Our time here in Port Elizabeth is coming to an end very quickly. It's hard to believe we only have 12 days left of normal ministries. With such a short time left, the team is making goals and taking another look at their ministries to see what they can do before it is all over and have to say good-bye. Please pray that the students will go into ministry these last few days. They still want to see lives changed for the Lord. It's such a short time, but God can still do so much! The hardest thing to convince the people we build relationships with over the months is that just because we leave, doesn't mean that Jesus leaves with us.
The first week of April we have spring break. We are going on another outreach with the LXP team to Lesotho. We will be doing another program (Beat the Drum program teaching abstinence.) in the schools like we did last year. We are very excited for this opportunity that God has given us. We will be there from April 25th-May 2nd. Please pray for opportunities to share the gospel as well with the people of this town.
We have a girl from our team that has decide to stay here in Port Elizabeth permanently. She is very excited and will be staying and working in the church we are involved in. She believes this is God's calling on her life.
The past 9 weeks have probably been the hardest weeks of my life. I was thinking today about the person I was when I came on this trip. I know God has challenged me to rely more on Him. God has called us to a higher standard of living. Our team has been fighting though so much spiritual warfare. The team has leaned so much from each other during this time. We have spent a lot of time on our faces praying, asking and begging for the Lord to change our hearts and our lives. It's funny in life how we grow weary trying to always reach the goal set before us, but when we take that moment to look back on where we have come from, we are often surprised at how far we have already come.
We're doing another book for Discipleship, called "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. He says "It was not always plain to me that pursuing God's glory would be virtually the same as pursuing joy. Now I see that millions of people waste their lives because they think these paths are two and not one." Which is so true if you think about it. We think I'll do this for me, then I do something to glorify God with my day. But that's now how it should be. Everything we do or say should glorify God!
I am still in need of about $2,000 to cover the cost of this trip. So, if you feel led, please continue to support me!
Last year I came here on a 90 day visa and it was just the right amount of time for my stay. Well once I decided to come back this year I realized I had to get a visa for 5 months. In the states you have to go to the doctor, get shots and ex-rays in order to even apply for the visa. The time I was home at Christmas was not enough time for me to apply for a longer visa. So I was told to just come into the country on a 90 day visa and just request to have it renewed after I get in the country. So this week I went to the Department of Home Affairs and asked for an extension on my visa. I am happy to say that I got my visa renewed with no problems at all!! So I will be here for another 9.5 weeks. God is good!!
I am still trying to raise support for the rest of the time I am here. I still need about $2,800! I am trusting that God will provide the money. "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. " Philippians 4:19
It's been awhile since I've blogged. Things have been really busy for us the last few weeks. We've been in our ministries for 5 weeks now. It's been really exciting to see God working through the students. They have been growing so much in the Lord.
For discipleship we've been reading the book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I highly recommend for anyone to read. It will change your life! I think our whole team has been really challenged in thinking about having crazy love for the Lord. I want to share a few quotes from the book. "A person who is obsessed is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being. " I want to be obsessed with the God!" That is what I want more than anything. "People who are obsessed with Jesus do not consider service a burden. Obsessed people take joy in loving God by loving His people." We should never want to feel like serving the Lord is a burden. It is a joy and a privilege to serve the Lord!
The pastor (Timba) from our church (Lighthouse Family Church) came to us awhile back and asked if we would like to spend the night in the township. A church (Holy Spirit Church) volunteered to have families in the church host us for a night in their homes. The townships are the poorest part of town here. People basically have nothing, they live in shacks. Some of the don't even have electricity, running water or even toilets. Timba really wanted us to come and experience what these people face on a day to day basis. So, we agreed and this past Saturday night we went and spent the night with families from the church. Leah and I stayed with a really sweet family. They had all kinds of questions about America and our new president. They said they had never had white people come into the township before. The white people of South Africa are afraid to come to the township. So they loved that we came and stayed with them. They were so excited to have us into their homes. They served us an African dish of potatoes and beans. They were really sweet and gave up their beds for us. We would have refused and slept on the floor, but we were told that would be offensive to them. In the morning they served up a nice hot breakfast. They didn't have a shower/bath tub or a sink. They only had a toilet. (which I was thankful for!) So since there was no place to take a shower they brought in a bucket of hot water and said here is your bath. No soap, no towels, just a bucket of water. We washed our faces and that was about it. We had to brush our teeth out in the front yard and rinse with a bottle of water we brought with us. It was quite interesting to say the least. The family was very nice and hospitable. We all went to church together Sunday morning. It was a real African church service that lasted 3 hours long! They sang and danced for a good hour and a half. Then a preacher got up and spoke for over an hour. Then we had more singing and praying.
We came home and shared our different experience from the night before. One of the guys on our team had to sleep on the floor on a single mattress with the guy he stayed with. So often we take for granite what the Lord has given us. I think it was a great eye opener for the whole team, just to see how blessed we really are.
We want nothing more than to honor the Lord with our service to him. This week I have to go and get my visa extended. So please pray they will extend it so I can stay for the rest of the time. Our team has been faced a lot of spiritual warfare over the past week. This week we are teaching about prayer and fasting.
Please keep praying for us as we continue to seek the Lord in our time here. I can't thank you all enough for your continual prayer and support! I still need about $2,800 to cover the cost of this trip and my plane ticket home.
I can't wait to come home and share all the stories about what God has been doing in my life!
I can't believe I have been in Port Elizabeth for 3 weeks already. Things are really coming together for the team. We have been blessed so much by the community here. The first week we were here we had the team play a game called bigger and better. What you do is start out with a paper clip to see if someone can give you something bigger or better than a paper clip. So we split everyone into 3 teams. We thought this would be a good way for the team to get to know the neighbors. Two hours later they walked into the house and we were shocked with what they came back with. We got a book, a nice framed picture, a skateboard, and a plug in kettle, a lamp, a microwave and a refrigerator!!! We could not believe al that had gotten. They went around and met the neighbors and told them they were missionaries and people just started asking what we needed. Our neighbors have been so wonderful to us!
When we moved into our house and literally only had beds for everyone. Our new church family has given us a full set of living room furniture, tables, and a really nice TV and DVD player. Anything we need they make sure we get it. They have been such a blessing to our team!
This week the team officially has started into ministries. Let me just give you a brief description of what we will be doing during the next 3 and a half months.
Children's Haven: This is a home in the township run for children with no parents, or children who are from families of neglect. We will be assisting with homework, and other life skills. We will be helping Doreen, the "Mom" of the house by helping around the house, building relationships with the kids and pour the love of Christ into their broken lives.
Eastern Province Children's Home: A home for 104 children from the eastern province. Helping to provide guidance in school, teach skills such as swimming and soccer. Showing the kids what it is like to be a normal child in their broken world.
Siyakatala Homeless Shelter: Helping with the street children who live at the shelter for a few months at a time. Assist in teaching them skills they should learn at school. Teaching music or athletic skills. Spending time pouring into a child who has no home and no family.
Firehouse: Working in the youth group at Lighthouse Family Church. Helping out in small groups, leading worship on Saturday and Sunday nights.
House Visits: Spend time getting to know the families of the Walmer Township. Pour into the lives of the broken and bring lives to the Lord.
Algoa Frail Care: This is a home for around 150 children who have cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, down's syndrome, and other disabilities. Sharing the love of Christ with children who are largely forgotten and ignored. Participating in activities with them such as taking them outside, color pictures, sing songs, make necklaces, etc. Also spend time loving on the nurses who work 12-hour shifts.
Ubomi Obutshu Centre: On average there are 500-600 orphaned or vulnerable children from the surrounding community. There are many programs that meet the needs of these children. There are also weekly programs for the parents and caregivers of these children to assist them in dealing with the challenges they face each day and to help them provide the kind of environment and outlook on life their children need to develop constructively.
We may also be doing a Prison Ministry and working at a Women's Shelter. We should be finding out about those ministries this week. Please be in prayer for our team this week!
The Lord has been supplying for our needs. I still need around $4,000 for this trip. If you would like to give a donation click on the "support me" tab on the left. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!
My Christmas break went by so fast! It was really nice to come home, see everyone and eat some normal food for a couple of weeks. I flew back to South Africa on January 5th. I made all my connecting flights, arrived safety into Port Elizabeth with all of my luggage. (Always a good thing.) The first day everyone just unpacked and got settled into our rooms.
We moved into a nice big house. All the girls are in one big room with 9 bunk beds, with a bathroom connected to their room. The guys share a room and a bathroom. Then there are 2 rooms and a bathroom for the 3 of us girl leaders. We are connected with an amazing church here in town. They've been so warm and welcoming to our team. The church family has been very gracious and donated furniture, a washer and a refrigerator to us. Here's a few pictures of our house.
The outside of the house
The girl's room
The girl's room
The guy's room
Mine and Chelsea's room
The team has really bonded already. It was a big change for them to go from a team of 41 students and 15 leaders to only 12 students and 3 leaders. Our ministries won't officially start for another couple of weeks. So we are getting to know the city during this time. This week we are visiting all the different ministry opportunities. Some of the different ministries that we involved in are orphanages, a prison ministry, a woman's shelter, a children's home, and youth ministry. The students will be able to choose which one they want to serve in. They are very excited and ready to jump right in. So far my support raising is going really well. Out of my $8,500 I have to raise I've already raised $3.400!! So I only have $5,100 more to raise! If you would like to contribute, click the "Support Me" on the left side of the page. Thank you all so much for supporting me! Please continue to pray for our team!
My new address is: 19 Trichardt Rd. Parson Hill Port Elizabeth 6001
It's finally starting to feel like summer here in Africa. We have been
enjoying the warm weather for sure! I am excited to think that I will
have 3 summers in a row! It will probably be weird to come home at
Christmas have cold weather for 2 weeks and then come back to summer
weather again!
Last week we had a very American style Thanksgiving for the
team of 50. We did ministry in the morning, then had several cooking
teams to prepare all the food. We had a nice family style meal. We
cooked extras and passed out food to the people in the community. We
all had a great time, but missed our families at home! After the meal 2
of our students get baptized in the ocean. Then we all went home and
finished off the day by watching a Christmas movie, Home Alone!
This is the hall where we had are Thanksgiving meal.
All the food.....
The group of girls
All the leaders
The beautiful beach
I can't believe I only have 2 weeks left here in Jeffrey's bay!
Time has flown by so fast! This week we are finishing up at our
ministries. We only have one week left of Discipleship and that's it!
The last week here we will be at debrief in Saint Francis Bay, South
Africa. This will be a time of reflection over the last 3 months. It
will also be a time of fun and relaxation before Christmas break. Our
break is from December 19th- January 6th. I will be home on December
20th! I can't wait to catch up with you all that are in Georgia. Please
pray for us as we close out this semester.
I am very excited to see what the Lord has in store for us this
next year. This past Saturday our outreach team went to PE. (Port
Elizabeth, where my team will be next year) We were able to meet the
people from the church we will be working with.
Here's a few pictures from an elephant park part of our team went to a few weeks ago.
Last week we had a week of fasting and praying over next semester. I feel God has called me to stay in South Africa for next semester. I have a peace from God about staying as well. There has already been so many confirmations that I am suppose to stay here in Africa for another 5 months. I will be leading an outreach team of 12 students to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I will be co-leading with Chelsea Short and Becca Arnold. Tomorrow Chelsea, Becca and I are going to meet with a pastor in PE to talk about what all we will be doing. We will have different ministries as well as being involved with a church there. I will have more information after tomorrow. I can let you all know what exactly I will be doing there.
I will be coming home to the U.S. on December 20th for Christmas. I have to be back in South Africa on January 6th! So it will be a very short trip. While I am home I have to get a visa and raise support for the next five months! Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. I will update again soon.
I only have 7 weeks left here in South Africa. So if you want to send me packages or mail you should do it soon. The mail takes anywhere from a week to a month to get. I love getting mail or just something from the states. :) If you send anything make sure you declare no value on what you are sending. Or else they may search the package and make me pay for it again when I get it.
So, the time has come for me to decide if I am staying here in South Africa for 5 more
months or not. I've been given a deadline of Friday to decide. I have been
praying about it since July. I really don't know what God wants me to
do at this point. I love it here and it will be an awesome opportunity
for me to stay even longer. I will come home for Christmas either way. Christmas break is 2 weeks long. In January we will be splitting the team up and sending them out to 3 different locations. We will still be doing ministry out in the community and have teaching/discipleship time several times a week. Five of the leaders we have now will not be coming back next semester. So they really need more leaders I will have to raise support all over again. I will have a very short time to do that while I am hope. So I write this to ask for prayer and direction for this upcoming semester.
Wow where do I start......We got back from a week of Beat the Drum this past Saturday. It was an amazing week to say the least. God did so much work in the hearts and lives of not only the students but also the community that we were working in. We arrived to Somerset East, South Africa on Friday, October 10th. That day we got settled in to the places we were staying. We all stayed with different host families. It was so great to get to know the families we were staying with. They were gracious enough to give us a place to stay and provided food for us everyday. We also broke up into teams by what schools we were going to.
Saturday we did a lot of training, going over the curriculum we were going to be teaching in the schools all the next week. God broke so many of the student's lives wide-open all week long. Sunday we had a huge youth rally where we had hundreds of people show up.
Every morning we would come together as a group and spent time in praying and reading the word. We would have someone give a devotional every morning. Then we would split up groups and headed off to the schools. On Monday we showed our school (Johnson) the movie Beat the Drum. My teaching team (Melissa & Beth) taught 8th grade. We taught about the HIV/AIDS virus and abstinence for the rest of the week in the schools. We were introduced to the whole school on the first day. They screamed and hollered for us. They were so excited we were there. Everyday they were so excited to see us. In the classroom it was hard to get them to talk the first few days. On Wednesday morning we prayed that the students would open up and be more responsive to us. On Wednesday it was like a different school, they really started talking and opening up their lives to us.
We also had a team that ministered to the community and farms. Over a hundred people came to know the Lord that week. So many people committed to abstain from sex until marriage. On Friday we had free AIDS testing at the youth center. There were hundreds of people that came for that. It was a very emotional time to say the least. God really did some amazing things in so many lives that week. I think that community will remember that week for a long time. We were very blessed by the support we had from different churches in the community along with the people of the town. They would just come up to us and thank us for coming there and sharing the truth and the gospel.
Here's some pictures I took in Somerset East, South Africa.
This is the church we used for all our meetings/worship
