We
were able to go to a rugby game two Saturday’s ago, which was AMAZING. It has
probably been one of my favorite excursions so far. Getting to the game was
probably one of the more stressful experiences I’ve had though and I am really
thankful that I was not driving that day. People jumped in front of your cars
in the middle of the road, trying to get you to park where they were so they
could make a little money. I think we were almost hit at least five times, and
there were people everywhere. Thankfully, we found a spot after a while of
driving and our cars were still there after the game when we got back. The
atmosphere in the game was a lot like an American football game, so everyone was
really hype and excited to watch their team play. The cool thing is that we got
to see the game in the Ellis Park stadium, which was where the historic game of
1995 and the World Cup was played in. We
watched two professional teams play (the Sharks and the Lions), and I began to
catch on to the rules and scoring a lot throughout the game. A bunch of us
ended up buying jerseys for the Springboks, which is the national rugby team
from South Africa, and I am sure weʼll be wearing them a lot when we get back
to the states. It is really cool to watch the sports here and see how into the
events people get, and it plays a huge part in their lives.
This
past Saturday was great as well. The
girls were instructed by all the guys on the team to stay in our rooms until
9:30 that morning, and when we finally came out, they had made a huge breakfast
for us and decorated all the tables with flowers and name cards. They really served us well and spent a lot of
time making us feel special, and all of us really enjoyed the effort they put
in to make us feel loved by them. That
night, we finally got to see some of the animals. Our team went to a lion and
rhino park just outside of Johannesburg and we were able to do some driving
through the area, and saw wild dogs, white lions, and cheetahs. At lunch, we stopped at a different area of
the park and were able to play with the lion cubs. A couple of us, including myself, were able
to play with a cheetah (and this was a nearly full grown cheetah, not a
cub). I was a little hesitant at times
to play with the cheetah, Eddie, mainly because I know he could have ripped my
face off if he wanted to, but we got some great pictures and some cool new
memories. That night we went to
“Carnivores,” which is an all you can eat buffet with meat from African animals. That night, we were able to try gemsbok,
impala, crocodile, zebra, and kudu. I
think my favorite animal to eat was the gemsbok, but the zebra was REALLY
delicious as well. We all left feeling
like we had tried way too much, but it was by far one of the best meals we have
had since we’ve been here.
We went to Alexandra on Friday, a little township
outside of Johannesburg. It is one of the poorest areas of
JoBurg, and it is where we will be doing mercy ministry while we are here. We only drove through the township
that day to see what it looked like, so I didn’t get to meet any of the people
that day, but there were shacks everywhere.
Most people there don’t have electricity or running water either. We also visited an orphanage in that township
on Friday. I found out that all of the
kids at this orphanage are HIV positive, which really blew me away. It’s also really amazing and unbelievable
that as you drive through this intensely poor area, you occasionally see big
houses that have BMWs parked in front of them.
I don’t know how the wealthy whites can live amidst all of that and
still not want to do anything about it, but I think that we have a tendency to
feel compassion for all these poor and not feel any compassion for the rich as
well. In reality, both the impoverished
and the rich that oppressed them for so long have the same need: Jesus. But I think it’s easy for us to think that we
are better than the rich whites, who think they are better than the poor
blacks, and Christ would argue against this way of thinking.
On
Sunday, we went to church in Alexandra. I can’t even explain how cool the
church service was. It lasted for about
two hours, and was one of the most joyous services I’ve been to in a long time. A lot of the worship music was in Zulu and
Xhosa, with a couple of English songs thrown in there. The happiness on these people’s faces when
they sing about Christ is unbelievable and contagious. I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire
time, and even caught myself tearing up at one or two points. There is something so wonderful about
watching these people sing and dance (yes, there was a lot of dancing at
church) and to know that they are singing to the same God that we sing to back
home in the states. I love doing worship
with these people; it makes me excited for heaven when we will all worship God-
every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Jessica
and I have continued to spend a lot of time with the girls in the dorms. We
actually got to teach two of the girls how to play basketball last week, which
they really seemed to enjoy. They shut the lights out on us at the court about
halfway through our game, so we continued to play in the dark. At the end, we
laid down for a few minutes to star gaze; the sky here is beautiful and
unfiltered compared to what is in Charlotte. I feel like you can see so many
stars, and it was a great way to end the night. While we were watching them, we
began to talk to one of the girls about Luke 19, and how nature cried out to
worship God, so much so that Jesus says, “I tell you...if [man] keeps quiet,
the stones will cry out.” It ended up being a really good conversation that I
believe left her deeply questioning whether or not she knew God and what was
keeping her from walking with Him. This is just one of many times we have had
awesome conversations with girls. We have been hit with many hard questions
from some of them, but we welcome them because we know that means that these
questions indicate further thought on the things we have spoken to them about. I walk away from many of these conversations
feeling like I learned more about God, even though I was not the one asking the
questions. Jessica and I continue to
pray that some of these girls want to come to the Joint Winter Conference in a
couple of weeks, so we would love it if you all would pray for that as well.
So,
here are some prayer requests:
If
you could, please begin praying for students to come to the conference we are
having at the end of June. Many of you have heard me write or talk about the
New Years Conferenceʼs that I have gone to the last two years, which have been
radically used to change the lives of many college
students. Here, they have the same thing, and it is called the Joint Winter
Conference. We will be going to Mahalisburg from June 24-26 and will be
spending time going to talks, seminars, and doing a lot of fun activities like
bonfires, talent shows, zip-lining, etc. We are currently recruiting students
and trying to get the word out among the residence halls about this conference
because there could potentially be a lot of problems for some of them to go.
The conference starts two days after their final exams officially end, but many
of them finish up earlier in the month and go home for their break. It can be
difficult for some of them to go because many of them live five or more hours
away, and many might not want to make the drive back for the conference. Please
pray that we would have discernment in how to promote this event and the
ability to determine how to navigate around obstacles that might prevent some
students from coming who would like to. There will be four universities that
come to this event and I know that God is going to use it in huge ways to
change the lives of students for His glory.
Pray
for the spiritual health of our team. Pray that each of us seeks to continue
meeting with God and that we turn first to him in our trials and struggles.
Without this as the first priority in our lives, our work is in vain. Without
this as the first priority, our time here in vain. I pray that I, along with
every member of our team, comes out of this changed in some way and walking
more deeply and in love with Christ.
Please
pray for the physical health of our team. There is some kind of sickness that
has been going through our team, particularly the women, that usually puts us
out of commission for a day or two. I think about four or five of us have been
sick so far, but we are recovering and hope that this is the end of all the
illness during our time here.
Lastly,
please pray for the girls that we are ministering to during our time here. So
far, all of them have heard the gospel from Jessica and myself, but we are
continuing to love them and address questions they have. There are so many
things that confuse them at times; we have some girls who thing their parents
“passed” Christianity on to them, and others who believe that truth is whatever
they make it. There are some who know who Jesus is, but just admit that they
are not ready to commit their lives to him. Despite everything, we know that
God is in the business of moving mountains and at any time could change hearts.
It has to be Godʼs timing, not ours. Personally, I think that is the biggest
thing that I am learning. Jessica and I are being faithful to sharing Christ
and the gospel with these women, but in the end we do not change hearts. God
does. And because we ultimately do not take responsibility for the change in
the hearts of these women, we must trust that there is a reason we wait and
that He will be glorified at the end of this experience, whether we see these
girls come to know Him or not. We have continually seen how God has been
preparing the way for us into these girlsʼ lives, and know that we have met
them with intentional purpose. We pray that one day we hear that these girls
have become our sisters through the blood of Christ.
And
lastly, we have a huge praise. We found out last week that not only has all of
our support been raised, but we have been provided with $2,000.00 over what we
initially needed. So God has provided our
team with $104,000.00. We are completely blown away and humbled by those of you
that are supporting us both financially and through prayer.
The
Lord continues to do great things in the life of the students here, and he
continues to do many things in my heart that are both unexpected, and yet
welcome all the same. Thank you so much for caring for us, and for caring for
the students in Johannesburg. I truly believe that lives are being changed
here, and it would not be possible without you help and love.
In Him,
Katlyn
Katlyn
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