One month to go and counting...

Hello!!!! I’m back :) Where does the time go!?

Well, I hope by reading this post you’ll be up to speed with the latest here in SA in no time…

So here are the exciting things that have been going on!!! :)

It’s with mixed emotions that I share with you that my time here is winding down. My two year term in George, South Africa, ends on December 20. Can you believe it?! The past two years have flown by! I have learned and grown so much since I joined Youth for Christ and have been stretched immensely.

At Options Care Centre, I have embraced the opportunity to counsel young women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies. One of my highlights over the past two years was ministering to Teen Moms in the Thembalethu township, an underprivileged community of George. Just last week, we surprised the girls with a fun trip to the beach as a break from our standard teen mom’s curriculum. It is hard to believe that these young moms, who live only 15 minutes from the beach, had not been there in years. They all had a wonderful time! Over the past two years, in addition to counselling, I’ve also loved going into schools and teaching lessons on sexual integrity, and doing weekly visits to the local hospital to assist with breast feeding support. What a privilege it is to help young Mom’s re-discover their dreams, encourage teens to make good decisions, assist new moms and their babies…and most importantly connect each client’s story to the gospel message. It’s been awesome!

At York High School, I’ve served as a youth counsellor and leader of the Peer Education Program. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this year’s camps, our drug outreach project, and most of all meeting with the grade 9 and 10 Peer Educators on a weekly basis. One thing I treasure is the trust that’s been built with the students. This has allowed me to really dig deep into challenging topics like boundaries in dating, peer pressure, and self esteem. It’s also helped me to more effectively counsel and mentor the students I walked with last year. It makes a world of a difference when I minister from a posture of understanding each student’s story and knowing how to love and care for them accordingly.

Over the past two years, ministering at York High has overflowed into helping lead the Youth on Friday evenings at my church. Quite a few York High students attend my youth group and it just happened that last term’s focus was on dating and relationships-similar to what we’d been focusing on at York High. So, I was asked with my recently married friend Marize to teach on Biblical boundaries in dating to the girls. Our hope was to help the girls explore what God teaches in the Bible about relationships, and based on this, teach them how to protect their hearts and bodies for marriage. I have been so blessed to work in the lives of youth both at Options and at York High and even watch a handful of these kids grow and mature spiritually in my church community.

So, my heart is sad with the idea of leaving in just two months, but I find joy in knowing that the Lord already has a plan to move forward with each one of these kids and He will provide for them long after I’m gone. :) Praise God, they are in good hands!

So, on December 20th I’ll be getting on a plane and heading back to the US! I’m coming home for a missionary furlough which is a three-month period required by Youth for Christ. It involves a time of transition and mission debrief that will help me adjust to re-entry into the States. I also hope to start figuring out my next step as God leads. Some of the possibilities I’m looking into are continuing with Youth for Christ South Africa or in another part of the world, going to grad school, or remaining in the United States and finding a job there. For now, I’m staying focused on my work in George.

Throughout the re-entry process I’ll be sure to keep you posted! During this upcoming season I am asking my current support team to consider continuing to support me as prayer and financial partners at least through mid-March 2012. I trust that these three months will allow me sufficient time to come home, re-adjust, and start discovering how God is leading in the next chapter of my life and ministry.