I’m home! I returned to the states on the 12th and I have had some time to settle in and get back on this time schedule before I return back to school. Our last week on campus I was paired up with Emily, another girl on our team, because my ministry partner Lauren went back to the states to start pre-season for soccer. Thankfully a lot of the girls that Emily spent time with were friends with the girls that I spent time with and this made it an easy transition. We continued to hang out with girls in their rooms and around campus.
One night we were going to have girls over for cake and tea at Haley and Paul’s house but it ended up that a lot of girls couldn’t come because of meetings they had to go to. We saw this as a big disappointment because we really wanted to connect the girls to Haley and get to know her better so that they could possibly be mentored by her in the future but also just to establish a relationship between them, her, and the rest of the ministry. But this cancellation was a blessing in disguise. We got to hang out with one of the girls, Kate, and her prayer group that she meets with once a week and we got to pray with them! It was really encouraging to pray with believers from across the world and hear what was on their hearts. And it was just really sweet to pray with Kate who we never prayed with before but had spent so much time with. Then, another great thing that came out of this was that Amanda and Ally got to spend time with a girl who just became a believer who really needed to be shown how to pursue Christ daily and that night Amanda and Ally got to really encourage her to come to the “camp”, the retreat, we were having in Johannesburg that weekend. This girl, Coco, wasn’t even supposed to come to the tea party and yet God made a way for Amanda and Ally to have that conversation with her and she agreed to come to the camp to learn more about her walk with Jesus.
The next night we had tickets to watch the Katjiepiering girls compete against the other res’ in serenade competition. It was so awesome to watch. The girls did fabulously but unfortunately they didn’t make it on to the next level of competition, which was regional.
Then, Friday, we rounded up the girls and guys and we headed for the retreat in Jo’burg. They hold it at this beautiful camp in the middle of nowhere, near a township (the same township we worked at). At this point in the trip I had come down with a really bad sinus infection and I was not doing too hot. It was a really hard couple of days for me at the camp. I wish I had been able to spend time with the girls more but I was feeling too bad and I had to rest for most of the time. I just had to trust that God didn’t need me. In addition to some bad news, while we were away our house in Pretoria was broken into. The boy’s guesthouse was completely broken into and their laptops were stolen. The girl’s house didn’t get anything stolen from it. That same day Tyler, our team leader, got a 24-hr flu. Through all this I feel like God taught us a lot as a team. For me, I didn’t sleep at all but 15 minutes at a time during the night and I didn’t have any access to medicine or food during the night. I felt bad because I think I kept the whole cabin up in my coughing. But in that I just couldn’t help but think about how the township right next to us didn’t have any resources. The access to medicine and the need for food, that I was so frustrated not to have, they didn’t have that either, ever. What do they do when they get sick? Apart from this realization, when I was feeling terrible in the middle of nowhere, I knew God was with me, he was with me and was sufficient for me when I didn’t have any distractions from my pounding head, even when I was thousands of miles from home. And he’s always with me. I just felt the power of his presence so powerful at 4 am in the dark of the camp when no one was awake. Now, I know I’m talking like I was on my deathbed, like I had something much more intense than a sinus infection, but I’m just saying, it was rough. Yeah, maybe I’m a pansy. Anyways I learned a lot from it and it was sweet!
The next morning I went home earlier than the rest of the group and rested. The next Monday and Tuesday before we left for our flight we spent time doing return training and getting to see what Campus Outreach has envisioned for next year on our campuses and how we play a part in that. We just got to discuss with G’Joe and Jake who came out to SA that week about questions and conflicts we had.
The night before we left we invited a bunch of people over to our house for dinner. It was an awesome way to end our trip hanging out with everyone we met and just having the one last time with them, listening to music, and enjoying each other.
The flight back was good times, 18 hours on a direct flight :-). I’m going to miss all the people from Presbyterian College! But I’ll visit them over the course of this year.
Thank you SO MUCH all of you who made this specific opportunity possible. I grew and learned a ton this summer. I thank God for all that you have done and contributed. And to those who didn’t have the opportunity to give, thank you for your influence, and leadership in the development of my walk with Jesus and my faith in Him. For all of you who I have sent this to, you have made a difference in eternity, how glorious!
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