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11 things I have learned in South Africa

  1. Ministry looks many different ways. It could be digging holes, planting gardens, chopping veggies, feeding the homeless, playing with kids, or bible studies! It is all ministry 
  2. Getting a piercing can serve God! So back story: 4 of us decided to get ear piercings the second day of being in SA and while we were there we were able to talk to and connect with two girls at the shop and plan to return, with their coffee orders, to further develop their relationships with the father! 
  3. God uses a multitude of tools (focus not on the tool but on what God is doing with it)
  4. We are not called to be fruitful but to be faithful! Our host pastor Luke gave us an unofficial sermon one night after City Feed (a nightly feed the homeless initiative). My biggest take away from his talk was that so often we focus to the fruit of a task but Hod does not call us to be fruitful, he simply calls us to be faithful to his and his will for us! Sometimes we get to see that fruit and sometimes we don’t. Be faithful anyways! 
  5. There can still be a language barrier when the language is English! For example: A traffic light is called a robot, sweaters are jerseys, a diaper is a nappie, a truck is a bakkie, a BBQ is a braai (and is so much better than burgers and dogs), and so much more! 
  6. Don’t marry a guy who is a fan! Marry a man who is a grater (iron sharpens iron), someone who is willing to point out and scrape away the things that need refining in our lives. (Thanks Jeff for always being willing to make me mad when it’s for my own good)
  7. I am worth waiting for. I am worth the pain that my family and friends are experiencing because I am a daughter of God who is following her calling! 
  8. My family and friends can live and even grow without me there. I have seen so many people growing already with me gone. People growing in their walk with God and people learning to communicate without me as the middle man. It has been beautiful to see growth and see myself rely on God to work in my friends and family. He doesn’t need me to be the vessel.
  9. God is the most beautiful artist and he is so gratuitous to share his creation with us! The way he designed nature and animals and people is glorious and awe inspiring. I know I need to be grateful for this more often! (Okay this  is a cop out because I already knew this but I relearned it) 
  10. You can get offered citizenship in South Africa if you are willing to get your face painted, dance, and eat the whole chicken from head to foot (yes literally the head and the foot must be eaten).
  11. Being in South Africa (a not 3rd world country) makes me realize how much ministry there is to do in the US! I am on fire to come back to America and be a light to people in my local community!