So much to do, so little time

We've been in South Africa now for three days, and I've hardly had a minute to blog. Lack of time, combined with problems of slow internet connections and keeping batteries well charged have made it more difficult to share it all here than I had expected. Consequently, this will be short tonight.

The program has been very full -- and powerful. Just as we heard stories last year of people who had lived through the Rwandan genocide, we're hearing the stories this year of the experience of living under apartheid, working to overthrow apartheid, and now learning to be a new kind of society in the post-apartheid era.

For those not familiar with Amahoro (see blog posts from May of 2008), it is a gathering of emerging church leaders from across the continent of Africa, together with friends and partners from around the globe. I'm so impressed with the people I meet here. The young people here truly give me hope for the future of our global community -- young people both from Africa and other parts of the world.

For me this experience has been an opportunity to renew many friendships I made last year in Rwanda and to meet many, many new friends both from South Africa and other countries. It's also been wonderful this year to have Carolyn with me. She has thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and is now beginning to understand why I wouldn't stop talking about it when I got home last year! Her presence with me has brought another whole dimension to the experience -- and something we now share together. She is eager for us to find a way to come again next year when it will be held in Nairobi.

The gathering closed tonight with a communion service, followed by a banquet with some fabulous South African entertainment. We leave early tomorrow morning for a few days in Cape Town. I'll do my best to find some time to be a bit more reflective and articulate about the whole experience along the way. It's hard to do.