Daaaaaang this month went fast. I cannot believe I leave South Africa and this awesome ministry in only a few days. I thought Nepal was pretty sweet, but this month has been amazing in so many ways.
**Getting to be with 3 other teams at one ministry site
**Going to the beach every day
**Frequenting the bakery/sweet shop right next door every day. And I mean every day (I shamelessly have a tab there)
**Meeting locals and backpackers and hanging out by the fire every night
**Bomvu drum dance parties
**Dogs everywhere, and a few that sleep outside my tent every night
**Worship every day
And that’s just a very few that come to mind. This has been a month of incredible blessings with good food, beautiful surroundings, and awesome kids to play with. I had my own room all month (my tent) so I was able to recharge a lot with alone time. If my rain fly was zipped, then I wasn’t home or accepting visitors! My Bible time was good this month and I learned a few new songs on the guitar. In the feast and famine of World Race culture, this was definitely a FEAST.
My afternoon reading spot.
We also had a Christmas in July party this month! It was so much fun. Since we’re over halfway now, and homesickness isn’t exactly going away, we threw a party to get some of that homesickness out. I played D.J. with the music all night and lit up the place with some Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra tunes that took us all back to our parents living rooms Christmas Eve. We had a few contests among teams. We had a tree decorating contest where one of the team members was the tree. We had a team Christmas song dance off and White Elephant gift exchange.
All decked out in my new Christmas sweater with a prop from our dance!
Carrie and I shared a Christmas pizza made by a staff member here. It was the first pizza I’ve had in a LONG time. It was too good.
The last week and a half of ministry wrapped up with more soccer. You know, me dominating on the soccer field…a.k.a. goofing around and messing with the kids until the ball came my way and completely missing it. Whether I was good or not – I still thoroughly enjoyed this ministry!
This is MY house!
The last part of our ministry was baptism. We had the honor of baptizing about 30 kids yesterday and today. They were kids from both the soccer and surfing ministries that had listened to our message we brought at the end of the games every day and decided for themselves that they wanted to be baptized Christians. Even though about 80% of South Africans are Christians, that isn’t the normal statistic for these rural Africans in Coffee Bay. It’s mostly Ancestral worship here. So, yesterday and today we went to the ocean and dunked them – it was awesome!
Explaining the Gospel to the kids to make sure they understand.
They were so proud and happy!
After each one came up from the water, they’d jump around and come running out of the water!
We made them certificates to hold on to so they could remember their special day.
This month has been huge for me. Apart from the ministry that I enjoyed so much, I was able to break off huge soul ties that were holding me down from the past. For whatever reason, this month was God’s timing for me to lose oppression that has weighed me down most of my life. I keep thinking this year can’t get better…God can’t possible show me greater things than this…he can’t possibly do more work in me and BAMM! with a Bible slap straight to the face. That’s how he works though. He is so GREAT. He is worthy of every second of praise I can choke out.
That’s why I’m here…I’m learning how to praise him in everything I do. Whether it’s playing soccer, eating breakfast, preaching, or having quiet time on the beach – I am learning to glorify Him in all of it. It’s incredible.
Also…I finished my leg tattoo (sorry Mom). I tattooed Angel Falls down my leg. I think it turned out pretty groovy…
So for my South African conclusion…I don’t really know how to wrap up this month. It seems each month that I’m abroad experiencing more cultures and seeing God revealed again and again, it seems I’m becoming more and more myself. And we always say around here that the more you look like Christ, the more you look like yourself.
That’s my prayer y’all…to become more and more like Christ so I look more like Him.
