Friday.

On this particular Friday, tiny purple flowers are showering down on me from the most beautiful tree at a cafe on campus. I've been enjoying a latte with two of my closest friends at Howard, Sam and Trushka. With my time here drawing near an end, I'm soaking up every second I have with my students. I'm so fortunate to have made such genuine relationships over the past nine months.
This weekend my team, including Anele and Mdu, are heading for an intern getaway to the Drakensburg mountains located about two hours from Durban. I'm so excited to spend time in nature and with my team!
I hope you are having a lovely Friday! Enjoy the weekend!
Here's a poem Sam wrote and shared at our weekly meeting and the student camp a few weeks back.

Sitting with Sam

helping out.

It was a privileged to serve in the community of Chatsworth helping serve food and distribute clothing donated from our students. Around 15 students gathered in this small lean-to tent and organized cloths into women's and men's to then give away according to need to the 25 or so Zulu people sitting. It was total chaos as people were yelling for pants, shirts, skirts, shoes, or whatever caught their eye. I felt like it was black Friday at WalMart. While the men and women fought over essentials, the children were having a blast singing and dancing in the back and when the madness was over, Lelo, a student from Westville, shared the Gospel with the, now well clothed people. We then finished by serving delicious briani. I love when we have the opportunity to work in the community with our students! Hopefully we will be able to host this event again before semester's end.

women's table

men's table

sweet kids, waiting patiently

home alone.

It's spring break at Howard so I've had the past few days off. It's already Wednesday, and I don't think I've crossed one thing off my "to do" list. I have been to two movies (One Day and Abduction) and spent the rest of my time reading, which I love! I've been going back and forth between Hudson Taylor's biography and Beth Moore's study on the fruit of the Spirit. I wish I could share with you everything that I am learning but it will have to suffice to say that if you haven't read about the life of Hudson Taylor, YOU SHOULD! I'm astounded by the way the Lord used him in East Asia. Not only did it take him five months, by ship, to reach China, but he also arrived in an unstable time of war and eventually lost two children to sickness. Inspiring would be an understatement. An excerpt from a letter included in his biography reads,
" And yet, grace can make a few feeble instruments the means of accomplishing great things- things greater even than we can conceive."
We are those feeble instruments.

thankful.

How quickly a month goes by. It hardly seems like September…Brant is back in the States and football season has officially begun. Honestly, I’m trying not to think too much about either in fear of having an emotional break down.

I’m still hoping Brant will give a guest blog appearance sooner than later. His visit made my year! I’ve never had so much fun with someone in my life. I loved taking him to campus and introducing him to all my students. Somehow Anele ended up convincing him to speak at our weekly meeting, which he did very well. After 7 long months apart, it was so nice to spend quality time together finally! He is seriously the sweetest guy in the world…he brought way too many presents to remind me of home and even some how managed to fit a mattress topper in his bag.

It was sad saying “goodbye” for the second time this year, but I know we’ll be back together in only three short months.

As hard as it is not spending the fall in Tuscaloosa, I know it’s going to be an unforgettable experience staying up all night watching Bama games on the internet (hopefully), proudly shaking our crimson and white shakers as if we are making a difference in the game here. We may have to substitute ostrich jerky for a Denny dog in the third quarter, but either way, at least Lauren and I will be in it together! Plus, I’m obviously anticipating we’ll make it to the National Championship for which we’ll definitely be back in time for. Roll Tide!

Hope everyone is enjoying the first weekend of college football!

A guest blogger: Kelsey.

Well I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve been here in Durban, South Africa for almost two weeks and this past week has absolutely flown by even faster than the first. I really can’t explain how refreshing and amazing my time here has been. I have missed Kate so so much since she left in January. We spent a lotttt of time together the six months leading up to when she left and so these past seven months have been a little weird without her. So to say I was so excited to be reunited with her was an understatement.

I’m so thankful I’ve been able to come and just live life here with her and her team and see the way the Lord is working through her here in Durban. He is working here and He is faithful. He is good and I have seen that through Kate, Lauren, Erica, Alyssa, Mdu, and Anele and their commitment to the ministry here.

I don’t want to leave here in two days. I’m going to miss talking Kate into throwing paper airplanes in the law library, staying up with her and just talking about whatever is on our mind, scaring Kate with my creepy voice and watching her freak out, naming geckos in her house, making goofy faces and Kate hysteically dying laughing, morning prayer with the team before going on campus, forcing Kate to touch the Indian Ocean with me, chocolate croissants from Woolworth’s, oh and the list goes on. But mostly I will just miss Kate’s sweet spirit. She is so selfless, welcoming and always wants to do things for you.

I can’t wait for her to be back at the end of the year but I’m so glad she is here. I’m so thankful to have a friend who has followed the Lord’s calling and is committed to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the students here. I’ve loved seeing Kate interact with the girls here. I know they see the Lord in her and He is glorified because of it. My prayer is that the team here would be strengthened, excited and motivated by the Holy Spirit to finish this semester well.

I am so thankful for being able to come for two weeks and will always remember my time here in South Africa. It has been a trip I will remember for a lifetime.

power outages.

The past few days Anele, Kelsey and I have been focusing most of our attention on campus towards advertising an outreach for law students. Last night was the big event and it was so successful, thanks to the Lord's work in getting students there! We had an American lawyer come visit Howard to speak on "God's agenda for the law profession". To be honest, I wasn't sure if this would draw a crowd without having refreshments too...but much to my surprise, students came to hear Brent Perry share from his experience as a lawyer in Texas. I was so encouraged to see how interested and excited these students were to hear how Mr. Perry lives out his faith as a lawyer. The event lasted till around 7, then we headed home only to discover our power had been turned off due to unknown reasons. I have to say I was pretty frustrated by this, seeing that we had not received a power bill this month to indicate a past due amount - either way, I actually really enjoyed a candle lit evening at home...even though we did have to skype with Christie Smith by flashlight (it was kind of like telling ghost stories), until that burned out, and then we lit a candle. I felt like I was being held hostage and questioned by the government (a.k.a. Christie) like they do in 24. Needless to say, I'm still dying laughing about the events of the evening.

I should also mention I've become a shark week fan, as of yesterday. So, Happy Shark Week Y'all!!

shipwreck at sunrise.

Look at this beautiful picture my friend Cath took this morning of a shipwreck near Durban beach. Isn't she an amazing photographer?