Cozy Mountain Walk-in Fridge

As we write this, we are lounging by a crackling fire enjoying the view over one of the many vineyards located on the outskirts of the Cape Town area.  We are staying in the home of David and Deborah Bliss, long-time friends of Andrew and his family through Park Street Church.  When Andrew spent two months in South Africa in 2003, he was hosted by the Bliss family and worked with their prison ministry.

 

In many ways it hardly feels like winter here, even though we are well south of the equator and stores in Cape Town are advertising “winter sales”.  (One church that we visited is having a “Christmas in Winter” celebration!)  Most days the temperature reaches at least 60 degrees – not the winter we are accustomed to after 3 years in Vermont!  There is one major difference, though – none of the buildings here have central heating.  If it's 50 degrees outside, it's 50 degrees inside!

 

Besides getting to escape from the city and sleep in as long as we want to in the mornings, we are blessed to spend time at the Andrew Murray Centre, the headquarters for David's prison ministry and other outreach programs.  Some of the people that Andrew met his first time here are still around, so he has had the joy of reconnecting with them and seeing how the Centre has developed over the past five years.  We have also finally met the famous Ashley Leimkuehler, also a missionary from Park Street.  (Whenever we had a conversation with someone from Park Street, as soon as they discovered that we were headed for South Africa they asked, “Do you know Ashley Leimkuehler?  She's amazing!”)

 

Which would you prefer: 50 degrees outside and inside, or 25 degrees outside and 65 degrees inside?