Through it all Jesus stays the same! ( final weeks in J-bay & what’s to come before heading home)

   We are currently on our way home from South Africa!  We woke up at 4:30 to get to the J-bay airport for our 1-2 hour flight this morning.  Then we had until 7 pm in Johannesburg where we got together with the other 2 girls’ teams that have been in Lesotho for the last month while we were in J-bay, South Africa.  The boys were in Johannesburg so they only had a short drive to the airport where we met them before our official flight home.  We took off around 10:30 pm, Africa time, and are on here for a short 16 hours!!  Luckily it is nighttime so most of us just have been sleeping but now our bodies have to re-adjust to Eastern Standard Time.  We will arrive at our base again around 10 am so it should be pretty easy to simply stay up until bedtime and get back on schedule.

   First off, the last few weeks we had in J-bay were such a blessing.  We were able to grow relationships outside of school and even ended a few days earlier than expected with the school simply pouring into the community in new ways. God was so resentful with us the whole month but especially the last few days of ministry. We made countless connections, got to attend a prayer room daily, similar to Guatemala, and shared God’s love with each person in our path.  Something I’ve realized about South Africa is how easy it is to make connections. And click with people.  They are simply SO open here with sharing and with hearing.  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” –  Matthew 11:15. I feel like a lot of them have ears to hear and it was cool to wander the streets seeing other people with Bibles and praying over each other.  Their faith here is so real!  I’ve enjoyed getting to know this community! Something else my team kind of adopted this month was memorizing the Bible.  God tells us to have His words written on our hearts so many of us spent time during our classes memorizing chapters of the Bible.  I did Psalms 23 and I’m working on Psalms 100 & Philippians next!  That was a blessing and so much stood out from that this month!

   As for now, we have a few rest days before a week of serving at Young Life Camp, prepping their camp for this summer, followed by 4 days of debriefing and then home.  The fact I’m writing that as reality now is mind-boggling… we’ve known about our last 2 weeks and the whole race but coming face to face with it is a whole different story.  I’ve been in prayer about these last 2 weeks on the race and my first few weeks home since a few months ago, simply asking the Lord to prepare my heart as it will be a big transition.   Even though these 8 months have flown by, It feels like we have been gone for a while.  I’m sad that we have to say goodbye to this season though and I’m not sure I could ever say I’m “ready” for that.  Experiencing different cultures and countries has been a life-changing experience but more so living in this life-giving community and building relationships is what truly changed my heart.  I’ve thrived in this environment which is exciting to say because I know there is more in store for me on the field and in communities like this. I will say I’m also excited to see all my people at home that I haven’t for almost 9 months.  These last 2 weeks I am going to focus on being present here and giving the people around me my full attention.  This is probably the last time all 44 of us will be in the same area.. even though we have R&R (revival and reunion), not everyone can make it, unfortunately.

    As for summer plans, I plan on taking a few weeks to continue processing, sharing testimonies, and getting re-acclimated to this country and home.  I also have a few sales lined up for my small business and before those I have to restock my supplies!   This August I will be attending R&R in Gainesville Georgia followed by serving at my friend’s camp in Maine for a week.  At the beginning of September, I will be serving on base in Gainesville Georgia for their baby racers and semester teams coming in.  It’s called serve team and you help out with things such as cooking, announcements, cleaning, administration, worship, etc.  I’ll be doing that for 2 weeks!  The rest is kind of up in the air but I plan on working until January which is when Adventure in Mission’s 10/40 mission launches.  I’ve applied and done a couple of calls to see if I’m a good fit for this mission but once I know if I’m accepted I’ll make the final decision about going. I’ll also most definitely explain more about that and why God placed it in my heart!  Until then I’m thankful for this next season I’m stepping into and what God has in plan.  Just because the world race is just about finished the real race of life continues!  “ Let us run the race the race set before us with endurance” (Hebrews 12) That endurance comes from Jesus and something I’m grateful for each day is how, in a world with everything moving and changing, God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! (Hebrews 13:8) He has proven that to be true, day after day, season after season, and country after country!  I’m so thankful for the opportunity I was gifted with, this season, to share that with people all across the world.  The Lord changed and grew my heart for each person I come into contact with!

Thanks for reading… here are some photos of our flight home, Africa sunrise, and our ministry hosts.