It has been awhile since I last wrote and oddly enough a lot has happened and a lot has changed. We are now in Africa until the end of January. We have gone from Romania, to turkey, to Israel, to Egypt, to Swaziland, to South Africa, to Mozambique and we are currently in Malawi. It has been a long but amazing journey these past few months. I have grown so much and changed. I have also been able to be apart of so many things that God is doing around the world. We have been involved in helping with ethnography in Turkey to praying for healing in Swaziland. God is working in so many different ways and it has been a blessing to be apart of what He is doing. Here is a little overview on what we were involved in doing in each country.
Romania (second month) 
For our second month in Romania we stayed at a ministry house in Bucharest, Romania. We were able to help sort through donations that had be given to the ministry and help them get ready for yard sales to make money for the ministry. We also housed some children from a small village for a week and had a summer camp for them, as well as taking VBS to other local villages. We had the opportunity of visiting a woman’s home. The woman there had been through a lot of abuse and many were mentally affected because of the abuse. We were able to sing, color, and play games with them.
We also spent time asking the Lord where He would have us go. We were split into teams of three. My team went to the local park and ended up spending some time with a man by the name of George. We spent time praying with him and fed him a meal. We also helped a woman sell her flowers at the subway stop. It was awesome to see God work as we all began to pray that her flowers would sell and God would bless her. Within a matter of mom
ents she sold all of her flowers and left us to hold down the flower shop. She came back with a big smile on her face and popcorn to share. As she packed up her basket and headed home I smiled. I knew God had answered our prayers.
Bucharest was a month of much change and growth among our Squad. The months ahead would begin to reveal the work that God started among us in Bucharest, Romania. Check out my blog titled “Change” to read more about the change from Bucharest to now.
After Romania we headed to Turkey. We spent two weeks there helping collect ethnical information for a company. We also spent time on local college campuses. We hung out with the students and talked about life. Most of the time in turkey I was down with a knee injury so my mobilization was limited. It was nice to have some time to really rest in Him and spend time alone while everyone was out.
We spent time worshiping together every morning and had most of our afternoons to learn about Jerusalem. One night a week we participated in a local church service in Jericho. We also were able to experience many things from Shabbat at a local Rabbis’ house to floating in the Dead Sea. It was a once in a lifetime experience. We took an unexpected detour to Caro, Egypt after Israel. We spent two days there and were able to experience a few adventures. I rode a camel!!!!!! We took an all day adventure to ride camels and see the pyramids. It was a nice unexpected detour.
Swaziland
Swaziland was an amazing time. My team spent our time in Swazi in a small village called Ezendendweni. We were the first team to come and live in this small village. It was so exciting to be there and begin to build relationships with the community. We stayed in an unfinished house, where we set up our tents. We were without electricity and running wat
er. It was an amazing experience. To get water we had to fetch it from the river. Every morning we all walked to the schools that were about 2 miles away. For the first time I can say that I walked to school for two miles up hill both ways. We spent time talking to the students and then headed out to do home visits. My favorite part of the day was our first stop after the schools. We went to visit a little boy named Begani. Look for my next blog about him. We also visited several other homes throughout the week. To walk to a homestead we would walk for about 4 to 5 miles. It was so fun to be able to experience living in the bush of Africa. We had the opportunity to really get to know the village and build many relationships. We also spent some time in Nsoko where two of our other teams were. I fell in love with a little boy named Musa. He is a story in himself, so check out my blog about him that will be coming soon. Swazi was a time of loving people and investing into the lives those around us.
South Africa
We spent a few days in South Africa after leaving Swaziland. We stayed there to debrief our last few months with our coaches Tom and Cindy. It was a time of rest as well as a time of much change. My team lost a member as well as a leadership change. The squad was challenged and ready to move forward with the rest of the race. We were able to enjoy a wonderful thanksgiving dinner together where I took my traditional thanksgiving walk in honor of my family who wasn’t there with me. We also went on a Safari and saw 4 of the big 5 animals! The time was a blessing.
Mozambique
We spent our time in Mozambique working with a ministry called Jesus For Africa. We lived with Jaco, Maria and their two children. Jaco is the pastor of Jesus for Africa. We spent time doing home visits, prayer walks, painting, speaking in the prison, praying for the sick in the Hospital, visiting with orphans, and helping with church services. It was an amazing month. Over 200 people joined our family and came to know Christ. God is at work in Vilankulous. Look for more blogs about my time in Mozambique.
This is just a quick overview of the last several months. I will be writing a couple more detailed blogs about specific stories. Thank you all for your prayers and support. This has been and still is an adventure of a life time.
