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Itinerary

Thursday June 17

We are here, we are safe we are tired but ready to do what needs to be done.  We had a wonderful day in London and now are getting ready for tea time in South Africa. I  will keep you posted.
Ken and crew

Tuesday June 22

Has Ken not e-mailed you yet?
Some feedback from my side...... The team is all in great form and seem to be enjoying themselves in everything they do . We had two excellent services in St. Giles on Sunday both led by Ann. For the evening service we asked her to share about Trinity and we were able to ask questions on how your church operates. The team also led the service at Alexandra and had good fellowship with that congregation.

The trip to the Kruger National Park got off to an early and cold start yesterday and we are expecting them back with a lot to tell, tomorrow evening.

I have called an open session meeting for the Alexandra and St. Giles congregations for Thursday evening so that we can explore with your team the partnership options.

Best Regards
Rodney

Wednesday June 23

Sorry about not hearing from us sooner. I had sent a message on Sunday evening
and it did not go through.  We have been out of email range for 3 days but
are now back alive and well.
Sunday we has three worship services all went extremely well. The worship
service in Alexandra was extremely moving meeting in a garage with an all
black church. Their singing and dancing was unbelievable and they served us
a great lunch.  When they received the banner that Pat made, they burst into
song in fact they burst into song whenever the spirit moves them which is
quite often.  We saw where they are hoping to build a day care center and
church. The area they live in is one square mile and houses 1 million
people.

We have spent the last three days at Krueger National Park and had a
wonderful time.  We saw many animals and all had a great time.  The youth
start to paint tomorrow and we will meet with the session tomorrow night
to talk about partnerships with both churches. I gave a talk on marketing on
Saturday and it went very well, that I may come back in 6 months and work
with many churches here.

We will keep you all posted more often.

Love,
Ken and Crew

Friday June 25

Yesterday, Mo, Pat and Isabelle got to visit a day car center in one of the
black townships and Nancy got to spend some time at a home for children with
disabilities. They all learned a lot and were able to provide some wonderful
guidance to these folks.

Today the group, will visit operation hunger and maybe do a little shopping
at the flea market, for some wonderful gifts for our families back in the
states.

There is a strong possibility that I will come back in six months time to do
some more marketing seminars for the churches here in this area. Truly a
blessing for me.  Also, Ann spoke to the woman of the church yesterday and
that lasted for an hour longer than she anticipated.

All in all, the trip has been well worth it.

Cheers,
Ken and Crew

Saturday June 26

Today we went to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa and got to listen and
visit with Peter Miering who is a theology professor at the University of
Pretoria and and dutch reform minister. He was on the truth and
reconciliation commission and told us many stories about deClerc, Desmond
Tutu and Mandela.  Quite fascinating man with many stories that brought tears
to your eyes.

Then we visited the Capital buildings and the monument built for the pioneer
Africans, dutch that moved from the cape because of persecution by the
british and settled Pretoria. Then about 40 people had dinner at Rodney
Buttles house and it was called a portige, which means a meal in a pot

That's all for now,

cheerio,
Ken and crew

Monday  June 28

We had a wonderful, no make that awesome Sunday worship with both churches
and a wonderful barbecue afterwards.  There were about 200 people, half black
and half white and we taught them the passing of the peace.  This lasted for
over 6 minutes as they really got into it.  Maake did show up for the service he had gotten in from Samoa Saturday night.  It was joyous to see him again.

The highlight was learning some of the Zulu songs, that we will teach all of
you when we get back.  They made me an honorary black african because of all
of  my singing and dancing with them.  I count this as my most important title.

We made a lot of contacts with all of the people from both churches and the partnership has certainly started.  Mo, Nancy, Pat and Lisa have all made significant contributions to helping the people here with children and children and adults with disabilities.  We have many email address and a lot of work to do when we get back home to further our partnerships with Alexandra and St. Giles Churches.

This trip is only the beginning.!!!!!

Today we go to Soweto township and visit many important places that Mandela
has worked with.  Then tonight we are all taking out our host for dinner,
packing and leave for Cape town about 12 noon.  I will be out of email range
for a day or two.  Hope to plug in again on Tuesday night or Wed morning.

We love all of you and miss all of you, but have been enriched greatly by
this trip. The spirit of our lord is certainly upon us and the blessings
that we bring home are too numerous to count.

Love to all,
Ken and Crew

Wednesday June 30

It was truly a different site than we are use to seeing.  We also visited the main presbyterian church in the township and found out that there is one minister for four churches. He rotates monthly so the role of elder takes on a  different meaning.  Monday night we shared a meal with our host families we are all together and had a table for 43 or actually two tables.  It was a wonderful time and everyone enjoyed their meal.  Tuesday morning was packing and a final cup of tea in J'burg.

We are now in Capetown and it is truly beautiful. We arrived at 2:30 on Tuesday, it now 6 am Wed morning.  We toured the city and saw the old slave quarters, an original castle built by the founders of capetown and went to the waterfront which in this case is truly the waterfront.  Dinner was in a tradition Africaners restaurant and the food was slow getting to us but well worth the wait. One interesting fact was that their are groups or do I dare say gangs of street children that are as young as 5 years old that form groups to survive.  They leave home because of drinking and drugs and move to the city to survive.  A lot of the crime in Cape town is by young children trying to survive.

Like I said in the last email, our work is now just beginning.  Today we go to two different townships visit a local presbyterian church and go to Robben Island this afternoon, where Nelson Mandela was exiled for 17 years. In the city is a mountain called table mountain and it sticks out of the earth just a few miles from downtown CT.  If you have ever visited Salt Lake city you will know what I mean.
That's all for now,
Cheerio,
Ken and crew
 

Thursday July 1

Friday July 2

We have been in the cape now for a day and a half. My thought of being able to hook up to internet here was just that a thought. The guest house we are staying in is nice but has only one telephone system and need at least one single line. So therefore, I hope to be able to send all of these messages to you at one time.

Yesterday, Wed was an emotionally packed day. We visited two different black townships to see two different community projects. The first one was a day care center where young children came to learn about nutrition while their mothers were learning how to do weavings with scraps donated from rug companies. These weavings were awesome so we all had to help the cause so to speak. Then we visited Rosie, single mom who runs a soup kitchen in her home, that is shack, and feeds over 600 people per day mostly children. She was truly an inspiration to all of us. We can't get over all of the thousands of people everywhere we go. There are literally millions and with unemployment at 60% no wonder we see so many people on the streets and in the townships just hanging out. Our third stop was with a health clinic that sees over 200 people a day who wait for 4 or 5 hours to spend a few minutes with the doctor. We then had lunch with a Presbyterian church and talked with the people their about there work and their needs.
Like I have said many times before, our work is now just beginning.

The afternoon found us at Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was exiled as a political prisoner for 18 years. The tour was interesting because we had a person that had also been a political prisoner describe the situation to us.  Some of his stories were horrifying. The ferry ride was also an experience as the water was very choppy and the swells were about 4-5 feet. This ride lasted 30 minutes. At night we visited  another township project at a black township for dinner. We all had very little energy or emotion left so our stay was only for an hour but had a wonderful african meal. Soup and tea are very big in this country.

Today we are suppose to be driving to the tip of the cape but it has been storming for 3 hours now. So we will see what happens.

That is all from this part of the world. I hope I get to send the message soon.
Love,
Ken and Crew