I’ve been back in the States for a little over a month now and my blog has remained silent. About time for an update, right?
Where do I begin? My team spent our last month in South Africa and of all the places I’ve ever been, South Africa is hands down the most beautiful. On the drive from Jo-burg to Cape town, I would look out the window and just be amazed at the scenery. Seriously, if you ever have the chance to go to South Africa, go. It’s awesome and you’ll love it!
^The view from the bus… it looks way better in person!^
For our ministry all month, we were paired with two other teams (Wildfire and Lionheart) to work with Kingdom Sports ministry in Cape Town. Our host, Bradley, a former pro-international soccer player and his wife Joslyn run a sports ministry for kids in Ocean View (picture the bad part of your town, and that should give you a pretty good picture of life in OV). Bradley and Joslyn felt like God was calling them to give up their house to use it for a missionary house. They live with a family member and keep their house open for missionaries from all over the world that need a place to stay. They even let my team stay there and it was wonderful. We had hot water, a kitchen, bedrooms and a living room. If we had stayed much longer we’d have been spoiled.
^Ocean View^
Everyday we’d go to the local park to teach soccer drills/play with kids/spend one-on-one time with the kids/share the Gospel. It was perfect because all of the kids were on winter break (yep, July is the middle of winter for South Africa) and they loved coming to play with us. Most of these kids come from broken homes. Drug use is high in this area, and they’ve seen their own parents using drugs. A lot of times, the kids learn to fend for themselves at an early age because it’s the only way to survive.
^Some of the “Littles” that spent their days with us^
These kids were starved for affection. The little ones would sit in your lap and listen to stories or play games (“Duck, duck, goose” was a fave), while the older ones played soccer. The girls loved playing hairstylist and anytime you’d sit down, 3-4 girls would ask if they could fix your hair.
^These boys would play soccer all.the.time if they could^
At the end of each afternoon, we would gather together for a devotion before heading to lunch.
^Davis sharing a word^
For our last day with the kids, we had a marshmallow brie (aka marshmallow roast) for them. They loved it and even though it was cold and rainy, their spirits weren’t dampened a bit.
^Dani and Lynn showing the kids the proper way to roast a marshmallow^
On one of our off days in Simon’s Town, I came across this guy. Isn’t he cute?
So, now I’m back in the USA. A question that I keep getting since I’ve been of the race is “what’s next?” To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. The obvious next step is a looking for a job but I really don’t know beyond that. I’m open to any new adventures that God calls me on and I know that He is faithful and will continue to lead me.
To all of my supporters, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. You enabled me to go on this adventure the past 11 months and I am so grateful. God bless and keep you all!
