Once again it's been a while since I've been able to make a post! I apologize for that, but we've continued to be busy the last several weeks.
Since the last time I posted we've gone to the Free State province and did a few weeks of school ministry there. It was a great experience, and it was actually the first time it was just the Nomad team doing schools. We all had a great time and it was awesome staying with host families and getting to know the Afrikaner culture more. While I was there I had my 22nd birthday and I got to have a whole school assembly sing me a birthday song. It wasn't happy birthday, but I'm not exactly sure what the name of it was.... After we got back we had another Leadership Academy. This was a first year group, and it was a lot of fun. I actually didn't get to spend much time with the group this time around because I was also landscaping Hope Lodge, the place where we stay. It was a lot of fun to get to work with my hands again!... We had extra help this time with Academy from a 2-week team from North Carolina. After Academy the NC team and the Nomads went to Zimbabwe for a week to do school ministry and surveys. This was a groundbreaking trip for OneHope and Reaching A Generation because it's the first time we've been allowed to come into the country and do ministry. We went to schools and did surveys first and then we did presentations in the schools. In 1 month the children will retake the surveys and then again in 6 months to see what kinda of impact the Book of Hope had on their lives. It was a good trip, we had a several issues pop up during the week and we didn't do as much as we planned, but we've paved the road for future teams to come in and do ministry, which is awesome!
Something else happened last week, our first semester ended and one of the Nomads, Kelsey, went home. We were all sad to see her leave and we are all very surprised that the first 3 month semester is over! Andy will stay here for the summer and will then be leaving in the middle of July; Annette, Lauren, and I will all be here staying here until the middle of November. At the end of May we will be getting in 9 new Nomads for the summer and then we will be moving into a community about an hour from here and do soccer clinics for 6 weeks. After that it will about a month before the new Nomads for the fall come in.
God has continued to reveal Himself to me and He's also shown me a lot about myself. I've come to realize that in several ways I don't put God first in my life, and that a lot of times I try to find my value in my relationships with others and not with my relationship with Christ. Since God revealed this to me I've been working on putting God before everything and not worrying so much about my relationships with others. It's been freeing and my teammates have even noticed a difference in me. It's still a struggle for me, but God is faithful and I know He will continue to grow me as He has planned.
I sometimes still find myself thinking to myself "Am I really in Africa?!" I thank God so much for the experience so far and I know that it will only get better. My team's been amazing and I've learned a lot from them. I've gotten to help in sharing the gospel with over 40,000 children in Africa, and I dare say I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth surrounded by incredible wildlife! But the best thing that's happened so far is that I've come closer to God. There's times when it doesn't always feel like it, and there's times when I just want to call it quits and go home, but it's so worth it at the end of the day if just more child has gotten to hear the gospel and I'm just a little closer to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Thank you once again for the continued prayers, without them and seeking God first all we are doing is work, which will get us nowhere.
God Bless!
