Sowubona!- Hello!

Greetings from South Africa! It has been incredible here! If only I could take you along with me to explore the rich life that glows from the culture here! We arrived at the airport around 9 at night tuesday night and after eating drove back to our place and crashed. Following that night we took a tour of Jozi/joburg (Johannesburg) and shopped for supplies that we would need at our lodge. We got a little situated, met lunch at Wits' common eating lounge, went out to dinner, and then crashed into our bed after being affected by the jet lag (remember we are 6 hours ahead of most of America). Thursday we received our CCP training and we took a tour of the Campus (which is incredibly beautiful!). We then went to the campus prayer where we first sang a song of worship (in three different languages... awesome) and prayed with students.

Friday we started the real grit of our project. We went to campus to meet students and point them to a braai we were holding. For those who aren't from South Africa (which I believe is most of you) a braai is a grill with music playing and dancing... like a cookout party. A braai is incredibly appealing to students because of the free food, the fun, and the dancing. I went with my ministry partner (mike hoy) to bring some students to the braai and got to meet a good handful of students at Dals (the res I'm laboring at).

At the Braai we met got to talk to a group of students and were able to share the gospel with some others. The braai was so much fun. It was a good taste of South Africa

(A group of students I met at the Braai)

(Rodney, a student leader with CO at Wits, has helped us in our ministry at Dals... An answer to prayers)

The next day we went to Soweto (the Harlem of South Africa). We watched a soccer game played by the Orlando Pirates (not orlando florida... Orlando the providence). The Pirates were playing for the league championship. I was not the biggest soccer fan before this game and the game itself made me a huge fan. Five of us decided to go into the superfan section of the stadium where there were bongos and horns (vuvuzelas) being played! It was so crazy! The Pirates won the game by a score in the last 7 minutes. We ended up rushing the field and there was chaos (we were the only white people on the field... It made it easy to point us out to the other students who didn't want to run on)!! Never have I been to a game like that (american football has nothing on it!).

(The group of CCP guys who rushed the field)

At the end of the game we left and were able to get a taste of Soweto after the game with people celebrating by honking their cars (hooting) and cheering. There were a lot of kids asking for our red shirts we were given at the beginning of the game (for free). I was reluctant to give my shirt away but God really showed how greedy I was and so I joyfully gave my shirt away.

Today at church we studied how to know God better. The person talking really humbled me by hypothetically asking us to sit down for five minutes and attempt to write 50 attributes of God... I don't think I could do it... I felt like I need to grow in my understanding of God.

Please pray for our time here in South Africa... We have a lot to learn and no room for Pride in it all.

Please pray for:

1. Our ministry- when we leave the students at Wits will be in bible studies with the student leaders.

2. My walk- That God might grow in me a hunger to know him more

3. My brothers and sisters- That God will build an environment of humility and grace in our team where we are able to mess up and still love each other.

Grace and Peace

"I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more."

2 Samuel 12:8