Southern Africa

Officially our first day of camp! We all got up around 7am to start our day. The kids got off the bus around 8, and we greeted them while they were guided to their dorms to drop off their belongings. 

The kids eventually joined us in the dining hall, and we got to serve them breakfast. Before they ate, the local leaders led them in a song of prayer before they enjoyed their meals, and it was a beautiful thing to witness. The amount of gratefulness and joy radiating from the children is astonishing.

After we ate, we had a team debrief to go over the schedule, got put into our leadership teams, and headed out to the grass. We were able to meet some of the kids, and our wonderful Teagan got to teach them some cool dance moves!

We split up the children in teams of 15 (red, green, blue and purple) and we started the day with a lesson and worship. Our local leaders took lead on today, and they introduced the Parable of the Sower to the kids. Today’s theme was “Following Jesus”, and what it means to hide His words in your heart, just like Psalm 119:11 tells us to do. The kids are attempting to learn verses every day, so we took some time studying Psalm 119:11 and answering any questions they might have.

The day was filled with musical chairs, water balloon hot potato, arts and crafts, water relay races and so much more! A lot of us got to hang out with the kids during free time, playing basketball, soccer, volleyball, and just getting to know them. The joy and energy the children have is contagious. 

We ended the night with a great meal, a little bit of worship, and a great bed time story for the kids. Tomorrow will be just as fun!

~Natalie

After two ten hour flights, we stayed in the Johannesburg, South Africa airport for the night on Sunday. 

We hung out in the airport, most of us trying to catch up on some sleep before our next flight at 6am. 

We all woke up together around 3:45am and played games before our flight. We boarded our flight and set off for final country around 6:30am! We were all extremely exhausted from the changing time zones and were ready to get to the site. 

The flight was only an hour and half long so we spent most of it talking, sleeping, and watching the beautiful sunrise! 

We made it through customs and met up with Glen, and the rest of the Hands of Hope team. The drive to the compound was incredible! 

My excitement and readiness to serve really grew in just the first hour meeting the team, riding in the van, and seeing all the amazing nature of this country. 

We all really began to connect with Hellen and her sweet baby girl on the drive too. 

Once we arrived to the compound, we unloaded some things, ate breakfast, and gathered with the team. We learned from Garikai, the national director, and Glen, the founder, about the culture and history of this country and the organization as a whole. We were fighting to keep our eyes open, as there’s a 9 hour time difference, but it was all worth it. 

We ate lunch all together and continued to learn. We had a little bit of downtime before heading to the house of one of the local pastors connected to the organization. We ate a delicious local dinner, including sadza. We even got to draw water from a well deep underground! It was super cool!!

We were all pretty exhausted and ready for bed, despite it only being 7:30pm. Returning to the compound we met up quickly as a team before heading to bed. It was an incredible day!

~Olivia

After what I believe is the longest travel day of any GO team this summer, the Southern Africa team finally made it to their destination! They had 2 very long flights, a very long layover, and one smaller flight before finally making it safe and sound. Join us in praying for them as they start their two weeks ministering! Pray that they would remain healthy, energized, and listening to how the Holy Spirit is leading them. We will update again soon!

Our team to Southern Africa has officially gotten on a plane to head to their ministry partner for the next two weeks! They have some long flights and layovers ahead of them so please be praying for them to get rest on the flights and arrive in Southern Africa refreshed and ready to go for a full week of ministry!
We will update again when they get settled in their destination! 🙂