Blog 8

Friday  

06/14/2024 

Morning– We began with a devotion and then we put on a song made for the Gardener named September. We played September by Earth Wind and Fire. It was a great time of everyone dancing for the duration of the song and celebrating September.  

Elvis arrived (yes, he’s in the house) to greet us and say goodbye. He said a prayer for us.  

After that, the staff found out it was Bruce and Theresa’s wedding anniversary.  They started singing and dancing.  And they kept singing and dancing from the conference room out into the courtyard.  Bruce and Theresa were so moved, and it was such a wonderful celebration of their commitment and love to each other and God. 

For most of the morning we played different games, gave reflections on our time there from the staff and from the COR Team. It was very much the sentiment of gratitude, learning new things, and a sense of family, which is fitting since this COR team is family.  

The staff gave us some tokens to show their appreciation of us and we gave them some small gifts: a necklace with a charm of their choosing, a prayer card, bookmarks, and glow in the dark stars. Angela put some of the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling in the shapes of constellations. 

Lunch: The staff treated us to a Braai for lunch.  It means barbecue or grilling to us. They fed us brats and chicken. Yum! 

The farewell was the hardest!  There were lots of hugs and tears. And then they all started singing to us. It was so special and moving. They didn’t stop singing until we were in our cars and out of sight. It was so very hard to drive away. 

We also want to share about the amazing staff at our lodging called Aandbloem. They were so wonderful, and they took great care of us.  The food was amazing, and the place was lovely. 

Also, our drivers that provided us transportation on a daily basis were wonderful as well.  They not only provided us transportation, but they were also our guides to the area and a plethora of information about the country.  Thank you Antoinette and Magdel!