Halfway through my time here in Jefferys Bay! Can’t believe we have already been here for 2 weeks! So much has happened and I can’t wait to share with you guys!
First off school is very different here, they do year round school so they have “breaks” throughout the year. This past week they had a week break so we did a different kind of ministry. I have learned that all ministry is not the same. I thought that we would be with kids most of our time but this past week we did street evangelism, help build parking lots, and paint a kindergarten classroom.
On Monday we went out and did street evangelism and God was working SO MUCH! He softened all of the hearts of all of the people we had conversations with and they were so receptive to what we had to share and some people even shared their own testimony with us! We met people who had absolutely nothing and were so happy because they had the Lord. We met a man who was an ex gang member who had killed people, was involved in drugs and alcohol, served time in prison, and much more. He shared his testimony and said that he wanted to leave his old self behind and be made new in the image in God. He has been out of prison for 20 years now and has been out of the gang and sharing the love of God and how God has worked in his life. We bought a meal for another man who decided to save it and share it with his family back home. He had absolutely nothing but continues to thank the Lord for waking him up every single day and continuing to bless him in way he couldn’t imagine. He thanked us for the meal and said that we were God sent and he even cried when we prayed for him!
On Tuesday – Friday we helped paint a kindergarten classroom. I was a little upset that we weren’t with kids this week but I learned that God uses us in ways we don’t even imagine. For painting I was excited because I got to do it with Reagan, Faith, Bethy and Sarah Mei. We helped out Lucas who is a Pastor at a coffee shop. It was amazing getting to work alongside him and hear him share his testimony and some other things. He taught us that work can be worship, and that we are still glorifying God painting a kindergarten classroom. Let’s say I also got a little messy in the process!
We also got to experience our first South African Holiday! On Tuesday It was their Heritage Day which is a day to celebrate the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Our house mom Mama Wendy made us some traditional South African food for dinner that night and it was yummy! We had Bobotie which is a meat bake with an egg based topping, and for dessert we have Malva pudding and this was my favorite thing ever!! Malta pudding is a sweet pudding that is normally an apricot jam spongy caramelized cake. It normally has a cream sauce that it poured on top of it.
Saturday was our 2nd Adventure Day! I got to go to Addo National Elephant Park and it was so much fun! We had to leave our house by 5:15. It took about 2 hours to get there but once we arrived at the park we were all so excited! We immediately saw an elephant and it was massive! I think this was the first time I was so close to an elephant and it was crazy to see how big they really are! We saw lots of other animals such as warthogs, birds, baboons, elands, and zebras! The park was massive it was 686,000 hectares which is equivalent to 1,695,142 acres!!! There were little cottages that people could spend the night at and there was a main camp that had a restaurant, bathrooms, museums and a gift shop. We stopped at main camp for some lunch and got some goodies at the gift shop. Once we left main camp we still drove around and we were in the middle of a breeding heard of elephants. It was crazy how many we found. This day was so much fun!
We also got to swim in the Indian Ocean! Was a little bit chilly but was so fun! One day we are going to try surfing! How cool is it to be able to go surf in the #1 surfing area in the world!!!
Such a great week! Tune in for next week!
Sounds like a great week