Country- Johannesburg, South Africa. August 7-September 5
Ministry Site/Accommodations- Impact Africa. Beautiful! Flower beds galore. Beds. Living room with couches. Our own bathroom and kitchen.
Weather- freezing in the mornings and evenings. Hot in the afternoons. Windy sometimes. No rain. Dry, like make your skin ashy dry.
Wifi- Limited. About once a week at the mall for 2 hours tops. Love not having to have my phone on me all the time.
Food- American. Prepared by the Aunties. Popcorn and PB&J overload. Local food I ate: Pap, chakalaka & chicken feet.
Hosts- If I had one word to describe Nano and Erinn, who themselves are past World Racers, I would say “real”. They are vulnerable. Passionate about the Holy Spirit. Desired to walk alongside us and encourage us in our own walks with the Lord.
Staff- quantum drivers: Uncle Nelson, Lazuras, Gerald, Nelson, and Mutza. The interns: Efra, Lindy, and Jordan. Other ministry hosts: Bethany, Mason, and Logan.
Ministry- Variety. Community outreach (Deipsloot & Zandspruit). Jubalani Kids. Impact Kids (shortened version of Jubalani kids plus helping teachers in their classrooms for a few hours). Impact Students (only team Kindle). Impact Baby at clinics (short presentation and flyers).
Exercise- Consistent. Freezing cold. Most days it was just Tiff and I at 6:00am for about 30 minutes doing weights and body weight exercises or running a few laps around the property. Always worth it!
Spiritual growth- the more I grow the more I realize I have so much to learn.
Holy Spirit- Baby steps. Learning how to hear His voice and the way He speaks to me.
The Word- reading consistently through Jeremiah as well as the Psalms and Proverbs.Key verses- Zephaniah 3:17, Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 3:3, Romans 15:13, Psalm 139
Team Overflow- Blessed! Getting along very well. Complete vulnerability. Close. Not the biggest fans of feedback but we are getting better. Long team times (we get easily distracted and have long side conversations).
Health- besides the six days of runny nose, congestion, and watery eyes I’ve never even had an upset stomach.
Defining moment- (I’m borrowing this term from my high school principle whom I did several mission trips with. A defining moment is a time on the trip that really impacted you and you are now changed because of it.) My defining moment was one of our first nights at Impact with Nano and Erinn during a prayer and prophecy time. Nano prayed over me and prayed for very specific things that I was currently dealing with. It was like I had just had a two hour conversation with him telling him everything I was going through and struggling with. It was an overwhelming realization that God was hearing my prayers and loved me and was right there beside me.
Answered prayers- Protection/safety. Fruitful ministry. Health. Growth in confidence/boldness. Team unity.
Not what I expected- In all aspects easier than I thought.
How I feel going in to month 2- Ready. Ready for new challenges, ministry, and for our team to be alone at our next ministry site. Spiritually I’ve stepping into a lot of new territory and I’m excited to keep exploring and going deeper.
Areas I want to grow in next month- hearing the Holy Spirit in listening prayer. Spiritual gifts of prophecy and visions/dreams. Selflessness. Prayer life. Communication. Service. Pointing my team to Christ and being all things for them.
Personal realizations- I’m more selfish than I thought. I have a lot of pride. I compare myself to others. God loves me so much and I did nothing to deserve it. I LOVE not having wifi. I love living with little. The mind is powerful and what you tell it changes how you act. I have all I need all the time.
How I’ve changed/grown- I’ve become more bold. I’ve begun to practice listening to the Holy Spirit. I’ve been humbled by team through their vulnerability.
Prayer requests- The continued influence and blessing for the ministry of Impact Africa. The seeds in the squatter camps we planted to take root and continue to flourish. For our next month of ministry in Zimbabwe my team will be alone so many new challenges will arise. Pray we die to ourselves as we adjust to all the newness this next month will bring.
*We will still be in South Africa until Monday the 16th with our whole squad doing debrief and training together. We will be arriving in Zimbabwe Tuesday morning on the 17th.
God is Good!
So good to hear how you’re doing and how the Lord is faithfully taking care of you and your team! We are so excited for you, and we are praying for you guys. Much love from Oklahoma! ??????
Sara! Thank you so much. I know I’ve got the Penwell family lifting me up in prayers regularly.
Lifts my spirit to hear from you. Thank you for sharing. Very exciting to hear what is going on with you and the team. Will continue to pray daily for you
Great update Khurry- I hope Zimbabwe is filled with as many good things and relationships