And we are off!!!

Friends and family- the time has come, we leave tomorrow, January 4, for South Africa! We are so excited to head out. We wanted to give you an overview of what we will be doing and we ask that you hold us in your prayers!

There are 12 of us on the team and we leave January 4 and return February 2. We will be spending the month partnering with Living Hope's ministries in townships 40 minutes outside of Capetown. Living Hope is made up of three parts:

Living Hope- seeks to bring the hope and compassion of Jesus Christ to the chronically sick and dying in a holistic way and do all they can to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. They do this through their free health care center, home based care, support groups, prevention programs, health care counselors, and life skill educators.

Living Way- is a job creation program that works to provide free job training and education in order to create opportunities and employment with the hope that individuals and entire communities might be empowered.

Living Grace- seeks to play a vital role in the motivation, treatment and support of people who are without basic necessities by providing meals, health care, and education.

We will be working in collaboration with these ministries, in order to provide both physical and spiritual aide for many people in need.

Every day our team will show God’s love as we work together to run an after school Kids Club for children in local townships. We will be working alongside Life Skill Educators who are people from the community who work with the ministry and in the schools to teach Bible lessons, play sports, lead music, perform skits, and make crafts with the kids. We will also spend time in the heath center spending time with patients suffering from HIV and AIDS. We have 3 girls on our team who are nursing or pre-med students who will get to spend extra time in the health center. We will go to Living Grace on Fridays to serve meals to those in poverty and build relationships. We will also run a sports and discipleship camp for older youth and help with construction at Living Way, the ministry’s job creation program.

South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV and AIDS in the world as over 5.3 million people are infected. Over 27 percent of the population is unemployed and the average life expectancy is 44 years old. The facts are unsettling and the need is great. However, the love and grace of Christ has the power to penetrate this devastation and I look forward to sharing that hope with the people. Educating, helping, and challenging orphans and children to pursue an education, make wise decisions, and dream about the future will help to raise up a generation of new leaders. By meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of the people, change can occur and I was so blessed last winter to see the countless ways in which the ministry truly was impacting the people.

As we leave for this trip, please keep us in your prayers! I ask that you would pray for the Kids Club, the health care ministry, the Life Skill Educators whom we will be working alongside, and that our team would be unified as we work together. Please pray that God would prepare the hearts of those we will come in contact with. I would also ask that you pray that God will guide us as we step out of our comfort zones. And please pray for safety for us as we travel many miles and while we are in South Africa!

We love you all and appreciate your support!