Our project was working in the Silver Willow halfway house for street boys. We worked with Pastor Reggie and his wife Vena from Mountain View Church in Morningside Village. They are two of the most inspirational people I have met. They have thrown themselves into service for the Lord, looking after these street boys and opening their small home to around 100 to 150 young children from their neighbourhood every Sunday afternoon for singing, games and a Message from the Bible. Although the church is very small - no more than fifty members - it is one of the strongest and most vibrant communities I have ever been a part of. Their services are not slick, the piano is not in tune, and they don't even have their own building. But they worship God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, and that's what matters.

So, in the house, our task was to give it a lift. The boys went to school each day from 8am until 3pm (which is just brilliant news for them) so we had a great empty house to get to work on. We scraped, we hammered, we polyfillered, we sanded, we pulled live electrical wires thinking they were wall plugs leading to a small explosion followed by a 'Sorry about that' in a South African accent which left us all in stitches. We re-plastered the downstairs hall as it was a mess. We painted the dirty white walls a beautiful Balmoral Cream colour, which made the place look so much brighter. We learnt how to tile a floor which created a much, much airier feel to this house.

In the afternoon each day we would spend an hour or so getting to know the boys, having conversations with them. I got on particularly well with a boy called Bungani and another chap called Patrick. Bungani was sixteen, had lost his mother to sickness when he was six and his older brother left leaving Bungani to look after his three year old sister and lazy father. Eventually he came to Durban where he was given a place in the house, started going to school, and has an incredible talent for making bead models out of wire and beads. Patrick, too, came from a dysfunctional family, and started his first year of school when he was fifteen. He is now eighteen, and has a distinct passion for drama (big lad!). The relationships we built have been encouraging, moving, inspiring and, hopefully, long lasting. These boys have come from such horrible backgrounds, and yet are totally attached to Jesus. As Bungani said, 'Jesus kept our house safe' - a clear reminder that it is GOD who provides.

We didn't feel that we got to spend that much time with all the guys, so we were really surprised when on the penultimate night at church the guys gave us gifts and did a gumboot dance for us - amazing. They really seemed to enjoy being with us - I certainly enjoyed being with them. We had a massive rave after the meeting, all dancing and eating Buriwors sausages. Mmm. They were such a blessing to us. They were so incredible - Vena said, though, that because of our service the guys had all started to become far more spiritual and serious in their walk with God. Yes!

We finished the project a couple of days early, so we went to help another group who were joined with His Church, prepping a school before the congregation of His Church (about 400) come next weekend to paint the place. It's a mighty big school, so even two teams wasn't enough. I found that quite odd, though, moving to another project, even though we had finished the one we had been originally assigned to. I did a bit of graffiti cleaning, and when the kids walked past there seemed to be a lot of tension because of what I was doing. Not always, but some of the kids seemed to give me really nasty glares, as if to say, 'why are you removing my tag?!' Either that or they were just very, very confused as to why people would volunteer to clean up something they didn't do. I know people I spoke to before I went out who felt that way - they couldn't understand why people would pay to go and serve someone else.

Here's why. Because Jesus calls us to. 'Love one another' and to help those in need, those who need food, drink, clothing, shelter. So, what else could we ever do?

On the Saturday we went to a drop-in shelter for street kids called Umthombo, run by Tom Hewitt from St. Saviour's. Unfortunately, he wasn't there, but we met a lad called Joe who had just arrived for a month. That was a moving and amazing day. I chatted to a guy called Sandyle, 24 years old, with qualifications in the trades, yet he's been on the streets for eight years because his parents split up - he was still going to school whilst he lived on the streets! - and he wants to get a job driving. But he needs a licence. There's also very little tradesmen work around - especially if you don't have a home address. He used to do glue, to smoke and to drink, but four years ago he gave all that up, which is great! I also met a girl called Sma. She had gashes all over her face from a recent fight she'd been in involving a broken bottle. She wants to be a hairdresser, but can't get a job because she doesn't have an ID card, which you need if you want to work. And apparently the red tape in South Africa's politics is difficult to get through. Somebody was scheduled to come the Tuesday after we'd been there, to try and get IDs for as many of the kids there as possible, but it is quite difficult. These kids (or, adults) have the same dreams and qualifications as you and I, yet are stuck on the streets. And that's not just in Durban. It's right on your doorstep. Is that justice?

We did have a bit of chilling out time as well. We made a couple of visits to Gateway - the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere, apparently - and to Tala Game Reserve where we saw Hippos, White Rhinos, Zebra, Wildebeest, Springbok, and Giraffes. That was an amazing day. uShaka was the last thing on our list - a big water park and aquarium. Amazing. I only got water park tickets because I was only there for the morning, as a number of us were going to hear Angus Bucham preach in the ABSA Rugby Stadium (Home to the Sharks) to around 70 000 people! Everyone was going to the water park first then aquarium second, which was a shame because I wanted to dive with sharks in the aquarium. I'll admit I was a little upset at first, then I thought it'd be rubbish in a tank, then the water park was immense fun anyway. It boasts the tallest slide in Africa - yes, it's about five stories high. Just a straight drop (almost vertically). That, is, scary. There was also a mental ride with a massive raft. Seven in, trying to see how far up the sides of the flume we could go, and ending up all falling on top of each other. After about the tenth go, we decided jumping out halfway down would be great fun. And it was. We got thrown off the ride, effectively. Mission accomplished.

Angus was a powerful speaker, in the afternoon. He spoke on Philippians 3 vv 10-14, which is all about actually knowing Christ rather than just knowing of him. Many gave their lives to Jesus for the first time, and everyone else stood as well to say that they wanted to draw closer to really knowing Him. It was awesome!

However, what wasn't so awesome was having my camera stolen from inside the stadium (I think), and along with it all my photos from the two weeks. Well, all the digital ones, anyway. I stumbled across my dad's old Canon A1 film camera just before I left for Durban, so I have taken a number of film shots. Once developed, and if they have actually worked (I've never used film before and had it developed) I will see if any are suitable for this esteemed site.

All in all, those two weeks were the most moving, inspiring, hilarious and challenging two weeks I've had so far. Three things really happened in me. Firstly, I'm taking away the warmth and the brilliance of relationships that have been made. Secondly, God has been humbling me these weeks, for which I'm very grateful, and I'm sure it's going to continue for a bit longer. And thirdly, I have been getting so excited about my trip to Portugal next year, about what God will say to me when I'm there, and how He will move. Ooooh it's exciting!

So. That's it! GodBless. xxxx