My life has not stopped changing since September 6th, 2013. From the moment I walked out of my front door, to the moment I walked in the back door of my quaint little two bedroom home in Port Elizabeth, South Africa life has been a nonstop maze of emotions. But I am getting ahead of myself here.
Let's start from launch in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the hardest and easiest things I have ever done is say "see ya in a year" to the best family a girl could ask for. Now, I only say easy because I know that this is where God wants me to be, and I believe with my whole heart that because of that He will do everything in His awesome power to help me through every bit of sadness, honmesickness, or brokenheartedness this year. But during launch I gained a whole new level of anxiousness and excitedness to start this new chapter of my life that honestly was lacking beforehand.
AND AFTER 64 HOURS AND 43 MINUTES TRAVELING IN 3 DIFFERENT MODES OF TRANSPORTATION, SPENDING THE NIGHT IN A HOSTILE IN JOHANNESBURG, TAKING 3 HOURS IN AN INTERENET CAFE AT THE BUS STOP TO FILL OUT VISAS, AND LIVING OFF OF ABOUT 8 HOURS OF SLEEP DURING THE WHOLE THING WE (MY TEAM AND I) FINALLY MADE IT TO PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA!
Shew! That my friends, is a lot of traveling and a lot of change. Don't get me wrong though, Change can be a good thing.
When we finally arrived in P.E. and settled in to our amazing home for the month of September, the first thing I was instantly thankful for was the fact that the people here spoke ENGLISH! Hallelujah! Soon after, we were greeted by our sweet host Tristan Jensen. Before we started talking about our ministry and everything that we will be involved in this month, him and a friend, Adele, took my team on a tour around the town giving us facts and information about wherer we were staying! After tour de Port Elizabeth, we went back home and had a nice little chat about what we were going to be involved in. We also got to go to the local grovery store to pick up a few necessities, which for me included Mountain Dew and Doritos. (No big deal, right? ;])
Later that evening when we got home, Tristan told us that we had the opportunity to work in two different ministries this month. SCORE!
The first ministry would be working with the youth group at there events called "Firehouse" out of his church named The Lighthouse Family Church. Which is a charismatic baptist church here in P.E. This was also the first event we were able to attend, and it was amazing! The teens there are so outgoing and friendly, and just so on fire for the Lord! More than I was at that age! And the worship was amazing! Teens dancing, singing, and throwing up their hands for Jesus was just an amazing sight to see.
The second part of ministry, we didn't start until today (Sept. 16)! This is the part that really pulls at a persons heart. My team and I are working at a place called The Human Dignity Center. Here we work with children to do school work, and have some one on one time with kids who may be struggling with some things. The HDC is a christian-based place where kids who live in townships (the poor parts of P.E. where families live in makeshift huts and in landfills and have little to nothing to eat or drink.) I think it is an incredible ministry and I am so excited to work with the children there and just show them love for the next couple of weeks!
All in all, this month has just been super exciting and is about to get super busy. I would be a liar if I say I haven't gotten emotional about missing home already. This is the furthest and the longest I have ever been away from home, and I know that this year may be a bit of a struggle for me, but I know that God is in control and I am just leaving it all to him. Not only am I giving Him control of my emotions and struggles, but I am also giving Him control of my financial needs for the race. I am still short of being fully funded by about $6,500! If you would like to make a donation in any sum please click the support me tab under my picture on my blog.
I Love every single one of my supporters. And I am super excited to share with you throughout the duration of this adventure.
Til next time,
Kait 🙂
NOTE: due to my computer being really slow, old, and inadequite.. I will not be able to post pics on any of my blogs. To see pictures of this journey, please visit my facebook page or my Instagram! Thank you 🙂
