Our dreams have come true! We are finally in South Africa, after almost 2 years of preparing and fundraising. We have been in our new "home" for a little over a week, and so far we are loving every minute of it!
Our first week was full of training and traveling around the town that we will be working in. We have learned more about South African culture and about the issues South Africans face every day. We have learned several dramas to do for little kids and for high schoolers and adults. We learned how to apply our testimonies to the dramas and make them relevent to the people.
We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our interns better. They have already formed strong friendships between the 8 of them (they are all girls) and that has made these first several days enjoyable and entertaining!
On Sunday, we attended the church that we will be partnering with in ministry over the next few months. It was a new experience for most of the team members. We witnessed dancing, incredible singing and worship. We also saw a woman being released from an evil spirit. God's spirit was heavily there, and it was awesome to experience in a completely different culture than what we are used to.
We would like to ask for your prayers as we go into this week. We will begin holding focus groups with the people of a township called Mahwelereng (Ma-hal-er-ing). This is the town that we will be primarily working with. The ministry we do will be based on what we find out from these focus groups and door to door surveys we will do later in the week.
Thank you for your prayers and support! We look forward to updating you further from South Africa!
Until next time,
Josh and Kelly
Thanks so much for taking the time to share. We read every word - sometimes more than once! Kelly, it was so good to hear your voice today. Know that we are praying for you, thinking of you and missing you. Love you much!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are off to a great start. It's always good to hear the enthusiasm in your writing. I know your experiences from here on out will be new experiences, with new people, different culture, etc. But God can use these experiences to show you His faithfulness, His beauty and another facet of His great love. Wish we could be with you. Love, Hadsome
ReplyDeleteP.S. Kelly, you look beautiful. Josh, I hope you receive an extra measure of grace to deal with all of that estrogen!