Really Fun Moment

I had a really fun moment this morning (Wednesday). There is a gate that closes off the church property. We try to close it each night just to discourage people from visiting the yard. At 8am this morning I was on my way out to open the gate, when I noticed two girls walking towards the high school, which is probably closer to our house now then Millbrook was from our house at home. They started walking slower and sort of staring at me.
Now, let’s stop right there and get something clear. We’ve been getting a lot of that lately. People still aren’t sure what to think about us being here in “The View”. So, we are getting pretty used to the staring.
Back to my story. So, these girls were walking slowly and looking at me, when I realized that they were two of the girls from Red Hillthat I had spent lots of time with last time we were here. I had been tasked to train them, and a few of their friends, to be leaders for the Red Hill Holiday Club (basically, Easter time VBS). When I realized that’s who they were I pointed at them, anything to make it awkward! Then, I went to them on the street, embraced, explained that we were living there, and invited them to visit with us someday after school. Our neighbor told us that they already came by today! (Addendum: I wrote this Wednesday night, on Thursday morning they came by at 8am before school!!)
It was really funny because they played it so cool when I tried to talk to them. They did the same thing to me last time. Acted really shy and like they didn’t really understand what I was saying. But they were clearly excited, as was I. I look forward to lots of moments like that where we see people we served before, who are really surprised to see us back.
THIS IS THE GIRLS RIGHT BEFORE WE LEFT ON OUR LAST TRIP


AND, TODAY, WE WERE FINALLY ABLE TO GET THE REST OF THAT FURNITURE WE BOUGHT!! A bed, two loveseats, and some other decorations. The couple is moving on Friday (and the woman is having twins in 8 weeks) and they are busy packing up, so she just started giving us stuff!! A table and chairs, outdoor chairs, a home telephone, among others. It was awesome!

Casey

Thoughts from Casey

It's really amazing to be back here, especially after a week of seeing people. The crazy thing is that we still have SO many people to see. We've seen practically none of the people that we served with and for when we were here before. We haven't even had the time to show up there. Hopefully later this week we will.
For me it's frustrating with how American I am. As Americans, we just have no idea how amazing our infrastructure, systems, and businesses are. We assume the rest of the world is like that. Well, it's not! And because I've been raised in the system where things work beautifully 95% of the time, I get so impatient and frustrated with the things here that work 36.75% of the time. We sort of skirted the system to get cell phones last week because we didn't want to wait 3 months. (My ministry partner Mike got them for us, his new employees!) They weren't ready the day we were at the cell shop, even though we spent over 2 hours there. Mike went back the next day only to find out that my phone wasn't ready because they ran out of them. After a few days, we figured out that Sarah's phone wasn't receiving calls or text messages. Then, when she tried to use the gift cards that she had been given as a promotion for selecting the phone she picked, they didn't work either!! We phoned trying to fix her phone over the weekend, that didn't work. We've now spent hours at the cell shop on Monday and Tuesday trying to get her phone fixed and me a loaner until one comes in.
It's hilarious, because NOBODY has ever had an experience like that in the States. I have had to work really hard to fight my self-consumed, entitled, American nature. I have to allow this thing to run its course and trust that, eventually, we will get phones, a bank account, internet, a TV, etc. The more freaked out and frustrated I get the worse it feels. The last couple of days, I've just been really relaxed about it (at least the phone) and it's not bothering me anymore. A novel concept, I know!
Our big need now is to find one/two car/s. The car that we stole from the Torrance's will be needed by them again soon. So, just pray that God would lead us to great deals on great cars that we can actually afford. Turns out our friend Andy Duncan, who came to visit us today, might just have both of the cars we need within his family. So, we should have just asked Andy from the beginning!
So, just pray that we would continue to get settled. We should pick up the last of a group of furniture we bought from a couple over the weekend, which should be a great addition to our home (the ATM will only allow us to get out a small amount each day, so we've had to wait until we could accumulate enough).
Sarah has her first meeting with Avril Thomas, her supervisor at Living Hope, tomorrow morning. I had a great meeting with some people at the International Sports Coalition on Monday, which you can read about real soon @ ubuntusports.blogspot.com.
Thanks for all your support! We feel your thoughts and prayers!

Love,
Casey
P.S. Was thinking while running this morning that things could be a lot more challenging. I could be some place where the only hope of communicating is a satellite phone that you get to use every couple of weeks. At least I have the opportunity to even have a cell phone. This all came to me as I ran down a beautiful road on a cloudless, 70 degree morning, with mountains all around me. So things could definitely be worse!! When I complain I'm often reminded of my friend Nathan's time in Sudan. That was some serious hardship.

Kieren Update!

Today Kieren turns 9 months old and I wanted to share what is going on in her world! She continues to get both longer and wider :) but is overall loving her new life in South Africa. Since we have been on-the-go every day here trying to get our lives settled here, Kieren has been taking naps often in strollers and cars, but she handles it all very well. There have been many new people for Kieren to meet here and she loves them all. A couple of her favorites are our friend Mike Jenkins (who is starting Ubuntu Sports with Casey) who we have been spending a great deal of time with. Mike has become her 'snuggle buddy' which has made Casey very jealous! Kieren never snuggles but somehow loves to do it with 'Jenks' – that girl is such a flirt! Also, friends of ours Bijou and Mel have a daughter, Lana, who is 2 years old and they are already fast friends.

Kieren did break through her first tooth this week (as captured by the photo in our previous blog) and is about to break through another. Both are on the bottom and so we get to see them every time she smiles or shouts! Proving to be very 'American,' Kieren is continuing to babble more and more and has lots to share about. Another noteworthy piece is that she really enjoys playing in our new 'lounge' (what they call the family room, and is entertained there with her toys for long periods of time. She also feels at home already! She is still sleeping in a 'pack-n-play' that we are borrowing from our friends Evan and Kerryn Torrance, but we hope to borrow a REAL crib sometime soon – she has never had one of those yet! Big things ahead!

To answer your questions, she is not crawling yet, but is learning to do her own scoot. She gets on one knee and then pushes herself with the other foot to move around and get to where she needs to be. It is so cute! She also loves to pull herself up and stand holding anything around. Really, she is just loving life and continues to live out her middle name - Joy!

There have been moments as we are running around this city, in and out of stores, driving everywhere, where I think of how it might be easier to get some of this done if we didn't have a child. However, having Kieren here enriches every friend we reunite with and brings us so much joy and laughter. It is going to be a beautiful new life here with Kieren because she is a BLAST to be around! I can't wait until she is leading her pack of friends all over town – because you KNOW she is going to be boss :)

Lots of love,
Sarah

It's time to stop being polite...

It's 5:20am here in South Africa, and the Muslim call to prayer woke me up at 5, so I thought I would use my busy and awake mind for something useful and share with you all the events of our first weekend here. It is evident that God is trying to teach us patience as a first lesson, and He teaches this lesson through circumstance. It seems like every single step we try to make here has to turn into 5 more, and even then we often still do not accomplish our goals. We can't get a bank account yet, in trying to get phones only I have one that doesn't receive calls but only makes them, our credit cards keep freezing, we can't find a car yet, we have bought some furniture and house items from a family here but can't find a truck to move them nor can we get the cash out of our bank to pay for them, and the list could go on. It can be incredibly frustrating and it's been a challenge for us to remain positive when we can't even set up our lives here in the most basic of ways. HOWEVER, one important task, moving into our new home in the Oceanview community, has been accomplished successfully. We finally brought some of our things over on Friday and Saturday and last night (Sunday) was our first night to stay in the house. Even though we are surrounded here by the strong smells of newly varnished wood and paint, the sounds of dogs barking and people walking around, and the strong Cape Town wind that creaks this house with unfamiliar groans, there is an underlying peace and contentment about being in this place. It feels like home.

The Kitchen, all the bedrooms are down that hall. The lounge is where the pic was taken from.

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't the only feeling we have about living in this place. This piece of my writing begins with a warning: do not continue unless you really want to know our thoughts and emotions as we venture on this journey here in South Africa. This past week has been one of the most challenging times for both of us in our faith walks to date. So often we talk about following God and living out our faith, but God has really put us to the test. First, without a doubt, we know we are in the right place, that God has called us to move to South Africa, and that He desires for us to live in the township of Oceanview among the people we serve. However, we really were naive about how difficult it would be, especially emotionally. Just the build-up alone of moving into our house has been enormous, as our reason has kicked in and we have realized how crazy it is for us to be moving into such a poor area. The dangers are real and there is a possibility that the community (or parts of it) will not welcome or accept us. We have had many moments of anxiety and fear about this week. The truly strange part of it has been that when we have visited the house, and even staying in it last night for our first night, it truly feels like home and we know it's exactly where we are supposed to be. Casey has found himself greatly frustrated at the difficulties in setting up our lives here with phones. We each find ourselves in moments where we think, “Are we sure?” “Who let us do this?” “Why is this so hard?”

Kieren loves the Lounge (Den) already!

In the midst of this, GOD IS FAITHFUL. Whenever one of us is at the end of our rope, the other is always completely calm and helps to talk through the problem or feelings. Our house is perfect for us and the church has done a TON of work getting it ready (and is going to continue to help us settle in this week). We have already found a great deal of the things we need and each day get more settled. God has given us seriously AMAZING friends here who are so gracious and help us at each step. God's spirit is evident in each day and He is continually helping us to persevere and endure.

It's real life here, folks. It's not a mission trip and there is no Chris Sasser to help organize it all and take us to a fun meal at the end of the day. Our life here is rocky, unpredictable, and frustrating, but again, it's exactly where we are supposed to be. We are so thankful for all your thoughts and prayers - and so many of you have been reaching out to us – thank you and keep doing it! Our prayers are to continue to settle in here and find ways to get the 'details' done. Also, we hope to see more of our friends in our community where we live, Oceanview, and meet our new neighbors soon. Most of all, pray that we have peace, endurance, and joy in the midst of this challenging new chapter in our lives.

Thanks for walking it with us,
Sarah (Casey and Kieren)

Kieren's 1st Tooth!

Movin Time

Hello friends and family,

Well it's Friday morning here and we are gearing up for a big day. The week has been really good. I think we are finally over our jet-lag and are on this new time zone. Kieren was great adjusting, it took us longer. And you just feel dizzy and 'drugged' for a while, but not the good kind of drugged... We have seen many friends and already met some new ones. What a HUGE blessing - God has already reminded us of some of the GREAT people we get to share life with here. And, of course, they LOVE meeting Kieren who is being the cutie we are so proud to show off. We have been staying at the home of our friends Evan and Kerryn Torrance (who are actually in the States visiting their parents) as we transition into our home, and that has been wonderful because their home feels so nice and familiar to us. Today, however, we think we are going to move into our home in the Oceanview township. We will be meeting the pastor I am working with, Kyle Woodrow, at some point today, and either moving into our house or at least seeing the inside of it. This is definitely Africa, people, so every single plan we make here is changed or slowed down in some way. I just got off the phone with Kyle and it looks like we now might not be able to get the truck to move our furniture into the house today, but you never know! He did say that the church came together and has done a ton of work on the house and even wants to buy us a brand new stove. It's so humbling because they haven't even met us yet! There are many feelings as we think about this new move and we wonder how the community there is going to accept us, since we will probably be the only white people living there. This is something we have given over to prayer countless times, and even this week as we pray about it we KNOW it is what we want to do and feel led by God to do. So here we go! We would love your prayers and PROMISE to get picture and video updates of our new 'diggs very soon!

Love you all!
Sarah

Newspaper Article About our Journey

Check this out - the Raleigh News and Observer did an article about our move to Cape Town and Casey's work of starting Ubuntu Sports Outreach. It's crazy! Check it out at this link:

http://www.northraleighnews.com/columns/teri_saylor/story/1502.html

Our New World

Hello friends and family!

Well it is the beginning of our second day here at our new home in Cape Town. I am up early with Kieren just hanging out - somehow she has managed to get right back on schedule, waking up exactly at 7:30am both mornings here! Her parents have not felt as 'on schedule' but I certainly feel better after another night of sleep. We spent our first day yesterday jumping in very slowly as we had some serious jetlag. We met our friend Mike Jenkins (who is starting Ubuntu with Casey) for lunch at this cool place called 'Grean Beans.' It was so wonderful to catch up and hear about what God is doing in his life. And he invited us to a small group of sorts at a friends house for Wednesday night to meet some new friends and see some old. It doesn't take long to be quickly reminded of how open and hospitable South Africans are and we look forward to meeting many new people in the coming weeks. We then tried to begin looking for a phone which turned out to be not an easy task, so I decided to make a smaller goal of getting my favorite shortbread cookies and diet coke from the Woolworth food store. Success! We then met up later with our flat-mate from last year, Mandy and had dinner with her. It's so fun already to introduce these great friends to little Kieren! She is mostly in a good mood and is just a bit 'clingy' at times. Many of you heard via-facebook that she broke her first tooth out somewhere in transit to Africa - it's so strange to see it in her mouth now!

We aren't quite sure what today holds yet, but our biggest goal is to meet up with the pastor I will be working with, Kyle, and see if we can go to our house to begin the move-in process. Coming back here is such a strange mix of familiarity and newness all at the same time. We know exactly where we are but it feels SO different because this is now our home. I feel ready to move into our new house and begin to settle in - I feel like that will help me to find our 'place' here. So keep the prayers coming! There is so much to get adjusted to in this new world!

Love you all,
Sarah

We're Here

We're here!! Flights were good. Got all of our luggage. Kieren was a trooper. She just hasn't slept for one really long stretch yet. Hoping she will now. We're all just Really tired now! Settled @ Torrance's house for the night. Thanks so much for them allowing us to stay at their house and for their friend Craig picking us up. Excited to get some serious sleep.
One quick fun story. We met the coolest guy on our plane today and hung out with him a lot. He was sitting with us on our first flight. Turns out he was on his way to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro!! That's extreme! We'll he's a physician, owns a bunch of urgent care centers in the triangle area and beyond, has done a lot of medical missions in Burkina Faso, and to top it all off played soccer at Methodist College. We hung out with him in Detroit, he was in the row behind us on the way to Amsterdam, and then we hung out for a few hours there together. It was so nice to have a friend and he was gracious to help us schlep all of Kieren's stuff around. He was also just so encouraging about what we're on our way here to do. So that was a nice bit of "ubuntu" happening in the midst of our day.
We so appreciate your prayers. Tomorrow we'll start trying to get settled. Get a bank account, looking for a car, finding a phone, making contact with Kyle (the pastor of the Methodist church), and hopefully going to see our house! We just totally can't believe we are HERE! It's totally unbelievable!
Please keep praying for us and pray specifically that Kieren would SLEEP! It's midnight here and she needs a good night of it.

CASEY

Hope Crap, it's time!

We leave tomorrow morning!!!! We got our visas on Friday. We're packed. Saw U2 tonight!! That was incredible. And our boy Desmond Tutu was there on video (look him up if you don't know him) and he said, "Casey and Sarah, welcome to South Africa." He didn't really say that, but he did to us!
Just can't believe that this moment is finally here. We've been talking about it and planning it for so long. Please be praying for us so much! We'll update here when we get there!!

Please also follow Ubuntu Sports Outreach @ www.ubuntusports.blogspot.com.

Talk to you from Cape Town!!

Casey

Baby Giggles!!

Shannon and Suzanne Kelly were watching Kieren recently. They dressed her up in old Christmas PJs and busted out the Santa doll. Kieren cracked up and they got it on film. Laugh with us!

Casey

Love Her

Countdown...

Hello friends and family,

DEFINITELY time for another update, right?? Sorry we have been so negligent once again with our updates. Things are chaotic and busy, to say the least! We are making our final preparations towards the move to South Africa. So many details are finally coming into place here at the end. The big things are, Ubuntu getting non-profit status, our boxes of stuff being shipped over to South Africa, and our beautiful dog, Lance finding a new home. Wow! We are now living at the Latta family home (a family in our church) and have four suitcases for the three of us for the next 2-3 months. It's definitely cramping Casey's clothing style, but we are managing :) Kieren continues to be a source of laughter and joy! She is eight months old now and loves to laugh and smile at everyone. That girl is already developing her flirting style with the boys and is ready to charm the world - watch out! Our main job on our agenda is to see as many people as we can before we go and just spend quality time with the people we love. We are SO blessed to have so much love and support at this time! We would love your thoughts and prayers during this crazy time - for peace and for God to order each day with what He wants for us to do.

Love you all!
Sarah

Congrats Dr. Kerry!

Congratulations to my best friend Kerry Mandulak who just received her PHD in speech and hearing sciences at UNC today! I was there for her dissertation defense today and was SO proud to call her my friend! She is amazingly smart and humble and a great teacher! You go Kerry!

Love,
Sarah

Big News!!

There is big news for Ubuntu Sports Outreach! Go to the blog to check it out: www.ubuntusports.blogspot.com

Wading

I feel like we are wading through so much 'stuff' right now. There is just a TON going on each day and the list only grows longer. I am in Charlotte right now for a visit with my family to celebrate my mom's birthday and visit with my cousin who is here from California. As I am here, I am having the realization that as I go back to Raleigh tomorrow the next 3 weeks are going to be INSANE as we prepare to leave for Africa. Right now it's the middle of the night and I should be sleeping but my head spins with things to do and people to see. My problem is that I want to do it ALL and see EVERYONE, but I have to find a peace with only accomplishing what I can and am called to do each day. I desperately want all of our friends and family to know that they are loved by us and that we are deeply grateful for their support in this journey, but I can't spend time with each person sharing our hearts. For now, even in the midst of it all, I still have a great peace of what is ahead. Our lives in South Africa are mostly yet to be seen and discovered but I know God has made a way ahead and can't wait to see what He has in store. We are in touch almost daily with different people there already and plan to allow the first month of our time there for moving in, settling, and some rest in the transition. But tomorrow, and for the next 3 weeks, Casey and I will just hold on tight as we fly through this precious time here at home. My prayer is that God will order our steps each day and that we will see His hand in each of those moments.

Thanks for the love and prayers,
Sarah