HEY!!!! GUYS!!! I AM IN SOUTH AFRICA. Oh mylanta I never thought I was gonna get to type that!! What a LIFE I am living. I cannot wait to catch you guys up. Wow I am so sorry for anyone who has tried to contact me and I only shot you a “hey!” or wasn’t able to get back to you at all! When I tell you time to get wifi is rare….she is RARE. But I am here now and ahh here is my life in Africa!::
So we are all staying as a squad in this SWEET home that Global Leadership Academy has so graciously opened for us. We get fed well, loved well, and led well here. I love our ministry hosts and when I tell you this lil bed with my sleeping bag slapped on top is feeling like home..it so is. I really went into the race expecting the worst so that the Lord could exceed my expectations and boyyyyy did he!!! Thank you Jesus for the lovely place that is my home for 3 months.
Just to share more about home, I wanna tell you guys about the surrounding area! It’s actually a really cute little town and I enjoy the simplicity of it so much. SO! We are essentially in walking distance to the main places we would need to get things at, theres a mall less than a mile away so thats a score! Theres an ATM in there, grocery store, good eats, pharmacy, and tons of cute shops as well! We are so spoiled by the proximity and all the things that are available to us. Just up the road from that is a McDonald’s- which has the best Oreo McFlurrys I have ever had in my 18 years of living. But yes anyways we usually go there if we need wifi and its a lil later at night because they are open 24 hours and its an easy walk! On Saturdays they have a market that is open to the public and we love to visit! It is a super short walk and a fun thing to do together. Last Saturday we bought a bouquet of flowers for our ministry host and got delicious pancakes so yes a wide range of stuff! Never know what you might find. And then if we have a good bit of time we may take a cab into town! Since this is such a big surf town they have surf shops all downtown, which are really fun to pop into! They also have great coffee and some fun little boutiques. So yeah thats the just of the town of Jeffrey’s Bay! And thats just what I have seen- I can’t wait to see how much better I know this town by the end of my time here.
OK! Now for what my ministry looks like. I think its a common misconception that mission trips are just feeding hungry people, loving on poor children, or building houses. And while each of those things are so important- the small things matter just as much. Last week my team and I spent our days peeling wallpaper off of a bathroom wall, sanding it, and painting! Never what I imagined I would be doing on the World Race, but my heart has been content in it. The Bible teaches that he who is faithful with a little will be given a lot. I am holding onto that promise in regards to out future ministry opportunities. But yeah anyways been doing that bathroom RIGHT for the past week. Sang a lot of High School Musical while painting and had some GOOD chats. After we did that for a week though we were counselors for a kid’s camp…but when I say kids don’t be fooled! Some of them were my age/older. I was so surprised to find that out when we got there, but the Lord grew and stretched me so much through that week. I was reminded of hearts that don’t know Jesus and how important it is that our lives reflect that we DO know Him. The kids I worked with at camp were so different than I imagined but the Lord knew my heart needed them and their hearts needed the Jesus that was in mine! Praise be to my Father who has it all planned out- whether that be the plan I wanted to happen or not! He is good and has good things in store.
Nowwwww for the things I am learning! I am still processing it all so my apologies if it seems a bit scattered! But yeah- the Lord has kinda just been teaching me about what it looks like to be best friends with Him! Spending time with Him every morning and kinda through the whole day has just made me realize how close we are. People mean it when they say that a relationship with God is just like an earthly relationship! You gotta fight for a relationship. You have to put in effort to spend time together and the more time you spend the closer you get! In God being my best friend, I have learned a lot about my identity in Him, His desires for me, and what our relationship means for the course of the rest of my life.
And then one last thing to share!! I have had so many sweet/funny moments with my squad. Some of them include::
Baking cookies in the kitchen and stealing the dough while my Team Leader Alex wasn’t looking (SRY SISTA!)
Scream singing at ANY time- whether it be during worship or during a van ride.
Getting paint at a South African hardware store and having to wait 15 minutes to get rang up because the counter gal was having her smoke break
Hearing everything everyone does/says because our walls are paper thin and also do not connect to the ceiling
Teaching South Africans the church clap and watching their faces light up when the song comes on
Doing morning devotionals with my squad every morning- getting to sit in the presence of the Lord with each of them surrounding me
Trying to split the bill and pay it every single time we go out- because for some reason they do NOT split the bills for you here
Trying to jump a barbed wire fence because we were so scared of getting home after curfew- truly risked our lives so that we wouldn’t be late..oop
Eating meals on the floor because we have 40 people crammed into one kitchen
ANNNNDDDD LOVIN EACH OTHER EVEN WHEN ITS HARD AND WE DONT WANNNNNAAA
Life is so sweet here people. Give the Lord a thank you for the way He takes care of His children. He is TOO sweet to us <3
I love you all so much! Thanks for checking in and being invested in what the Lord is doing. Sending love all over the world.
