Final Report

I've been back in the states five days now and it's been well over a week since I was able to update anything here. Just to briefly recap the last week, we went on a retreat with the students from UKZN that was awesome. About 25 students came with us and we had a great weekend, letting the local students connect with each other and the Crusade staff, learning, worshiping and hanging out together. Just over the course of a few days you could see the local students beginning to take ownership of ministry on their campus as they were encouraged to see all God has done in the past weeks and the realization that next semester there will be no one there to carry it on except for them. After the retreat our US team went out to a backpackers camp for a day of debriefing and then a safari to end the trip. The safari was amazing and the debrief was a great way to bring closure to the eventful six weeks we had together. Now onto some thought about the whole trip...

When we arrived in Durban back in May we had a three-fold mission for our time there. The three objectives were to reach the UKZN campus with the good news of the gospel, reach the community with the good deeds of the gospel, and to encourage and resource the full time Crusade staff there in Durban. Looking back it is wonderful to see that God allowed us to see all three of those things take place. Our first three weeks were spent on campus, everyday Mon.-Fri. from about 10-4, meeting students, initiating gospel conversations and eventually following up with those students and even beginning to disciple them. In those three brief weeks we saw 25(!!) students accept Christ. It was unbelievable to see how open many of the students were to the gospel and the way the Lord had been preparing hearts to hear and receive the good news. We were also able to follow up with most of these students at least twice, and with some as many as 5 or 6 times. 10 of them came with us on the retreat. It was amazing to see how God was beginning to redeem that campus.
The second goal, community outreach, was our focus for the last 2-3 weeks. This was accomplished in a number of ways: helping at an orphanage, painting schools, visiting retirement homes, serving breakfast to displaced refugees and working on houses in one of the townships. We spent the most time in a township called Ntezuma. This township is home to 500,000 people and studies have shown that it is 47% HIV positive. There is incredible need there! We partnered with an American lady who is there trying to start an AIDS hospice and clinic through one of the local churches. She had only been in Durban a few weeks when we met and started helping her. We did a number of things with her, but most of our work was on houses of people in the community who will hopefully soon be patients of the clinic (once it is up and running). We repaired roofs, doors, windows, dug drainage ditches and spent a lot of time just playing with kids. Seeing the poverty of the township was very hard emotionally and psychologically, but the work there was incredible rewarding. Our last day there may have been the saddest good-byes we had before we left.
Lastly, we wanted to encourage the local staff. One of the best moments of the trip was on the day we left, when the local staff just expressed their thanks for us for our work and their excitement at all that had happened that they will continue to be involved in. They were thrilled to see students excited on campus for the first time in over a decade, happy to be connected to the ministry in Ntezuma and thrilled that some of us were considering coming back in future summers or even on short term trips (1-2 years) after graduation.
Some other provisions that God blessed us with were our team and safety while we were there. We had 18 awesome students who were committed to our vision and worked hard to see it come to fruition. In God's grace we all got along great for the whole six weeks and never really had any drama. We were also very blessed to never be victim to any crime. The crime is unbelievably bad there, but not one of us was every victim to it. No one had anything taken, and neither us nor our cars were never harmed.
To end, I just want to thank you for your support. Whether you have read every blog posting since I left or this is the first you've seen, your support truly did make the trip possible and you played a HUGE part in God's work in Durban. Your financial support me allowed me to be there, but you support in prayer strengthened our team daily and allowed us to see God's hand at work in a community that desperately needs his redemption. So again, thank you, thank you, thank you.
God bless.

Last post from Durban

In 24 hours I'll be headed out of Durban for the weekend retreat and won't be coming back (at least not anytime soon). Today mostly consists of last minute souveneir shopping, packing and closing things down. I'll be back on campus for a few hours to say a few good byes and that will be all she wrote. Yesterday was our last day working in the townships and leaving those people was actually much harder than I expected. It's amazing how quickly you can latch on to people, especially fellow believers. Most of the kids didn't understand we were leaving, but there were some tears from some of the mothers in the township. Leaving for the last time it was a great feeling to think back and see visible evidence of the good deeds of the gospel within that community. And we were ever blessed to see those good deeds create opportunities for the good words of the gospel as one lady who we helped received Christ as her savior at church last weekend. To send us of the people of the small church we worked with held a traditional Zulu "feast" for us last night. It was fun even though the food left a lot to be desired. The highlights were cow intestines and chicken feet. I tried both and fully intend to never try either again as long as I live. Some of the food is ok, but I'm growing to appreciate American food more everyday that we're here (I have a list of things to eat within my first few days back). In all I'm very thankful for the chance to work in the townships, it was hard at times, both physically and emotionally, but it was good.
The retreat begins tomorrow you can really be praying that God will use this weekend to work in the hearts of students here so that a they can take what we've started and carry it on. There will be a number of new believers there as well, which is exciting to see their desire for growth. After that we're on the the game park for our debrief and safari. I may have some computer access Sunday or Monday, but I'm not sure. If not, I'll put a long trip summary up here once I'm home. So if you don't hear from me again here soon, I'll be home in a week- see you then!

Winding down...

Here in Durban we are having a bit of a down day, planning for the big retreat with UKZN students this weekend. I'll be co-leading a seminar on prayer so I've spent some of my morning beginning to prepare that. This afternoon is also our last chance for some more shopping or other random stuff before a busy last three days here in Durban. You can pray that all the preparation goes well as we have given everyone one the team some responsibility and very few of us have experience in planning retreats. Tonight we are going to see Prince Caspian, which just debuted here Saturday night.
Yesterday was a bit of a frustrating day. We were back at Ntezuma, one of the townships, but they really didn't have a lot for us to do. I spent most of the day just playing with local kids, which was fun, but not what I expected. I spent a while talking to a lady whose house we worked on at the end of the day. She had a heart-breaking story. She and her sister (23 and 25 respectively) live together in a very small house with their 3 children and one more in the womb (due in August). They lived with their mother until she died in 2003 and since then they have been caring for their younger brother (now 19) and their children with no real source of income and no one to look out for them. The really sad part of the story was that the most I asked about their family I still never once heard of any male figure except their little brother (who has been involved with a gang some in the last few years). They never mentioned their father or the fathers of any of their four children. The townships are simply void of fathers and the effects are evident everywhere. Due to the AIDS crisis and other issues the country is currently 45% age 20 and younger- that is just unbelievable! But when you go into the townships you start doing the math and you see its true. Tons of kids, mothers doing their best to provide, men bumming around in groups and no men in the homes. It's going to be hard to change many of the problems in this country until that begins to change first.
Please continue to pray for our last few days here, the retreat and debrief times. This week will probably be the last of my internet access, but I'll try to put up a total trip review as soon as I'm home to close out the blog. Thanks for continuing to pray!

Welcom to Zulu church, where organization is not one of our strengths, but flexibility is...

It's been a while since I've been online so I've got a lot to update and only a little time. Maybe I can elaborate on some of this more later, but here is a quick rundown of the weekend.
Friday was a "family day" and one of the most memorable days of the entire trip. We drive about 1.5 hours out of Duran, to an area called the midlands (basically the beginnings of the huge mountains that run parallel to the coast about two hours away from Durban. We spent a few hours doing a things called a canopy tour which consisted of riding 8 zip lines from the top of a mountain down into the bottom of the mountain next to it. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. The longest ride was almost 200 yds long and a few rides were 25-35 yds above the tree tops.
Saturday we helped a local AIDS ministry put on a day camp for high schoolers from all around Durban to educate them about HIV and encourage them to love healthy lifestyles with Christ as their foundation. It was a very tiring, but rewarding day. That night we went over to Gary Price's house (he is on Crusade staff here full time) and cooked out with his family. Being in someone's home and eating a home-cooked meal made us all a bit homesick- 4 weeks of living in a hotel and eating out has officially gotten old. We hung out with his 5 sons, played ping pong and just relaxed for the night.
Sunday was the much anticipated day to preach at kwaDebeka. We were told that it was youth Sunday, but when we showed up we could tell it was not any different than normal and asked around only to find out youth Sunday is next week, we had been told wrong. Assuming the pastor had a message prepared we thought for a while we weren't preaching after all. But someone knew we had been misinformed, found out we had been preparing and asked the pastor right in the middle of the service if we could preach. He was incredible gracious and let us preach. Preaching there was really a cool experience and something I'll never forget. Using the translator was tough, but other than that it all went well. I spoke first and then Barrett followed me. He did a great job of tying it all together and the people there were very kind to thank us for bringing the message.
This week is our last in Durban. Today I'll be painting again- hopefully I can update again soon though.

A morning with the refugees

Today was another interesting and new experience. Five of us were at a local Anglican church at 6 AM this morning (that's midnight back home- I thought about making some calls home) to serve breakfast to about 75 refugees who have been displaced by the local xenaphobic attacks. It was a rewarding morning overall and we were able to serve the church well by sorting and organizing all the donation after we finished serving breakfast. In all we worked for about 4 hours there. Going into the morning I wan't sure what to expect. Working with refugees sounds a bit scary or even dangerous. Thankfully, we found the refugees to be the most polite, selfless, and agreeable people we've encoutered here. Most of them are from Congo. If you don't know much about the situation there, its awful to say the least. There is an awful war that has been going on for some time. All of these people fled Congo and even though many have had their lives threatened here in South Africa it is much safer for them here than is is there. Some of the stories were unbelievable. One lady in particualr said that her husband was taken one night when soldiers ransacked their home. She fled the next day with two children and has had no correspondence with him since. She has no idea if he is even alive and has raised their two children by herself, supporting them here in South Africa. They were recently threatened by some other residents in their flat and ahve been living in this church for a week now. The refugess have literally nothing, having fled their flats with only what they can carry and it doesn't appear that they can go home anytime soon. Hopefully we will get some more time with them next week.
In all this has been a great week- I've done something different everyday, but its all been good. It's hard to believe the trip is winding down. We have 4 more days of community work, the retreat with the UKZN students and then our debrief before we head home. Hope all back home are well. Please conitnue to pray that God would use us in all these places of incredible need.

Driving on the left is still weird

Today was another eye-opening day in the townships. I went to Ntezuma, a township of 500,000 people just outside Durban. The size of this place was unbelieveable. You can almost see from one side of it to the other and if you picked it up and dropped back in Georgia it would immeidately be one of the largest cities in the state and even a larger city within the South. Again, the poverty was unbelievable. We spent the day working on people's homes. I was mostly at a house where we were putting a roof on (there has been only half of one for a while now) and replacing broken windows and a door. We got the roof done, played with kids, and were able to do a lot for these two single moms and their combined 5 kids. One of the scariest moments of the trip also took place when Andrew, one of our guys, fell through the half of the room that remained when we showed up this morning. He fell about nine feet after the roof caved, but thankfully his head eventually landed on the bed and he only had small cuts and a pretty big bruise on the back of his hip. He'll be sore but that's about all. The other memorable part of my day was a trip to a government building with a handicapped lady to get her welfare check. Teri (one of our leaders,the pastor of the church in the township and I took her to pick up her check and after getting the lady out of the car and into her wheelchair the security guard would not allow Teri and I into the building. So we waited outside in the car, that had the windows down (we didn't have the keys) while everyone in the township that receives a welfare check poured by on either side. It was without question the most stressful and nervoud 10 minutes I've had on the trip. I don't think we were in any real danger, but the people were very condensed, there was no one we knew within sight and we were getting stared at by everyone. I tried to keep my cool while calming down Teri as well. Thankfully we made it out fine. The last danger of the day was a near accident when our driver pulled into the right lane out of habit and we faced oncmoing traffic for a few seconds before we could get back over. The whole driving on the left thing contiues to feel weird, ever after all this time.
As far as the rest of the week- we'll be back on campus tomorrow and then Thrusday we are working in a church that has been turned into a refugee camp for those displaces by the xenaphobic attacks here in Durban. We are staying very busy but it's good!
Also, a sermon update, it looks like Barrett and I will be talking about the 2 Tim. verse about "Let no one look down on you becuase you are young..." and tying it in some with the story of Davids life as a young man. It's coming together but the situation is still intimidating.
Please continue to pray for safety for our team. Today was a wake-up call that lots can happen if we let our guard down or make poor choices. Also, just pray for energy. Doing all this manual labor has made us a pretty tired bunch around the clock. Thanks for the prayers- amazing that there is only 15 days left!

Welcome to Zulu church, where white guys get stuck in the choir and pulpit before they can blink

Hey everyone,
I'm not sure if I was able to give any kind of preview about this, but our trip took a very suprising turn this weekend. I, as well as 6 others on our team, were invited to sing in the youth choir this past Sunday at our church which is all black and entirely in Zulu (the tribal language). Thankfully the two songs we helped perform were in English- Amazaing Grace and the Bebe Wynans version of "o Happy Day." I've heard many a white person say they would love to one day sing in a gospel choir, well let me tell you fristhand it's all you've ever dreamed and more. After chior practice Friday night I was ready to step and slide, clap and make a joyful noise.
Apparently we did such a good job that we convinced someone we should find our way onto the stage again. Next week is youth sunday and they will be leading worship and presenting the message. And by they and I mean Barrett (one of the other guys on the trip) and myself will be preaching next week. When we were asked we thought they wanted us to give a short testimony/ devotional thought, only to find out that we are allotted AN HOUR(!!!) for our sermon. Neeedless to say, please pray for us this week as we try to prepare a message that will translate into Zulu culture and hold people's interest for an hour.
In other news we went back to the orphanage today, which was fun and sad all at the same time. My buddy from last week, Kosi, and I hung out for the whole time. He is five. I pushed him on the swing and he sat in my lap for a long time. We noticed today that all most of the kids wants from us is to be held, hugged and carried, which makes sense because they each receive so very little personal attention. Later this week I'll be doing some manual labor, heling fix peoples' homes in the township and may even do some things to help some of the foreign refugees staying in camps protected form the xenaphobic attacks that have mostly ended now.
As I think I said last time, you can be in prayer for our team as things have become less structured, more stressful, and more likely to cause bad attitudes. Also, continue to pray that God will bring students on the retreat in two weekends. Thanks for all your prayers and I'll be back to update soon.

Eye-opening community work

Yesterday was our first day working in the townships. As "normal" as it felt to be on a university campus over the past two weeks, yesterday felt all but normal. My group spent a few hours in an orphanage, playing with kids 4 and under, swinging them, helping feed them, hearing thier heart-breaking stories. We were only with them for about two hours and that time was full of mixed emotion. You would go from laughing with them to wanting to cry for them all in a matter of minutes. Most had been abandoned by their parents, some had AIDS (though we were not allowed to know which ones), many had been sexually abused (they were all under 4 years old!!!). The other group went to another township and began to prepare for some work we will do on people's homes. They said that the poverty was just unbelievable. A jobless woman "supporting" 8 kids (4 that were not hers) in a 10 ft. by 20 ft. shack. A woman whose house had half a room and rotted walls that allowed rain water to wash in from every direction. While we normally feel very comfortable in the city, the townships made most American poverty look like nothing. I haev little doubt that the next two weeks will be increidble draining as we spend every day in this atmosphere. I expect it to be incredible rewarding as well, but challenging nonetheless.
Today we will be at a nursing home in the same township and I really have no idea what to expect. None of the residents will speak English and we don't know how serious any of their physical ailments are. Please just continue to pray for our team. Our project has reached a whole new level of intensity we must not rely on ourselves alone to make a difference in these awful situations.

Transition week

This has been another great week on campus so far. We spent all of Monday and Tuesday on campus, most of us spending our time following up with students and beginning the disciplship process that we hope local leaders and students will continue once we are gone. I've been blessed to meet 4 times with each of the three guys I was able to see accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. It's amazing to see the Spirit at work in their lives, opening their eyes and hearts to truths that will change the rest of their lives. Finals began on campus Wed. so we won't be back this week and may only be there for a day next week. Please pray that many students will come on the retreat we are hosting right after they finish finals and that the Lord would provide money to pay for all those who want to attend. This retreat could be crucial in connecting these kids we've met to one another so that they can continue to grow once we're gone.
Yesterday was unlike any other day we've had here. We took a "cultural day" and went about an hour outside Durban to an area call the Land of 1000 Hills. If you can, google it and look at the pictures- it was absolutely beautiful and geography that was unlike anything I've ever seen in the states. We ate lunch at a place with a great overlook of the valley and then went to a model Zulu village to learn more about Zulu tribal life. The coolest thing was that we got to watch some of their ceremonial dances. In all it was incredible educating and really fun. After getting back into Durban we went and played soccer on the beach, which is starting to become a pretty regular way for us to end our day- hard to complain about life when you end everyday hanging out on the beach and taking a dip in the Indian Ocean. And last night we had "men's time" which has become a sacred weekly event that involved lots of grilled red meat, grilled vegetables and the best ice cream bars I've ever eaten.
Today is one of the days I've been looking forward to all trip- we are headed to an orphanage in one of the townships. There are about 30 kids there, ages infant to 8. Many of them have lost their parents to AIDS and some may even have AIDS themselves. We're all thrilled for the opportunity to love on them for a day.
Thanks for all your prayers, God is continuing to bless our trip in incredible ways! Hard to believe, but as of today we only have 3 weeks lefts here.

Social issues...

Sorry that last post was nothing but a title, not sure how that happened, but here is the content meant to go with it...
Some of you may have seen South Africa in the news lately for the xenophobic attacks that are taking place. To begin let me just say our group is an pretty much minimal risk so we are in no danger. The country, however, is in a pretty bad spot. Basically, there are lots of countries around South Africa with awful conditions and crashing economies (namely Zimbabwe) and many of those people are now coming into South Africa and looking for work. Many of the poor South Africans have not taken well to this and lately some riots have broken out in townships and some of these foreigners have even been killed. Like I said, we are at no risk, but the country is very concerned about it. You can be praying that it will end soon and that these problems will be solved without any bloodshed.
Also, this week is a bit of a transition week for us, from campus ministry to community outreach. We are on campus Monday and Tuesday, having a "cultural experience" in s Zulu village Wed. and then working in a township on Thurs and Fri. On Thursday I'll be at an orphanage in the township where I go to church and on Friday I'll be at an old folks home in the same community. I'm excited about the change of pace, but also wanting to keep relationships on campus going.
Today I was able to have follow ups with all 3 guys who I've been meeting with since their conversion. I'll see all 3 again tomorrow as well. Please continue to pray that God will continue to be with them in the early days of their growth. Also, pray that they can all come on the retreat. One is for sure, but there other two are maybes.
Time is just flying be here. With the exception of catching a breif stomach bug last weekend that has been passing throught the team I've had no complants since I've been here. God is doing cool stuff and everyday presents new experiences, challenges and opportunities to see God at work. Hopefully I'll be able to post again some time mid-week. God bless and thank you for your prayers!

Social issues...

More great stuff

We just finished up a second great week on campus. As of the end of today (our 9th day on campus) we have seen 23 students begin personal relationships with the Lord. It is one of the most humbling things in life to watch someone commit their lives to Christ and begin their new life in Him. This week I had the priveledge of being there for it twice. On Wednesday I met with a student named Ndusimo who had filled out survey and requested to speak with someone about beginning a personal relationship with God. I could tell immediately that God had been working in his life and he was ready to take the leap of faith. After talking for only about 15 minutes he prayed for receive Christ. We immediately went to another appointment I had, a follow up where with Sifiso, the guy who accepted Christ again last Friday. We talked more about assurance of salvation and fellowship with God. It was an awesome appointment. After reading the two of them a verse out of Colossians about Christ nailing all our sins to the cross they were both so visibly joyful that it almost brought me to tears. Then again today Ramsay (a guy on the team from FSU) and I were walking around talking to guys and met Victor, a kid from a churched background (Catholic) who just had never been introduced to grace. He was very interested and at the end of our conversation he was eager to begin a personal relationship with God. Again, it was simply amazing to witness.
Also, yesterday we had "social" for all the students we have met, primarily to promote the retreat we will be having before we leave. About 50 students came!! And many of them plan to come to the retreat. The student I prayed with (Sifiso) plans on coming and I am hoping Ndumiso and Victor come as well.
Tonight we have a "family night"- we are going bowling with the team. Hopefully the weekend will be some good down time. We only have 2 more day son campus before students begin finals and then we will focus on community outreach until finals end (June 13). Things are great here! Please continue to send your prayers. God Bless!

Indian Ocean, rugby, Zulu church

Our first weekend is Durban was nice. With no one on campus during the weekend we had our first opportunity to be tourists in the city on Saturday. We got up early and went to the beach for the morning. The Indian Ocean was really cool. The beach area itself was a little dirty, and very tourist oriented, kind of Miami-like. The best thing: Durban has the best bodysurfing I've ever experienced. The waves are spaced far apart and you see them coming in, breaking at the same place every time and then carrying you somtimes 50 or 60 yards back to the shoreline. We spent a good bit of the day out in the water. We also played some kids from a local township in soccer on the beach. They were much better than us, but given that they were all under the age of ten we held our own. We left the beach around 2 to get ready for much anticipated rugby match.
Those who talked to me before I left probably knew that a rugby match was the one South African "cultural" experience" I really wanted to have while I was here. on Saturday night we went and watched the biggest match of the year for the Durban Sharks. A win and four scores would be enough to put them into the semis for the international Super 14 tournament. We got pretty good seats, had some South Africas explain the game before we went in and enjoyed the experience greatly, eating giant sausuges, cheering and watching the Sharks advance to the semis of the tournament. It was a unique event, but I found rugby to be an awesome sport and I have no doubt that if I lived here I would love it as much as I love football. One of the funniest things was the American influence: the team came out to AC/DC, the played "Woop there it is" after every score and wonder of all wonders after the game they played "Sweet Home Alabama." After the game we got to actually go down on the field and meet a few players and the trainer through connections with one of the full time Crusade staff here. The last interesting note about the match was that the croawd was almost entirely white- the first time we have not been obvious minorities all trip. Whites only make up 10-15% of the total population here, but this was a "white" sport for years and as a result, still has predominantly white fans.
Sunday we went to the opposite end of the spectrum, attending a Zulu church in one of the townships. The entire service was in Zulu (the tribal language), but it was awesome to see God's people of another nation, tribe and tongue worshipping together. The only words we knew in the whole service were "Jesus," "Amen," and "Hallelujah." The township was also quite eye-opening and I really hope that we can spend our last few weeks working there (after the University students leave for winter break). Then Sunday afternoon was our first true down time of the trip. We took naps, read and generally bummed around before our meeting last night to prep for the week.
We were back on campus early today and had another good day as we begin to transition from initiative evangilism into building relationships and following up new believers. We saw two more students accept Christ today (11 now since we've been here), which is just incredible encouraging. Pray for our team to endure the long days of conversation. It can be really draining to initiate conversation and drive conversation all day long and often have people dismiss your beliefs and shut you off. But people being saved daily continues to rejuvenate us. We will be on campus everyday this week for 5-6 hours. This is the last week of normal classes before their study week and final exams. Also, please pray for a retreat we are planning for the students right before we leave (June 13-15). We hope it will unite them and set up for them to begin having weekly meetings and more organized discipleship.
I think that's about it here...
Please continue to pray- God is at work!

God at work

We finished our week on campus just hours ago and our first week here was far greater than I could have ever imagined. In four days 9 students accepted Christ- five just today! We are all just in awe of what God is doing. I got to pray with one guy, Sifiso at the end of the day. He was so eager to have a relationship with Christ that I couldn't talk through the 4 Laws fast enough for him- he kept flipping ahead of me in the booklet. Going into today we were all just exhausted and rally struggling to have some of the same frustrating conversations over and over again. When we all got back together at the day's end it was amazing to hear all the stories.
Tomorrow we will go to the beach for the first time and then go to a rugby match (which I'm pumped about!). Sunday we will do church and have some down time. Pray that God will continue this work next week. We now have lots of follow up appoinments and want to contiue meeting new students as well. We need your prayers!!
Hopefully this weekend I'll have time for a more detailed account of all that has been going on. God bless and continue to pray for the University of KwaZulu-Natal!

Update!

I have a bit longer today so I just want to give you a crash course of all that is going on:
1) The city: it's beautiful! Mountains and the ocean only 1 km away from each other. When we come home from campus everyday we come over the last mountain range and can see for miles out to sea. It's really awesome.
2) The univerity: it's very diverse and there are lots of Indian students which we did not expect. I've spent more time talking to Hindus than native Africans or whites. In fact there are very few whites at this campus- I've only talked to one. It is mostly a commuter campus for students from Durban so we hand out there basically all day and then leave in the late afternoon when the students go home.
3) Our team: we are having a blast together. We are pretty small (only 18 students) so people have gotten to know each other pretty well. There are only 7 guys and we've already bonded pretty tight as well all live in one room! Which leads to...
4) Accomodations: The place is fine but there are currently 11 of us sharing one shower every morning and like I said, seven guys in one large bedroom. We are fine with it now, just pray that we can maintain good attitudes and not get on each other's nerves. And most importantly...
5) Ministry: we have spent two whole day meeting students,getting to know them and sharing the gospel. Yesterday one student accepted Christ! We have had lots of other great conversation and have follow up appointments with about 20 students over the next two days. Please continue to pray for students to accept Christ and that he would raise up the Christians already on campus to be student leaders for Crusade and carry on whatever we can begin.
I must go now, but thank you for all your prayers- I get to watch them at work every day! Hope to update again soon!

We made it!

Just have a minute here but, we made it after a mere 30 hours of traveling. we are adjused pretty well so far. After a brief orientation at a local church we spent a few hours on campus today, meeting some students and finding our way around. It is a lot like US campuses and VERY pretty. Views from the mountains down to the ocean that are awesome. Please continue to pray and i'll give a more exteneded update soon.

The trip has started... kind of

Well in some ways I now feel a day into my trip. But we are still in Atlanta. We met today at a hotel near the airport for a briefing before we go. We spent a few hours thisn afternoon in meetings about all different stuff and then a few hours after dinner in our small groups getting to know one another better. I'm really excited about my small group. Our leader is Troy Coons, the trip director. He lived in South Africa for five years as a kid and has worked all over the world with Crusade. Also in my group, Andrew is a grad student at UGA who God has worked mightily in over the last few years in Athens. And Dan is an upcoming senior at FSU. I am acutally the youngest one of the group, which is unusual for me after leading some small groups in SigEp, but I think there is a lot of wisdom for me to learn from these men. Our group as a wholeis 18 students and 6 staff, a great ratio for us! Our team is mostly UGA kids (11) but Georgia Tech, FSU, UCF, Mississippi St. and Alabama-Huntsville are also represented. We leave the hotel at 6:15 tomorrow morning so I'm headed to bed but pray for what I hope to be the longest travel day(s) of my life tomorrow- over 30 hours from leaving this hotel to our hotel in Durban.

Packed and ready

After two crazy days of errands, packing and good byes all is ready to go. I'll spend the night with our team at a hotel near the airport tomorrow night for a briefing and then we'll be in the air early Sat. morning. Pray that our team clicks well when we all meet tomorrow. With kids from 5 different schools it may be easy for the UGA kids to stick together (we are 11 of the 18 total students). But hopefully everyone will connect quickly. Also pray for travels. We will travel for a total of 28 hours (4 separate flights) and have an 18 hour flight from NYC to South Africa. Should be good time to get to know each other, sleep, hopefully, and read or watch some movies. We'll arrive in Durban Sunday night and then we plan on going to campus for the first time on Monday. Hopefully by Wed. or Thurs. I'll have a good idea of how often I can get on the internet and how well this blog will really work. See you in six weeks!

Finals over!!

Half the battle of this week (finals) is over as of just a little while ago. I'll be packing up today and heading home for two days before meeting the team on Friday. Please pray that all goes well getting things together and that I feel ready to go in every way when Friday arrives. It's crazy to think I'll be on campus at The University of KwaZulu-Natal in a week!

One week!

The latest from our project leader...
Please continue to pray.

Hey Guys,
ONE week until we meet in Atlanta! You all have done a great job of raising support and it has been encouraging to hear how the Lord has provided. PLEASE post to this group about how the Lord has provided for you! Also, feel free to post about any other prayer requests you have.

Here's a few prayer requests heading into the final week:
1) Rest - I know this is a busy week for some of you, but ask the Lord to give you half a day or so of rest - to connect with him, to relax, and be refreshed. Do something to take your mind off school and the project!

2) Connection with Students: We will go on campus in Durban Monday after we arrive. Pray the Lord will direct us to students who are open to the gospel and that we would be full of faith as we venture out. Col 4:2-6

3) Safety: Be praying the Lord will protect us from spiritual and physical attack in Durban. We for sure will encounter spiritual attack from Satan as he does not want the kingdom to be expanded. Pray for physical safety, that the Lord will protect us while we are in Durban. 1 Peter 5:8

4) Team Unity: Pray we will be unified together as a team, coming from different campuses and stages in life. Pray the Lord will empower us to love one another and serve each other well. Romans 15:5+6

5) Your staff team for project: Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom as we prepare to lead this summer. Colossians 1:9

OUR VISION:
'MOVEMENTS OF STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL EXPRESSING THE GOOD NEWS AND GOOD DEEDS OF THE GOSPEL TO THE CAMPUS, COMMUNITY, AND THE WORLD.'

OUR MISSION:
- Building relationships with spiritually interested students by sharing the good news of the gospel;
- Building bridges in the community by expressing the good deeds of the gospel;
- Partnering with CCC Durban by co-laboring with them to spread the fragrance of Christ in the city.


looking forward to co-laboring with you in Durban!

Getting very close

Since the beginning of this week it has hit me how soon I am Afirca-bound. Please pray for me as this is a stressful next two weeks: two papers, four exams, good-byes for some friends from school who will have moved on to new chapters in life by the time I return and getting myself ready to leave the country. The reality of being gone for six weeks has set it and its rather intimidating at times. I'm also growing very excited though. As it draws near praying for it becomes more and more exciting and I eagerly await what God will do.
Stay updated as I will be trying to post more info over the next few weeks as we prep. Again, I'm not sure yet how connected I'll be once we're there, but I hope it will be pretty good.

Blog Status

I have been finding out that this blog may not work exactly as I had first hoped- I'm not sure how "connected" I'll be while I'm there and probably won't know for sure until I'm there. Stay posted until I leave for more frequent updates. Once we are there I should know within the first few days how often I will have internet acces. Thanks for your prayers!

Prayer Requests

This weeks prayer requests from our leader:
Prayer for this week:
1) Pray for the staff team in Durban that is helping prepare the way for us - that they will be Spirit-filled as they pave the way for our arrival. Pray for Gary Price in particular, who is the city director in Durban.
2) Pray for South African students who we will meet: that God will prepare their hearts to hear and respond to the gospel and begin walking with Christ.
3) Spiritual Battle: Pray now that the Lord will protect us from spiritual attack this summer - that we would be ready for what Satan may throw at us. Pray for our physical safety as well (South Africa has a lot of crime).
4) Support - God has provided tremendously already and many of you are very close to finishing. Ask the Lord to bring in those last few ministry partners to give toward the summer!

Only 17 days!!

Meeting the team and where we are staying

Last night all the UGA students going on the trip, five guys and seven girls, had dinner together to get to know one another. It was great to meet those I didn't know and start to feel tiny steps toward a good team dynamic. Our leader, Michelle, is really great and I'm excited to see how the team clicks once we're there. Security will be a BIG issue, meaning that girls will always need to have guys with them when they go out, but that should help us all get to know each other.
Also, Michelle showed us pictures of where we are staying. You can check it out her: (looks nice)
http://www.concord-dbn.co.za/
Also, at the end of the trip we are going on a safari, which is AWESOME!!! Here is the website for that as well. Looks cool!
www.hluhluwe.co.za

Please keep praying- only 25 days until I go!

Support goal reached!!

A huge praise: as of this last weekend I have reached my goal of raising $5000. It has been imcreidble to watch God's provision roll in and to see the incredible generosity of believers desiring to see the gospel advanced in South Africa. If you still have not sent money in, but desire to, please do- all money raised above the goals for our team will go towards programs that we will put on for the students. Many thanks to all who have invested in me and in the trip! Please continue to pray!

Prayer Requests for 3/31

1) Opportunities for good deeds projects: We will have opportunities to serve the communities in Durban in some capacity; the hard thing is to know which projects to work on. Options could be church partnerships, AIDS hospitals, and orphanages might be possibilities. Please pray the Lord will direct us with clarity to these projects.

2) Ministry team - We all have to come up with $5,000, and in order to do this, we need help! Pray the Lord will be generous through others as you approach them with requests. Ask him to provide people who are excited about the opportunity to invest in missions in Durban.

3) South African students: God's desire is to reach South African college students with the gospel...pray the Lord will lead us to students who He is preparing to trust in Him.

Support Update

Many thanks to all who have already sent in financial support for my trip. I'm now over $3500 and have about $1200 to go. It has been incredible reaffirming and encouraging to get checks and notes from you all. Please continue to pray that God would provide the rest as checks have gone from a rush to more of a trickle lately. I trust that he will provide.
Also, sorry for no prayer updates lately. I was out of town on Spring Break and also haven't received any new lists of requests from our trip leaders in a while. I'll pass along whatever I hear though.
Thank you for your prayers!

Support update

As of Sunday I have all my support letters out. Pray that God will now work in people's hearts to bring in the amount I need. So far God has been incredibly faithful. I have already received $750 (some letters went out over a week ago and people have quickly sent in their donations). More updates soon...

Prayer Requests for 2/25

Thank you so much for praying for this summer. Here are a few specifics for this week:
1. Housing: we are closing in on our housing options and it looks like we have a place that is called the Concord. We just need to sort out the cost etc. Pray the Lord will show us clearly if this is in fact the location we should use.

2. Our team: pray the Lord will build a great team this summer. We are really limited in how many students we can accept, so we need His direction in this area as we finalize things.

3. South African students: continue to pray the Lord will prepare students to hear the Good News of the gospel!

Prayer Requests for 2/22

You can be praying for a good relationship at Glenmore (this is one of the potential housing locations).
For cars from John Templehof (he has 3 cars we might be able to use during the summer).
For Oneal and I to get the present students organized, we have about 50 contact cards just from this week.
For clear vision for Paul (Mayer) , us and the Crossroads team as we work on something we can do in the dormitories.

Pictures from Durban

Support letter

I hope this letter finds you doing well and off to a great start in 2008. I am now in my junior year at the University of Georgia (can’t believe I’m over halfway through!) and facing an incredible opportunity for this upcoming summer. Since my first semester here in Athens I have been involved with Campus Crusade for Christ, called Crossroads here at UGA. I have been a part of the student leadership team for going on two years now and have grown tremendously through discipleship, the staff and other students involved. One of the current developments at Crossroads is our new partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The University of KwaZulu-Natal, in the coastal city of Durban, has close to 50,000 students and is one of the best universities within the entire continent of Africa. Much like other parts of Africa, it is being ravaged by AIDS/HIV. Research done by the university has shown that of those students who get tested (and many do not) almost 50% have AIDS/HIV. They literally have to train two people for every job, knowing that realistically one may not be alive in 10 years. Beyond the incredible physical needs South Africa is also a country of great spiritual need. Many in South Africa have been exposed to Christianity in some form, but it seems that very few know Christ as their personal savior. Currently, Campus Crusade has only six full time staff members in the entire country of South Africa and none at this specific university. For all these reasons and more we are thrilled to begin partnering in Durban and hope that God might raise up a thriving ministry for the students on this campus.
As you may have caught on by now, there is a connection between Durban and my summer. I am feeling led to go on Campus Crusade’s first student trip to Durban, spending six weeks there working with the students and also helping meet the unfathomable needs of the Durban community. Outside of evangelism and discipleship at the university we hope to spend time working with a “sex-ed” program in the local high schools and also spend time volunteering in some of the local orphanages, which are numerous because of the AIDS epidemic.
The primary reason that I write to you is to sincerely ask that you be praying for our team and me as we prepare to go to Durban and as we live and work there from May 9- June 20. Specifically, pray that God would take care of the many details that are still unknown, for safety while we are there and that we will have a good “team dynamic.” Most importantly, please be praying for Durban, asking the Lord to begin a work there in the city and at the university. Lastly, I would ask that you prayerfully consider financially supporting me as I go. Please do not feel obligated to give because you have received this letter. If, however, you do feel led to contribute, please put a check in the enclosed envelope made out to “Campus Crusade for Christ” and return it. In total I must raise $4800 to go, which I admit is an intimidating number, but I trust that God will provide because I feel confident that this is His will for me.
“I thank my God every time I think of you” (Phil. 1:3).