I left Cape Town about 2 weeks ago because I was let go from Ikapa Sporting and because I knew that my time in Cape Town, as good as it was, was coming to a quick close. I booked my flight a month late, barely made a flight, and got to chill in Pretoria for 2 days before heading up to Polokwane to get the rest of my stuff, say goodbye to everyone in the church, and finish up stuff with my original contact Sam Pam.
I had a great time hanging out with Sam and his family which includes completely embarrassing his 17 year old daughter and her friend by serenading them in the middle of Polokwane with many, many people looking on. I had a great time playing football with Excel, Sam's son and my brotha from a different motha. I also had some deep talks with Sam about life and football and God. Sam, Sandra, Jenn, and Excel are like a second family now. I will never be able to completely thank them for all their hospitality and love. For now, all I can do is hope and pray that through everything that we did, God shone through and seeds were planted. Thank you Sam and Sandra and Jenn and Excel! I will never forget you guys!
I came back down to Pretoria from Polokwane after about a week with Sam and like the airplane, I almost missed the bus (haha, basically I am an idiot!;) but thankfully Sam told the driver to stop and I got on! That weekend there was an event that was put on by Ambassadors called Match For A Day. Basically, it was a soccer game that was going to last 24 hours. Other teams would sign up for hour increments and play against an Ambassadors team who, in total was about 21 people plus or minus celebrities who would come and play, would play for 24 hours! It was insane! My goal was to go the full 24 hours but my body would not hold up against all the football being played! All in all, I am pretty sure I played about 10 games and was completely done, spent, exhausted. We lost 3 games and drew 3 games and won the rest which is pretty impressive if you ask me! We also got to play with some pretty big time celebs like Lee Sharpe (ex Man U and England International), Greg Thompson (Man City), Lucas Radebe (Ex Bafana Bafana Capt and basically holds all of South Africa's records for goals scored and games played), Mark Fish (Blackburn), and Sam Pam (Orlando Pirates, Ajax Cape Town, and Nigeria (Super Eagles) National Squad, and more. We raised quite a bit of money (so far around 130,000 Rand) for Ambassadors prison ministry, the different club teams around, and the Kenyan AIS mission! It was incredible to be able to be a part of it!
Lastly, I had the opportunity to go in to the prison and hang out with the inmates and encourage them. We got to play against the prisoners, who ironically are probably some of the best players I have played against here in SA! It was awesome to be able to watch the guys help each other up and be super encouraging with each other. This is the first prison I went to when I first came to South Africa and it was really backwards and opposite from the this time. They were struggling with each other and fighting a lot... However, this time they were completely "for" each other and loving on each other. It just gives me so much encouragement to see their potential and I am excited to see what they do when they get out!
Well, I think my sister will kill me if this gets any longer but just know that I love you all and I miss you all! I will be coming back to Arizona in 6 days. I fly into DC first, then catch a flight through Chicago, then on to AZ. I get in at 3ish. Pray that I am not an idiot and I don't miss my flight!
