This past weekend, Mitch and I travelled to Atlanta, GA, to spend a weekend meeting the rest of our South Africa team and to be briefed on our trip to Durban this summer. Along with Mitch and I, we had 4 students travel with us- 2 who will be going with us to Durban for the summer (Paula & Carson), and 2 who will be serving in Durban for a year come this January (Nathan & Shawn)! God continues to amaze me (imagine that) with all that He has been doing not only in our lives but in the lives of our students. These students, along with the other 13 students from around the Southeast, are giving up spending their summers with family, getting ahead in their classes, & paid internships/jobs/grad school to answer the call to take the gospel to the world. Incredible.
We arrived in Atlanta Friday afternoon and kicked-off the weekend by going out to dinner with our Durban Summer Project team. Our team consists of 10 girls and 5 guys from 6 different schools: UF, UCF, UGA, Georgia Southern, Ole Miss, & Southern Miss. In addition to Mitch and I, there will be 5 other Crusade staff members going as well as 3 staff kids! Spending the weekend getting to know our team was such a joy and it was such a disappointment to leave on Sunday knowing that we weren't leaving for another two months!
We will officially be flying out on July 1st: Atlanta to D.C. to Dakar to Johannesburg to Durban. Traveling will take us about 24 hours with the longest plane ride being around 18 (have I mentioned the longest flight I have been on was not even 3 hours?). Once we arrive, we will spend the first 3 weeks serving the community in Durban through a local orphanage and AIDS Hospice. Durban has one of the highest AIDS rates in the the world and has the highest infection rate in all of South Africa. Close to half of the entire population of Durban is infected with AIDS, while around 80% of black South Africans in certain townships are infected.
We will spend the last 2 weeks of our project at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, working alongside of Durban Campus Crusade student staff. We will be connecting with students, sharing the gospel, and helping to disciple those who desire to learn more.
Although it is two months away, there are so many prayer needs we have! Pray for support raising for our students and staff alike; that God will provide the financial needs to make this trip possible. Pray for the people of Durban; that God will soften their hearts and comfort those who are sick. Pray for God to prepare our hearts to 100% selflessly serve and love the people of Durban during the 6 weeks that we will be there. Praise God for the opportunity He has granted us and for raising up Christ-centered laborers who are willing to go serve Him in Durban!
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