My first Sunday in Cape Town I will never forget.
My nursing career began on Saturday 1st January 1983, but we were given the 2nd January off. For several years, while in Zimbabwe, I had heard about St. James Church and decided I would try and get to it. I called the number in the phone directory and found out the time the Sunday morning service started and then left at least an hour and a half earlier. I had asked how to get there and was told, “go to the Main Rd, to the bus stop outside the Police Station and catch a Diep River bus.”
How hard could it be?
So early on Sunday 2nd January 1983, I stood at the gates of Woodstock Nurses’ Home and I looked down the road and I looked up the road. I couldn’t see any cars when I looked down the road. Looking up, I could see quite a busy road. “Ah,” I thought, “that must be the Main Rd” and dressed in my Sunday best, I started up the hill towards the Freeway! As I got closer, my confidence began to wane….it didn’t look like I could actually get onto that road, so I turned around and backtracked. Creeping past the Nurses’ Home entrance, I headed for the bottom road and found the Woodstock Police Station with a bus stop right outside. There I stood and waited.
Sure enough, in time, along came a Diep River bus. I climbed aboard, paid the fare and took a seat. As my journey commenced, I started seeing names I had heard about. I had been told to get off at Kenilworth, but I was seeing Observatory and then Rosebank. I had heard those names mentioned before. I got nervous and decided to ask someone on the bus where I should get off. Turning around, I asked the lady behind me where I needed to get off in order to go to St. James Church. She said she didn’t know. I had nothing more to do, but sit tight and watch out for a Kenilworth sign. Unbeknown to me, the lady I had spoken to had started asking (in Afrikaans) the people around her. All my fellow travellers were getting off before me. As the lady got up to get off the bus, she said to me, “You have to get off at Kenilworth – I’ve told the bus driver to drop you at the right road.”
Wow! That was helpful. My adventure continued and sure enough, the bus suddenly stopped at the top of a road and the driver motioned to me to get off and ‘go down that road.’ Thanking him, I disembarked and headed down the road he had pointed to. It was still very early and I was beginning to enjoy myself. I was in Cape Town! How exciting was that!? Please pinch me! I can’t believe I’m here. I’m 18 years old and walking in sunshine through Cape Town on my way to the famous St. James Church. My excitement knew no bounds!
But once again, I was faced with an obstacle.
I came to a railway line.
What you need to know is that to this day, I have never been on a train in Zimbabwe. I never crossed a railway line on foot in Zim. I didn’t know what to do. In my young mind, there was always a dodgy, industrial area the other side of the railway line – that was why it was called, “the wrong side of the railway line!” I wasn’t crossing it now.
So I didn’t.
Instead, I turned right at a road a couple of blocks up – I had seen a church there. Perhaps that was St. James. I soon discovered Christ Church, Kenilworth and while it looked inviting, it was not my destination. Today I was going to St. James Church and I was going to do everything I could to find it.
I got to a stop street at the same time as a car. I asked the driver if he could tell me where St. James church was. He soon realised my ignorance. I didn’t know Kenilworth at all. There were no points of reference. Eventually, he gave up and said, ‘climb in and I’ll take you there.’ Trusting him entirely, I happily obeyed and was soon dropped off at St. James Church. Without this honest man, I probably wouldn’t have got there that day.
I really enjoyed the service, but not knowing anyone, I left quite soon after it ended.
What happened next would change my introduction to Cape Town forever. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow because I’ve spent the morning on the golf course and have 5 hours of work still to do.
Proverbs 16:9
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂