Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

 

There are so many things I want to share with you and stories I want to tell. Pages and pages of journal notes filled. 

 

It feels impossible to believe I left my parents house in Dahlonega, GA almost a month ago. 

 

I have learned so much in the past twenty or so days days about myself, who I want to be, who God created me to be. 

 

There have been so many barriers this month already… So many obstacles in the way. But our team has been such a blessing in our flexibility and willingness to move forward with a positive attitude.

 

When we first got to South Africa we arrived around 4:30am in the morning… because of a brief misunderstanding where our hosts expected to pick us up at 4:30pm, we boarded the train to be picked up in Pretoria where we were spending the month. 

 

Our first few days were mainly about Jet Lag and getting comfortable with each other. Our accommodations this month are amazing. We are set up in BEAM house where we have a dining area, a kitchen, and the 3 of us girls have a room with 6 bunk beds and the 3 boys have there own room with 6 bunk beds. There is hot water and we get to grocery shop and cook our own meals. We feel blessed and spoiled. 

 

However, this month has not been without its share of trials. 

  • Within the first few days of arriving, water main busted and flooded their ceiling and offices that led into our living spaces. It resulted in no power and hot water for a short period of time. 

 

  • Then we found out that the hall where they host their life skills classes (which was supposed to be our main ministry for the month) had been rented out to a different government organization for the whole month. So our ministry changed to mainly manual labor. 

 

  • Our host also had some personal family things happening in the first week 

 

  • Security threats in the area are high and there is always an alarm set at night

 

  • One of the ministry sites they work with had a child pass away from HIV

 

  • Our hosts friends passed away from being mauled by a Lion. 

 

Yet the generosity and joyful spirit of our hosts has not been dampened. It breaks my heart to hear the nonchalant way horrible events are described here, because they are so common place that no one bats an eye. So many stories about what happens in the townships, about the corruption, racism, prejudice, and deaths. Everytime our host repeats back… Well, this is Africa. 

 

As I sit here this month, hearing those stories, hearing the testimonies of my teammates, thinking of my own trials in life thus far, I’m struck by the need to compare.

 

To compare my circumstances to theirs, to compare our teams ministry to others, to compare even the experience of my teammates to my own. Yet… I keep coming back to a verse we talked about at Training Camp. 

 

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

 

-Romans 12:6-8

 

We are not meant to lead the same lives, we are not meant to have the same gifts. I can not control your circumstances and background anymore than I can control my own. What I am called to… is to be the best me.  To take the gifts I have been given and use them to spread LOVE and JOY to any person I encounter… this includes my team, my squad, my hosts, the people of South Africa, the people of the next 11 countries, and the people I left behind back in the states. 

 

So as I sit here and wonder what my life would have been like had I been born in South Africa, I challenge myself to retrain the thought. What will my life be like now that I have been to South Africa. Will I be more generous and kind? A better teacher, listener, and friend? 

 

This year is about the people. And sometimes when you encounter impossible situations the only way to help, is to be the best you that you can be. 

 

<3 Y’all

 

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: 

I am about 75 percent funded! 😀 You guys have been amazing. As we end the first month, I need just under $5000. Please consider donating! Thank you!