South Africa was absolutely amazing! It will probably be one of my favorite months, if not my favorite. I enjoyed it so much because I got to connect with people and do life with the same people everyday. I most definitely made great friends in South Africa and it was hard leaving. The food was also great and did not help a McDonalds was just around the corner of where I stayed at for the month. I gained around 11 to 13 pounds back. I learned that once I get back to America I couldn’t pig out just because the food is there haha.
My team and I partnered with Life Church for the month and we basically did whatever they needed. So ministry looked different everyday. We….
- helped/taught at a school for township kids (township is much like a slum)
- Helped/taught at different schools during there Christian period (Similar to FCA in the schools I went to)
- Helped with a youth group every Friday!!
- Helped at the night shelter (Homeless shelter): serving food, giving a message, painting fences, organizing things, painting a room, and just getting to make relationships and encourage people.
- Sell raffle tickets at a Golf tournament we helped with that was put on by Life Church to raise money for the night shelter.
- I got to teach at a mans bible study
- Each of the members on the team had to write their own devotional and turn into the church for a conference. I posted the one I wrote in a blog.
- Live with and encourage gap year students
My favorite moment of the month was when I was talking to one of the students about their testimony. He told me he didn’t have one. I told him he definitely did. He then informed me he never drank, smoked, or slept around. He was just always a good kid and because of that he didn’t have a story. That just broke my heart. I could see such a disappointment on him. I told him that is not true. I told him people needed to hear his story and how he remained true to God. People believe these days that you have to go through a wild stage. A lot of people and youth choose to go down a bad path for a little while because the world tells them everyone goes through a wild phase, so ought as well go wild for a bit. Everyone does. They don’t get to hear often of people who didn’t go through the wild phase. I then began to explain to him how people needed to hear his story. That he can stand up and say yes, sometimes that path might look fun but following God is so much more exciting and worth it. Temptations will come but you can fight off those temptations with God. I then told him that he was unique and special. I told him not to be disappointed in his testimony that it is powerful!
Another thing I loved that month is getting to study about the Redemptive Gifts. Life church had a class set up for people to go through to learn what redemptive gifts are and what theirs are. It was great! I had looked and somewhat studied about the redemptive gifts before but never like they did. It was great. It also helped me understand, me a lot more because of my gifts.
