Love from South Africa

Recently, I returned from a short term missions to Cape Town which is at the southern tip of South Africa. Along with about 45 other teens, WOL staff, & young adults, we loaded up into 5 vehicles and started the 16 hour trek down. I went into it not really knowing what to expect. I knew that we would have opportunities for evangelism, children’s ministries, & community outreaches but wasn’t quite sure what that would entail. I went into each day a hopeful expectancy of what God would do in the midst of whatever the day would hold. Our team was split into two groups. One stayed at the church we were staying at & ran a Holiday Bible Club (VBS) for the children in the community while I was a part of the group that got to do open air evangelism & community outreaches. On our first day of open air evangelism, we went to The Strand, a nearby beach. The last time I had the opportunity to do that type of evangelism was a few years ago. Honestly speaking, it was not a very ...

A week before a small team of a few Word of Life staff and young adults left for a missions trip to Zimbabwe, I discovered that I too would be joining the exciting adventure. I left without much knowledge of where I would be going or what I would be doing but looked forward to what the week would hold.  A day and a half after departing, we finally arrived at our destination in the city of Chitungwiza which, despite its small town, rustic appearance, is the third most populated city in Zimbabwe. There we camped out on the property of the church where we would be ministering all week. Our first two days were spent holding a discipleship training conference at the church. The first day of training was held after church on that Sunday. We discussed basic principles of biblical discipleship and how to practically live it out. To a small, growing church, many of these concepts were completely new to them. Even the idea of daily personal time in God’s Word was foreign to them. Ma...

Week 1 Over the past few weeks, I have had the privilege of being involved in two different Holiday Bible Clubs (VBS). The fist one took place at the church where the student’s classes are held & where many of them attend on Sundays. It was held during one of the school holidays & the students had come back from break specifically to be involved in this Bible club for the week. Honestly speaking, going into it, I wasn’t very excited. I had just come out of a busy two weeks, even though the students were on break, & I was looking forward to what I thought would be a less busy week & somewhat of a break for myself. Of course, this was my selfishness talking. However, God had different plans & I’m so thankful that he did. I went into the whole thing not knowing much except that I would be a small group leader. I didn’t really know anyone besides the students who were also participating. I didn’t know where I would be staying for the week except that it was a...

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the regional South African staff retreat along with the other staff and interns here in South Africa in addition to WOL staff from Mozambique. What a weekend.  Our speaker was none other than Wendell Calder, evangelist and teacher. Over the course of those few days, Dr. Calder led us through the book of Philippians. This was no coincidence. Over the past month or two, God has kept bringing that book back into my path through devos, sermons, and even my online Liberty classes. Clearly God was trying to get my attention. At the beginning of the weekend, Dr. Calder asked us a question… one that has not escaped my thoughts since the day he asked it. It was this: Have you lost the wonder of it all? Have I lost the wonder of it all? Have I lost the joy of my salvation? The joy of serving? The joy of ministry? The joy of life itself? You may think these sound like silly or irrelevant questions to ask a bunch of missiona...

Love, unity & communication. I have been immensely blessed over my time here by the relationships that God has graciously given me. Each relationship has challenged me in some form and has pushed me towards Christ in a different way and for that I am so grateful. I am consistently encouraged to see the way the Lord is working in the lives of the students, staff, and those we minister to. Last month, we went through a study of Ephesians 4:25-32 and learned to apply that to the way we communicate to one another as sisters in Christ. After each night that we studied a different aspect of godly communication as found in these verses, I was amazed to see how the girls immediately began to put those principles into action. The day after our last study on this passage, I watched as girls met together to talk through different issues and differences and stood in awe of how God had worked in their hearts. Not only did he work in the hearts of the students, but he worked in my heart as we...

Mission preparation. The month leading up to our departure for South Africa was a busy time for us. On January 1, after spending time at home with my family for Christmas, I headed to Pennsylvania for some missions training at a seminar called Perspectives. As the name implies, I gained many incredible perspectives on God’s mission for the world and how I can be a part of what he’s doing to spread His glory and fame throughout the world. My passion and fire were reignited in that week and God reaffirmed in my heart the desire to be a part of global missions. God opened my eyes in so many ways and I’m so incredibly thankful for the opportunity we had to learn from so many different people who possessed so much godly wisdom and experience. After the seminar, we set off for Word of Life NY for their annual Missions Conference. During those few days, and the weeks to follow, I had many opportunities to share what God was doing in my life through this internship and encourage stud...