Counting down the days

We have 3 days left in Cape Town.  What??  Three. short. days.
It's really surreal to me that my time here is coming to an end.  I can't wait to move onto Durban and Port Edward to continue doing ministry there, but Cape Town is a special place for me.  I've wanted to come serve here for over two years and have just been waiting for God to tell me when.  I'm very close to Casey and Sarah and have supported and followed their work here since they started.  Getting the opportunity to experience it first hand has been amazing.  Between Casey, Sarah, their daughter Kieren, and us four interns (Doug, Christine, Jordan, and I) we've formed a fun little family that jokes around way too much, talks about God and bringing Him glory throughout this city, and simply lives life together.  Its been great.
We're spending the last few days finishing up some video projects for Casey and Sarah, leading women's bible study tonight, and hosting a fun event for the youth group tomorrow night.  I'm glad that we've gotten to help out, but really these projects have just been a tool for us to truly experience life here and connect to those we meet.  Sarah has been mentoring us to live missionally through a process of looking at our surroundings, listening to the stories of the people in the community, and learning to meet them where they are and to love them like Jesus loves them.  I feel like we've just scratched the surface of doing this, but the experience has been invaluable.
My heart is growing for the people of Ocean View everyday and I can't wait to be back here.  I'm still praying about when that will be, but I'm excited about the time God will give me to prepare to come back.  Honestly, I would love to live here.  I've joked about moving to Cape Town way before I even came here, knowing in the back of my head that it might be more real than I let on.  God has given me a heart for the people of South Africa that I can't even describe or rationalize.  He has also given me and the L4L team a heart for helping college students pursue their passions as they enter the mission field so I'm excited to see how God combines the two for me.  What I do know is that I can't wait to bring back the skills Sarah has given me and my experiences here to help other students as they prepare to go on trips with us in the future.

Also, please be praying for Doug.  He has been suffering from pretty bad allergies the whole time we have been in Cape Town, although we just recently figured out what was causing it.  He's also coming down with some kind of virus.  He's been great about pushing through it and continuing to serve here, but its taking a toll on his body.

-Alison