I officially landed back in Grand Rapids last night about 6pm Michigan time. Total travel time was just over 32 hours to get from Durban airport to Grand Rapids airport. Thanks again to everyone for your support during this journey. I'm looking forward to sharing stories and all the lessons learned. I will be speaking at Calvary Baptist in Greenville, MI in regards to this trip on August 21 during the evening service. Looking forward to catching up with everyone, thanks again for all the prayers and support along the way!

Philippians 1:11
"May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation- the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ- for this will bring much glory and praise to God."

My last week on this trip has really been a big week in terms of ministry. On Tuesday morning of this week members of the church congregation and myself picked up the kids from RA Padayachee that were going to camp. By the time it was all said and done, there were 16 students from RA Padayachee that attended Junior Youth Camp. The camp costs for all of these kids were completely paid for by funds from America. Most of the kids from RA Padayachee that attended the camp this week had never been to camp before. It was an incredible experience for the kids and judging by their reactions at the end of camp they really enjoyed being there and weren’t quite ready to leave.

If nothing else, this was an incredible seed planted in these kids’ lives. We had the opportunity of a few of the kids bunking with Zulu speaking counselors, which really helped in the receptivity of the general message of camp. The kids are ranging in a wide spectrum of spiritual maturity but I strongly feel that each and every one of these kids is closer to God in their relationship with Him than they were before camp. Camp ministry is so unique and to get these ids out of their normal environment was an amazing thing.

Today was my last day in South Africa on this trip. Tonight we hosted a fellowship dinner in Shakas Head for all of the campers and their families. We had a great turnout tonight with an estimated attendance of about 80 people. This allowed me and other members of the church the opportunity to meet some of the parents and guardians of these children. The dinner went really well, and was well received by the different people in attendance.

I was asked to speak at the dinner and while speaking I was translated by one of the members of our church for the Zulu speaking people in attendance. This was definitely my first experience at this but it was quite cool. The parents and families in general were very appreciative of everything and even sang a song after dinner to show their gratitude.

All in all, this week has been amazing in terms of ministry work. I guess it’s best to try and end on a high note. Tomorrow marks the end of my journey for this trip to South Africa. I will be flying out at 10:30 Michigan time from Durban and expected to arrive in Michigan later Sunday night. I will post one last time after my arrival into the states. Thank you to everyone for their continued support and prayers throughout this trip. I cannot say it enough how much of an impact I know that had on myself and the ministry I have been involved in throughout the past two months. Thanks again for all the support!!

Above: youth camp game time!!

Below: the Padayachee gang 

Below: Numbta and Tshediso's house (where we hosted the dinner)

Even with not working at the school anymore, the last week has actually been quite busy. The church hosted a “Holiday Bible Club” (HBC) this last week, which is a week-long camp for elementary aged children. Many of the Baptist churches here in South Africa have HBC and we just concluded the one at the Community Connection on Friday. Kids in this age group definitely have a lot of energy!

For HBC this last week I was the games coordinator. I was given about a 25 minute period with each grouping of kids with there being six different groups each day. The church is actually an old movie theatre so we used the second cinema in the church as the game room. The second cinema is all concrete so with even a little bit of noise in there it echoes quite loudly. After about 2 hours of HBC on the first day I had already lost my voice.

It was a pretty cool experience though interacting with all these different kids throughout the week. In all, we had about 120 different kids come at some point of the week for HBC. This allowed the church a ministry to the kids throughout the week plus an outreach to the un-churched parents of these children as well.

Last week, after the last day at RA Padayachee, I was able to organize a hang out day with a couple of the boys from the school. I was able to bring them out of Shakas Head and bring them over to the flat (apartment) that I had been staying in. We recently moved, but the place I had been staying at was on the ocean front and had a pool as well. I thought it would be a nice experience for some of these kids to be able to come over and spend some time away from the Shakas Head community.

I was able to bring over four boys, since this was all the space that I had in the car. Even though I swear somebody had dumped ice in the pool, the kids still enjoyed swimming in it. They had a great time just hanging out and spending some time together. I was able to spoil the kids a little bit while we were together by bringing them to their favorite restaurant- KFC. Apparently the Coronel is pretty fond of outreach as well.

It was pretty awesome though that during our time together the kids asked me if we were going to do a Bible study together. I didn’t say a thing to them that day about reading the Bible and yet on their own they wanted to spend time going through it together. So, after plowing down some “finger licking good” chicken, the boys and I made a circle together on the balcony and read out of the book of Luke. It was so cool because the boys were involved in discussion and asking my opinion on things as well as discussing what we were reading with each other. It was really neat as well that Joash, one of the boys that came over, brought the Bible that I had given him at school with him when he came over to my place. He had actually forgotten to bring his swimsuit but he thought enough ahead to bring his Bible with him.

All of these boys though will be attending the Junior Youth Camp that will be held in the next week. As of right now, there are 18 kids with registration forms in from RA Padayachee for Junior Youth Camp. These kids from RA Padayachee will make up about ¼ of the kids that will be at Junior Youth Camp.

Today we actually had a get together with some of the staff that will be working next week at Junior Youth Camp. I’m excited because there will be a few zulu speaking counselors on staff that may be able to reach some of the more predominant speaking zulu students in the group better than I have been able to. Camp starts on Tuesday and I’m super excited about the opportunity of these kids going.

I will be the activities coordinator at Junior Youth Camp as well, so in the last couple days I have been working on finalizing which games we will be playing at camp. It will be awesome being able to interact with these kids once again, especially outside of their normal environment and in one that is a bit more conducive to learning. Altogether, my stay here is coming to a close but there are still quite a few things coming up with my ministry here that I’m very excited about. Altogether the Lord has revealed a lot to me in the last couple weeks especially and I’m so thankful for the time in service that I’ve been blessed with so far here in South Africa. My departure back to America is in one week, on the 16^th, but I will try and post at least one more time before then.

The boys (above from left to right: Tshediso, Lastron, Joash and Gamo)

Today was my last day at RA Padayachee. In this way it is somewhat sad, but at the same time I’m so grateful for the time that I have been blessed with at this school and with these kids. I feel like these kids are a part of my life now. I have grown so attached and I think they have as well. I am very thankful that today wasn’t the final goodbye for some of these kids though, as I may have the opportunity of spending more time with them in the next week and at Junior Youth Camp.

On Friday, RA Padayachee threw a special going away ceremony as a way to say thank you for my time with them. I thought after they told me about this event I was just going to be the guest of honor, but it turned out being a half hour thank-you ceremony in regards to my time with them at the school. I was very honored by their kindness. About a hundred different kids had made me thank you letters and cards. A group in the fourth grade even made a poem off of my name, which they read during the thank-you ceremony.

It kind of surprised me how much of an impact my leave seemed to have on some of these kids. Some of the kids that I really didn’t even think were responding to me that well were crying after the ceremony on Friday. Some of the teachers actually pulled me aside a little bit later in the day and asked if I would just say a few words to their students. It caught me off guard though that so many of the students had responded in this way.

Today I was called into the office by the Principal Mrs. Reddy. This was a little bit better feeling going into the principal’s office then it used to be when I was in school. Mrs. Reddy thanked me for the last month of being with the school. She told me that she was actually a little bit surprised as well by the response of some of these kids to my leaving. But, in this she insisted to me that there should be a valuable lesson. She asserted that in this whole experience, it was not the acts of charity in giving things to the children that allowed there to be an impact in their lives. Rather, it was all about time and love. Time is so valuable and after spending the last month with these kids I really feel that the meaning of service has been more clearly defined in my life. I always heard the phrase growing up, “The most valuable thing you can give someone is your time”. Now though, I really am seeing the truth of that phrase come to life.

I feel like I understand to a much greater degree now that service is all about the giving up of ourselves. I probably could have said that I knew that before embarking on this journey, but it is so much different actually feeling the emotions and seeing the fruit of service.

After leaving the school today, there are now 15 kids from RA Padayachee that are signed up for Junior Youth Camp. I am so excited about this opportunity. It should be an amazing thing to get these kids out of their normal environment in this community and in one that is more conducive to personal growth. The kids are extremely excited about this opportunity as well. I had two more students give me forms while I was at school today. I had stressed to them that today would be the last day for them to turn them in. The one boy who turned it in today was panting when he got to me because he ran as fast as he could when he got out of class to get me the form.

Altogether though, this opportunity of sending these kids is one that I’m excited about as well as much of the church congregation at the Community Connection. Some of the congregation has offered to help out with transportation with this undertaking, which will be a huge help. This past Sunday at church, they played a video about my time at the school and then I was asked to speak in regards to this as well. After speaking with many members of the congregation it seems that they are excited about this outreach as well.

In addition to sending kids to youth camp, funds have allowed me to finance a fellowship dinner for these kids and their families as well. The day after camp (July 15^th), the church is planning on having a fellowship night with these kids from RA Padayachee and their families. We will be putting on a meal that will be catered by a woman in the church. This could provide an incredible opportunity of some of the church congregation interacting with various families from the Shakas Head community. As well as for myself to have one last chance to spend time with the kids and possibly meet their families.

A week ago as well Mrs. Reddy informed me of a soccer team that had been assembled of many RA Padayachee alumni. The team plays in matches every Sunday and is hoping in five years’ time to make the Vodacom Tour, which in South Africa is basically the pro league. That same day I was able to meet a couple of the players and their team captain. They were looking for financial sponsors to help them buy soccer kits which would include game jerseys and soccer balls. At the time I didn’t have much on me, but I gave them two soccer balls and a bag full of practice jerseys that I had in the boot (trunk) of my car. Yesterday I called the team captain and told him to meet me at the school again today. Today I was able to give the team a 650 rand donation, which is close to 100 US Dollars. I obviously didn’t know the team that well but I was encouraged to be able to put that money towards people doing something from the Shakas Head community. My heart breaks for this community after working in it the last month, and I hope that these soccer players can be an encouragement to some of the people within it.

Altogether, my experience at RA Padayachee the last month is hard to put into words. I felt highs and lows in terms of what I thought the kids were getting out my time at the school, but after seeing their emotions the last few days it appears that my spending time with them had a positive impact. I will be excited to see what God shows these kids at camp. All in all, I love these kids and I’m so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to get to know them over the past month and to possibly be an encouragement to them as well.

Above: the fourth graders with their poem on Friday

Below: this was new 5 weeks ago!! 

Below: Some of the sixth grade boys 

The last couple days have been quite memorable ones. There has been a lot of organization taking place in regards to getting the kids to camp and finalizing who all will be coming. So far we have 11 registration forms in, but the final number on kids who get the rest of paper work in for camp could be more or less by the time registration ends. I am super excited though for these kids. But, after talking with all of them I think it’s pretty clear that their excitement exceeds mine. Most of these kids have never had the opportunity of leaving the house on their own like this, especially to go to camp. I was contacted by two parents for more information and the other parents or guardians so far signed the paper work with no problem (at least I’m hoping it’s the guardians that signed all of them).

I was informed that the kids will actually be going back to school on Monday and Tuesday of next week as well. Most schools close for holiday today but RA Padayachee took two days off earlier in the term and now has to make them up. I should be able to go out to the school at least once more next week, which I’m very thankful for to have another chance to spend time with the kids.

Today RA Padayachee is having an end of the year assembly, and they asked me to be the “guest of honor”. In South Africa it is custom when having a public gathering or assembly to feature a “guest of honor” who assists in handing out awards or speaking at the end of the program. I am honored that they asked me to do that today and I’m looking forward to the opportunity of seeing the kids again today.

I have noticed myself though starting to get emotionally attached to these kids. I’m glad that next week won’t be the last time I will see all the kids. I already know though that it is going be extremely difficult to walk away from this school and these kids after building these relationships over the last month. I know that I have gotten frustrated a few times while working at the school but the more time I sit and think, I realize that I love these kids.

One of my goals for this trip was to give myself completely in service to those around me. I have tried keeping that in mind with my time at RA Padayachee, and the more I pour into that school and those kids it seems like the more I grow attached. The words of Christ would naturally compel one to serve, and it seems like the more I pour into service to these kids the more my heart breaks for them. This is a different kind of love obviously, but this kind of love for these kids is an amazing thing, because I’m getting to know these kids and God is allowing me to see the value in their lives.

On Thursday of this week I had to finish preparing for a talk at a youth gathering over in Durban, so I only went into the school at the end of the school day, in case more kids had their registration forms. It makes me smile when the kids coming running to the field when they either see me or the car pull up. What I thought may just be me stopping by turned into about an hour of playing with the kids after school.

Earlier in the week, Tshediso was one of the last kids left at school and I asked him if he needed a ride since I knew where he lived. The next day my car was stuffed full of kids that wanted to take a ride back to their house. It has been eye opening driving these kids back into the community to the actual houses where they are staying. I really am not sure though at this point how I am going to say good bye to these kids.

On Thursday night, there was a large youth gathering for eleven of the local churches in the greater Durban area. It was an ice skating event and I think I proudly took the crown for worst ice skater there. I was asked at the beginning of my stay here though if I would like to speak at this event. I had been working on the content for this talk the last couple weeks and had been looking forward to sharing God’s word with these kids at this event.

The talk was on redemption and it was out of 2 Samuel and the story of David falling into sin with Bathsheba. We talked about how the story of redemption is recorded throughout the Bible and the Bible can ultimately be told as one story. It includes man’s fall into sin and then upon that fall into sin the choice to either accept redemption in the Lord or the choice to turn the other way and say no. Last night at this youth gathering, three kids accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior; one of these being from the youth group of the Community Connection.

Altogether, the last few days have been rewarding at the school and it’s awesome to see the kids’ response and excitement towards camp. Last night at the youth event was an awesome experience and I’m very thankful to have had the opportunity to share God’s word in this way.

Today was the start of my last week of sport ministry at RA Padayachee. The kids are out of school on Friday and begin holiday break for the remainder of my stay. The focus of my trip will shift gears towards ministry work that is more related to the church itself once school closes on Friday.

Today I was able to work with four different classes, two each from both fourth and fifth grade. The kids in this age group don’t generally respond well to English teaching, so I am a little more passive about devotionals with these classes. So, today I was able to just spend time with the various classes and build on some of the relationships that have already been established. One of the boys that came out on the field today was Keagon, who is the boy I gave the birthday present to a few weeks ago. He told me he really liked the present and that the U.S. dollar bill was his favorite part.

There was some really big news at the school today though. There are now nine kids that are signed up for Junior Youth Camp! This is really exciting because initially there were only going to be up to seven kids that could go to camp with the extra support that came in. Due to even more support coming in, there are now 11 kids that have registration forms with nine of those having their registration forms in. The boys that are signed up to go are super excited about the opportunity, as most have never had a camp experience. This could provide a tremendous outreach to this community as well, as it could lead to the church interacting with the families of these kids.

In addition to working at the school, I have been blessed with the opportunity of teaching a Sunday school class to a group of elementary aged kids the last few weeks at the Community Connection. This has also been an interesting experience and a rewarding one as well. Kids can definitely catch you off guard with what they say sometimes.

Two weeks ago was my first time teaching the Sunday school class and I started the class off by playing an interactive game. We were studying Joseph and we were going to be talking about how God was with him during his trials. So in the introductory game, I gave the kids a beanie baby to toss around in the circled group in which they had to share a time that the Lord was with them, and then also repeat the example that someone else used. Daniel, a clever little boy that is in this class with me volunteered himself to go first. After holding onto the beanie baby for a second he looks up at the group and says, “One time I got a rash on my badonkers… and the Lord was with me.”

This was of course followed by all the young girls in the class going “EWWWWW!!!!” Talk about being put to the test early though. I wasn’t quite sure how to handle that response but I reassured the next person that went that they didn’t have to repeat Daniel’s response.

It has been a tremendous experience interacting with these kids at church as well. Before I left for South Africa, my amazing girlfriend and some of her friends made a large quantity of homemade bracelets for me to bring for the kids. This last Sunday I gave some of the bracelets to my Sunday school class and they really enjoyed them. They were showing them off to all the other kids at church and it may have sparked some jealousy. I’m sure in the next few weeks to come there are going to be a lot of different kids sporting the American bracelets.

All in all, the last week has been busy but very rewarding. It’s great to see the excitement with kids in regards to the various aspects of ministry and as usual I’m excited to see what the next few days may bring with these ministries.

On Tuesday of this week I spent more time with the 6^th and 7^th graders at RA Padayachee. Time with each group was limited due to the school holding an assembly that went into the afternoon. I was given enough time with each group though to allow the kids to take part in some physical activity and then get the group together to have a talk. We talked some more about sin and death and what that really means and then we opened up our Bibles to the book of John and started discussing Jesus and the forgiveness of these sins. At this point, there are about a hundred kids that now have New Testament Bibles at the school, many of which have already told me it’s the first Bible they have ever owned. Over the next few times we meet I plan on discussing with them some key points in the life of Christ and what it means to believe in Him.

Today RA Padayachee took a school field trip, which they call “an excursion”, to the Ushacka Aquarium in Durban. The teachers invited me along with them and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to go with the kids. In South Africa, businesses have a legal obligation to give back a certain percentage of their profits as charitable contribution. So, the last couple years RA Padayachee has been invited out to the aquarium for a school “excursion”. The excursion was a lot of fun and it was really cool being able to interact with the kids outside of the school yard. It was a bit refreshing too spending the entire day with the kids and then coming back to the apartment not completely covered in dirt.

The kids seemed to have a great time at the aquarium though. We also went to a dolphin show that was held right at Ushacka as well. Altogether, it was great to be able to spend some time with the kids outside of the normal environment. It was a really cool opportunity for the kids and I’m thankful for being able to take part in it with them.

The exciting news of being able to send kids from the school to camp is also progressing quite well. With funds available, there is a possibility of sending 10 kids from RA Padayachee to our church sponsored Junior Youth Camp, which spans three days in the middle of July. I’ll be at the camp as well helping out with activities, so it also allowed the kids some reassurance they would know someone there. Many of these kids would not have the finances typically to go to such a camp, so it really is an amazing opportunity to possibly be able to send these kids to camp. Right now there are nine kids that are possibly going, with four of them having their registration forms already in.

One of the students that will be going actually attends the same church that I have been working at, The Community Connection, and is really excited about going. Tshediso (Ta de sow), lives in Shaka’s head which is the community where the school is located. His family struggles financially and doing extra activities like going to camp usually is not a financial possibility. Actually, we found out that Tshediso’s mom was going to buy him new shoes, but he tried turning them down so the money would be put towards camp instead because he wanted to go so badly. Tshediso is one of the kids that we will be able to send to camp with this money.

Altogether, I’m very excited about this opportunity of these kids being able to attend camp. The next two days are considered public holidays so school will not be in session until Monday. I’ll be excited to see on Monday the updates from kids on whether or not they got the okay from their parents for camp. All in all, it is encouraging to see the little things bring these kids so much excitement and I’m excited about the impact this ministry may be having on some of these kid’s lives.

Above: Some of the 6th grade boys (Tshediso on right)

Below: Padayachee Boys!!