God is REAL in reddd hill!

The good news is, movies only cost about three dollars here. Sunday night Ethan and I got to see Prince of Persia for a whopping 50 rand which is about seven dollars... Total. Monday morning was the start of holiday clubs for the kids. Michele had Monday and Tuesday off, so I used my free day helping the LSE's at Red Hill with their kick off. Since I hadn't been involved in any of the planning I wasn't very useful for the activities. So instead I got to spend the day playing with the little girls and having them play with my hair. We started out with just a few kids due to the rain/cold. But by lunch time we had nearly 40 kids.

This morning I woke up to a wonderful surprise! Today is Ethan and my two year anniversary of dating. Even though we're in Africa, he still found a way to make it special. He got me all my favorites and a few little African extras as well.

This afternoon we spent our time in Overcome playing with children in a daycare. Tomorrow is a public holiday so we get the day off to sleep late, rest, and maybe shop a little ;)

God has been teaching me about himself as Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals. It's so hard to see these little children with so much need and hurt, and just realize I'll be going home soon back to my pain-free life. But at the same time its so refreshing to be with little kids who have no cares in the world, they just want to be loved by you and let you hold them. God is real in Red Hill :)

can I fit one in my carry-on??

This is Synovia, my new carry-on I've decided. She hopped up in my lap the first ten minutes of being at Capricorn and instantly began playing with my hair. Within another ten minutes, she told me she loved me and I decided I would be bringing her home with me. Mom, you ready for a adopted grand-child??

This little cutie is the Pastor of Capricorn's son. Don't even have to say how precious he is.

I got to do my favorite kids activity: face painting. South African flag to cover your face? Well of course.. Some things never change.

Yesterday we spent the day at Canal Walk, the largest mall in South Africa. After shopping the day away, we had dinner at a MEXICAN place called Pancho's aka my favorite food of this entire trip. It was the best Mexican I've ever had. Okay it's possible I was just having withdrawals from the lack of Habanero's lately, but seriously the quesadillas were incredible. And the queso... We'll definitely be going back before we leave!!!

This is from the other night, we drove out to the beach to watch the sun set before we went to dinner at The Toad. I have a few pictures of the sun where the camera just couldn't handle the brightness and you can hardly tell that there is an ocean in front of the sun.. Don't you love the times we're unable to capture God's creation? I sure do!

Church this morning was.. well I don't really have any words to describe it besides Spirit-led. I really liked how we were in this warehouse-esque building without comfortable pews or heat. It was just a natural congregation of believers without the fancies of a normal American church. The music was led by Kendra, one of the girls who lives here in the volunteer house, and three middle school aged girls (which I also liked). After worship the pastor got up and encouraged anyone who had something to share to come and do so. This led to me crying as a woman began to sing for everyone about her Savior. After sharing and a little more singing, we had a time of prayer to lay hands on anyone in need. The sermon was about Noah and the lessons we can learn from his obedience to the Lord. It was such a blessing to see people being vulnerable before a group of believers and letting the Holy Spirit lead a sermon, even if it meant changing the schedule or plans. God is worthy of our praise without limitations!

vuvuzelas gone wild

Things I saw/heard more of today than I ever knew existed:
1. Bafana Bafana jerseys
2. vuvuzelas, the loud obnoxious noise makers that EVERYONE who's anyone has
3. South African flags, especially those prominently placed on the entire face by me, the American face painter. Oh irony
4. The colors yellow and green together
5. Little children doing the diski. what's that? This is what.

Today was great though. I loved the energy that Cape Town had, the spirit of the little children who are so excited for their country to be a part of something so incredible.

What's Bafana Bafana doing after they win the World Cup??? turning the playstation off ;)

This morning I got to go on another home visit with Michele, which was pretty sad, but me and Michele had a good talk afterwards about how to cope with seeing such hard situations and broken hearts each day. I definitely had plenty to cheer me up when I was surrounded for the afternoon with beautiful little children, sitting in my lap to play with my hair, or running up to have their South African flag prominently displayed on their faces. Pictures to come tomorrow...

Tomorrow is Table Mountain... Good thing I'm so naturally athletic and all, it should be a breeze to climb.. duh.

Jehovah-jireh.

Today was so great! It was my first day to really interact with people outside of the office. I went with Michele on three home visits. Two of them were with people who only spoke Afrikaans, so I did A LOT of smiling and nodding then asking what was happening later. But this one visit was such a blessing….

Irene is this sweet woman of God who is 84 and bed-ridden. She has cancer in her spine and it’s been spreading to her breast. After eight years of illness, and four of severe cancer, Irene is still kickin’ it. Irene lays in bed all day, every day and therefore LOVES the chance to chat with company. She shared her entire life story today, just telling us stories of her life and her memories. She kept telling us of how she “had always been so active”, she used to knit, and work in a hospital caring for others. Now all she can do is sit and read, most days she doesn’t even have the energy to put her teeth in! But the other consistent statement Irene made was how she was confident in the Lord, the Lord had given her hope and she knew her life had been blessed.

I was able to pray for Irene at the end of our time together. As we were getting ready to leave she told me I had blessed her, made her feel good for the first time in a long time. What a blessing this was to my heart, just to see how a simple prayer to the Lord could encourage a dying woman so much! I am constantly amazed by the Lord and how He is working in the lives of people I meet. This same God has carried Irene through years of pain, and given her hope for what lies beyond this life. Wow!

Tonight we went to the beach to watch the sunset, and if I could sit there forever I would have. It was absolutely beautiful. I wish I had a better word to describe all that I see here… but there just isn’t much to do it justice. We had dinner at The Toad for Zuzanna’s last night, and felt like I was back in the States with my New Orleans pizza.

Oh, and we have a new roommate, Megan! She got in late last night after we were asleep. Ok maybe it was 11, but that’s late when you’re catching up from American time ☺

Life is great. Today I am seeing God as Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. Our God is indeed providing, constantly! And what’s even cooler is that word jireh, means to see. Because the Lord can foresee our needs, he can make provisions in His own time. Ah I love our God!!

just another day...

Things I love about South Africa:

1. red lights are called Robots
2. I've seen more stray dogs than people
3. the little girls think my hair is the coolest thing ever
4. all the ACTS staff look like Abercrombie models
5. the have the next generation Nutella, which is a million times better
6. people say "shedule" instead of schedule
7. the accents are sweet
8. you see baboons on a regular basis, with the occasional camel or peacock
9. Gatsby... mmm
10. Apple Nectar juice. yep.

rain rain, yet again today...

Lauren Reeves quote that summarizes this trip: Being in a place like Africa is really wonderfully overwhelming, and our brains dont always have room for that moment right then. 


Today was another morning with Michelle which I am enjoying more and more. The office work wasn't what I expected, but I really enjoy the time to just have peace and quiet (with the exception of constant dogs barking outside). After lunch we went to Red Hill for our community project. This is another thing that surprised me about this trip, I didn't know how much physical labor we would be doing, but today we painted the inside of a container (like a trailer) for the kids club at Red Hill. I was right back on New Wind using oil based paint and getting high from the paint thinner... I didn't mind really ;)

After breathing in all the fumes I could handle, I found my way outside where Simone was waiting to climb aboard. The kids here are so easily approachable and have no concept of Stranger Danger like in the States. Simone latched on my back and wouldn't let go for a good thirty minutes. We ran away from the dogs, and talked about school. The children here are so beautiful, and so desperate for love. It's hard not to love them though, so it works out for both of us.


And to cap off the night, we all piled into Bettie.. literally piled, and drove to McDonald's for a little dessert before playing cards. Living in the house with fifteen international new friends is one of my favorite parts of the trip. Tomorrow Justine and I get a new roommate, Megan! 

We have 24 more days left (I was just informed by Callie, Ethan's little sister). I'm trying not to let that become a distraction and be sad about leaving, but rather just think about the three awesome weeks we still have left to grow and see more of Africa. God can do a LOT in just three weeks, of this I am sure! But I will definitely be missing plenty of this wonderful country when it comes time to head back. Guess I'll just have to come back, eh? As Louise would say... Cheers.

God is COOL!!!

woke up at 7 am not feeling too hot... hoping to avoid the stomach bug my roommate had yesterday, I went back to sleep until noon. Rest was just the medicine I needed, and this afternoon has been so incredible. I've spent my time catching up on emails, listening to Travis Cottrell and having the most wonderful time with the Lord.


So far I've had time each night to have my quiet time, to reflect on what the Lord has shown me, but each night I find myself a little more sleepy. So today was so refreshing to have all the time I wanted and all the energy I needed just to remember what the Lord has done and who He is.


I'm reading through Lord, I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur, and I love those little moments each day where my Bible study parallels just exactly what I walk through that day. The names of God have been revealed to me so consistently through my time here, and I've enjoyed the length of this trip to learn more about God.


Of all the mission trips I've been able to go on, I've found a common theme of short trip, quick message to be learned, then turn around having seen this drastic revelation from the Lord or some super spiritual high of an awesome few days. This trip is completely different: the pace is slow, so there's no rush to get it all in at once. The trip is longer, so there is more to be learned over a month. I'm not with my entire youth group or core group, so the dependancy on the Lord is increased. And it's been SUCH A BLESSING. God is just taking His precious time, slowly revealing His characteristics and qualities to me. On the days I've felt insecure, God is El Roi, the God who sees. When I am weary and needy and missing the comforts of home, God is El Shaddai, the all-sufficient one. I'm loving getting to know my God as Adonai, Jehovah, El Elyon. God is so gracious and good and I am being reminded of that everyday!