Well, it’s been 3 days in South Africa and I don’t even know where to begin! Our plane ride here seemed as if it would never end, especially the 11 hour flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg! It’s been really hard to get over the jet-lag after arriving here, because we basically lost an entire night of sleep on our way here. But we can’t complain, because we got here safely, had all of our luggage to arrive, and we have a nice, cozy house to live in.
A little bit about our house- It’s called the Butterfly. We have two nice common areas where we can all hang out and spend time together, a large kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a nice big patio. It’s so much different here than in the states, because there are walls topped with barbed-wire around every single house and building here in Jo-burg. A little bit of a change coming from a small town where we don’t even have to lock our doors!
Wednesday, we had an orientation session in the morning with some of the CO-Johannesburg staff. They talked about what their ministry looks like, safety precautions, and other things we need to know about living in South Africa. We then walked around the local mall that we will be shopping at for groceries, things we need, etc. It’s really convenient, because it’s only about 5 minutes away from our house. We also took a tour of UJ-Bunting, the campus that we will be investing in this summer. All of the student leaders have been nothing but so welcoming to us ever since we arrived, and we’ve already gotten to spend a lot of time with them. Wednesday night is also when CO-J has their weekly outreach meeting called “Le Life,” which basically means “The Life.” The staff didn’t waste any time throwing us into the dorms to start meeting students. We went around to the different hallways that we’re assigned to, started meeting students, and invited them to the weekly meeting. It was so awesome! The South African students are SO friendly and so excited to meet Americans (I mean, I guess we’re pretty cool.) There ended up being around 125 students at the meeting, which was their largest meeting of the year! The momentum was high and everyone seemed excited to be there. The Lord is already moving here on this campus, and I can’t wait to be a part of this awesome time.
Thursday, we had day 2 of orientation and went over some more information about South Africa and about our campus. We then went to campus and played some touch rugby. Let me just say it was so much fun. There were a lot of Africans watching us play, and I know they were laughing at and talking about us uncoordinated, un-athletic Americans. Oh well, it was still fun. We then got to get some rest back at the Butterfly before heading back to campus for the evening. We had a girl’s Bible Study in my dorm and had about 20 girls show up. It went so well! They were slightly shy at first, but we can tell that a lot of them definitely have interest in the gospel and who Jesus is.
I feel like I have SO much to share with you already, and I’ve only been here for 3 days. Here are just some random things to share with you all:
1) My ministry partner for the summer is Paige Donham, a girl on our team from UNCG. This means that we’re assigned to 5 floors of a dorm on campus and will be doing all of our ministry together. I’m so excited to work with her!
2)The dorm that we’re assigned to is called Panorama, and it’s 10 stories high. I know the dorms at UNCC are big, but these things are about twice the size of the one I live in. They’re huge!
3) I’ve met about 30 girls over the past 2 days, and I can probably only remember close to 10 of their names. Let’s just say their names are way more complicated than American names. Makes it difficult for a southern white girl to pronounce. Just saying.
3) Driving here has been quite an experience. (I personally haven’t had to drive, but some guys on our team have learned). Since they’re new to this whole driving on the left side of the road thing, we’ve had some close encounters to say the least. The South African people look at us like we’re insane, because there are 14 white Americans all piled into a van, driving around having no clue what they’re doing. Wil Sessions has been hilarious while chauffeuring us around!
4) The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. It’s cold at night, but during the day it’s been about 65° and sunny, which I think is perfect weather.
I hope this gives ya’ll lots of info and insight as to what I’ve been doing over the past couple of days. Sorry it’s so long, but I want to keep you all as informed as I possibly can. And sorry if it’s a little jumbled, I’m writing this at nearly 1am, so I’m a little sleepy.
Please just continue to pray for us: pray for boldness in the dorms, pray that the hearts of the South Africans would be open to the gospel, pray for the leaders on the campus here, and pray that the Lord would give us rest and strength as we’re trying to catch up on sleep.
I love you all SO much and will hopefully update again soon J
Kimberlaquishanitamoniquatoyaredneckolodea (I guess you can say that’s now my ghetto African name)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Almost There!
Okay, so I'm only 5 days away from boarding a plane and heading to a completely different country. I absolutely cannot believe that it's almost here! This week has been crazy, as I've had 5 final exams to take, had to move out of my dorm room, and begin packing for South Africa. I've been busy to say the least. I should be studying now, but I wanted to take a quick little break to update you all :)
First, I've got to say how loved that I've felt by my church, Hickory Grove, and just how awesome they have been. They have supported me in so many ways and it's been unreal. First off, they supported me financially to help get me to South Africa. That was a huge blessing. Then, they prayed for Lauren, Morgan, and I in both services last Sunday. Hundreds of women laid hands on us and the entire church body lifted us up in prayer. Our college Sunday school class also prayed for us this past Sunday to send us off. On top of that, we found out yesterday that the entire staff team at HGBC prayed for us in their staff meeting. Talk about feeling loved! I am so thankful for each and every one of the pastors, staff, and church members there who have influenced me, and who are so passionate about seeing the gospel reach the nations.
Second, it's been crazy how the Lord has provided the financial support I needed to have this opportunity! Never did I imagine that I would be able to raise $5500 in support. But oh wait, that's actually because I didn't do it. God has clearly provided this money for me, because there's no way I could have done this on my own! Even over this past week, He has specifically provided the exact amounts of money that I have needed. It's such a cool feeling to just sit back and watch the Lord do His thing. I mean, He's kind of perfect at that, ya know.
Lastly, here are a few details that I've found out since I blogged last:
-We're having a parent send-off in Lynchburg, VA on Sunday evening. So technically, my last night at home will be Saturday. The send-off will be a time for all of our families to meet each other, find out any last details, and say their goodbye's to us.
-We are flying KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
-We will be flying out of Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. on Monday evening at 5:55pm.
-We will have about an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, and we will have a 2 hour layover there. We will then fly straight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg, which is an 11 hour flight. So all in all, it will take us around 21 hours to get to J-burg. Whoo!
-Our theme for the summer is "We Are Witnesses," which clearly fits our trip perfectly. We will be studying the book of Acts together as well.
-The first couple of days we are there we will have orientation to get us aquainted to South Africa, so we won't be jumping in first thing.
That's all I can think of for now! Back to studying I go.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I have a lot to do before I leave. I'm planning on spending as much time as I can with family and friends, as well as consuming as much American food as possible! :)
Love you all lots!
-K&W
First, I've got to say how loved that I've felt by my church, Hickory Grove, and just how awesome they have been. They have supported me in so many ways and it's been unreal. First off, they supported me financially to help get me to South Africa. That was a huge blessing. Then, they prayed for Lauren, Morgan, and I in both services last Sunday. Hundreds of women laid hands on us and the entire church body lifted us up in prayer. Our college Sunday school class also prayed for us this past Sunday to send us off. On top of that, we found out yesterday that the entire staff team at HGBC prayed for us in their staff meeting. Talk about feeling loved! I am so thankful for each and every one of the pastors, staff, and church members there who have influenced me, and who are so passionate about seeing the gospel reach the nations.
Second, it's been crazy how the Lord has provided the financial support I needed to have this opportunity! Never did I imagine that I would be able to raise $5500 in support. But oh wait, that's actually because I didn't do it. God has clearly provided this money for me, because there's no way I could have done this on my own! Even over this past week, He has specifically provided the exact amounts of money that I have needed. It's such a cool feeling to just sit back and watch the Lord do His thing. I mean, He's kind of perfect at that, ya know.
Lastly, here are a few details that I've found out since I blogged last:
-We're having a parent send-off in Lynchburg, VA on Sunday evening. So technically, my last night at home will be Saturday. The send-off will be a time for all of our families to meet each other, find out any last details, and say their goodbye's to us.
-We are flying KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
-We will be flying out of Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. on Monday evening at 5:55pm.
-We will have about an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, and we will have a 2 hour layover there. We will then fly straight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg, which is an 11 hour flight. So all in all, it will take us around 21 hours to get to J-burg. Whoo!
-Our theme for the summer is "We Are Witnesses," which clearly fits our trip perfectly. We will be studying the book of Acts together as well.
-The first couple of days we are there we will have orientation to get us aquainted to South Africa, so we won't be jumping in first thing.
That's all I can think of for now! Back to studying I go.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I have a lot to do before I leave. I'm planning on spending as much time as I can with family and friends, as well as consuming as much American food as possible! :)
Love you all lots!
-K&W
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