Training

I have been in South Africa for a week! Staying at a farm called Mooiplaas (literally translated "pretty farm") with a team of 15 people from over 8 countries. I am even picking up some Afrikaans, which disturbs those who actually speak it ;) Our leaders are incredible imitators of Christ, and they have so much to teach us. Our training has been emotionally exhausting, as we are working through the sins of our past and present and the burdens we each carry. It has been both rewarding and difficult. But the Lord can use a healthy servant much more than he can use an injured one.

We have also learned some songs in local languages to teach the children and worked on writing testimonies and sermons. We meet for devotions at 6 a.m. every morning, where we practically freeze to death. On Wednesday, we leave for Pretoria to finish training and begin ministry. After that, we will travel to Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi.

We went to an Afrikaans-speaking church yesterday. I understood every word. And I made one of my Afrikaans-speaking team members sit next to me, so that helped a bit ;)

I won't have internet for much longer, but if you know me at all, you know I have to tell at least one story.

The first morning at training, we woke up and were told to meet our leaders at a certain time (though time works a bit differently here) wearing close-toed shoes and carrying water bottles. We figured we would be doing a work project or something. We were wrong... They took us to the bottom of a mountain and told us to get to the top in 45 minutes. There was no trail. There were 3 groups of us: the hardcore ones, the almost hardcore but too tired ones, and the didn't feel the need to prove themselves group. I started hardcore, but quickly fell back to the middle group. There were also some stragglers. Oh and we had to carry a rock to the top of the mountain with us. One team member (I won't mention names) was stupid enough to pick up a giant rock that weighed at least ten pounds.

Massiye, from Zambia, came back for those of us who were straggling behind the hardcores and showed us the way up the mountain. Maybe there was a lesson in this crazy hike after all. At the top of the mountain (sooo beautiful), we talked about the journey to the top, how we had to keep moving and keep our eyes on the goal. The Africa Trek is going to be a crazy journey, but we will need to keep our eyes on the goal--becoming more like Christ. And we will have those more experienced than us to show us the way. At the top of the mountain, we prayed with one another, reflected on our expectations of the trek, and chose a burden we wanted to get rid of. We took our rocks, and all at once, we threw them off the mountain and screamed out our burdens. Then we found a new rock and wrote on it what we wanted God to fill us with to replace the burden we had thrown off the top of the mountain.

I don't know what God is going to do on this trek, but it is already not what I expected and way better than I expected at the same time. God's will is so much better than our silly plans. God will do a work in the African people through us, but he will do it his way. And I can't wait to see how he does it.

Miss you all. Thank you so much for your prayers. Pray for protection against spiritual warfare and the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

(Trina Skinner from Papua New Guinea and South Africa was my editor. She would kill me if I didn't include her name. Rachel Lynne Ickes would also like a mention for sitting next to me while I wrote this.)