Just Trust-Monthly Newsletter

Molowene (hello in xhosa), this is the monthly newsletter for January 2024 and we are currently in South Africa. Remember for those of that just want the highlights of this month there is a paraphrase of the entire blog at the end.

Our journey to South Africa began with a flight long flight from Thailand to Ethiopia. From Ethiopia we had another long flight to Johannesburg where we had a 17 hour layover. One of the girls on my squad knows some people who live in Johannesburg so we had the opportunity to meet them and get to know them. I have been learning Zulu for the past couple months and when we met them we immediately started to communicate with each other in Zulu. It was so much fun to be able to apply all I had learned. After we spent some time with them we headed back to the airport to spend another 9 hours in the airport. Our flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth left very early in the morning and we had to go through customs around 4AM. After we made it to Port Elizabeth our hosts came and picked us up and drove 1.5 hours to Jeffrey’s bay. Since we’ve been in Jeffrey’s bay I have been able to talk to a couple people in Zulu. I also began to learn Afrikaans and Xhosa.

South Africa has been amazing. God has been teaching me to trust him with everything. Trusting that he will open doors for me to go through and no matter what they look like to trust him in that. So far in South Africa we have worked at a school doing multiple things to help the school succeed. We ripped down three class room buildings the second week we got here. The building were not up to safety code and for the school to continue we had to remove them. Demolition was long, hot, and tiring under the African sun but we pushed through and got most of the buildings demolished in that week. Our third week in Africa we hit the streets of Jeffrey’s Bay. We walked around praying for people, sharing the good news of Jesus, and displaying the love we have for each other as a team. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” ‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭35‬. Week four comes around and we were unprepared for what was to come. The place we are staying at decided to host 42 high school students for a leadership camp and we were going to be the counselors for all three days they were there. With this amazing opportunity we were able to pour into the future leaders of South Africa and help give them direction on how to be a good leader. Our last week of ministry we worked at the school, where we started at the beginning of the month, to help teach the kids and pour into the teachers.

Our adventures in South Africa were incredible. Our host planned out each weekend for us and set up some amazing adventure days. The only down side to the adventures in South Africa is that some of them were very expensive. The two biggest adventures I had were surfing and an over night safari. Since we lived right on the beach we had access to multiple surf shops. We would rent surfboards and wetsuits multiple times and head out onto the waves of Jeffrey’s bay. My last adventure in South Africa was an overnight safari. We traveled a couple of hours to the gates of the safari and then drove a couple more hours through the safari to get to our campsite. After getting to our campsite we got signed up for either a sunset safari or a sunrise safari. I went with a sunrise safari because most of the people who had gone said that sunrise was better. We woke up at 5AM and got prepared to leave at 5:30. The safari was absolutely beautiful and we saw so many animals. We saw elephants, and warthogs, meerkats, hyenas, and even a rhino. The safari puts into perspective how amazing and beautiful Gods creation is.

South Africa has been a place for me to continue growing in the Lord and to see what all he has for my life. Every day he is showing me a new side of himself. One second he’s provider and then the next second he’s healer. By me being able to see Christ clearer I am able see my identity in him clearer. Pursuing the father and going to him for everything isn’t always easy. But when we do, our relationship with him is strengthened and our faith is matured. The biggest thing God has been teaching me is to trust in him with all things. Even when I don’t understand and nothing makes sense.

Paraphrased Newsletter
We had multiple long flights to get to South Africa from Thailand and a 1.5 hour drive to Jeffrey’s bay from the airport. We have had many adventures including surfing and safari’s. God has still been teaching me to trust in him with everything.

Thank y’all for reading the monthly news letter. This past month has flown by so fast and God has done so much. It’s impossible for me to be able to tell every single detail of the past month because so much has happened. Also I am not able to upload pictures this month because my internet connection has not been very good. Please be praying for me and the two men’s teams, as we are on our way to Lesotho. Thank y’all for all the prayers and support.