Cape Town 2026: Days 4–5

Cape Town 2026: Days 4–5

Two days into serving and we could not be having a better time! This year’s team is serving in a different location than past teams. It’s an area of Cape Town called Ocean View. A cool connection for us is that it is the same community where Austin ministers.

Over the past two days we have seen 140 kids (Monday) and 170 kids (Tuesday/Today). Essentially, we have been helping Living Hope run it’s Holiday Club (think VBS). We could not be more impressed with the Living Hope team running things. Chantel, Rudolph, Luke, and Jeremiah are crushing it. Our hope is that we are only making life easier for them. We are only two days in and we feel like we’ve known them forever. There’s something magical that happens when you serve Jesus together. It creates a bond quicker, stronger, and deeper than anything else can.

I couldn’t be prouder of the ways our students have jumped in full tilt. They’ve lead crafts, helped with Bible stories, and been in charge of helping the kids learn the Scripture passage for the week (1 Tim 4:12). I love how deeply Brookwood students love.

Each day club ends at 4 and we return to our lodging. We celebrate with a short walk to a local area called the Commons (seriously, an area like this needs to exist in our neighborhood). We have coffee, eat ice cream, play, and gaze in wonder at Chapman’s peak. Then, we have dinner at our lodging (always delicious) and debrief the day.

In our debrief time we’ve been unpacking the Good Samaritan story, as well as share moments and questions from the day. It’s funny, each group we bring to Cape Town has a distinct characteristic that typically takes hold in these debriefs. I’ve been struck that this group has latched onto the joy of serving, as well as a deep appreciation for the commonalities between us and our friends at Ocean View. It’s one of the beautiful truths about being created in God’s image. There’s much more we share than makes us different. We wait expectantly for tomorrow. In the meantime, good night from Cape Town!

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