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We arrived in Uganda safe and sound with all of our luggage in tow.  Pastor Timothy was there waiting to take us to his home.  We all piled into a van with all our bags and had our first “African” bus ride.  After traveling about an hour Pastor Timothy said that the next 45 min would be quite bumpy… and he wasn’t joking.  Some of us actually hit our head on the ceiling of the van!  Although we were all really tired, we laughed the whole way there.  We arrived at about 10:30pm and received a very warm welcome from Pastor Timothy and his wife Jennifer.  Jennifer had prepared dinner for us so the first thing we did was eat.  We found out soon that we were so blessed that Jennifer was such a good cook.  Her authentic cooking as was of the highlights of our time with Pastor Timothy.  After the long bus ride and dinner we all had our first encounter with a real “African” toilet… This consisted of  small square hole  on a cement floor… thank you Jesus! (in a Mark Parker accent) It took some (a lot) of getting used to, but we managed.  After a long day it didn’t take long for us to fall asleep, which was great because the day ahead were packed full of stuff to do.

Our first full day of being in Uganda was full on.  Pastor Timothy coordinates with a boarding school/orphanage in his village of Katosi.  We began the day by breaking into groups and going into the classes getting to know the children.  After going back to Pastor Timothy’s house for lunch we went back into the classes to do a bit of teaching.  Later in the evening we had a youth night where we did our skit while Jessica played the drum since there wasn’t a way to play the song.  Bethany and Rochelle shared their testimonies and Dortje gave a message to tie it all together.  It was really a time to step out in faith as we had not officially prepared anything throughout the day.  God completely met us more than halfway and everything went so well.   The team all came together and worked so well with one another.  All together is was an exhuasting day, but we had a great time being pushed beyond our comfort zone.

The next two days looked a lot like the first day.  We were able to go to a nearby fishing village where we went got to evangelize to everyone there.  There were several encouraging opportunities.  There was one lady who said that she had know God at one time, but felt that she had gone away from Him.  It was great to share with her that God is like a father and no matter what we do He never stops loving us and He is so happy when we come back to Him.  After praying with her and telling her that if she had asked God to forgive her that she was forgiven a huge smile formed on her face.  It was a great moment to see someone be able to feel the love of God again. 

By the end of our time with Pastor Timothy and his family we were completely wiped out.  God had blessed us with so many opportunities to share about His love.    Jonathan had a chance to help lead someone to the Lord and there were a few other people who made the decision to dedicate their lives to Jesus.  It was hard to leave the people, but we know that there is much more to do.  We thank God for how blessed we felt while we were there and thank God for Pastor Timothy and for allowing us to come and serve. 

God Bless – Team Africa

Tonight is our last night in South Africa. We have had a great time here and have made some great friendships. For those of us who got the chance to work in the crèche (nursery), our hearts were stolen by the little ones. Everyone had a chance to work with the site team and we all made real connections with the people we were working alongside with. We will never forget chopping down bamboo with machetes or building the brick and tire walls. The children were on holiday so we were able to spend a couple days just hanging out and playing games with them. Bethany started a game of capture the flag that ended in an all out boy verses girl war. It was great to be able to spend one on one time with the kids.

Friday night we had another youth night. We started off the night with a few games, one where we split up into groups and had to act out stories from the Bible. The youth had a fun time performing on the stage, it was a great way for the kids to be expressive and it was great to see them stepping out and performing. Diane gave her testimony as well as Sarah, the team leader from the UK group. Diane did a great job. After the testimonies Cheryl and Dortje did a skit about the woman who had lost her coin. At the end of the night we split up into small groups to have a discussion time. We were surprised at how the kids had paid attention to the testimonies and the drama and were able to discuss what had stood out and what they had learned. We found that we were faced with many hard questions from the youth and were led by God as to how to answer them. Jonathan was the MC and did an awesome job of leading the night. It was great to see everything come together as we had planned and we all had a great time.

After a long week we had the opportunity to go on a hike with Josie’s brother Wayne. We went to Mountain Park Sanctuary were we spent the whole day hiking and climbing through a gorge. We also were able to do a bit of abseiling. For most of us it was the first time. Although it was quite scary leaning back and “trusting the rope” it was also very rewarding when your feet finally hit the ground. We all agreed that we were able to see a part of Africa that we didn’t even know existed. The landscape was beautiful with amazing rock formations and pools of crystal clear water. We were so blessed to be able to experience such a great day – thanks Wayne and Nick!!! This morning we went to The Barn and the Refilwe church for the last time…tear. Today was spent packing and washing clothes.  Also, Cheryl got her hair braided and it looks pretty sweet!  She said it was really painful, but worth it.  This evening we cooked a huge three coarse meal and had a few of the workers over for dinner. Phineas, Piet, and Isaac are young men who are long term workers here. It was great to spend time with them talking and sharing stories of encouragement with one another. We are going to miss everyone here and we will forever have wonderful memories of our time here. Uganda here we come!!!

God Bless – Team Africa

Hey everyone!

Well, we’ve been here in South Africa for a little over a week now. After 24 hours of travel time, we made it to Refilwe exhausted, but safe and sound. Thankfully we arrived in the evening and were able to head to bed. We didn’t have too much time to recover from jet leg, (we are all just finished recovering now, a week later!), as the next day they had has working hard mixing concrete by hand! Luckily it was a Friday, so it was a short day, and we had the weekend to recover our sore muscles and jet leg! We, over the week have experienced the massive gap between the 1^st world, and 3^rd world. Saturday we spent a good portion of the day at the mall getting some essentials and groceries, and even enjoying a movie together as a team. Sunday we enjoyed 2 church services; one at “The Barn” which was pretty western feeling, and the second here at Refilwe, which was truly African. Monday through Friday, we split off into separate teams to serve in various ways. One main way we’ve been serving here is on the “site” team. This consists of all the construction, and grounds keeping jobs, everything from mixing concrete, to digging up roots, to building brick walls. Also, we’ve been working in the nursery. Every day there is about 15 kids under the age of 2. They are a joy to be with, and most definitely rambunctious. Finally a few of us had the opportunity to visit the informal settlements. It was definitely a heartbreaking experience to see how people live with next to nothing. Apart from these 3 formal ways to serve, we are enjoying building relationships with the people living around us. We even had an opportunity to spend an evening in prayer and worship with 2 other teams who are here to serve. We also took part in a youth service Friday night where we were able to minister through drama. After putting in a week worth of hard work Wayne (Josie’s brother) blessed us with an evening at his place after a day shopping and experiencing an African market. We were so incredibly thankful to be able to relax fully. It was truly a blessing for him and his family to take us in and make us feel so welcomed.

This past Sunday morning, God proved himself amazingly faithful once again, as an amazing financial gift was given to some members of our team at church this morning. Throughout the week we had many times where God provided for us and protected us in amazing ways. Bethany got a stick in the eye during work one day and had to visit the hospital to make sure there was no internal bleeding or scratches on her eye… thankfully God’s hand of protection was on her and her eye is completely fine. Also, a couple of us have been pretty sick, one involving another trip to the hospital. Thankfully Dortje did not have to stay overnight but was ordered 3 days rest; it was only a viral and a bit of bacterial infection in her system. She is recovering well, thank you for your prayers. God is so good. Jessica also had an amazing God orchestrated visit with her brother in Johannesburg. That was incredible blessing not only for her but for the whole team. It has been awesome to see God move in many ways.

Thank you so much for all your prayers.

Love – The Africa team! Matt, Jessica, Jonathan, Rochelle, Dortje, Bethany, Diane, and Cheryl.