J-BAY UPDATE!

Hey y’all! It’s been a while!! Between switching back and forth between blogging platforms, it has taken a long time to adjust and even access my online account. With that in mind, here is what my squad and team has been up to for the past few weeks!

On January 10th, we started our travel days to South Africa! We flew from Bangkok, Thailand overnight (bye-bye Asia), and were greeted by a beautiful sunrise in Nairobi, Kenya on the morning of January 11th. After a short layover, we flew to Johannesburg, South Africa where we spent the night on the airport floor. On the 12th, we got on another short plane ride to Port Elizabeth. 

Once we got to the airport, we were greeted by team members from the Global Leadership Academy (GLA). A sister organization of Adventures in Missions, these two groups have been working together for years and years, and have established a close relationship. We grabbed our bags, divided into groups and hopped into some cars to drive to Jeffrey’s Bay. Our driver, Thomas, who teaches at GLA, drove us along the winding roads that stretch across South Africa’s coast, mountains, and acres of lush ranch land to our new home.

On arriving at the GLA campus, I was shocked by the size. The Missions House we live in, a large wooden log cabin, is right in the middle of a school campus that hosts children ranging from preschool age to high school, a horse named Galaxy, and a free-range rooster and a hen, and JJ the yellow labrador, who seems to run everything that’s going on here. The cabin overlooks a large grassy football field, a beautiful garden, a small dam and dock, and is surrounded by farmland. From the property you can see the coast, the bright blue ocean decorated with white caps. 

The first week of ministry, we helped prepare the school for the beginning of the semester (Here, each school year starts in January) by completing the construction of four classrooms and helping the teachers set everything up. Specifically, it involved moving furniture in and out of storage, paving bricks, shoveling lots and lots of dirt, painting walls, and doing everything we could to get the job done. It was a miracle in itself that we were able to pass inspection and finish enough of the construction to start classes on time!! I was blown away by the faith and endurance of the teachers and builders at GLA. There are still plenty of projects to be done on campus, but I found the most joy in planting trees, starting new gardens, and the breaks in between where I played fetch with JJ. 

Since January 23rd, our team has started working for an afterschool program called Beats and Books. The kids here are in middle school and highschool, and come after class to participate in piano, guitar, and violin lessons, and get tutoring in arithmetic, English, and natural sciences. It’s been amazing to see my team of artists thrive in this environment, and we are only a week and a half in! We will continue to work with this organization for the duration of our time in South Africa, and our mission is to serve these kids by being a friend like Jesus is, and act as His hands and feet. We will lead worship services and provide all the resources for these kids to excel in the classroom. I am beyond excited for the relationships that will be cultivated with our ministry hosts and with the students we are serving!  

Cool things about South Africa so far: the morning surf sessions on the beach, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, full cream dairy straight from the cow, the diverse range of languages (I can’t wait to learn them all!), the South African handshake (if you want to learn it come and visit me!), and First Light Coffee Shop (a cool place to study, chat, and get a prophetic word with each cup of coffee).

I love and miss each and every one of you! Cheers to more blogs to come…

Until Next Time,

Olivia 🙂