Exactly one week from today, I'll be tired of being on a plane. It's hard to believe the end of our trip is coming to an end, but it has been so great; I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I'm starting to feel ready to be home. Also I'm ready to know exactly what I'm eating!
Last week during holiday club, we took the kids to a field by the beach to play soccer. I was the only leader in the van with the first load of kids, so I got to look after about 25 six, seven and eight year olds...by myself. If there is a wall that marks the end of the field with rocks and the ocean at the bottom, will all of the kids want to play on it? Yes, and they won't listen when you tell them no. It was like a constant flood gate of kids running to sit and play on the wall and me telling them to stay away from it. One six year old girl also bit another girl. So maybe mass quantities of small children aren't 100% my thing at this point in my life. I'm glad I know that one now. After all the kids played soccer, the leaders got to play a couple games to earn points for their kids. I can say that this was the first time I've been disappointed in the teens. A few of them took the game a little too serious. There was yelling and fighting and arguing with all the little ones watching what was happening. I pointed out to them that they were setting an example, but it didn't seem to help. In the leaders' meeting the next morning there were a few apologies and a lot of discussion about the day before. I think one of the best things you can do is just let people make their own mistakes and learn from it because that meeting showed so much growth. Even in grade 9 and 10, they had the courage realize their mistakes, admit them, and apologize for them. That takes a lot of strength. I'll be sad to leave them, but we set up a pen pal system! We're going to try to get a letter to our teen partner at least once a month and be as much of a support system as we can be from the other side of the world. My partners are Jenna and Nusrah! We did our pen pal reveal last Friday morning and all the teens seemed excited about it. I can't wait to keep getting to know them even after I'm home!
My faith- A couple weeks ago, 3 missionaries from the World Race moved in with the family that Carolyn and Kaitlyn are living with. We've hung out with them and the rest of their team a couple of times and all of them are so awesome. Their love for God and sharing his Word is truly inspiring. Last Friday, their team came together with our team to have a worship night. We prayed over each other in pairs and I was with one of the world racers, Mariah. Her heart and her love for the people and God are pure. I have never met anyone that depends so fully on God. The stories she shared with me are really powerful. I'm so thankful that we've had the chance to get to know their team. I admire the relationship that each of them has with God and their confidence in Him. I've been in prayer and in the Word a lot more because of the fire they have. I started writing my prayers down in my journal. I never thought it would make such a difference, but it's more fulfilling for me, and it keeps me focused on talking to God. My personal relationship with Him has grown abundantly in the past couple of weeks. God is great!
"The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him." Exodus 15:2
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Happy 4th of July!
1. Happy birthday America!
2. Sorry I'm a terrible blogger and haven't updated for a really long time. I'm going to try to give a short update.
We've done and seen so many things. We went to Robben Island, Kirstenbosch, the waterfront, Kommetjie,and even a little bit of the Western Cape. We did the Garden Route last weekend and went ziplining, cave adventuring and bungee jumping from the highest bungee bridge in the world! Crazy right?! We also went on a safari and rode elephants! As for work, I've been working at the Holiday Club for the past 2 weeks while the kids are on break. I'm in love with the kids. The youth leaders are ages 13 and up. They've been teaching us how to dance (and laughing a little when we're awful). As soon as the music starts they let go of everything that holds them down and move so perfectly. I admire their spirits. I can't tell you about just one because they're all amazing. Annique is super intelligent and dances competitively and I can vouch for how awesome she is. Chadlee wants to be a designer and he's hilarious. Jenna Lee has the best laugh ever. It always gets me. Meagan has a very strong personality and she goes all out as soon as music starts. She's so adorable. Samantha is usually pretty quiet, but she has the biggest heart. Micalle can be quiet, or she can be very talkative. She gives all of herself and God's love is always shining through her. Angela is a rock solid leader and empathy is definitely on of her strengths. Rosalind loves the kids so much and she always sets a great example. And then there's Nusrah. She has a great smile and when you see it you can't help but smile. Her heart is so pure and she gives and loves and laughs with her whole heart. She's seriously so great. All of the leaders are. I just want to take a minute and brag on how incredible they are. I've had the opportunity to hear a couple of their stories. I can't really share them because of confidentiality, but they're heartbreaking stories. I'm honestly amazed because they're excited to be helping at the holiday club every single morning. They work really well with the younger kids and they're such great leaders. All of them are strong, courageous, loving, open, passionate, admirable, inspirational, and powerful. Each and every one of them has so much potential and deserves all the love in the world. I couldn't love them any more than I do, so if I'm being totally honest, leaving here is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I also want to praise Sherine. She's a social worker that runs the holiday club and works with all the kids. Her heart is beautiful. She gives everything she has to the kids, which isn't easy considering the weight each of them are carrying, not to mention the weight she carries. She never gives up. On top of that, she gives all the glory to God every single day. She's an extremely special person and a heart like that is rare. No matter where I go, a piece of my heart is always going to be right here.
I ask that you pray for all of the youth and the struggles they have gone through/are going through. Pray for strength, peace, love and encouragement for them. Pray for Sherine as well, that she remains strong, perseveres, and never loses sight of God's will. Lastly, I ask for prayers for my team and me, that all of our works in these last few weeks are glorifying to God and that we can continue to build relationships with everyone we meet. All of our hearts have made a home here and with the end of our trip coming up quickly, the thought of leaving is really weighing down on us, so please pray for emotional strength and encouragement.
2. Sorry I'm a terrible blogger and haven't updated for a really long time. I'm going to try to give a short update.
We've done and seen so many things. We went to Robben Island, Kirstenbosch, the waterfront, Kommetjie,and even a little bit of the Western Cape. We did the Garden Route last weekend and went ziplining, cave adventuring and bungee jumping from the highest bungee bridge in the world! Crazy right?! We also went on a safari and rode elephants! As for work, I've been working at the Holiday Club for the past 2 weeks while the kids are on break. I'm in love with the kids. The youth leaders are ages 13 and up. They've been teaching us how to dance (and laughing a little when we're awful). As soon as the music starts they let go of everything that holds them down and move so perfectly. I admire their spirits. I can't tell you about just one because they're all amazing. Annique is super intelligent and dances competitively and I can vouch for how awesome she is. Chadlee wants to be a designer and he's hilarious. Jenna Lee has the best laugh ever. It always gets me. Meagan has a very strong personality and she goes all out as soon as music starts. She's so adorable. Samantha is usually pretty quiet, but she has the biggest heart. Micalle can be quiet, or she can be very talkative. She gives all of herself and God's love is always shining through her. Angela is a rock solid leader and empathy is definitely on of her strengths. Rosalind loves the kids so much and she always sets a great example. And then there's Nusrah. She has a great smile and when you see it you can't help but smile. Her heart is so pure and she gives and loves and laughs with her whole heart. She's seriously so great. All of the leaders are. I just want to take a minute and brag on how incredible they are. I've had the opportunity to hear a couple of their stories. I can't really share them because of confidentiality, but they're heartbreaking stories. I'm honestly amazed because they're excited to be helping at the holiday club every single morning. They work really well with the younger kids and they're such great leaders. All of them are strong, courageous, loving, open, passionate, admirable, inspirational, and powerful. Each and every one of them has so much potential and deserves all the love in the world. I couldn't love them any more than I do, so if I'm being totally honest, leaving here is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I also want to praise Sherine. She's a social worker that runs the holiday club and works with all the kids. Her heart is beautiful. She gives everything she has to the kids, which isn't easy considering the weight each of them are carrying, not to mention the weight she carries. She never gives up. On top of that, she gives all the glory to God every single day. She's an extremely special person and a heart like that is rare. No matter where I go, a piece of my heart is always going to be right here.
I ask that you pray for all of the youth and the struggles they have gone through/are going through. Pray for strength, peace, love and encouragement for them. Pray for Sherine as well, that she remains strong, perseveres, and never loses sight of God's will. Lastly, I ask for prayers for my team and me, that all of our works in these last few weeks are glorifying to God and that we can continue to build relationships with everyone we meet. All of our hearts have made a home here and with the end of our trip coming up quickly, the thought of leaving is really weighing down on us, so please pray for emotional strength and encouragement.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
http://www.volunteermzansiafrika.com/
I'm in love with this country!
We've visited a few museums in Cape Town, Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, Fish Hoek, Sun Valley, and Masiphumelele. Seeing Cape Point was GORGEOUS. The view is so beautiful and how many people can see that they've seen two oceans at the exact same time? On the other hand, seeing the poverty that exists in Masi is heartbreaking. I never would have understood the living conditions without seeing them first hand. On top of that, a storm went through a couple nights later and wiped out a ton of the shacks, so people went from barely having anything to having nothing. It's difficult to express something like that because you can't understand it until you see it. The people are beautiful though. Everyone waved and said hello. The children ran and hugged us. They're so adorable, but the things they've witnessed are unthinkable.
I've been working at the Open Door in Ocean View. It's a social work office, so I've mostly just been doing admin work. The days can be very very slow, but I've gotten to talk to a few people with heartwrenching stories. The social workers here have all been very nice and understanding. Hopefully I'll get to work with little kids more later on. We've also been given the opportunity to tutor, specifically in math and science. I was riding the struggle bus...You can forget a lot in a very small amount of time. Who knew chemistry would be something I should remember...I'll work on that. Chantel has basically been our savior. She's shown us everything and been very encouraging from before we even arrived. She calls me her little nunu because I'm the youngest of our team. Her story is astonishing and I wish everyone had chance to hear her tell it. She's been doing amazing things for the community by starting Volunteer Mzansi so if you could PLEAAAASE visit the website, the hits alone would be extremely helpful to her. www.volunteermzansiafrika.com
Life in general... The food oh man. SO good. Last night I almost finished the dinner our host mom, Heidi, made before I asked what was in it. It was lamb. I'm not really one to dig into lamb, so I'm sure the look on my face was priceless when Kaitlyn told me it was lamb. Heidi is an excellent cook though. As for the weather, I was not expecting it to be quite this cold. I've pretty much been wearing leggings under all my pants and a long sleeve shirt with a sweatshirt and a jacket 24/7. We also happened to come at the worst time ever for weather is what I've heard. It's getting warmer as I type! The biggest adjustment is that we have to be home around 5:30 (before dark) and there isn't a lot to do but talk and watch TV so we're working on that. We taught our host parents to play uno last night and they were hilarious! We also taught our host mom to wobble. Classic. Chantel is taking the team to a jazz concert tonight so we're getting pretty excited to go out! By the way, I couldn't have asked for a more amazing group of girls to be here with. I love them all!
So yeah. Life is good, God is great!
We've visited a few museums in Cape Town, Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, Fish Hoek, Sun Valley, and Masiphumelele. Seeing Cape Point was GORGEOUS. The view is so beautiful and how many people can see that they've seen two oceans at the exact same time? On the other hand, seeing the poverty that exists in Masi is heartbreaking. I never would have understood the living conditions without seeing them first hand. On top of that, a storm went through a couple nights later and wiped out a ton of the shacks, so people went from barely having anything to having nothing. It's difficult to express something like that because you can't understand it until you see it. The people are beautiful though. Everyone waved and said hello. The children ran and hugged us. They're so adorable, but the things they've witnessed are unthinkable.
I've been working at the Open Door in Ocean View. It's a social work office, so I've mostly just been doing admin work. The days can be very very slow, but I've gotten to talk to a few people with heartwrenching stories. The social workers here have all been very nice and understanding. Hopefully I'll get to work with little kids more later on. We've also been given the opportunity to tutor, specifically in math and science. I was riding the struggle bus...You can forget a lot in a very small amount of time. Who knew chemistry would be something I should remember...I'll work on that. Chantel has basically been our savior. She's shown us everything and been very encouraging from before we even arrived. She calls me her little nunu because I'm the youngest of our team. Her story is astonishing and I wish everyone had chance to hear her tell it. She's been doing amazing things for the community by starting Volunteer Mzansi so if you could PLEAAAASE visit the website, the hits alone would be extremely helpful to her. www.volunteermzansiafrika.com
Life in general... The food oh man. SO good. Last night I almost finished the dinner our host mom, Heidi, made before I asked what was in it. It was lamb. I'm not really one to dig into lamb, so I'm sure the look on my face was priceless when Kaitlyn told me it was lamb. Heidi is an excellent cook though. As for the weather, I was not expecting it to be quite this cold. I've pretty much been wearing leggings under all my pants and a long sleeve shirt with a sweatshirt and a jacket 24/7. We also happened to come at the worst time ever for weather is what I've heard. It's getting warmer as I type! The biggest adjustment is that we have to be home around 5:30 (before dark) and there isn't a lot to do but talk and watch TV so we're working on that. We taught our host parents to play uno last night and they were hilarious! We also taught our host mom to wobble. Classic. Chantel is taking the team to a jazz concert tonight so we're getting pretty excited to go out! By the way, I couldn't have asked for a more amazing group of girls to be here with. I love them all!
So yeah. Life is good, God is great!
Monday, May 27, 2013
Matthew 6:34
My flight to South Africa leaves in less than 24 hours... This is so unreal.
Ask my mom and she'll tell you that international service is always something I've wanted to do. It's where I feel my calling. I jumped right into International Service Teams fearlessly, and I've been nothing but excited for this summer. Now it's sinking in that I'm really leaving the country for 8 weeks to something completely new and unfamiliar. Let me tell you, I went from fearless to...a little terrified. That's normal right? I'm sure this summer will be mentally and emotionally challenging, but God has some great plans for me in South Africa, and I'm ready to find out what they are.
I have never been great at memorizing or quoting scripture, but if there's one verse I know by heart it's Matthew 6:34. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I have clung to this verse since my junior year of high school. I shouldn't spend my time worrying about every little thing because there is a lot in the world to worry about. Rather, I should be rejoicing in the opportunities God has given me and glorifying His name. This is God's plan for me. I trust that He will take care of me. I need to remember to pray openly to God and live fearlessly in my faith.
That being said, I have a few (or more) prayer requests because there's no such thing as praying too much!
- My brother's safety in Jordan while he's serving a tour with the US Army
- Peace for my parents because I know it isn't easy
- Safe travels for my team
- That all my actions are glorifying to God and that I may be a light in my work
- Consistency of being in the Word
- Unwavering and enduring faith
- Emotional strength for my team because we'll encounter things that will change our view of the world
- Power to make a difference in people's lives, no matter how small
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