Love from South Africa

Spring Braai Day On the first day of spring, we had out second annual Spring Braai Day; a day for teens, young adults & families to get together for a day of fun & of course some delicious food on the braai (aka grill). The exciting part about this day is that we get to feed people not just physically but spiritually as well. We had the opportuity that day to share the gospel with about 250 people, many of whom we would probably not have reached otherwise. It was a day to catch up with old friends & make new friends as well. Palesa at the Spring Braai Palesa (pictured on the right) has been coming to youth group where I am a leader ever since I arrived in South Africa. Since I’ve known her, she has had a hardened heart towards the Lord. She’s grown up in an orphanage & could not accept what God chose to allow into her life. On Spring Braai day, I saw her sitting alone & decided to join her. After countless times of sharing the gospel with her, she tol

Montana meets South Africa During the first week of July, some of our staff headed to Etwatwa, a township about an hour away, with a group of teens from Montana. While we were there, we had the opportunity to run a Holiday Bible Club at two local churches as well as do some evangelism training & door-to-door evangelism alongside some of the youth from those churches. It was such a sweet time serving the community there & seeing the teens from Montana step up & lead games, lessons, & small groups. The Lord took them out of their comfort zones & used them in big ways! In the 4 days we were there, we saw 44 trust Christ as their personal Savior!  The two girls you see here come from different places & have very different stories but both of them found Jesus that week. Odwa, on the right, is from the Eastern Cape, about a 24-hour drive from Joburg. She just happened to be visiting some family at the time & decided to come see what we were doing. As I

Settling In Yesterday made one month since I landed on South African soil once again. It has been such a joy & blessing to see how the Lord has provided for me to come back & how he has continued to work during my short time back. It has been so good to catch up with different people, get to know this year’s students, & jump back into all the ministries taking place. For the remainder of this year, in addition to discipleship & weekly high school ministries, I have the opportunity to be a part of the team organizing & overseeing our different camps & missions trips. This year holds lots of firsts in this department as doors continue to open up in different places & I’m so thankful for the privilege of being a part of it & look forward to seeing how the Lord works through it. First Ever Satellite Camp! Two weekends ago, we held our first ever satellite camp in Potchefstroom, about 2 hours away. Our goal in this was to take the summer camp exp

The last two months have been full of traveling, meetings, & attempts to figure out my visa. The Lord has been so faithful throughout this process & it has been such a blessing to see his hand of provision whether it be through a complete stranger loaning me their car for a support meeting (yes, this actually happened) or through providing new supporters & people to connect with. My heart is full of thankfulness for the ways God had encouraged me along the way as I have had the opportunity to catch up with friends & family. It has been both a growing & trust-building time for me & I’m grateful for both the ups & downs that have pushed me to have a deeper dependence on Him. Support Raising & Visa Many of you have been praying with me about my support & visa & the Lord has definitely heard your prayers! I am praising the Lord for his faithfulness & am happy to announce that I am now at about 50% of my monthly support & almost 30% of

With all the visa drama, it’s easy to questions at times what God is trying to accomplish or why he is allowing certain things to happen. We’ve all done it. We may not say it out loud or admit it to ourselves but we somehow think that we have a better way of doing things and if things had just gone according to our plans, everything would be peachy. But the fact is God’s God and we’re not and it turns out that nothing he does is without purpose. About a week and a half ago, I had a breakfast meeting to share my ministry with someone. I had arranged to borrow a car from someone and was all set to pick up the keys from her at her office before taking off for my meeting. I got to her office that morning at the time we had planned and walked in to an empty office. I tried calling and messaging her but couldn’t get a hold of her. I thought to myself, “maybe she just stepped out of her office for a minute…she’ll be here soon”. I stepped across the hall to ask the lady sitting at her desk

Two days ago, I went to the South African embassy feeling pretty confident that I had everything I needed for a successful trip to submit my visa application. Things, however, did not quite go as I had planned. As I spoke with the lady taking applications at the front desk, I soon discovered that this trip was not going to be as successful as I had thought. She informed me, first of all, that I needed a few more documents and then proceeded to tell me that I probably shouldn’t even bother applying for a volunteer visa since most volunteer applications had been rejected as of late. However, she was very helpful and gave me a waiver, which if approved, would make me eligible to apply for a work visa of sorts that she strongly believed they would be more likely to accept. I must say, it was quite a lot to take in in one trip knowing that this meant more paperwork and most likely more weeks before I could expect to receive a visa. Though my visit was a bit disappointing, I was enco

As you may know, I began this journey overseas 3 years ago when I began a two year Cross-Cultural Internship with Word of Life. This program gave me the opportunity to have on the field missions experience while completing my college degree online. My plan going into the program was to complete both years in the Thailand but the Lord had other plans. While I did get to spend some time serving in Thailand, the Lord closed the doors for me to stay and instead, led me to South Africa for the second year of my internship. While this was a difficult transition, considering that my heart was so set on reaching the people in Thailand, God was clearly orchestrating every step along the way. One year in South Africa turned into two and needless to say, I had fallen in love with South Africa and its people. Forever Changed Over the past 6 months, I have been thinking and praying about returning to South Africa as a full-time missionary. The Lord has taught me and grown me immensely over the