Hello everyone! I am not dead. I am alive and well. I am now in South Africa, Jeffrey’s Bay to be specific. I live in a giant log cabin with my team as well as Sisters, another team. It is hot, but so far there’s been a nice breeze to cool us as we work. Our ministry is called Global Leadership Academy. It’s a private school, and it’s the second best in South Africa. It also teams up with Global Ministries, which hosts expeditions like Adventures in Missions, meaning they send young adults on 11-month missions’ trips all over the world, much like the World Race 11n11. For this first month of our time here, we are doing a lot of physical labor and construction work. Our day starts at 8am. We break for teatime at 10am, then pick back up at 10:30. We keep working until 1pm, which is when we have our lunch. We eat until 2, then keep working until 4pm. We have the rest of the evening off, eating dinner at 6pm.
We are working alongside Sisters and Mosaic, two other teams on the squad. Talitha Koum, now known as WarP, lives about 5 minutes from us. Salt & Light and Relentless live in Johannesburg, 12 hours away from us. This is the first time we’ve been separated like this, so it’s been interesting living without everyone in the same building.
Being in South Africa has been a huge relief for me. For one, it’s Africa, and I’ve been to Africa before (Kenya specifically). Also, the feeling of community has been so present that I immediately felt right at home when we moved into our living accommodations. All of the people living here have been so inviting and kind. Wendy is our house mom. She lives on the property with her husband and daughter. She cooks our meals during the week. Mulder (pronounced “Moulder,” like boulder but with an m) and Nikkie are brothers, and they live next door. They are in their 20s, so we hang out with them outside of ministry. Last weekend, they gave us a tour of Jeffrey’s Bay, mainly along the beach. They’ve given us recommendations and warnings, so it’s a blessing that they’re here. They watch movies with us and are making us dinner tonight.
Next month, our ministry will most likely change. We’ll stay with GLA (Global Leadership Academy), but we’ll be working with the school. From past Racers, I’ve seen that they tutor the students outside of their class times and in other ways. Their school year runs from January to November.
Getting settled here has been a lot easier compared to arriving in Costa Rica. Everything feels a lot more like home. I can’t wait to see what God has in store while I’m staying here!
