In this blog, I will tell you about my journey to Namibia by showing you what each place we went to was like for me and my team. I’ll also mention to you about the type of ministry I am doing now and I truly hope that it allows you to see what the Lord can do when we listen and trust His decisions. I hope you enjoy this.
I’ll start by mentioning that in the beginning of the month, my World Race squad of 20 people left from Jakarta, Indonesia and flew to Johannesburg, South Africa for our 5th month on our journey. It was a month where we were supposed to be in Botswana, but since we are on the Unscripted route, we also could go to other places. Something that was cool was that I had also already been to South Africa two years ago and I when I was on the plane I had a lot of thoughts like, “South Africa was such an amazing time where I felt really loved and I’m excited for more of the ministry in Botswana.” Unfortunately I was also told that when we arrived to Johannesburg, we would have to leave the area because it wasn’t safe due to there being an election for the South African president that Wednesday, so we all had to travel to Pretoria instead. I knew this experience would be exciting.
After my team had known that we were going to be in Pretoria, we figured out that we had some different options, which were to stay for a night with my friend, Wianè who I haven’t seen in over two years or we could stay with one of the World Race host for the traditional routes for the same night on our way to Upington, South Africa. After a lot of thought towards this, my team decided to stay with the traditional route host because we had to catch a bus at 4:30 a.m., so we bought the bus tickets that night and we all were pumped for the journey. While we were in Jakarta, we also felt called to go out west to Namibia, so that was another reason for us traveling towards Upington. We all agreed that God was always going to lead the way.
The next thing I’ll mention is that while I was at the host’s house it was the first day I arrived from Asia to Africa and I must say that it was a day of relaxation. It was a time that my team needed and it was also pretty cool that when I was on the bus on the way to Upington, my team met a man who was really funny and he was told us that he was from the Congo and that he was becoming a pastor in a university in South Africa and he was awesome. He also took pictures with us and I felt like he was someone who was good to talk to because it was our first real long distance travel here in Africa and we felt it was really cool to have just randomly met him and I hope to see him again in his home country of the Congo one day.
Something that also cool while we were in Upington was that we also rented an AirBnB from a guy named Eddy who after we met him we find out that he was another pastor, but one who was retired. In fact, when I met him I felt like he was a friendly guy who I could talk to about different things and it was during that moment that I knew God was already going before my team on our journey across the country and He was already making some divine connections happen and I that made me excited for more of them.
Then three days later we said goodbye to Eddy and his wife and traveled another 12 hours to Windhoek, Namibia, which was the next location we felt God call us to, which sounded like a cool place to me. However, it also was during this time, that all of us were extremely tired from the long distance travel and I was the only one who wasn’t sick, which wasn’t fun for any of us. We also had a hard time to find a place just for a few nights there because the prices were really high and out of the budget we had to spend and after being there for a day or two, we knew that we needed to leave quickly and that we couldn’t be there for a long time. Something that also happened was when we rented an AirBnB house, but the owner gave it to another person. It was actually on the day we arrived and the most unfortunate part was that we all didn’t even have our phones work there without WiFi, so we had no way of checking for a new place. However, it wasn’t just a bad time, like when we got off the bus needing WiFi and ending up going to the a coffee shop for it and one of the workers, Mark said to us, “Yes we do have WiFi” and he then asked us “Where are you all from?” We then told him that we were from the United States and he then mentioned that he had lived in the United States as well and grew up there, but now he has lived in Windhoek for a couple of years and it was at that moment that I knew God was there for us. He was also helpful for us because he even offered to drive us to a hostel that he felt might have been in our budget, but it wasn’t when we didn’t have a place to stay. We eventually got a place that was really expensive and nice and I am always going to be grateful for his help and hope to see him again when I come back there.
Another thing that I found that was really cool in Windhoek was when my team got to randomly meet a guy named Travis who was someone I had messaged through the CouchSurfing app. One of the reasons why I wanted to connect with him was because I wanted to stay with him, which I wasn’t able to, but I also wanted to get to know the area more and he was willing to show me around. So as I’m sitting with the rest of my team in Mark’s coffee shop, I had just messaged him about seeing the area and I found it cool that right when I did, he actually walked into the room. As I started talking to him, he had another CouchSurfer staying with him as well, which was cool and he even told my team that when we both were available, we could come to his apartment and he would cook us dinner someday during that week, which sounded awesome. However, my team ended up leaving Windhoek after a few days there and we unfortunately never got to hang out with him and visit his place and I hope that I will be able to go back there and spend time with him and his fiancé.
My team then decided to leave Windhoek and wanted to go to a place called Walvis Bay, which is an area near the coast of Namibia. We all wanted to go there because we all felt like God had some amazing ministry opportunities for us there and we felt like it was the final place he wanted us to travel to. Something that we also liked was that it was an area where we were able to find an AirBnB house that was in our budget, which sounded good and we all felt like we wanted to check out the beach. We also thought that it could be a place where there are kids everywhere outside always wanting to play soccer with us, which I knew would be awesome. I also thought that there could be a church there and I was excited for that as well.
Then when we arrived I found out that there is a lady in that community who teaches a Bible study to kids once a week and I got to watch it and thought it was really cool to see it because I loved the fact that all of the kids were praising God by singing songs and just enjoying their time in the presence of the Lord. I could definitely feel like Jesus is going to be involved with more of the people there too. It was also cool to witness the joy that the kids have in that community as well. On the first day we got there, my team started playing soccer with each other and after that we started playing it with them and we found that it is a cool way of interacting with them and allows us to get to know that community more. I’m excited for the days to come with them.
In the end, as you can tell, we have had some incredible experiences while we have been in Africa and I am really excited for more of those opportunities to occur as we continue our journey in Namibia and everywhere else that we go to. I believe that God has some amazing things for us here that we won’t be able to explain to others and I believe that He will give us some friendships that will never end. I also believe that by coming here, listening to God’s call for us, we will be used by Him to teach the kids and the rest of the community good things and I’m really excited for that. May God’s glory be shown everywhere in Namibia.
