On board...

And ready to go. Should depart in the next 15 minutes or so! There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home...


Every kid,

Jeremy

A slight delay

As of right now our flight, UA 683 is delayed until 5:45. If we take off at that point, we will land at 8:09 in DFW. Hope to see you all soon!


Every kid,

Jeremy

DC

We are on the ground in Washington, and glad to be in the US!


Every kid,

Jeremy

The beginning

We are now beginning our long journey home.  But I feel as though we are beginning something bigger.  I believe our team has been greatly impacted by the events of this week.  I will let them tell you how. 

I also believe God has begun a great work not only in us, but through us as well.  As I am currently having lunch with Cala, Steve, and Garrett, I am reminded that a great work will continue here.  THere will be a little bit of each of us that will be left in South Africa.  This is only the beginning :)

Youth alive

As I type this, I am preparing to speak at the Friday night youth ministry of Norwegian Settlers Church. I am so thankful to know the Holy Spirit is going with us and before us. We love worshipping with these people!





Every kid,

Jeremy

Thursday

Today was yet another incredible day.  We spent the morning sharing some of the harder lessons about sex (STDs, contraceptives, pregnancy and abortion to name a few).  Immediately following that presentation, we were able to ask all of our students if they would like to join us in the conference room to "get to know the Americans."  Over 90 of them came, and the Gospel was presented, and 7 of them accepted Christ!  Praise the Lord!

As a funny aside, the school today wanted us to taste "real South African food," so they went to KFC (yes, that KFC) and had chicken and pop for us.  Pop is not soda, it is a corn meal mixture that takes the place of mashed potatoes.  Our kids were shocked and disappointed that it was not potatoes :)

This afternoon at Murchison was hard.  We got there a little early and so had more time to spend with the kids.  After our fourth afternoon of loving on and playing with these kids, the goodbyes came.  They were tearful and sad, but we know that God has an incredible plan for each of these kids lives.  We pray they find that plan.

Our team is having a blast, and we have one more day at Port Shepstone Secondary, as well as one other great ministry opportunity tomorrow night mixed in with some fun.  Pray we finish strong!

So sorry...

That we are continuing to have some internet connectivity issues.  This post is a bit late, but it involves all that we did on Wednesday. 

Wednesday started out wonderfully as we began at Port Shepstone Secondary.  Many of our students have mentioned that this is the day that their students began to open up to them.  Many great conversations are being had within our groups and we are excited as they continue. 

The afternoon in Murchison was incredible.  We not only played with the kids, but several other things happened.  During our Bible Story time, we shared about what Christ has done on the cross.  Then our craft was the salvation bracelet.  While we did not have them raise their hands (its difficult through the translator), I know that we can lean on God's promise that his Word will not return void.  Andrew Seward also shared a devotional time with the guys who work out at the gym.  While Andrew believes it did not go well, I spoke with Steve Flippo (our missionary) and he told me that while he could tell he was nervous,  Andrew did fine!  Praise the Lord our students are stepping out of their comfort zone!

Pray for today as our students are officially leaving Murchison as I type.  This will be an emotional time, and one our students will not forget the impact that God used Murchison to have on their life.

A beautiful day

So today was completely unexpected.  We began by awaking early and heading to Port Shepstone Secondary and found out that many of the kids had a field trip today.  So this morning we were able to get with the South Africans who were serving and get to know them instead.  We had a blast and it gave us a better perspective that we are serving on a much larger team this week. 

We then headed to the Creche and were able to meet some of the sweetest little children ever! After playing with them, coloring with them, feeding them and laughing a lot, we headed on to Murchison for the afternoon. Our students are having a blast with the kids at Murchison!  We had song time today, and even had another mission team stop by (from St. Louis) to let our students show them how its done at the reading room.

We ended the night by having dinner with Lynn and Gary Brackley.  Lynn is an employee of Genesis whose main focus is on supporting and overseeing all the student ministries that Genesis runs.They really are a lovely couple and took us to see the final few minutes of a Rugby match!  What a game!  We cannot wait for what tomorrow brings as our students are really beginning to deepen their relationships, especially at Murchison.  We look so forward to what God is going to do and is doing through these relationships!

Time to Begin Tuesday

We are so excited this morning as our Tuesday begins.  Our students are somewhat chatty at breakfast (amazing for teenagers at 6:30 am) and being very polite.  I am amazed that our team is really working together as well as it has.  To our already busy schedule, today we will actually add a trip to the mall for ice cream and dinner out as well as an additional service project at the African Evangelical Church's Creche (preschool).  Please pray for endurance as our days will not get any shorter, but will also get more fun!

After a very refreshing night’s sleep, we were able to begin our first full day of ministry.  The day began with each of our team members leading a small group at Port Shepstone Secondary School.  They were teaching life skills class.  Today’s lessons were on absolute values and on choosing values.  Our students did an awesome job!  They were having great discussions with the groups of students there.  The lessons get harder as the week goes on, but our students are building great relationships with the students who are in 9^th grade there!

           

In the afternoon we went to the Murchison Community Center.  Our kids love those kids!  The kids there attend a reading room, which is a ministry born out of the Seeds ministry at Norwegian Settlers’ Church.   Seeds is a student run ministry that saw a need to reach out to the AIDS afflicted in their community and did.  This reading room is solely high school and college student run! 

Lastly, I believe the internet is fixed and will be running well most of the rest of the week.  Look for more frequent and perhaps more detailed posts(like this one).  Thank you for your continued prayers and love, they are felt and needed!

Jeremy

Our Sunday

What a day!  After roughly 4 hours of sleep, we began our first full day in South Africa.  Breakfast was followed by a 20 minute ride to African Evangelical Church (AEC) in a community near where we will be working in the afternoons.  It was awesome!  After a 2 hour plus worship service, which included all kinds of singing, testimonies, and preaching, we headed back to Skogheim to change clothes, eat lunch and head to the beach.  All of our students have now been in the Indian Ocean!  (It has cold water and big waves) We continued our day with an incredible dinner at the Waffle House (not at all like the US).  Finally, we are back in our rooms and ready for really good night’s rest!  Please pray that we would get a refreshing, reinvigorating sleep tonight!  We need it!

Also, our South African phone number is (082) 773-9239 (please use it in case of emergency only)

Some internet issues

Hey guys! We are running into some internet issues, but will have them resolved around lunch (overnight back home). Everyone is doing well and God is doing cool things! Keep praying for us and you will see pictures soon!


Every kid,

Jeremy

We are here!

We are all checked into Skogheim! Breakfast is in 6 hours :)


Every kid,

Jeremy

A minor delay

We are (finally) on a plane to Durban. Due to a delay in our earlier flight, we had to tKe a later flight from Joburg to Durban. We are now on flight SA585 and are scheduled to arrive at 10:10 local time (2:10 CST)! God is good!


Every kid,

Jeremy

South Africa

Our South Africa mission trip is scheduled for March 11-20! Check back often for updates!