A Flash of Moments

It's hard to believe that tomorrow we will have been here for 6 months! WOW, that's half of a year. It is amazing to look back on the past six months and see all the things the Lord has done and how He has continued to be faithful in this chapter of our lives. There are so many things that stand out in my mind since we have been here. Let's take a look at some of our favorite moments in the past 6 months...

 Our first time on the road driving in South Africa was an adventure. We were excited and nervous all at the same time. It was a little intimidating since everything was on the other side. The steering wheel, the side of the road we were on, our turning signal, our window shield wipers, and the ways we were supposed to turn at a robot (stop light). We are grateful that we have had no accidents and only a few minor incidents where we turned into the wrong lane or got in the car on the wrong side, oops!

Our first event in Red Hill, Wait For Me. This was a little less then a month after we had arrived. It was such a blessing getting to see our kids and teenagers excited and wanting to learn more about staying pure before marriage. The Lord was present that day and we loved learning together.

First Thanksgiving together. We were sad whenever we thought about celebrating holidays away from home, but our family here in South Africa made that a lot easier. This was the first time we realized how many Americans there were here and the Lankford's opened their home to us to celebrate all together. We had turkey, dressing, mac & cheese, and so much more. Our community was slowly beginning to grow.

Christmas in Red Hill. We had two Christmas parties in Red Hill in December and they were both so much fun. We loved getting to share the story of the birth of Christ with our kids and teens. This was the first time we saw our teenagers take ownership and they helped bring to life the Christmas story for all of our kids. We had a great couple of days!

Christmas: Just The Two of Us. Christmas for us was usually spent with a lot of family, tons of food, and even more presents! This year it was a lot different, but a good different. For the first time we weren't surrounded with all the things that people make Christmas about and it was really nice. We made our own traditions that will hopefully carry on for many years to come!

Exploring. Trying New Things. Adventure. We are so blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We have had the opportunity to try new things since we've been here, like surfing! We love to go on hikes and be outside so this is really a perfect place to live. The most rewarding hike was when we hiked up Table Mountain in January! It was hard, but the view of God's creation at the top was well worth the long journey up!

Family. For Nathan and I it has been such a blessing to get to know Lumka, Phillis, and Kennedy. It is so refreshing to work alongside people who are there to encourage you and make you better. We have made so many memories together and love the joy each day brings with these three amazing people. We can't wait to continue this journey with them and see how the Lord continues to bless our ministry.

Blessings From Home. Having our home church here in February was so awesome! I will never forget seeing familiar faces walk through the gate at the airport that night. We felt so loved and encouraged the whole time our church was here and we loved seeing them serve the Red Hill community. Although it was hard to see them leave, we knew how much of a blessing they had been to everyone here.

Kids & Teens Club. No matter what we are doing our kids and teens come every afternoon excited and ready to learn. They are SO excited to see you everyday and their sweet hugs never will get old. We have loved seeing them all grow in different ways since we have been here. They are truly one of the biggest blessings in our lives.

We could go on and on of all the moments that have stood out to us. It's crazy for us to think how fast it has gone by and all the little things that have happened in between. We have had moments of laughter, tears, confusion, and utter amazement. One thing has stayed consistent through all of it though, the love and faithfulness of our Father! We are excited to continue on this journey and ready to see what the next 6 months brings! Our prayer is that we never lose sight of what is important and we continue to be bold in carrying Christ name to all we come in contact with. Thank you Father for your LOVE, PROTECTION, and JOY you have given us thus far on this journey!

Teens Camp

Last week we had the blessing of working with our teens at camp. The camp took place at Rocklands Centre in Simons Town, which is about a 15 minute drive from Red Hill. Camp is definitely something they look forward to each year. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take all of our teens because we were only allowed to bring 20. This was a hard choice but it all came down to how respectful they were each week in club and if their attendance was consistent. They found out about 3 weeks before we went so they would have time to fill out forms and know the things they needed to bring. Each community that Living Hope works in were able to bring 20 teenagers so in all there were around 80 teens at camp last week. Nathan and I didn't know the other teenagers because they were from Ocean View, Masi, and Capricorn. We were excited to get to know these other teens that we had never been around before. We arrived at camp last Monday and everyone was excited to jump into the week ahead!

We were excited to work alongside a church from the States that was there to help run things. They were a group of high school students from Seattle, Washington. The first day was a lot like camp anywhere you would go. We spent the first little bit going over the rules and things that were expected from them during the week. We were then spilt into 4 different groups that we would spend a lot of time with that week. My team was called the Cougars and Nathan's team was The Little Giants. We made up a group cheer and had a contest against each group to see who was the loudest. We then spent time getting to know one another and introducing ourselves. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed. They had some free time to swim, play soccer, jump on the trampolines, and just hang out together. Throughout the week we had different speakers talk to the teens about a variety of topics that they struggle with in their communities. The first day one of the Life Skill Educators, Kevin, talked to them about racism. Like in America, this is a problem that causes many issues in their communities. The kids asked Kevin questions afterwards and they liked hearing what he had to say about the issue. Later that evening, after supper, we had another session and the topic was relationships. We watched a movie called How To Save A Life which deals with relationships and the hard issue of suicide. The teens enjoyed watching this and taking away different things from it.

Wednesday and Thursday ran on the same schedule. On Wednesday the topic we discussed was dating. One of the Life Skill Educators had her fiance come and discuss this topic with our teens. He walked through the right and wrong ways that you should pursue being in a
relationship. He used a couple of the teenagers as an example and called them up to act out a few things. The rest of the group loved this and thought it was funny. He talked about the way we should view the opposite sex and how we should respect them in our words and actions. After he finished he gave time for questions and then Nathan and I had the opportunity to share a little bit of our story. This was a special time for us to let the teenagers hear about our dating story and how we ended up married, serving in South Africa. After the session was over we had a young girl come over and ask us a question which was really incredible to see them opening up and wanting to ask things. The rest of the day was spent playing different games in our 4 groups, some free time, and a choice of electives. We gave the teens 4 different electives to choose from that they could take part in each day. The electives were dance, drama, fashion, and music. They would all learn something in their different groups and then perform on Thursday night in front of everyone for the concert. I was with the dance group and Nathan was with the drama. We both loved getting to see all the different passions and gifts being used during this time. Each one of our teenagers are so gifted in different ways and we were able to see that come to life during camp. They had some free time before dinner Wednesday and then we had a special event that night. As you could have guessed soccer is BIG here! The boys love playing any chance they get. That night they had a indoor soccer tournament that they could play in. While the boys were doing that all the girls had a pampering session. We had so much fun painting nails, doing hair and makeup, and just hanging out as a group of girls. Both events were a success and our teens really enjoyed themselves.

As I said before, Thursday looked a lot like Wednesday. The topic that was discussed on Thursday was drug awareness. Lumka knew someone who had spoken in Red Hill before
and she asked him to come and talk to the teens. He had a powerpoint that walked through different drugs and the effects that those drugs have on you. He shared his testimony and how he had gotten to where he is today. He shared how the Lord had met him at his lowest point and completely transformed his life. It was so cool to see the Lord's grace and love throughout his story and we celebrated with him as he has been clean for many years now! Like the other sessions, the teens had quite a lot of questions afterwards for him. He asked the group as a whole who was experimenting with drugs today and a lot of the teenagers raised their hands. They were all so transparent and not wanting to hide anything which was really amazing to see. It was a blessing to know who of our teens we can specifically be praying for with this issue. After the session they had lunch and continued on to playing games in their 4 groups again. After that they went to their same electives to get ready for the evening concert that was happening later that night. After dinner everyone headed to the gym to watch the different groups perform. It was great to see the groups perform what they had learned that week and see the excitement on their faces when they were in front of all the other teenagers. I'll tell you one thing, they are not shy in the least bit and we loved it! The concert ended and camp was drawing to a close the next morning.

The week as a whole was incredible. We were able to get to know our teenagers on a more personal level and just have fun with them. I will have to say my favorite memory I will take away from the week would be the morning worship time we had with them. Before we would start things off for the day we came together and sung a few songs and Evan, leader of the group from the states, would lead them in a short devotion. We sang a few songs in English, but most of them were in Xhosa and Afrikaans. It was such a beautiful picture to see the teenagers worshipping freely and singing out to our great God. Even though I had no idea what they were saying, it was so beautiful. I had a glimpse of heaven during one of the songs that we sang. I pictured every nation and all people groups standing at the feet of Jesus singing praises to Him and glorifying His name! Nobody would care what color skin you had or what language you spoke, but we would be with our Savior as ONE church worshipping. I can't wait for the day that we are all together in heaven worshipping our Father freely and unashamed! Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement during our week of teens camp. We are grateful for the small changes we saw and pray they continue for years to come! Praise God for the sweet reminders of His unfailing love!