The first week being in Cape Town, South Africa

Hey everyone,
First of all, I thank and Praise God for all of the prayers that have been lifted up during this time. I really cannot do this trip without my amazing God.I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday March 15th, 2011 at around 10pm. Definitely, a blessing to have gotten here safely. I traveled from Augusta to Atlanta, to Johannesburg to Cape Town. When i arrived at the airport, Audrey ,the house mother of the house i am staying in, greeted me at the airport. One of the first things i saw when arrived that was a bit different from the united states was that they drive on the other side of the car and on the left side of the road. I did know this before i arrived but it was very different to ride in the car with the driver on the right side of the car on the left side of the road.haha.  Driving into Cape Town was quite a shock, one of the first things i saw was a huge community of man made informal housing. They are small little house made out of probably some sort of aluminum or some not very durable resource. It immediately broke my heart and made me very sad because i did not realize that there was quite a large bit of poverty in Cape Town. I was under the impression that it was pretty Americanized which put me in quite a bit of culture shock. I mean, i figured there would be a little bit of poverty but it a lot more than i expected. I guess i should have known but i guess it doesn't really matter how much you prepare for something like that, you will still get a little bit of shock.It just immediately broke my heart. Also, i praise the Lord for all that he is doing and the Lord has taught me so much already. When the kids saw me for the first time, they all ran and gave me a huge hug. It was super special. I have took them out for ice cream and for a nice Sunday lunch. These children saw it as such a treat. they are so happy with the bare minimum. This has been such an honor and a blessing being here. Although, it can be painful, I praise the Lord for all he is teaching me through it all. I have so much to be thankful for and I am grateful for this experience. I praise him through the joy and through the pain because he is my precious God. One of the things that i have been doing with the children is teaching them the books of the Bible in a song and they have a weekly Bible verse. This week they Learned the first 12 books of the bible and have been singing it around the house all week long. What a blessing it is to hear that!!! I just LOVE it. The bible verse for this week was Philippians 4:13. Also, they have been saying this all week around the house. I have been teaching them what the verse means.And have been sharing the Gospel with them. Again, this is a privilege to work here in south africa even if it means it can be uncomfortable at times but the Lord has been sooo good and i am so grateful to be here. I have been visiting Goodwood Baptist Church, which is right up the street from me. Its a small little church but the teaching is good and the people are so sweet! I feel like i have so much to say, i could write a book on the things the Lord has taught me so far but i have been clinging to Psalm 86 and Psalm 25. The Lord is good and he has provided in so many ways. Praise the Lord for everything, He is so good! Lastly, Audrey is absolutely a blessing from the Lord, the Lord provided her for me because she understands the shock and the homesickness i have been going through because she went to London for a little less than a year to do Au pair work when she 30 and she went through the same exact thing. The Lord uses her in my life so much. He couldn't have planned it any better. The Lord has got all things in his hands.Within the last couple days,things have gotten better and The Lord has been strengthening me through his word and through it all. thanks for reading all of this! Pray that the Lord would use me in a huge way here and that the Gospel would be super clear to these children. Pray that the Lord gives me and Audrey strength as the homesickness comes and goes for me. That the Lord would continue to Show me his way, because i am nothing without Him. Thanks again, and I love and miss yall! :) blessing on you!

Leaving on March 14,2011

 About a year ago, I got the chance to talk to this lady named Pippa who runs the orphanage in South Africa. I kept into contact with her with no intentions of actually going over there because i did not think it was possible. So, after last semester in college i wanted to do study abroad but it wasn't really realistic. So, i was reading over and praying over Isaiah 6:8-Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”, I asked the Lord to send me where he wanted me wherever that may be whether it be to my front door step or across the world. After asking the Lord where he wanted me, I got this idea about going to South Africa to help out in the orphanage that Pippa runs. So, I sent and email to Pippa asking if there would be a possibility for me to come to South Africa for a couple months. So, i started praying that if the Lord wanted me there he would allow her to say "yes" to me but if he did not want me there he would allow her to say "no".  So, that day i got a response back saying "sure, when do you want to come?". Isn't it cool how the Lord does things? After, that i decided to take off the semester of school and go to South Africa. The Lord has definitely been working things out every day. the Lord has worked out the big details and the Little details. I can only give the glory to God for all that he has already done through this trip. This is such a privilege and an honor! I am so blessed to have an opportunity like this. I am excited about all the Lord is going to teach me through this.  As i am preparing to leave for South Africa, I can only help but feel so many different emotions. Sometimes, when God calls us to do something it may be out of our comfort zone but there is no way you can deny the call that he has placed on your life at the moment. So, my prayer is that God be Glorified as he helps me in this new journey.

I am new to this

so, I am kinda new to this whole blog deal but i am working on it!