We, Jasmine and Rachel, both felt incredibly blessed to have been able to experience South Africa.
We showed up to a team that was ready to be trained! Our flight from Frankfurt to Cape Town was delayed 3 hours due to weather.
When we arrived at 3:30 PM we went straight to Uncle Khumi and Aunt Safi's house and met the Cape Town WAIT team.
They showed us a DVD of a performance they had done. It was incredible! They already knew so many of the acts, just by watching a video! (The Cape Town team had never had a real training before.)
We knew immediately that this team had great potential. We could see that they take what little they are given and multiply it, A LOT. We knew that our efforts would not be wasted. So we got to workin!
For two weeks we worked everyday with the kids. We were able to train them in the dances; Rose is Still a Rose, Beauty from Pain, Stand in the Rain, Been So Good, and worked with them to create a Breakdance Act. We also taught the team both the melody and harmony parts of Reach Out, Beautiful Ending, Hero, and Save Yourself. Two girls worked hard and learned the guitar parts for all of the WAIT songs. We even had an extra day at the end of our trip to train a few people in Performance Fundraising. (It is where the WAIT team goes shop to shop and sings WAIT songs for people.)
On the very last day of the training we had a talk with the older kids on the team (age range 14-18). We talked with them about the importance of being good older brothers and sisters to the team, raising up the younger kids, setting and keeping the standard, and where they can go from here. At the end of it all, we were so proud of all the hard work all the kids put in, how much they learnt, and how much heart they have. They are definitely one of the hardest working WAIT teams we’ve ever seen.
On our two last days, they wanted to show us around Cape Town. We felt it was good for us to go, because seeing the beauty of the the area helps us to connect heartisticly to the people. The first day we climbed up Table Mountain, ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! Its called table mountain because its flat on the top like a table. It was amazingly beautiful. As we looked at the rocks that formed the mountain we kept thinking, you can definitely tell this country used to be under the ocean, the mountain top looks like the bottom of the sea! its pretty amazing how much the earth has changed over time, and how much care and effort God put into creating everything.
The second day we drove to the Indian Ocean. It took two hours, but was totally worth it! It was beautiful! At the beach we saw a sign directing us to a cave. So we journeyed out to find it. On the walk there we walked through an area that was all sand dunes! We had never seen that before..except for in Aladdin. And that doesn't count. It was an incredible sight. Rachel had a deep experience there, where for the first time she could connect to the motherly side of God. God cares so much for beauty, it's hard to exlpain, but I could connect to a motherly, nurturing, God. We were both so greatful to Uncle Kumi for showing us the beautiful sights of his homeland. We think it was good for us to take time to love and honor his home. We could feel so much love for Africa. God poured so much beauty into their home, we knew God must hold so much love for these people.
On another level, I think we both had deep experiences with the Race issue. To us racism in the US seems like something we don’t see that much, and the days of unequal rights seems like forever ago, since it didn’t touch our life times. But going to South Africa, we realized that this is a country that had unequal rights when we were growing up. We would look at an adult white person and it dawned on us that when they were growing up they were probably taught that black and mixed people had no value. I think the issue of race just hit us both a lot harder seeing it right before our eyes. At the same time we saw how far their country has come in such a short time, since Apartheid. It seems like their nation is healing faster from the racism issues than the U.S. did.
Another random thing that surprised us was how much the kids were like American youth because of the media they watch. Almost everything they listen to is american, and a lot of their TV is too. American media is so powerful, if only we were using it for good, instead marketing people as sex symbols etc. This made us both more inspired to change American media. We did make sure while we were there to introduce some positive music. Jasmine filled up Won Young’s mp3 player with lots of Barlowgirl, Superchick, Regina Spektor and Ingrid Michelson before we left :)
We were very grateful for each other during the trip. The two of us together made a really good team. We compliment each other in the ways we do things and work. As Uncle Richard puts it “Rachel is a line, and Jasmine is a circle”. We were really great about validating each other (thanks to the short film we watched at the Tsubatas before going). We also made sure we validated everyone we met, a server at a restaurant, the person that validates your receipts at the grocery store, and everyone else. We were also really grateful for Uncle Richard, he was such a good support, and a great body guard!!!
While we were in South Africa, the car that the WAIT team uses got into an accident. The car has been totalled. So now the team is working hard to raise funds and search for a good van to purchase. If anyone feels inspired to make a donation to the Cape Town team they can mail checks to this address:
(please make checks out to-- True Love Alliance)
1 Unity Road Retreat, Cape Town,
Western Cape, South Africa
We're so glad we had the opportunity to go on this trip! It truly was an amazing experience.
~Rachel and Jasmine
