This is a journal I wrote while I was on a week long mission trip in South Africa.
You'll read stories about my adventure to South Africa, interactions with the locals, the amazing food, and most importantly how God used that week to transform me, t...
Hebrews 10: 24-25: (And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.)
Today we got the opportunity to attend church at Moletsane church. I’m excited to see how they worship God, how the word of God is preached, and how they interact with each other during and after service.
During our drive towards Soweto, my mind went back to the previous day, the feeling of not being safe and a general fear for the group. When we approached the township, it was not as saturated with people as it was the previous day. As we arrived at the church we saw cars had already been parked inside the fence of the church and the congregation had already gathered in the sanctuary for a time of intentional prayer before service started. Service then started with Nkululeko (N-coolu-leck-oh), one of the church elders giving announcements. After he concluded the congregation began singing to God in a song in the Xhosa (Co-zha) tongue, followed by an English version of “how great thou art”. The song sung in Xhosa was so full of joy, praise, and love for God. As the congregation cued up to sing “how great thou art”, I was excited because I actually knew this one! The English song sadly came out rigid and unorthodox and I wished that I knew some Xhosa so that I could join in with the congregation’s singing.
Pastor Sammy then headed up to the pulpit and began to preach out of 1st Thessalonians 1:2-10, which is about Paul giving thanks to God and encouraging the saints in Thessalonica for their faith & labor for the gospel. Sammy then challenged us in our faith, is there a difference? Are we conforming to the world around us? Is Christ someone we only proclaim on Sunday? And to remember that we were bought with a price, so we should glorify the one whom paid that ultimate price for us. This message is, and will, I pray stirring something within me, you see I’m a passive person by nature, but I must remember that I now have a new nature and the gospel is not something that I can ever be passive in. I pray God continues stirring this within me.
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When service concluded, we all rose and had fellowship time, I must say, I can see why Ruth has a heart for this church body; the love and a sense of family exudes out of their fellowship. Also, the intentionality of conversation is something I wish we could practice it in our church, I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked my testimony, it makes my faith even more real when I get to verbalize it to others. Another great thing about this church is the amazing cooks in the congregation! I had a vanilla muffin made by Dudu during tea and fellowship time and it was so good! I might have to pick up some recipes from the women of Moletsane before I return home.
Fellowship time gradually went into a briefing for the upcoming week of holiday bible club. It was good to sit down not only with our team but with the volunteers from the church as well. I cannot wait for tomorrow and begin sharing the gospel and loving on these kids. I’m also looking forward to making a few friendships while I’m here. As the afternoon passes, the team is taking some time to rest, contemplate, pray, and meditate on what God has planned before us tomorrow. And I know the team and I can’t wait to get started!
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The evening began with us driving to Antioch to attend evening service. The service began with closing ceremonies for their holiday bible club. Reverend Michael Donald Escen was then introduced and went up to the pulpit to teach on a passage from Mark. However, as I sat there and listening to Mike preach, I could still feel the remnants of jet lag still tugging on the strings of my brain and my eyes becoming increasingly weighty as time passed.
After service had concluded, we began to fellowship and talk with the people of Antioch, I was able to meet Duncan, Leanne, Marco, Joeney, and a few others. Leanne then began to give each one of us a hug to welcome us. I chuckled to myself because I knew when she reached Mike he would cringe on the inside because he disliked hugs. Leanne then began to tell us that she prefers hugs not just because it shows great love but that it doesn’t spread germs like shaking hands. Which is true when you think about it…
As we said our goodbyes to Antioch we began to make our way to the van to travel to Onthatile as it was the next stop on our itinerary. We walked into the kitchen and was greeted with the sweet smell of pizza! What followed was a great time of fellowship with the Joel and Rachel’s family and their awesome interns, Rachel and Joeney. We then departed the Kirby house and made our way back up the mountain to camp.
As we sat around the kitchen table, Ruth informed us that we will have an early morning tomorrow; So, naturally the lot of us stayed up and a few of us began making PB&J sandwiches for lunch tomorrow, and making fun of Taylor and her pronunciation of “buttons”; Or should I say “butt-hens” Looking forward though in working with this great team in sharing the gospel with the kids in Soweto tomorrow!
