I love South Africa! Our time has been a perfect balance of ministry, rest, and adventures, and the Lord has been so faithful to fulfill our hopes and expectations of this season so far.

In these past two weeks, we have gone to six primary schools, two rehab centers, and one old age home. At the schools, we split up into groups and go around visiting the kids, ranging from 3-11 classes a day, each being 30 minutes to an hour long. We never make a set schedule for the classes because each group of kids is different, and we never know what to expect. We go in with a few ideas in mind, but ultimately with open hands and open minds for whatever the Lord has for us in that time. We introduce ourselves (they’re always amazed we’re from America), open the floor for any questions they may have for us, and depending on their engagement level, we play games or put on a skit of a Bible story. The questions widely range from “was it hot or cold when Jesus died?” to “who made God?” to “did you know Texas is a desert?”. They never fail to make us laugh as you can probably imagine for a class of 1st-5th graders. The skits we’ve put on are always from the gospels, such as the good samaritan, Jesus walking on water, and the prodigal son. Our goal is to leave them with some encouragement and impart wisdom from the Bible for them to think about.

(we unfortunately can’t post many pictures from the schools for safety reasons, but here is one from the back^)

For the rehab centers, our focus is middle aged men and women who have been in active recovery from three days to a year. We start out with worship, then move into a time of testimonies, messages, and encouragement, and then end with small groups to get to know them on a personal level. They all come from broken homes and backgrounds and have struggled with drugs, addiction, and abuse, but it has been so encouraging to hear how the Lord has transformed their lives, as most of them are now believers. One of guys, who wasn’t a believer, had been at the rehab center for only a few days, and when we asked if they had any questions, he asked how we find specific passages in the Bible. Before we had a chance to answer, the man next to him immediately grabbed his bible and began to explain the table of contents and how to find the old and new testament. It was so cool to see how they supported and cared for one another, and to see the tight communities they have built in these centers.

In the afternoons and evenings, we either rest back at the house and recharge for the next day, or we help set up/participate in worship nights, discipleship events, and young adult groups. Our ministry hosts are very involved in a variety of ministries, all focused on outreach, discipling young missionaries, and sending them out. We have had the privilege of being involved in these events and have been very ministered to, being young missionaries ourselves. Our ministry host also ran a conference that we went to, focused on being a leader in the mission field, and we were so encouraged being surrounded by servants of Christ who come from different countries but all have the same goal: to spread the gospel to the nations.

Our adventure days and free times have also been so fun! We have tried our best to make the most of our time in South Africa, as the race is coming to a close very quickly, so when we’re not doing ministry, we have gone on hikes, gone to coffee shops, painted pottery, and even went shark diving!

(and yes… there was no cage!^)

(team hikes^)

(pottery^)

(the beach!^)

Please continue to pray for our teams and I, as we are headed to Liv, a “village,” tomorrow for the next ten days. It is an orphanage that provides schooling and all the needs of 200 children, and we will be living, serving, and helping out there. Thank you for reading and, as always, feel free to reach out!

Mo 😊