Mission Trip to South Africa

This past winter I was privilaged to get the opportunity to serve as a missionary in South Africa. I was there from December 29, 2008, to Janurary 7,2009. I traveled and worked with a group of 24 people called DoMissions, there were three leaders, two in seminary, one mom, lots of college students, and me, the only high schooler! We were based out of and worked with a church in Escourt, South Africa, called Midlands Christian Centre. We used soccer clinics and "hut-to-hut" witnessing as an opportunity to share the Gospel with the Kwazulu-Natal tribe. We visited three villages outside of Escourt called Wembezi, Ntabamhlope, and Dalton Bridge. We were able to give some of the families food (rice, beans, and corn meal) and the kids soccer balls, cleats, and stuffed animals.

On Saturday we were in Ntabamhlope standing outside our van praying for each other before we made our next visit, a group of kids began to gather behind us. Some of us felt that we needed to talk to the kids, so we split up and some of us made the next visit while others stayed behind to talk to the kids. Our group leader began talking to them and we found out that they had never heard of God or the name of Jesus. My leader, Katie, let me share witht them about who God is and about what Jesus did. I told them about God the Creator, about Adam and Eve and sin. I told them about how the Iraelites had to sacrifice animals, lambs, for the payment of their sins, which connects for them because they believe that you must sacrifice goats in order to appease their ancestors. I told them how Jesus came and lived a life without sin then died for us to pay for our sins once for all. And about how He rose again and invites us all to come to Him for salvation. Then I asked if anyone wanted that salvation, and one girl, about 14 or 15 years old, instantly shot up her hand. I prayed with her, Precious is her name, and afew minutes later the others from our group returned and I introduced her to the full time missionary with us, Erlo, who provided a way for her to get to church.

We need to pray for missions in South Africa! So many people are just like those kids, they have never heard of God! Please pray for Midlands Christian Centre and their pastors Dermont and Glenda Sandalls and Jon and Tracy Kuhn, along with the full time missionaries, Erlo, Brenda, Delhi, and my friend Ntando, and for every DoMission team that goes there. Also pray for me as I look to go back this winter.
Romans 10:14-15

Mission Trip to Jamaica

I was 13 the first time I went on a mission trip. My Mom and I went to Jamaica with our church. We worked out of a church and a school, we did Vacation Bible School in an elementary school every morning. I helped teach the kindergarten class which was every kid from 5 years old down. Many parent would bring their kids to VBS then go to the youth class, we had every age from babys 1 year old to adults 30 years old. Two afternoons we were there we went to an orphanage where some of us taught the kids Bible stories and made crafts with them while others painted the building. It was very sad because while many of the kids really didn't have parents some of them did but their parents couldn't afford to keep them, so they would send them to the orphanage to live and go to school.

Most of the time when someone says "I went to Jamaica" everyone thinks of beaches and vacations. My stay there revealed that Jamaica is not what it looks like on the TV. The majority of the people there make their livelihood from farming or tourists (selling souviners or working at villias). There were not many houses there becasue most people live in, well, boxes. They find whatever they can (cardboard, scrap metel and wood) and stack it all ontop of each other, kinda like kids do when they build a playhouse, and that is where they live. They will live like that till the next hurricane then after the storm they will pick up the pieces and rebuild.

Just like everywhere else, Jamaicans need Jesus, they need someone to bring them the gospel.

Romans 10:14-15

Why Am I Blogging?

I am called by God to be a missionary. I have already stepped out on that calling in the past and I will be going again this summer. I have in the past been to Jamaica, various places in the U.S., and more recently to South Africa, and this summer I will go to New Mexico. I know that I will be going on many more mission trips in my future so I decided to build a blog site to inform people of where I am going and what I am doing. Maybe one day I will be a full time foreign missionary and I will be able to tell any Christian anywhere about how the Lord is working where I am. Maybe God will use this site to let people who wouldn't know what a missionary does get an "inside look". I pray that whatever God uses this site for and anything else I do or say to glorify Him.