Hi Hi Hi!!! Long time no chat! We’re finishing month 1(!!!) of our time here in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa and man has it been sweet! Just wanted to quickly check in and update you all on what’s been going on here this month.
After a weekend of training and preperation in Atlanta, Georgia, my team and I took off on quite the travel day(ssss.) But after 2 shuttle rides, 3 train rides, 2 greyhound bus rides, 3 flights and a van ride (made possible by our awesome logistics team and our leadership) all 41 of our tired, smelly, hungry selves made it to Jeffrey’s Bay in one piece. (Praise God) The Lord was so faithful in our travels here cultivating the time and space for meaningful conversations and genuine relationships, in bathrooms, in greyhound bus stations at 4 in the morning, and in each and every place our travels took us. Our hosts here are too good to us, upon our late evening arrival they stood at the doors eager to meet, love, and feed us. Their passion for the Lord and their willingness to love and pour into us so relentlessly has made this place feel all the more like home and man has that been the truest blessing. We live togther in a log cabin house with access to showers, a laundry mat, and yes even flushable toilets. In case I haven’t articulated this well, we are SO blessed to be guests here and are SO in love with this host team and this place.
A typical week includes 5 days of ministry, 1 day off, and 1 day dedicated solely for the sabbath (which in case you’re wondering has been the bees knees and I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about it.) Each of our teams ministry’s have looked different week to week and it’s a very go with the flow, be prepared for anything kinda deal. Our first week, my team and I spent digging a trench to begin the foundation for a new primary school. It was hard and messy and joyous work as we began physically laying the foundation for a place that will plant the good news into young minds. We completely changed gears for week 2 as we packed up and headed to an overnight camp a few minutes into town. For 5 days we worked as counselors for middle school and high school students who were so eager to be in the Word. I won’t lie to you it was hard in all sorts of ways but it was so so rewarding, so fruitful, and I am so humbled to have been a part of it. We worshipped together, played together, shared hard things together, grew together, laughed together, and even swam in the cold cold ocean together. JESUS WAS MOVING as kid after kid gave their life to the Lord, asked good hard questions, and were bold in their faith in ways that blew me away. Shifting gears again we entered weeks 3 and 4, helping around the school campus we live on before the kids return back from break. Varnishing floors, removing wallpaper from bathrooms, painting desks, making prom decorations, cleaning out sheds, planting, cleaning kids living quarters and all sorts of odds and ends. It could have been easy to be discouraged by the mudaneness of what appeared to be simple tasks but just as the Lord had taught me in week one and was now reminding me in weeks three and four, sometimes the greatest harvest of our sowing is unseen but the Lord moves in the works of patient planters. I am so abundantly thankful to be here, to be living and loving with humans who are so recklessly obedient and who love so well, to get the opportunity to do the work of His kingdom, and to be fully known and seen by a Father who loves me so deeply. Living with 41 other humans isn’t always easy, isn’t always beautiful, but more days than not I’ve seen the abundant fruitfulness the Lord has provided in living with community, these people are too good y’all and I wish every single one of you could meet every single one of them! This weekend we headed to Pretoria, South Africa where we are having our month one debrief. For the next 5 days we’ll be unpacking and processing all that the Lord has done this month and refueling for the months ahead. I apologize for the delay in blog posting and hope that I will start to find a rhythm with that here shortly, learning to balance being where my feet are and being present in the lives of people I love back home has been tricky but I am slowly starting to figure out how the Lord is calling me to obedience within that. MANY thanks for barring patience as I am learning and stumbling and growing. So that’s a wrap on month 1! Cheers to the ways God is moving in my life here and in your lives back at home, I am so thankful the Father has allowed me to include you in this journey! All the love from South Africa!
Prayer Requests:
– for our squad, that sickness (and… lice) would fall away in the name of Jesus
– for our camp kids, that they would continue to walk in an eager pursuit of the Father
– for South Africa, as they are walking through a severe drought
– for our hosts and leadership, that they would be filled and find rest
– for our squad, as we walk through debrief and travel back to Jeffrey’s Bay
