Writing this blog on the way to month one debrief. Wow. It’s hard to believe that my first month on the race is just about over! Time flies- only 8 more months till I go back home. My first month here has been incredible. It’s also been so challenging and has stretched me in many ways.
When we got to Jeffery’s Bay, we pulled up to this big log cabin. It was dark and windy. I didn’t sleep well that night because the sound of the wind from the top floor of the cabin was horrific- I literally thought there was a tornado coming for us. Then, at 6am, then sun rose. Light started to creep in and it began to reveal all of the beauty around me. I sleep by a big window, and out that window I looked out for the first time, I saw my new home! A small high school with a big field next to it. A few houses surrounding the field on the edges, including our Lincoln log cabin! Chickens and horses and cows and a Dalmatian. I could see the small town of Jbay from my window and the huge ocean that surrounds it! The school is called Global Leadership Academy. It’s a Christian school that raises up young leaders and gives them a wonderful education. The cabin is called “the mission house”- previous racers from past years were the ones who built it. Jeffery’s bay has 6 cab drivers, many amazing restaurants, a beautiful beach, 2 malls, one McDonalds, and now, a bunch of missionaries living there. Our hosts spoil us big time. They love and care for us so well!
My ministry has been nothing like I expected. Most of it has looked like painting desks and bathrooms. It has allowed me to grow super close to my team & spend time with them, which is so cool, and at the same time, it has had me questioning if what I’m doing is impactful. It’s hard being assigned tasks that feel like busy work. Most of the time these tasks are ones where I don’t see how it benefits the Kingdom at all. And I just have to trust that God is going to use that freshly painted desk for something wonderful, even if I never see what that is! My squad has also worked at a high school camp here in Jbay- also challenging! I often found myself wrangling up kids, trying to get them out of their rooms for dinner, and with none of them listening to me, I would just stand there and think “Oh my gosh. What am I even doing right now”?? it’s moments like this that I would have never expected. So I just walk away, laugh it off and think “what is this life”. Another day, I spent 3 hours picking up pebbles from a field. Don’t ask why, because I don’t know the answer. So yes, ministry so far has been weird and hard. It’s easy to get mad and think “this isn’t want I came here for”. But, who am I to question what God has put in front of me for the day? He knows what needs to be done, and I’ve learned that I have to just keep saying “Yes” to the things that I don’t necessarily want to do.
Community has been interesting. Our entire squad of 41 has lived at GLA for our first month. We share 2, I repeat, TWO bathrooms and showers. Three tables for meals, one toaster, and 2 fridges. It’s difficult seeing the exact same faces every single day. It’s hard when so many personalities come together. Alone time is not really a thing. The same goes for privacy. Most of the time you are always within 10 feet of someone else, and that’s just how it is. There’s always somebody to talk to, and there’s always somebody talking. I have made 40 new best friends, and each day I learn something new about everyone of them. We are all so different, but we are all together as brothers and sisters which is just so cool. We see each other first thing in the morning, when our breath smells, and in the middle of the day, when we are all laughing over a game of spike ball, and again at the end of the day when some of us are crying because we are home sick. We are with each other through it all! Living in community definitely has its ups and downs.
What I’ve learned in month one is that I’ve already changed. I’ve already grown closer to the Father and he keeps changing me even more with everyday that passes. I’ve learned that I have to be good on the inside to be able to give away goodness. Coming into the month, I carried with me my old ways from home, my old attitudes and old thoughts. But the Father has shown me that who I was is so far off from who he wants me to be. So I said another “Yes”, and every morning I have been laying all of my old habits and ways down at his feet so he can make me new and better. It’s been hard. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know myself anymore. I’ve had to learn to trust him in new ways- to give him my entire soul & all that I am, and trust that in the crushing and pressing, he is making new wine out of me. Who I was before now lives on the cross, and the new me walks in the Kingdom! I’ve also learned that this trip is completely a mission for the Kingdom, which includes me. I’m on a mission to bring others to God, and God is on a mission to bring me closer to him. I’m being discipled myself while discipling others.
So we are now at month one debrief in Pretoria. 5 days of processing the first month on the field. I will go back to Jeffery’s Bay in a few days and continue ministry there for the rest of my time in South Africa. 2 teams from my squad will be moved to Johannesburg for the rest of the time. My community will get a tad smaller for a little bit, and we will all come together in December, when we fly to Ecuador! Month 2 will be different, now that the “newness” of the race has worn off. It will bring new challenges and also produce new fruit. And that’s month one summed up in a blog! Thanks for reading and checking in on me 🙂
