Day 9 - A Day of Departures and Remembering a Painful Legacy

Cape Town Day - Relaxing Final Day of Trip, Robben’s Island Boat Trip, Private Museum Tour, Local Lunch Out at Den Anker, V & A Waterfront Shopping | Leisure Time, Trip Celebration ~ Special Private Dinner at Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa

As I was writing about Day Eight, I actually forgot to mention that when we arrived at the hotel about 7:30 PM, that Day Eight had not yet ended! Not to be outdone by the already full day of activities, we were greeted by actually a very special “Brie” hosted by the hotel staff. Our crew were seated in a private pavilion high on the property, and enjoyed some generous [ and that is no exaggeration….] portions of hors d’voires, followed by a dinner that could have easily fed a group three times our size. When Drew inquired about the quantities, he was told that “no worries…… any remaining food would go home with the hotel staff” . It was not too hard to figure out why the portions were so generous!

With Chad and Renee and Alexis leaving the next day, we went around the table and shared our highs and lows about the trip. Kathy was mentioned by everyone as one of their highs. We all teared up as she shared her hesitation to come on the trip, but her final decision to come and to honor Chris with this camp. In every way she succeeded. And we were all so grateful to see a fellow warrior give of herself to so many. I have no doubt that Chris would have expected nohing less from his bride and soulmate, and was likely smiling at her and all of us from his now permanent address in Heaven . Another special night ended so well….. even if it was a little late! Thanks Drew for making this trip so good.

Sunday Morning - Sunday morning we boarded the bus early and headed down to the waterfront to catch the 9 AM to Robben Island, most famously known as the address for Nelson Mandela for 27 years until his release at the end of Apartheid in the later 1980’s The island (‘robben” means “seal” in Dutch), was been used as a prison or place of exile for hundreds of years, both for criminals and for political prisoners. At various times a leper colon, a mental institution , and various military forticarions were present on the island, with the remnants of all crumbling but visible scattered across the low landscape. A colony of African Penguins nest here, as do a great variety of seabirds. While there were several facilities on the island, in the early 1960’s a special prison was built to house political prisoners of the Apartheid government. Mandela found himself there for 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment. And that was the focus of the tour.

When we arrived, we had a small guided tour led by our Scottish named ,Welsh/Afrikaans - accented - bus driver Llewelyn, and by a former prisoner”Castro” who had been brought here in his team and spent eight years at Robben. Both are black Africans and natives of the Cape area. Castro gave a very personal description about the mental mind games the guards would play on the inmates, censoring letters, and listening in to conversations in cells….. so much that the prisoners developed their own code to pass information along. The darkest part of the tour was how for a time, people simply would “disappear “ ….. presumably tortured and murdered, buried somewhere on the island in a an unmarked grave. He took us to the dorm cell where he stayed, and then showed us Mandela’s cell. It is a shrine to the people who grew up under Apartheid, as well to so many of our African Brothers …… and deservedly so.

The tour left me with a lot of things to sort through, not just as a man, but as a white whose own country suffers from a great stain of sin on its early history even up through the 1960’s. At lunch afterwards at the pier, I ask Sharon for her observations, and she offers a different perspective to me as we enjoy another delicious meal .

Shopping at the Harbor Market takes place as each of us pick out gifts for kids, spouses, friends, and family. Our bags are pretty full…. We board the bus drive back to the hotel and say goodbye to Ferne and Darin. The drive how’s takes by another hotel Drew is checking out for the future….. the “Winchester”, a smaller 84 room four story boutique hotel along the drive at the base of Signal Mountain and Lion’s Head, where Hang Gliders were jumping off the edge of the sandstone cliffs and using the wind currents and thermal s to waft their way down nd land along the linear grass park - think Santa Monica - directly in front of the Winchester. It is a very cool scene, elegant to a “T”. The general manager is the sister of Wilhelm, our host in Stellenbosch.

We reach the hotel, and people finally decompress from nine days of non-stop travel experiences. Sitting by the pool watching the sunset was an absolute joy. We also enjoyed a special treat having Stha’s husband Felix join us for dinner. Meeting Stha in Bulawayo while they were both at Universuty, he certainly “chose wisely”! As our group enjoyed a last specially prepared wine-pairing” dinner, we learned our sommelier from the hotel was picked as the number one sommelier in all of South Africa last year. The wine and dinner was excellent and we all toasted Drew and Beyond Adventures for a job very well done. Bie bie Dankee!

As the evening ended…. There was a lot lot all of us to ponder, but also much to be thankful for . We have seen God move in powerful ways , and have experienced the quality of leadership God is raising up in this new African generation. It is palpable, amazing but not surprising , given the very large footprints left across Africa by men and women like James Davis, Deodatus Kyara, Simon Okiria, Steve and Dyan Larmey , Patson Mpufu, and Martim Simiyu, James Mungai and Alexis and Jackie Kwamy. Some of these giants are no longer on staff, but they and many others like them ( like Chris and Norma Ferguson) have each been critical to the growth of the mission. Deep roots make strong trees and the Leadership trees across the continent are producing incredible fruit.

As the rest of our crew heads home tomorrow ( or for Stha and Sharon, to Addis) Belle and Drew and I are heading north to a Young Life northern outpost in Bela Bela. There two of YL’s faithful giants, Peirre and Rentia DeJager, are currently running a special facility called “The Restoration Well” where they bring in volunteer YL leaders from across Southern Africa to be fed, nourished, discipled and challenged, and to experience healing and restoration in their spiritual lives.

These two saints have also been faithful to the mission for nearly 20 years and personally discipled an entire generation of Zimbabwe leaders, including Nkosi and Montana , Sharon, Stha, Thando, Lims, Quentin, Power, Bheki and many others. Those folks are having an impact today all across YL Africa,amd even further. We love Pierre and Rentia and look forward to our visit.

Blessings to all. This blog has been a passion and a joy. And yes, the verb tenses will get straightened out by Betty and Bellewhen we edit this for the gift book!

-Babu

I Corinthians 15:57-58