Shifting Gears

Today started a tad earlier than our last few days but it was with excitement and anticipation that we boarded our van to head to the airport. We flew from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth to begin our journey to Cradock and the Amy Bell Charities.

We were met at the Port Elizabeth airport by Therese Tam, whose family will be hosting us in Cradock at their game ranch located about 15-20 minutes outside of Cradock. We loaded into the “Amy Bell Centre” van and when Larry climbed in, he was overcome with emotion and gratitude that we are here to visit the Amy Bell Charities.

He was especially excited to have the Teichert’s along. Larry was Jenny’s Sunday School teacher many, many years ago at First Presbyterian.

We stopped along the way for lunch at Nagana and enjoyed a meal of great food and conversation and after our meal, we boarded our vans for the 2 hr drive to the Tam Ranch.

What fun it was meeting the Tam family who are the “boots on the ground” in coordinating all the programs associated with the Amy Bell Charities in the area. We were also introduced to a very special woman from Amy’s life – Henriette – who works with the Tams and absolutely adored Amy.

After room assignments, the team gathered to do our daily devotional. Each day, we gather together to study one of the Psalms. Today we studied Psalm 32 and we contemplated how to apply the scriptures into our days here in South Africa and how to take them home with us. We also continued our de-brief of yesterday’s events. Harold asked a very honest question that we all have been bumping up against throughout the trip. It spurred a deep conversation on how to maintain support and reach back to encourage a program in a healthy way. What is the best way to “keep the ball rolling” with the relationships we have made along the way?

We gathered around the table to share a meal as family. It was an emotional and moving evening as the Tams, Henriette and the Bells shared the story of Amy’s life and how lives have been changed by her legacy. We will be able to see first hand what the Amy Bell Charities have been up to over the next few days.