South Africa Team Eyeglass Mission 2516

    We loaded onto the bus around 7:30AM and went on our way to breakfast. Knoot (sorry for possible misspelling), our wonderful driver for the week knew great places to stop and eat. The restaurant specialized in rolled pancakes with a lot of different flavor choices placed inside which I had never seen before.     It was going to be an all day drive to the airport but there was enough time for a last minute stop to see a beautiful waterfall. Taller than Niagara Falls but not as panoramic it dropped down into an equally beautiful gorge or valley. From there it was off to the airport, with just bathroom breaks and lunch at KFC. I believe KFC was the most common American franchise we saw there.   Taking off from Johannesburg with the connection and layover took us another good 21 hours to get back home.   Finally, those of us that went would like to thank everyone who supported us and kept us in their prayers. Thank you so much and God’s blessings to you!...

 This morning we were up and on the road before daylight  for our cultural day. Today we went to Kruger National Wildlife Park! Words cannot describe the experience. We were loaded into open air safari trucks and were inside the park as dawn was breaking. The raw beauty of the land was something we will never forget. And the animals - God’s perfect creations, were  so beautiful! We were so blessed to be able to end our journey with the peace and beauty of His gifts.  Tomorrow we head to the airport and on to our homes. This journey has been very enlightening and I know I am leaving this country of beautiful faces, humbled and honored to meet, work with, and serve each and every person. It was also Pastor’s birthday! He was a good sport and wore a birthday sash all day! We celebrated at the restaurant in the evening and got to sing happy birthday South Africa style to him!

We started off the day by packing up our things leaving our accommodations we had for the time we were here so far. Then headed off on a 3 hour drive to a school that was kind enough to let us set up our operations. During the trip there was a wide valley with great views of the mountains on either side. During the ride it was mentioned there might be some 200 people from early estimates. Pulling up and getting out we were not disappointed with the early turnout we saw.   It was our busiest day obviously working as quickly but also as always with kindness and many smiles. Later on when the count was tallied, 226 people were served for a grand total of 810 for the week.   I’d like to mention something Pastor Mark loves to have us do. At the end of each clinic day, he would have us all shout out on the count of 3 - Yea God! For all the people he brought us to minister to and to help make their daily lives a little and a lot better.   We were excited and happy for what th...