In Awe.

As almost all of you know, I finally made it back safely to America! It's hard to believe that my 7 weeks in Africa have come to an end, and that I'm already preparing to begin classes in a little more than a week.
I know I've talked a lot about some of the fun and exciting things that I got to do and see while I was overseas, but I want to fill you in on what happened in the lives of the people we came into contact with. I want to make sure you know how lives of students were impacted by the gospel this summer. As the title of this blog says, I really am in awe of all of the awesome works of the Lord that I got to witness in South Africa.

Let me start by saying that I feel so priviledged to have even been used by the Lord and to have had the opportunity to go on this trip. I am nobody special, nobody with special abilities, and I think I saw more and more this summer of how God can use any ordinary person who is open to doing His will.

God definitely did some huge things on the campus of UJ-Bunting during our time there. As a team, we saw 15 people come to Christ, many re-dedicate their lives to the Lord, and also a large number become interested in Christianity for the very first time. It was so awesome to see the Lord move, and it seemed like He moved in times when we least expected it. As I write this, I can't help but to think of Psalm 126:5, which says "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!" I feel like that verse really defined a lot of our team's heart this summer. We had various trials and had many times when it would have been easy to just give up. We cried over and labored in the lives of many South African students who do not know Christ. But guess what? The promise of this verse rang true! The Lord called us to be faithful in serving Him no matter how hard it may be, and as a result, we were able to reap with shouts of joy! What a great thing to know that the Lord is faithful to His people and to carry out His promises. To Him be all the glory for the lives that were changed for eternity!

I could probably write a book on all of the students that we built relationships with this summer, but that would take way too long! Instead, here's a great video of our trip that Doug Rose put together. It will let you directly hear from some of the students whose lives were changed forever.

Sometime this week I'll be posting a blog about all that God taught me personally during my time in South Africa. Can't wait to share with ya'll! :)

Love always- K