I haven’t given a full overview to all of you, of what my 9 months in Africa will look like. After reading a layout of it on a teammate’s blog and realizing this, I decided to post that information on here. That way, you all can have even more of an idea of what God is doing through you.
*I am going to Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa for 9 months.
*Training camp is from September 8th to September 15th, in Gainesville, Ga.
at AIM’s headquarters.
at AIM’s headquarters.
*We fly out on Sept. 15th and arrive in Jbay on Sept. 16th.
*We will all return on May 15th, 2009.
*My team consists of 41 people, including myself.
*I have 10 leaders.
*I have to raise a total of about $10,000 for the trip. That includes 2 round trip tickets, food, boarding all the things we need for ministry, and pretty much everything else. One of those roundtrip tickets though would be for me to come home at Christmas. That ticket is not a necessity but it is something I would like to be able to afford.
*If I can raise the funds also for that second ticket, I will be coming home for Christmas Break for 2 weeks.
*My team will be mainly working with Ithemba and Joshua’s Project, in ministering to orphans and troubled children.
*I will also be ministering in the townships to the AID’s victims and the sick.
Our trip is divided up into 2 different parts.
September to December: The Awakening.
Training camp: one week packed full of team building exercises, training, and orientation. We will be sleeping in cabins or tents, using portable toilets, etc. We will be roughing it, kind of!
Time alone with God: we have this every morning at the same time as everyone else.
One-on-one discipleship: I will be linked with someone who will help grow me up as a leader and a follower of Christ. They will be the same gender as me. I can expect a lot of prayer and accountability out of this. This relationship is alot about being honest about anything and everything. It is going to teach me alot of trust!
Large group discipleship: These are every morning. During this we go deeper into what it means to be a follower of Christ. We will have different discussions, teachings, worship, journaling, and praying with one another. Basically, we are seeking the Lord together!
Team Discipleship: Once a week we meet in smaller groups, our teams. We will go through different studies together. And this gives us an opportunity to grow closer as a team, as we will be working fairly close together.
Outreach ministry: Every afternoon I will be involved in ministry with my team. This will give us an opportunity to be involved hands on with people. These will vary from anything to working with children in day care to doing street evangelism or working with a church.
Blogging: I will be blogging about once a week, depending on the internet access we will have. This is to talk about what I have learned and to keep updates posted for supporters, family, and friends.
Team Activity: Once a week, my team will have a dinner and a time of hang out just to have fun and relax together. It is supposed to be a restful break from the rest of the hectic week.
January to May: Outreach
During this time we will be moved to different locations as teams. Some people will stay in Jeffrey’s Bay.
Internship: 25-30 hours a week we will be involved in a specific ministry. My ministry focus is a prayerful choice. In most cases, we will choose from the ministry options already established. In most locations, people will be using public transportation to get around, which will usually require a lot of walking and living like the locals and the people we will be ministering to.
Internship: 25-30 hours a week we will be involved in a specific ministry. My ministry focus is a prayerful choice. In most cases, we will choose from the ministry options already established. In most locations, people will be using public transportation to get around, which will usually require a lot of walking and living like the locals and the people we will be ministering to.
We will still have team discipleship and group activities. I will still be blogging once a week. The only thing I won’t be doing is having one-on-one discipleship.
Things will not be as structured here as they were the months before. We will have more freedom!
