I have enjoyed the southern part of Africa in general but South Africa keeps getting better. We went on a safari hunt at a game farm for 3 days and it was a blast. They have a large amount of antelope. They also have jackals, hyenas, one leopard and many other creatures. My love for animals has only increased since being here. I have been on 3 safaris now but this was a completely different experience than the other safaris. Also reminding myself of the fun that Christian men can have together. Lastly this trip reminded me that my voice matters in a spirit filled environment. I am accepted because I have favor from the Lord. I am unique. I can be myself.
Hanging out with men over the years has made me realize that we are not made to be religious robots. We are adventurous and full of energy. We went with about 12 guys total. The three guys from my squad, two men who work as staff at the base and the rest were gap year guys.
I loved this trip because I got to hang out with guys and just have fun. The two men from the Impact Africa base came with us and they planned it. They were so much fun. I hadn’t seen that side of them that I was seeing. They were exaggerating their voices to make themselves sound diffrent and it seemed like all the time. They always had something funny to say.
I loved hanging out with everybody. Getting to hunt was so intense. When I first heard that we might go hunting. I was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe it! There are a lot of restrictions with the world race and I didn’t expect to do anything like this. One of the gap year guys burst into the room when he heard the news of what we were doing. “We are going to go kill some stuff.” He explained. Everyone was really excited. Putting an animal in the scope of your rifle is exhilarating.
We went camping as well and were there for 3 days. We killed 7 animals total. I really wanted to shoot one and was always in the truck looking out very intently. We packed each truck with about 6 people. Some people had to stay behind. But they got to go on the next run.
It is not like deer hunting in the states. That takes a lot more patience. We actually see a lot of animals. We drive around and stopped if we saw any movement. There was a lot of wildebeest, four were killed by our group. One Impala, and two trophy sized Kudu. This trip had a lot of variables to it. The farm has a ton of antelope with different varieties. Most of them are too expensive to shoot. It was cool to see them all nonetheless. Our group would all talk with anticipation of what we wanted to shoot. We changed our minds a lot according to what we were spotting.
I was really itching to shoot a male Impala. They are the cheapest animal you can pay for. Eventually I just went for a wildebeest because the impala seemed very skittish. We saw a lot of wildebeest and they were giving us a better shot. I had one in my scope from a very long range. I missed… I didn’t feel good about it when I had him in the scope. Sure, enough I missed high maybe.
It was tough because Mason and Logan our mentors if you will from Impact wanted all of us to get a chance at killing one. We had only two rifles; 30.6. With two trucks. Other than my long shot. I didn’t have a lot of opportunities. Other than my one shot. The other animals would just slip away at the last moment.
We got to eat the meat of the animals we killed which was cool. Logan is a very good with the steak. It was amazing. Not only that but we got to skin one of the wildebeests. It was a great learning experience. We all got a chance to slice it up if we wanted to, which I believe everyone did. I am super grateful for Mason for showing us how to do that.
I kept thinking, man if one of my brothers shoots a deer back in the states I could probably skin it now! Actually a few of my family members are hunters, I am not. It would have been intriguing to get my first big game in South Africa no less. I wanted to have a story for my brothers and dad to share. To shoot an animal in Africa. That would have been awesome! These antelope roam around with lions, hyenas, leopards and elephants in the wild; crazy.
I know everyone enjoyed eating marinated meat after a long day of hunting. It is an awesome feeling to shoot something, skin it and then eat it hours later over a fire under the night sky. Very rewarding. I feel like this is what men love to do.
I loved goofing off with everyone. Everyone was so funny. It felt like we were always laughing. There was a lot of crude humor. I am having so much more fun being loose about that kind of thing. As people we have fun by joking around. But in the past, I was very careful about what I said. 3 years ago I have gradually loosened up. We should be careful about what we say. I mean we represent Christ. That is huge responsibility. How we carry ourselves matters. Our words I mean. But I am not so uptight anymore about what people say all the time. I came from a rough past of terrible relationships with a lot of disrespectful words being spoken and I think after I became a Christian I assumed that I would let all crude joking go. I would have no place for it. This race has been freeing in that respect of breaking out of some of my religious tendencies from my upbringing. Reminds me of my community back home. I was not ok with some of the things they were joking about and I was shocked at first. But now being on the race and again having to deal with some of that. I had to ask myself “am I wrong”. Have I misinterpreted scripture? As is with all of us, my experience has shaped how I view things. In pertaining to this topic about joking about certain things that some might take as offensive. I have had to be humble and seek to understand.
Being around Christian people my age, has changed my perspective. This trip especially being with a lot of men. It can get kind of crazy with a lot of men on a camping trip. But its so cool. I am so glad I haven’t missed out on the fun by letting us be ourselves in a God honoring way. I have found freedom in knowing I’m acting according to Gods word without crossing any lines that I shouldn’t and this trip was like and oh yah moment of how I have grown so much in letting stuff go.
This leads into another topic, my struggle to develop relationships with people.
I have always known that in my life I have struggled to make connections with people. Let alone with other men. I find it easier to be by myself. But I always knew that something was missing. But by the age of 20 maybe I just gave up on it. I wouldn’t have realized that then but when I look back. I think it was true. It comes from being insecure about who I was. Not feeling like I could be myself. It has been a journey learning about being real with myself and then people. I have had to get vulnerable and be transparent since I have become a Christian. I want to have relationships that matter. That are biblical. That have care and love for the other person in it. I was made for relationships. Finding my identity in Christ even more this year has been awesome. I had relationships before the race with my community back home, but it still felt a little forced. Like ok I will do this because I know I need it and it is what the Lord wants. It felt superficial sometimes. Spending a lot of time with the Lord on the race and being around people all the time has forced me to deal with this issue even more. The Lords work on the race and before has allowed me to enjoy this last month with these young incredible men of God. Without His prompting, I would have never known the extent of my lack of relationship. No way. None of this would have been possible without the Lord. He gave me the motivation. If not for his prompting I would have avoided the people aspect of christanity. It excites me for when I go home to dive deeper into my relationships back home in the states.
At the heart of my issue was that I feared that if I let on who I really was, I would be rejected. But now let’s say I do get rejected. I know God loves me so who cares. I can push through uncomfortably to be myself because I trust Gods goodness enough. I still have to step into confidence in the Lord everyday and not in myself. My everything has to be in the Lord.
Being in Africa with all these gap year guys has really encouraged me. They are a lot of fun.
Lastly men of God who pursue the Lord are easy to love. Because you know they aren’t judging for things the world is. They see your heart. If your kind and you love the Lord. They get it, you can be yourself and they understand you make mistakes. So, comforting to be around men who gave up their lives for about a year to grow and preach the gospel to all nations. If it wasn’t for Holy spirit filled beings this wouldn’t be possible. It is truly amazing. I am accepted. Firstly, by Jesus Praise God.
What a fun journey the Lord is taking me on. These experiences I will remember forever. Shooting things, bonfires, and eating good food. The three days was filled with adventure. Also, lessons learned for the future. Hope you all are encouraged!
