I want to thank my faithful readers, for being so patient with me as it has been a long time since I have posted a blog. We have had little to no internet access the past two months and the only internet access I have had was not on my own computer, so blog posting has been extremely difficult. Anyway, I just want to update you on what has been going on.
October was our first month in South Africa. My old team, team Mosaic, had Unsung Heros. It was a good time full of meeting lots of new and amazing people who are doing big things for the Kingdom. At the end of the month, we came to Nelspruit, South Africa for debrief.
It was at debrief that team changes were announced. I went from being on a team with 5 other girls to a co-ed team of 7. Dynamic shifts were inevitable, but I believe it has been a smooth and healthy transition. Debrief was originally going to last until the 4th of November, upon which we would then move onto Swaziland. However, we were also kind of in limbo with our India Visa’s.
When we first got to South Africa at the beginning of October, our faithful logistics team began working on submitting all the proper paperwork etc. to get our India visa’s. As October came to an end and November began, we were still fighting to get our visa’s. India visa’s are a hard thing to get! Between the India embassy being so strict and the South African government also being very strict it was a challenging task! Since our passports were with the paperwork to get the visa’s, we were kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place waiting to move on. Our date of departure continued to get pushed back. It was by the 9th of November that we realized things were going to take a bit longer. We were in desperate need of new accommodations. The hostel we were staying at was nice, but it was a little out of our price range for a longer stay.
One of my squad mates got online researching for a new place to stay when she found Manna church. It is a mega-church in Nelspruit, complete with a camping ground on-site. We contacted them to see if they had ministry opportunities for us while we were still in South Africa and if they could host us as well. They agreed and we moved there the next day.
We were supposed to be there for a week hopefully. We joined them for church service that Sunday and on Monday, they started handing out tasks. All of the tasks involved helping them to clean/ take care of their property. We divided into our teams and got to work. My team had gardening. It was a rather grueling task at times, but we could see the fruits of our labor each day. I learned a lot about pulling weeds and how to prune plants. The men were assigned a different task, so it was just the ladies gardening, but we had so much fun and enjoyed many a good conversation while in the garden.
As that week came to an end and our India visa’s still weren’t back yet, our leadership had to make the decision to stay in South Africa for the rest of November. Since there is a lot of civil unrest happening in Mozambique right now, it was decided that at the end of November, we would move onto to Swaziland. We will not be going to Mozambique. Right now, we will be going to 10 countries in 11 months. The chance of going to another country is still possible. AIM is working hard at trying to find a way to make that happen. Whether we do go or not, I am content with our trip. I fully believe that God had this happen for a reason and am trusting Him to see what He has for this time.
Anyway, we spent the remainder of our time at Manna church gardening. We moved from one garden to the other. I really enjoyed it actually. It was hard work, but very fruitful. Since we were staying through Thanksgiving, we were able to celebrate together as a squad. It was amazing. My team leader, Phil, is a chef so you know we ate good. 🙂 We had a beautiful meal and invited the pastor’s family to join us. It was a grand evening.
As the month came to an end, we finally got our visa’s back. We were set to go to Swaziland! It was a time of celebration! However, it was also a time of sadness as we also were preparing to say good bye to our beloved squad leaders. Vanessa, Suzanne, and Stacy are racer’s who had gone on the World race before hand and were now squad leading our squad for the first five months of our race. They are our mentors. At debrief, they announced new squad leaders from within our squad that they raised up. They spent the time at Manna training the new squad leaders to take their place and at the end of November, they left us and flew home. Before they left, we had a night where each team did a skit in tribute of them. It was so fun- and also quite hilarious!
On November 29th, our squad finally parted ways to go to Swaziland. Three teams were going to Manzini and 3 teams were going to Soco. My team is one of the three in Manzini, but more on that in my next blog. So that is how my past time has been. God has been faithful and gracious. His ways are always higher than ours and no matter how I think things should work out, I know that His plan is much better than anything I could possibly think up.
South Africa is beautiful and I do love it very much, but I am definitely ready for a new country. I am excited for our time in Swaziland. It is the country I am looking forward to the most on our route. Here’s to more adventures! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. I certainly feel them! God bless!
Cheers,
Kayla
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
** Praises!!!! I am only $48 away from being fully funded! God is so good! I want to say thank you to an anonymous donor who helped make this real. I do not know who you are, but thank you for sowing into the Kingdom on my behalf. I pray that God would continue to use me as I travel sharing His Word. Thank you to all of my supporters. I could not be doing this if it wasn’t for you. Thank you for believing in me and the mission that God has for me. Glory to God!
