Hello!!! Since arriving here in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa a little over three weeks ago, life has been nothing short of the most incredible whirlwind! Here’s my best attempt at catching you up, filling you in, and giving you a glimpse of what my new home away from home looks like!
To start, here’s a quick rundown of how our first travel day (more like week) really went!
Monday, September 9th:
10:00AM shuttle from hotel —> ATL Airport
3:00PM MARTA train from Airport —> Bus Station
6:00PM Megabus from ATL —> DC (15 hours)
Tuesday, September 10th:
10:00AM Metro from Union Station —> Alexandria
11:00AM Shuttle to IAD Airport
8:30PM flight from IAD —> Doha, Qatar (13 hours)
*4 hour layover*
Wednesday, September 11th:
9:30PM (time changed!) flight from Doha —> Johannesburg, SA (8 hours)
*12 hour layover*
Thursday, September 12th:
6:00PM flight from Joburg —> Port Elizabeth, SA (1.5 hours)
8:00PM 1 hour bus ride from P.E. to Jeffrey’s Bay!
9:00PM Arrive in Jbay after 80 hours of travel!!!
You’ll notice that while we spent lots of time on buses, planes, and trains, we more frequently had a lot of waiting time. While we were all exhausted and just ready to arrive already, this time allowed us to bond well as a squad and get to know each other before we embarked on this exciting adventure! We brushed our teeth in airport sinks, slept on bus station floors, ate our meals thousands of miles above the ground, and got to know the people we’d be spending the next 9 months of our lives with.
Now for what you’ve all been waiting for! What have I been doing here over these last 3 weeks?! The simple answer: life looks different every day! Currently, I’m living in a cabin that I swear to you looks like it was made out of Lincoln Logs! Our house is on the property of Global Leadership Academy (GLA), a private Christian day and boarding school that was founded with the purpose of giving children an education who wouldn’t otherwise have access to it. My team (Halal) is living in one bunk room! We each have our own bed and we all share a bathroom. In the rest of the house live the other 4 teams and leaders. Our cabin has a kitchen and common room, where we share meals and worship and movie nights and laughter together each and every day. Monday through Friday are our set ministry days each week! The first week, our team’s ministry was basically “kitchen and kids!” You could find me helping prepare lunch and dinner for our whole squad, and taking care of our ministry hosts’ children, along with the children of some of the teachers on GLA’s campus. After that first week, we went to camp! For 5 days, all 32 of us were camp counselors at Uniting Christian Students Association (UCSA), a Christian summer camp 100 meters from the beach in downtown Jeffrey’s Bay! I lived in a cabin with 12 middle school girls and 5 of my teammates! On the first day, I was chosen as a camp leader, and therefore was given the opportunity to plan games and events for the whole week we were there! While this may seem like a job right up my alley, this leadership position was unlike any I’d ever been in before, in that I had no clue what I was doing. With no time to prepare or really receive and understand instructions, myself and the other 3 camp leaders were thrown into what would be a week that taught me a lot about servant leadership and ultimately about relying on the Lord for my strength! So that’s what I did! With every early morning leader meeting and late night camper shower hour, I found myself finding rest in the fact that without Jesus, I can do literally nothing. It’s crazy how free you feel when you actually allow yourself to believe that! But back to camp! So, for 5 days, we hosted 160 campers ages 8 to 18 and taught them the unconditional love of Jesus through worship, testimonies, beach games, community outreach, and ultimately through building friendships with them. I was beyond exhausted by the last day, and caught myself saying “I’m so ready to go home!” The crazy part, though, was that when I said that I meant our house at GLA, not mine back in Easton, MD. I say that not because I don’t miss everyone back in the States (because of course, I do!), but to show just how much I feel at home here and with these people.
So that brings me to this past week, which has been the hardest one thus far. At the beginning of the week, I received the heartbreaking news from home that my 18 year old cousin Johnny had tragically passed away in a car accident. My immediate reaction was shock, which over the week developed into an unexplainable feeling of sadness and grief that I was trying to cope with thousands of miles away from my family. While I had the option to take a break and really process what was going on, I instead chose to throw myself back into ministry in an effort to numb my sadness and not think about the pain of my family back at home, who was grieving the loss of an amazing son, brother, nephew, grandson, cousin, and friend, among the many other things that Johnny was to his community. I thought it would be more bearable this way; if I just distracted myself. But the Lord showed me differently. On Wednesday morning, I woke up sick with a fever that forced me to rest and to be alone with my thoughts and with the Lord. I prayed for a while and over those few days I was reminded of John 13:7, where Jesus is washing the feet of his disciples and tells them “Although you may not now know what I am doing, soon you will understand.” It was through this verse and the promises that God has given me that I felt peace and comfort. While I’ll never be able to understand why Johnny’s life was taken so soon, I am able to rest in the fact that I believe in a God who works ALL things together for the good of His children. His plans are perfect and that He knew the number of days Johnny would have here on Earth before he was even knitted together in his mother’s womb. And that while my heart still aches for Johnny’s family and friends and those of us that knew and loved him, I have been meditating on the fact that the Lord is my hope and through Him, I have complete access to perfect peace. Through this, I’m continuing to pray for and think of those at home and am learning myself how to best love them from afar.
Towards the end of last week my ministry was working in some of the classrooms on GLA’s campus, cleaning, putting up and painting walls in preparation for the students to come back from holiday this Tuesday. This time allowed for a lot of fruitful conversation within my teammates and provided opportunities for us to give back to the school that is hosting us. I also found out last week that I am on one of the teams staying in Jeffrey’s Bay until December, while the others will head to Johannesburg for the next two months. I’m so excited to be able to stay here and further the friendships I’ve made with people in this community already! I’m expectant to see what the Lord will do during this time and can’t wait to continue discovering new things about this cute little surf town.
Every week, my team does something called “Super Feedback,” where we all give each other both positive and constructive feedback about how we observe each other living. The first week was slightly uncomfortable, as one may imagine, but ultimately it’s a great opportunity for us to call each other higher and also give one another words of encouragement. During my feedback, many of my teammates spoke of how much they love how intentional I am with my relationships with others, and also how well I live where my feet are. This was so encouraging to hear because it’s not something I would’ve noticed about myself beforehand. With that being said, one of the goals I have for myself over these next 9 months, and for the rest of my life, really, is to always be present where I am and to always live where my feet are. To not dwell on what’s happened in the past or to dream about what could happen in the future, because it’s in those moments that I’ll miss out on what God has in store for me right now. My graduation quote was “Live every second as if it’s the moment for which you have been created,” which comes from Esther 4. So that’s how I’m going to live. I want to experience all the little joys of the everyday things. I want to find the good even in the mundane and seemingly pointless jobs. I want to focus on building community with the people around me, even if it means distancing myself from the people I left at home for a little while. Because it’s when I’m present here and now that I’ll get to fully experience all of the things that God has set out for me here. And the thought of that is so exciting to me! So, there’s a little glimpse of where my feet are – for now!
Thank you to all who have reached out to me with words of love and encouragement! They are so appreciated and are super helpful to read on days when home seems so far away. I’m so grateful for the amazing friends and family I have supporting me along this journey. I miss and love you all so much and am constantly praying for blessings over you all!
In His love,
Carol 🙂
