Well, I've been in Africa for two weeks now, and it’s been amazing to say the least. We all have safe travels to SA and our team is really coming together.

For these first few weeks we’ve been doing a lot of training and just spending time with God. The first ten days here we stayed at bush camp, which is basically what it sounds like, we were out in the bush camping. It was a great experience that I will never forget! The beauty of God’s creation here in SA is incredible and when you are out here you can just feel His presence. One of the interesting aspects to our camping experience is that we were only allowed to bring ten items with us. It was a challenge, but you really learned to just live with the basics and share everything. We had some given items like our bibles and sunscreen, and eventually we were allowed a few more items. Since then we’ve moved into the Hope Lodge which is a very nice.

I’ve seen a ton of really cool animals like giraffes and Zebras and Warthogs, eaten some interesting things as well. I will tell you that I am not a huge fan of chicken feet, but it’s cool to say that I’ve eaten it anyway. One of the most amazing things here in SA are the stars! They are so bright and you can see so many more, the sky just glows with them. It’s been really cool because right before I left KS something I read was Philippians 2:14-16 “ Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like the stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..” There are several cool things that really apply here:

1. Don’t complain, living in a team with people 24-7 and being very busy with ministry isn’t necessarily easy and when we don’t complain or argue it makes a great testimony and a great team.

2. Shining like the stars has a whole new meaning for us now after we’ve seen the awesome night skies in SA.

3. In the last part it talks about holding out the word of life, how applicable to OneHope where we literally hand out the Book of Hope to kids!

Something else that’s been great here are the sunsets, and the weather! It’s nice and cool in the evenings and it really doesn’t get too hot, but the sun is a lot more intense here.

It’s been great just being able to relax and truly spend time with God and have Him fill us up in preparation for a busy next few months of ministry! I’m getting anxious to get into the ministry here and see God do some awesome things!