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All 40 of us are staying an enclosed mission compound in
downtown Jbay called UCSA. UCSA is made up of 13 small houses, a big meeting
room, a kitchen and outdoor eating area, and a community bathroom.
My house is two bedrooms, a shower, toilet, and two sinks.
Each bedroom has 3 sets of 3 bunk beds, a wardrobe, and two windows. There are
5 of us in a room. Sharing a room with 9 other girls is going to be a challenge
but so far so good!
Our meals are cooked in the kitchen by the UCSA staff every
day. The food is really good and not too different from American food. We eat
lots of bread, rice, and meat. Inside the UCSA walls we are free to roam around
and play. When we go into Jbay we have to be in groups of at least 3.
UCSA is located right in the middle of town. We are two
blocks from the grocery store and home-goods store where we can get practical
things like dishes, pillows, soap, and cleaning supplies. There are lots of
little res
taurants, internet cafes, and coffee shops close by. Right down the
street is a laundry mat that we can use. Two blocks in the other direction
takes us right to the beach where we can stick our toes in the Indian Ocean!
And walking west about 10 minutes takes us to the poor township where the
majority of the group will be spending their ministry times. Its really
shocking to see the beauty of this place and all the things intended to draw
tourists in so close to poverty.
for their Sunday night service called Nation Celebration. It was a really good
time of energetic and authentic worship! The service was in English but there
were people from different parts of Africa as well as missionaries from outside
of Africa. There was singing, clapping, and of course dancing! I’ll look
forward to going to that more on Sunday nights.
The language hasn’t been much of an issue. In actual
Jeffreys Bay most people speak English and Afrikaans. In the township many
people will speak Afrikaans or Xhosa, depending on their heritage. Xhosa is a
language that uses “clicks”, so its pretty difficult to pronounce the words! I
am trying to learn some Afrikaans words but I think it will take me a while.
Hi Sara,
Just wanted to let you know that we are praying for you. The kids will find your location interesting since they are geography lovers. We’ll probably locate you on our map today during our school lessons.
David, Susan, Daniel & Sarah with an “h”