Honestly, this has probably been the best month on the Race so far, as far as ministry, accommodations, free-time, off-days, adventure days, and all of the other moments in between. This month we spent our time in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (about 12 hours from Cape Town by bus, or about an hour by plane). We were serving at a ministry called Love Story, which is located on a hill looking down onto the ocean and looking up toward a rugby/soccer stadium, cricket field, numerous coffee/thrift/book shops and probably any other type of store you could think of. Honestly, being in PE (Port Elizabeth), felt like being home in so many ways but it was cheaper than the average American cost of living.
In my normal New York life, I have to be in at least a minimum standard of dress (most commonly not wearing Chacos). And, I felt like I had the option to not look like the average American missionary– semi-coordinated outfits and Chacos. So, I didn’t wear my Chacos all month (except for two, very brief, occasions). It was just cool enough (spring is coming to South Africa) to wear close-toed shoes every day, wear a heavy-knit jersey (cardigan), and we could have our clothes washed frequently enough I could wear my single pair of jeans every day if I really wanted.
More importantly than my dress, PE afforded my team many luxuries and other things that we are so accustomed to that we were able to grow together, be challenged, and learn from all of those around us. The six of us lived in the same room that was on the second story of the Love Story office with two other people that live there. We were challenged to choose each other in anything and everything, during and outside of ministry times. And, we learned so much from the Love Story staff, the people that we were serving, from the older ladies in the townships to the young children that lived in orphanage with 40+ others.
Month 3, for me, will be remembered as “A Month without Chacos,” because there is no other single thing that I could attribute to this month. So many truly wonderful things came from it, the internet isn’t big enough to scratch the surface of this month!
Angie
Prayer Requests:
- The discernment for my team to listen to the Lord to see what He wants us to read through this month in our Bible study space,
- To become fully funded by the end of the month ($5, $25, $100, or anything is greatly appreciated), and
- A willing spirit to restart a practice of listening prayer.
Praise Reports
- We safely made it to Mochudi, Botswana for Month 4,
- My team has an entire house to ourselves this month and our cooking for ourselves (my first non-American Thanksgiving is going to be fun), and
- Alexa feels really close to the Lord because He is speaking to her a lot.
