We just finished up our first day in Cape Town, South Africa and one thing is for certain: we absolutely love it! After getting in late last night and spending the last 24 hours acclimating ourselves to the area in which many of us would be spending our first mission trip, we have learned a few things about the country so far. First, everyone is so friendly and welcoming. And second, although it is as beautiful as can be, we were not expecting it to be this cold. Actually, cold is quite an understatement. I think it’s safe to say the majority of us have been freezing since we flew into Cape Town. Coming from 100+ degree weather, the South African winter is something we will have to get used to. After arriving at the church, we were able to meet a number of the ladies that attend the school at the church and spent some time getting to know them, followed by a devotion and prayer. They opened up to us right away and they seemed so excited to talk to us. After the fellowship, we had our orientation, where we went through the tentative schedule for the next few days, learned about the service projects we would be a part of, and even got to meet one of the men whose house we would be working on. We then set up for the Vacation Bible School we had prepared for the neighborhood children. Running through the puppet shows, skits and songs took up the rest of the morning. We wanted to be ready to go and all set up to give the kids’ an amazing three days of VBS. After being served a traditional South African lunch, we split into four groups and had the opportunity to walk around the neighborhoods of Belhar and got to experience more of South African life, while passing out invitations to VBS. Once again, we were in awe of the kindness and hospitality found here. Although it was freezing outside and even started to rain at one point, we enjoyed meeting people and conversing with them. It was such a culture shock to see how people here lived though. One of the groups was invited into the home of the first house they passed by. The tiny three-bedroom home with a common area and kitchen looked like most of the houses in the town. We couldn’t believe our ears when we were told that about twenty people lived in that small space! As we were making our way in, there was less and less room to even stand – that’s how many people were in there. And yet they all appeared to be so grateful for what they had and they welcomed us in with open arms. The neighborhood walks and getting to chat with the locals was definitely the best part of the day for just about all of us. After that, we played a game of South Africa trivia and spent some more time with some of the kids and teenagers that were helping and hanging out around the church. We enjoyed their company and ended it with another delicious meal prepared for us by the pastor’s wife and a few of the gracious ladies from the church. As we were making our way back to the guesthouse in which we are staying, the jetlag started settling in again. We are going to call it a night soon, but we are anticipating the next few days, excited about what God has in store and just so thankful to be here.