A New Season In South Africa

We have arrived safely for another 3 month term in South Africa. We landed on August 13 with 5 new interns. We have reunited with 2 interns that have stayed in South Africa throughout the year, so our total team consists of 7 interns.

The new team is bonding well and works together well. We have had a lot of fun getting to know them and introducing them into the South African culture.

Prior to our arrival, we had a plan to begin and establish new ministry within the local schools. However, within days of our arrival, the public service workers went on strike. This means that public schools have no teachers and hospitals have no nurses. Needless to say this has put a damper on our original plans of school ministry. We drove through the township after the strike began and we found children on the streets with nothing to do. One pastor said that this is part of the reason why children and youth get into drugs--because they have nothing else to do. We have felt an urgency to revamp our original ministry plan to meet the needs of the community as they are today.

We have begun training local congregations in using 17 Stories. 17 Stories is a tool that we have recently started to use in South Africa. Every set of 17 Stories consists of 16 picture cards, each telling a different Bible story. For example, the first card displays a picture of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Another card is a picture of Noah and the Ark. Throughout the 16 picture cards, stories from the Old Testament to the New Testament are represented. Each card is accompanied by a written version of the story for the teacher, along with discussion questions and a game to play that emphasizes the story. The 17th story is one big picture that the child can find when he/she puts all the 16 story cards together and flips them over. This last picture combines stories from the Old and New Testament. It serves as a reminder for the child of all the stories they learned and how it applies to their life. The goal of 17 Stories is not only for the child to learn what the Bible says, but we also want the child to be able to go home and tell their families the stories using the cards they are able to keep and take home with them.

Please continue to pray for us as we plan ministry for the next 3 months. Please also pray that the strike will end soon so we can reach as many kids as possible in the school system. Please pray for continued unity among our team and Spiritual growth individually and as a group.

The First Two Months...

It is hard for us to imagine that we have been back in South Africa for over 2 months now. Our time here keeps going faster and faster, and we are enjoying every minute of it!

During these first two months, we have learned how to successfully incorporate sports into ministry outreaches, and we are currently planning several events during the World Cup this summer. We are blessed to have been a part of distributing over 34,000 Books of Hope to South Africa's youth and children.

For the next two weeks, we will be in the Free State (a neighboring province in South Africa), where we will be holding more school assemblies and distributing more Books of Hope to more children and youth. We are so excited to be a part of such a vibrant and relevant ministry. We will be partnering with a local church that will do follow up with the students that receive God's Word, as well as continue the ministry once we leave.

Beginning in June, we will be hosting enough soccer clinics to last 5 weeks straight. This will take place during the World Cup. Please pray for us as we finalize all the details involved. Our goal is to reach over 13,000 children and youth with the Gospel. This is such an exciting time for the people of South Africa, and through the World Cup we have been given a platform on which we are able to share the Good News. God is good!

Last week, we were able to take a few days off and spend time together. We went to a town called Graskop, which is in the province of Mpumalanga. The scenery is beautiful there, and it was the perfect place for us to relax and unwind. We took one day to do some white-water rafting; that was a lot of fun!

Now we are back, ready and refreshed for all of the upcoming ministry that is now upon us. We are thankful for the time we had to relax, and we are thankful for the time we have to spread the love of Jesus!