"I had a farm in Africa...."

Famous first words of the amazing movie Out Of Africa with Merrill Streep and Robert Redford. And the farm here just northeast of Cape Town looks straight out of that movie. I will post some pics so hopefully you can get a bit of a feel for it.

So..... it’s Tuesday night...out on the farm. I’m sitting on this huge porch that looks at the mountains and the moon doesn’t look real as it peacefully floats up into the black star saturated sky. I’ve been here since friday night. The flight was long and never ending but I did get to witness to a kid sitting next to me. He had been for the most part of my final flight.......only 11 hours long :/......talking to a gentleman about God, Buddism, Spirtual Awareness....trees :) so I didn’t say anything until that last few minutes because I wanted to leave without a big discussion. I told him I appreciated his pursuit for truth but it was a cerebral pursuit, an unending intellectual hike that would never reveal the answers he was looking for.....he would not find peace that way because God is a personal relationship God...one on one..talk to him like a friend God. It seemed to resonate with this really cool kid and so i hope he will get a revelation of how much God loves him....his name was Adam by the way.......

I was whisked away Sat. morning to this place...this wonderful beautiful place called Amathusi. It’s a nature reserve and Rolf and Lizzie are now managing it. Animals all over the place...not as many as some other other place I have been but they 4 Zebras that hang around everyday...got to feed them...yep I did!! There are plans to start bringing in kids for training and mentoring from all around the nation. It’s a bit of a long range plan and it is folding out very slowly. But let me tell you...it’s going to be amazing once it’s in place. Rolf has such passion for young people and helping them reach their potential. Many of the kids here in his country have no hope or prospect of doing anything with their lives. You can’t really understand this way of life as an American until you visit a country like this. There are many countries around the world that share that tragic fate and it just so happens that God gave me a spark about this one. I don’t get God on ow He does much of what He does, especially in the last couple of years, but I just go along with it and try to find where I fit.

So...a couple of things..#1 I picked up the wrong suitcase and didn’t get mine back until to day. That suitcase had all my chargers so everything electronically was dead by Sunday and #2 the internet was down until Monday night so trying let people know I was here and ok was trying to say the least. All is well now and so begins this journey. I will spend some time with the YFC team next week and then will be writing some music for them. This trip will consist of some work and connecting but also doing some spiritual inventory.

I’m a mess.....still.....and I’m hoping to get a couple of more pieces to the puzzle. And I am continuously puzzled about how this has all come to be and how.... Oh God is this better......I have been missing Nancy as much as ever because I think the remoteness and quietness of this place magnifies any kind of emotional discontent I have. So the nights are long....very long. But I am hoping beyond hope that there is a different day coming.

Thanks to all of you for the hopes, prayers, and resources you have so freely given me. I know you miss her too,.... but I can tell you do have a sense of my grief...how deep and wide it is. And how will I survive this......we’ll see.........