We sat around the Joburg airport until about 11:00. We had a pizza at a place called Piece a Pizza . The “Mexican” was actually quite good. Spicy with some type of hot peppers and bell peppers. The whole meal (a large pizza and two Cokes) cost 110 Rand, the currency of South Africa. I later figured it out and it was about $17 total.
We all headed down to catch the Zambezi Air flight direct to Ndola which left about 11:50. We had no idea what we would find in the waiting area, but as it turned out there were tons of shops and restaurants and it would have been just as easy to wait in that area.
We left on time and the last of out four flights took just about two hours arriving in Ndola right around two.
From the plane we took a bus to the terminal and it was immediately clear that we were no longer in a big city. We had to fill out some entry paperwork and have our bags examined but then we burst out of the main door to see Moffat and Doreen greeting and hugging everyone as we arrived.
What a joy to see them in the context of their country and the ministry in the city they love and are called to.
All of us eventually were loaded (stuffed) into two buses and we headed from the airport into downtown Ndola. The drive on the left her. Part of our group is made up of a group of boisterous teenagers from a Presbyterian church Idaho and as we drove further from the airport toward Northrise a hush settled over the van. It was clear that all the traveling was over and we had made to Ndola and Northrise and it was unlike anything we had experienced before. This really is the third world, but God is clearly at work and we are now privileged to be a part of it.
The bus came into the center of town and off to the tight we could see Caravelle house instantly recognizable from all the photos we had seen from Moffat’s trips up to Sacramento. We had to circle around to park in front of the Savoy hotel where we will be staying for seven nights. We passed several open areas were random people were congregating and then we were there!
We got our room very quickly, Room 823, and got settled in nicely. I think Zoe and Natasha are on the sixth floor.
We decided to go out and wander a bit and first we got money at the ATM across the street, 1,000,000 Kwatcha to be exact. We followed Zoe and Natasha into Caravelle House and found them helping to sharpen pencils for VBS as we got our Northrise supplied water bottles.
They have water machines there and we can get all the water we need there daily. We joined the pencil sharpening team and almost got the job complete before our hands got too blistered and tired to complete the task.
We them came back to the hotel and have been chilling ever since trying to rest up a bit for our 6:30 group dinner.
As I sit here all you can hear is the loud beat of amplified music pulsating up from the open space outside our room. Some of it is pop, some rap,but it all appears to be autotuned and it is pretty relentless. Will be interesting to see if it ever gets turned off at night.
Great to be in a new world.
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