Molweni…Unjani…Igamalam Ndingu…Ndingo wase Melika.
Hello…How are you…My name is…I am from America. (In the Xhosa language)
So it’s day 6 since we arrived in South Africa!
The country where Nelson Mandela was President, the currency is rand, there are 11 official languages, and where Cricket is the major sport played/watched (it’s like baseball but weird lol).
After 4 days of traveling (16 hour flight, overnight stay in Johannesburg, 7 hour wait in the bus station, 13 hour bus ride, 2 hour taxi ride) we have safely arrived to the east coast of South Africa.
My team and I are living in a small beach town called Port St. Johns. People here speak Xhosa. Almost all the signs/billboards are in English but people kinda only speak Xhosa. The scenery here is beautiful. It’s super green with the beach super close by. (I swear the Lord strategically chose this location specifically for me…He is good all the time!). This is a small touristy beach town for German tourists/backpackers but we can pretty much count the non-black people we see in this town. Let’s just say my team and I are instantly recognizable when walking around town, which to be honest I am still trying to figure out if it’s a good, bad or whatever thing.
Our ministry host here in Port St. Johns is a dedicated, funny, and sarcastic Man of God named Salomon. He’s a man with silent power. He doesn’t have to say much but is taken seriously. Unfortunately, he has been sick the last few months so please keep him in your prayers.
His ministry focuses on supporting youth of the town and surrounding villages, mainly high school age. He supports them with housing, food, mentoring, spiritual guidance and college readiness. (He actually left today with two of his boys who are starting their first year of college in a big urban city called Cape Town…talk about an intimidating transition for these boys who are first-generation college students).
Just being here a few times, I can already tell the youth in this town truly respect him and look up to him. He seems like a father to the boys, seeing that many come from single-parent households & live in remote villages outside Port St. Johns.
My team and I are here to partner with Salomon. We come with a short-term agenda to contribute to his long-term vision. We are here to support him in his vision to bring the love of God to Port St. Johns, or as the youth say PSJ. We are here to love him and support him in bringing about a bigger impact in his community. My team and I are very excited to be here!
Please keep us in your prayers, we will be visiting local schools and villages in the next two weeks. We are not quite sure what we will be doing but we just hope to be Jesus’ hands and feet in all that we do.
I’m a bit nervous so pray for me pleasssssse!
Love,
Claudia
