So this morning I woke up at 7o’clock to Afrikaaners yelling at me to put on my tackies get out the door. I was thinking to myself what are tackies and why are these strangers waking me up. In case you were wondering tackies are shoes, and these strangers were friends of our leader Chris. As this all happened I realized that I am finally in Jeffrey’s Bay, my home for the next few months. Although I was planning on sleeping in this morning, Gods plans were even better. We walked to the beach and watched the waves as we ate our breakfast. As I listened to Chris talk about enjoying every moment we are here, there were dolphins swimming in the background. I am so excited to call this my home. After breakfast at the beach we spent the entire morning on a scavenger hunt to get to know the town. I am all about a good competition, so it was a blast. My team and I ended up in the ocean at the end so that we could get an extra five thousand points.
Jeffrey’s Bay is a town that has two extremes, the very rich and the very poor. The divide between these two classes is very clear, and it is heart breaking. Last night we went to a church service with students from the local bible school, and it was great to worship with people my age from all over the world. Those same students were the ones that woke us up this morning. Chris and Christina Via our leaders lived here last year with the other FYM team and they have built a lot of relationships here.
Being in Africa has already been the time of my life. God has stretched me in ways that I didn’t know possible. I have met a lot of people in the short period of a month. My team consists of 13 girls and 2 boys from Georgia, Tennesee, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Arkansas, Virginia, and Canada. I have already built a lot of friendships that will last a lifetime. I feel challenged by all of the people on my team because we are all from very different denominations, and have very different lives. They are all my brothers and sisters in Christ, but we are definitely beyond our honeymoon stage!
In the past four weeks I have been in Georgia, Germany, Johannesburg, Swaziland, and now Jeffries Bay. God has been teaching me a lot about being still and knowing that he is God. I am also learning a lot about humility. If any of you know me well I hate to lose! But I think that God wants me to learn to be okay with loss, and to be honest I hate the idea of losing. We have met a lot of people here that are starving for Christ, and it hurts me. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the need here. There are so many people that need food, money, homes, families and love. One afternoon I was walking back from the downtown with my teammates Larissa and Melissa. A girl stopped us and asked if we had a home for her. I felt stunned and helpless. We didn’t really know anyone to send her to and we were leaving Swaziland in a few days. I gave her the food that I had bought at the grocery store but I knew that wasn’t enough. Only five minutes from where we were standing is a place that the missionaries in Swaziland call the tree line. In this tree line, girls of all ages sell their bodies for old, or moldy food. My mind was racing for places where I could tell this girl to go, but I just didn’t know the area well enough. Now I am afraid that she will end up in the tree line, and I couldn’t stop it. One thing I am trying to remind myself is that if I can influence one person than they can influence someone else. One night one of my teammates said that our team should have the aroma of Christ, when we come into a room. People should wonder what that aroma is. I want to touch lives like Christ did.
Please keep praying for me. By the way here is my address because the other one was wrong! I am sorry and I would really love mail!
AIM Jeffrey’s Bay
PO Box 921
Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa
6330
Hi Chelsea – there was nothing in your blog. Just the title.
We hope you are doing OK.
Love,
Theresa and Don