is a Muslim! God is at work in ways and in places that we least expect them and often where they most surprise us.
5:30pm. We follow Humphrey back into Johannesburg to visit a 120 unit condo project being built by a South African Christian. He's done something we have almost never seen before. He's nearly completed the project in 6 months. That's a miracle in itself. This building is just a short walk to Rainbow FM 90.7's studios. The three bedroom condos are going for $60,000 US. It sure would be a wonderful thing for Amor to have a condominium in this location for our interns, long term volunteers, and visiting staff. What an incredible location.
7:35pm. Traffic was horrible due to an accident and what normally took us a half hour took almost an hour and a half. Can you believe they have traffic accidents in South Africa too? We finally found a restaurant we could all agree to and it was "Italian". Three pizzas and Mediterranean fish. When are we going to find the "monkey gland hamburgers"?
9:47pm. We got lost again. Two GPS units talking away, three human navigators and we are driving round and round in circles,. We seem find easily locate places in the poor communities but when it comes to locating our donated quest house in a very nice neighborhood we get lost over and over again. It think its a sign that we are due a move to where we belong.... at the Ebenezer Care Center.
11:56pm. Time for me to retire on my couch. Oh, did I say that the only piece of furniture in our quest house is my couch? It really is! I finally finished writing this blog and sent it to you through my Blackberry Storm via email. What an amazing and strange world we live in. "God doesn't create any junk", some one once told me". Good night, see ya tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
DAY 3- AMOR RETURNS TO SOUTH AFRICA
Monday, March 30, 2009
DAY 2- AMOR RETURNS TO SOUTH AFRICA
March 29, 2009
7:00am. We landed in Dakar, Senegal after a long Atlantic flight. I must have tested out 1001 sleeping positions without much success. Fortunately I had an empty seat beside me. All that tossing and turning would have driven the person in the seat next to me nuts. Ask Dan Irving about that from last years trip to South Africa. Dan, bless him, sat next to me. A test of true friendship.
9:00am. I begin reading a chapter from the yet unpublished book, "Home" as I fly over the African continent. Author, Dan Irving should be very happy that I waited until I was soaring over the African coast before I began reading this, yet another, incredible chapter. I can't wait until the book gets published next year.
5pm. We land in Johannesburg as weary but excited travelers. Our plane had been full of all sorts of international travelers. Luke Makwakwa said his section of the plane was filled with a plethora of languages ranging from Afrikaans to Zulu. The new Johannesburg airport is a sight to behold. Its been completely been rebuilt and expanded in preparation for the 2010 World Cup Soccer. Basically the biggest Super Bowl of them all. We were very glad to shortly find our host, Humphrey Birkenstock at the arrival area.
6pm. We depart in two borrowed vehicles with all our luggage. We are staying at one of our South African supporter's homes. We have never been there before and we only get an address. But, "We have GPS", we proudly proclaimed. After well over two hours of scouring the city, getting separated from each other, we arrive at our quest home for the week. One thing we can say about this evening's diving adventures, always follow Amor's caravan rule #1, "if you get separated from your caravan and can't see any of the cars in your caravan, stop! Find the closest and safest spot where you last saw your caravan and wait." IT WORKED!! Steve and Luke returned to the exact spot we had last seen each other nearly a half hour later. Amazing thing was that we each arrived back at the same spot at the same time.
8pm. We arrived at the quest house after passing through the main security guard gate. We are so glad to have arrived and are all really hungry. We drive to the nearest shopping area and you would have thought we were in Mission Viejo, California. Ah, South Africa, a land of stark contrasts. Get this, we ate at the Cattle Baron, a US rest chain. The exchange rate is so good here, the South African Rand to the US Dollar, that the dinners were all under $10 US.
9:30pm. We are all back at our quest house and full, and tired. We are ready to hit the sack. We only found one sleeping bag and two air mattresses from last years trip so tonight two of us sleep on the carpeted floor and in our clothes. Tomorrow we will buy a couple more sleeping bags and perhaps even more important, our PILLOWS!
FINAL COMMENTS: Last year on this trip we were blessed to have writer Dan Irving on the trip with us. He became our official writer, historian, and blogger. For those of you who have read his previous writings, it was delightful and..... oh, so witty. We miss Dan dearly on this trip but he is leading his very own trip with us this June with people from his very own church in Chico, California. Dan, you are dearly missed on this trip and I will do my best to capture the adventures and misadventures of this journey with your inspirational writings of past trips in mind. But now, since I am writer and editor, I get to leave out the infamous Scott and Steve bickering!
PS. Geek moment. I am writing all of these blogs on my Blackberry Storm with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard. I didn't even bring a laptop computer with me this time. Can you believer that? Scott traveling without a computer! Now this is a first. But, this phone is truly amazing. Like having a full computer in palm of your hand. That evenbworks all over the glohe. And, have found a wonderful use of waking up at three am in the morning due to jet lag and a different time zone....blog until the sun comes up!!!!! Oh, by the way, the other guys are all asleep and I am typing via flashlight.
Scott Congdon
Founder/CEO
Amor Ministries
1664 Precision Park Lane
San Diego, CA 92173
USA
619.662.1200 US Office x130
619.247.3113 US Cell
619.662.1295 US Fax
+27.11.461.3222 South Africa
+44.203.026.4006 UK
+52.335.350.0280 Mexico
scott.congdon- SKYPE
www.amor.org
www.simplyscott.org
DAY 1- AMOR RETURNS TO SOUTH AFRICA
DAY 1
Amor in South Africa
Steve Horrex, Forrest Fowler, Luke Makwakwa, and Scott Congdon
March 28, 2009
4:30am. Woke up before the alarm went off. Grabed some snacks from the refrigerator, let the dog out, and took my suitcases out to the curb in front of my house to wait for my ride.
5:15am. My ride arrives and we head to the San Diego airport. On the way down we get a call from onr of our traveling companions who is already at the airport and he says that the ticket counter line is out the door and onto the walk over bridge. "Check in at curbside", he says.
5:35am. We arrive at the airport for what I thougth was a 6am flight to Atlanta and then Johannesburg. Curbside checking was slow. I was getting nervous. Then just as we got to the front of the line the sky cab said they couldn't check us in for an international flight. We had two bags to check so we were told we had to go to the upstairs ticket counter after all. Not a good prospect at this time.
5:45. Some how the sky cab who volunteered to take our bags on a cart up the elevator to the ticket counter got us expidited. We were in the security line with minutes to spare and then we realized we had more time that we thought. Our departure was at 6:30am not 6:00am! Whew. Now you konw why I always like gettting to the airpoirt two hours early, foreign or domestic flights.
6:30am. Our flight departs San Diego with all four of us!: Steve Horrex, Forrest Fowler, Luke Makwakwa and myself, Scott.
10am. We land in Atlanta, Georgia for a two and a half layover. It time for an early lunch in the food court before we catch our plane. Panda Express seems to follow us where ever we travel.
3:00pm. After a hour delay of our plane at the gate with us on board we finally take off to fly across the Atlantic or the "pond" as our British friends call it.
Scott Congdon
Founder/CEO
Amor Ministries
1664 Precision Park Lane
San Diego, CA 92173
USA
619.662.1200 US Office x130
619.247.3113 US Cell
619.662.1295 US Fax
+27.11.461.3222 South Africa
+44.203.026.4006 UK
+52.335.350.0280 Mexico
scott.congdon- SKYPE
www.amor.org
www.simplyscott.org
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The only adventure was trying to get through the lines at the San Diego airport. The ticket lines were so long that Forrest said to check curb side. There they informed us we couldn't check in since were were eventually going on an international flight. Steve had two bags to check so we had to go to the ticket counter. I know many of you are envisioning this and are imagining that we were bickering. We weren't! We were probably both just too plain tired! Up at 4:30am to make our 6:30am flight! Even with all this time it felt like we just barely made our flight. When we got to our gate we almost boarded immediately.
Our team today consists of Luke Makwakwa, Forrest Fowler, Steve Horrex, and myself. We are arriving five days before the Urban Saints group of 160 youth arrive from the United Kingdom. Once they arrive in Johannesburg this Saturday they will soon begin building five homes at the Ebenezer Care Center in Grassmere- on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
Got to go. They are calling us to board our plane. Here we go!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
FLYING TO CANCUN
If you have never flown a Mexican airlines it really is quite a pleasant experience. We actually are served a morning breakfast in the air rather the familiar peanuts. I especially like the rich Mexican coffee that is regularly served. Sorry Starbucks, on Mexicana airlines you just get beat every time.
Our flight took us to the Mexico City airport that in years past I used to dread. No air conditioning loud, and hard to figure out things... elementary things. Like, where's my gate, is it on time, etc.
Not anymore. Its air conditioned, there's a Subway and a Carl's Jr. We boarded our flight around 4pm and landed in cloudy and soon dark Cancun.
Our flight from Tijuana to Cancun was a delight. Great service, no hitches. We drove through the 15 mile hotel zone that is full of world class hotels and resorts. At night its a feast for the eyes. Palm lined streets, golf courses, it looks like a first class US resort city.
We stayed downtown at Amor benefactor, Gilberto's apartment. Downtown Cancun, a separate community for the Cancun Hotel Zone has over 700 thousand residents. Armor has built just 12 homes in Cancun having temporarily ceasing our operations here in 2001.
We are now actively involved in undertaking our ministry here by facilitating short term missions to build our Amor Cancun Campus.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
JORDAN LEADS TRIP TO MEXICO
