Settling in at Cape Town

We landed at Cape Town International exactly on time at 8am last Friday July 31st. We’re being provided with a great flat that is just 10 minutes drive from the church centre. We have a nice patio overlooking communal gardens, so Sue is really pleased with that. The church has also been given a mercedes which we are presently able to drive. I need to point out that it is a very small mercedes (though nippy) and has some eccentric features such as a fuel guage that always registers a quarter full no matter how much, or little, petrol is in the tank. Also it has the disconcerting habit of going on to full flash headlight when you indicate left or right. Being that Cape Town is a more exciting city to drive in than Brighton due to the competition with other drivers, it adds a bit more spice to the experience of being on the road.

Cape Town is a city of great contrasts. It is surely one of the most beautiful cities in the world, dominated as it is by Table Mountain, but it is hugged around the outskirts by enormous poverty stricken townships built on windy and sandy flat ground which must be just awash when the rain pours down.

You can drive though what are often referred to as the Southern Suburbs where there are some enormous houses and fabulous looking properties, but at every traffic light (robot here) you are greeted by men selling shoe bags, wire toys and flowers etc. I never see anyone buy, so I don’t know how these guys survive.

We’ve been given a very warm welcome by the church. Lex Loizides preached an excellent message last Sunday. He’s a well known evangelist and can also teach and expound scripture very well. Last night we attended one of the small groups called a ‘Life Group’ where just about every member spoke a different mother-tongue.

The next 2 Sundays I am down to preach in a continuing series in Philippians which Steve van Rhyn, the church’s senior leader will conclude the following Sunday. So we’re getting back into a similar routine to that which we had at CCK although there a few different ways of doing things which takes a little adjustment.

As with CCK there are 2 meetings on a Sunday, the evening meeting repeats the morning meeting, but I have just escaped preaching the same message 3 times on 1 day which is what will happen at CCK from the end of September.

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