The second half of our time in South Africa was filled with many more hours in the communities
doing outreach and meeting new people. Our squad got to talk to everyone from strong believers to people who had never heard the name of Jesus before. We encountered everyone from worshippers of God, to worshippers of both God and their ancestors, to those living in bondage of fear through ancestral worship, to witch doctors and traditional healers. What a privilege it was to be able to share hope with many who were living in such fear with no spiritual hope. Not everyone we spoke to was receptive, but most were at least open to discussion and many simply hadn’t realized there could be another way, getting to be the ones who God used to bring a real living hope to them was so sweet. The ministry that we partnered with in South Africa, Impact Africa, was such a blessing to work wit
h, many of their staff members are local Christians, these staff members have such wisdom and are such strong believers, beyond that they also know the area, the culture, and the languages and are able to help translate when there is a language barrier as well as to explain traditional beliefs and how the people we encounter are thinking. They are also able to follow up with people we speak to, and to help connect new believers with local churches that preach Jesus as the one way to salvation, without also incorporating ancestral worship. Each day of ministry we were split into several outreach groups with at least one national staff. It was so fun to get to work with them and get to know them! When we weren’t in the communities doing ministries we were able to do some fun activities and outings on the weekends! We were taken to a nearby mall once a week, we went to a trampoline park one weekend and on a hike another. Our squad spent many evenings together with Impact interns, talking and debriefing about our days, playing cards, occasionally watching a movie, and sitting in on some of Impact’s Bible studies and teachings for their interns as well as going out for dinner once a week. A lot of evenings my squad would make a bonfire and one of us would share our testimony with the others. It was amazing to hear how God had worked in each person’s life so far and to hear their stories of redemption and how they ended up on the World Race. God has been so faithful in each of our lives, and he put our little squad together so intentionally! At the end of our time in South Africa we said our goodbyes to the Impact interns and national staff we had come to love and went on to spend a few nights at an airbnb in Marloth Park for a mini debrief between countries. As part of our squad’s logistic team I got to help plan this part of the trip, finding transportation, a place to stay, and coordinating food and activities for the time we were on debrief. The place we stayed was so cool! With animals, monkeys, zebras, giraffes, and wildebeests to name a few, right in our front yard! We were able to rest for a few days, go on a four-wheeler tour in one of the parks, and talk about all that had happened during the past month and our hopes for the month we would spend at our next stop, Eswatini!
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