Outreach: Mossel Bay

                                                                  Hey Y'all!

I'm finally back from my globe trotting adventures armed with plenty of stories,moments, and photos to share. I can hardly wrap my mind around the fact that DTS is over and I'm back home in good ole' NC. Time really does fly fast when you are having fun. It will be hard to fully express in words all that has taken place in my life these past five months but I will try my best to describe it all. I've spent the last two months on "outreach phase" in South Africa. I witnessed God show up in some mighty ways over our two months in Africa and it really was one of the most amazing trips of my life. 

(Just arrived in Cape Town)

I was on a team of fourteen people, twelve students and two leaders, and we arrived in South Africa on December 11th after two long days of traveling. It took us 23 hours of flying, 16 hours of layovers, and finally a four hour bus ride before we arrived safely in our final destination, Mossel Bay. Needless to say we were all beyond exhausted when we arrived. We spent the first two days settling in and adjusting to the time change. Mossel Bay is in the eastern part of South Africa and it is a vacation spot for locals during the holiday season. There was an abundance of people there from all different parts of SA so we had plenty of witnessing opportunities at all times. Mossel Bay is absolutely stunning and it was such a fun place to live during the holidays. 

(Mossel Bay) 

                                                                     

Our first week there we did spirit-led ministry which basically means we would divide up into groups of four and ask God where we should go and what we should do with our ministry time. We did a wide range of things for ministry but our main focus was evangelism. We would walk down main street and just befriend locals who were working or anyone who would stop and have a conversation with us. South Africans are extremely relationship oriented people so we would revisit the same people and really build a lasting friendship with them. When we built relationships with people they began opening up to us and letting us pour into their lives. A lot of people we talked to knew who Jesus was but had no clue what it meant to have a relationship with Him and they didn't grasp the concept of grace at all. As we shared with them, it was incredible to really see people grasp God's grace for the first time and to see an overwhelming transformation in their heart and soul. 

(View of the stunning ocean/mountains) 

 Week two we ran a children's program every morning in the township that was within walking distance from the house we lived in. We had some great local contacts who facilitated some of the children's program but we were in charge of running games, doing skits, and giving a teaching every day. We decided to teach everyday on a different piece of the armour of God. The kids LOVED all we did with them and really connected with all we taught them. I personally love children's ministry and it was so fun just to give the kids something productive and positive to do for two hours out of their day. We saw a couple of the older kids give their hearts to Christ by the end of the week which was awesome. 

(Children's ministry in the township)

Our last week in Mossel Bay we did night ministry, an open air, more spirit-led ministry, and more evangelism. We also celebrated Christmas and New Years while there. It was weird being away from my family for the holidays and it didn't really even feel like Christmas simply because I was at the beach and wearing shorts. Due to the fact that it was the holiday season it was really easy to have a conversation with people about Jesus since that is the reason why we celebrate Christmas. There really are no words to describe seeing someone coming to the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus and seeing them basically walk from death into life. That is the reason why we went to South Africa and the reason why God commands us all throughout the Bible to go and preach the good news. It isn't always easy to evangelize and there were times I didn't feel like I was adequate enough or had the right words to speak. When these doubts would arise God always reminded me that His power is perfected in my weakness and that He would use my words no matter what they sounded like. I was challenged to not just evangelize on the mission field but that this can be done in everyday life. 

There is so much more I have to share with everyone about my time in Africa and this post is only scratching the surface of all we saw God do. Make sure you stay tuned for more posts about South Africa and how God moved in my personal life and in the lives of the people there!