Mossel Bay

Since my last blog on the 10th, my South African journey has for sure been different as it should be!


On the 10th of January, the DTS team i've been with from Los Angeles had an off day from ministry. They decided to do a safari in a near by town that has a huge nature reserve and also decided to bless me with paying for me to come along which was so awesome! The safari was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Just seeing God's creation in action made me realize how crazy complex He is. I had a really awesome experience with the ranger who was giving us the facts behind all of these beautiful creatures. After the safari, the ranger came up to Mike Fernandez and myself and basically started pouring his life story and how he needs to hear from God for direction in his life. It's amazing how even when you're not technically doing "ministry" how God still uses us and opens doors without even having to try. Mike and I prayed for the ranger and encouraged him that God is a God who hears us and answers prayers and the ranger was super encouraged and was saying how happy he was that we prayed for him. During the entire safari he really wanted to ask us for prayer but told the Lord that if the Lord wanted him to be prayed for, then we would do it automatically. It was so sweet!


On the 11th, the DTS team and myself continued on from Worcester to Mossel Bay which is about a 3 hour bus ride. When we arrived at the Mossel Bay YWAM base which is where I will be staying (the base is actually just a rented house), we tossed our stuff on the ground and walked directly to the beach which is about a 5 minute walk. The location of the YWAM base is absolutely amazing. The house itself is pretty sweet but the location is what is breathtaking. I definitely have to add some picture.


Since being in Mossel Bay, I have kind of separated a bit more from the LA team. We are still living in the same house, but now i have some responsibilities to take care of. One thing i did do with the LA team while being here was helping re-do a church in a local poor area. Some people focused on rebuilding their playground while myself and others focused on repainting their sanctuary. Although we were obviously doing work, it was quite fun! Another thing i did with the LA team was going to church with them last thursday and sunday. I love African church! It's awesome seeing a people who are so full of joy and who don't care about what others think when they are going full out for the Lord. It's been really helping me break free of the whole self-conscious, self-preservation mentality that is totally not of God. I felt so accepted joining this church and was re-assured by the pastor of the church that I have a place in Mossel Bay, South Africa in their church. The next step is to learn Afrikaans to actually understand what they are talking about ha ha.


Its been awesome to finally meet some of the staff of the YWAM base in Mossel Bay and getting to know the people i am going to be working along side for the next 6 months. The staff consists of Markus who is the base leader from Germany, Jacques who is from Jeffery's Bay, South Africa who will be my fellow staff, Fred who is a missionary from Mozambique who has been there for the past 13 years, Nathan who is the DTS leader who is from Australia, and Ana who is from Brazil who will also be DTS staff with me. Since the 17th, we've started staff training for the DTS. Training has consisted a lot of intercession for each other and for the DTS students and the base as a whole. Intercession is soooo important because it actually gives us God's heart for each other and for the students; something we all totally need. We've also had training on simply analyzing the purpose of DTS and breaking that down, as well as logistical preparation. Through training, I've realized thus far that it is my job to facilitate an environment where the Holy Spirit can teach these student and develop their character. Luckily I have the Holy Spirit myself to disciple me while discipling these students because i definitely realized i cannot do it myself! I definitely see real purpose for me being here and am assured this is where the Lord desired for me to be in this season.


A huge blessing that iv'e had this past week given to me is having the opportunity to share a room with my Los Angeles base director Werner. It's been a huge encouragement talking to him about life and hearing his vision and insight. As you know from my last blog, the Lord has been placing business missions on my heart. Werner gave me another book to read called "The Purple Cow" which testifies to crazy stories of successful business from people who came up with completely different ideas that revolutionized a specific trade. Luckily I don't have to come up with the idea by myself... I have the Holy Spirit for inspiration! Something that Werner was talking about that just got me fired up was implementing practical devices that completely revolutionize an environment and society. A specific idea he brought up was a device that uses fecal matter from humans to create energy for poor areas (such as the townships in S.A.) which already have a HUGE sewage problem. The other idea is a device that collects and naturally filter rainwater and can store that rain water up to a year. It is stuff like this that the poor really need! They deserve to have their basic human rights on top of knowing Jesus Christ as their Lord and it is our jobs to implement such ideas! I think the Lord is leading me in an area towards that.


Through just continually sharing this vision, God has been opening various doors that i need to continually pray into and see where the Lord leads me! For this season though, I am called to be here in Mossel Bay as DTS staff to disciple and to facilitate an environment where the Lord meets the DTS students and meets me. I am incredibly excited to be used by God and to see people grow in the calling that God has for each person specifically. I feel like the Lord has just been speeding up my ability to learn about Him and His calling on my life and its amazing. I definitely had my doubts initially, but God confirmed my doubts and I've been so encouraged to be apart of the movement that God is doing right here in Mossel Bay, South Africa to reach the nations!