All good things must come to an end

Buying all of the shoes, blankets, and toys for the kids was a huge success.   We were even able to buy some shoes for the kids at Limakatso as well as the kids at the children's home.  We were able to bring them to the students on Monday and they were really excited.  The amazing thing was they weren't even that excited about the stuff we were bringing them, they were just excited that we were there.  We had only spent a few days with them, but it was obvious that we had made a big impression on them.  We had no idea what we were doing while there, but God was able to use us in big ways and really showed His love to this students we met.  We spent the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday with the year long interns as they held assemblies at schools all around Qwa Qwa to promote their after school discipleship program called Launch Pad.  It's hard to tell at this point if the assemblies were effective, but I have faith that God planted seeds in the students while we were there and will continue to work in each of them long after we are gone.  

Today was our first day of debriefing on the base.  It's a really surreal feeling to know that we are leaving tomorrow morning and that this is the last time we will all be here together.  I feel like God has been showing Christine and I a lot this summer and I'm really looking forward to putting the lessons God taught me to use back at home as well as the chance to share some of my stories of how God changed my life with others.  

One thing God has really been showing me recently is that God calls me to live a life committed to Him everyday.  Sometimes it's a lot easier to serve God in really big ways, like flying half way around the world to do work in Africa.  It can be a lot harder to actually live out my faith in the comforts of my home with the simple, everyday things that I do.  He showed me that my life shouldn't look any different on a mission trip than it does when I'm back at home.  There is no separation between my "normal" life and my "super Christian" life.  God called us all to serve Him in everything we do, not just in that week or two we take each year to do missions.  Through the work that I've been doing here, God has also showed me that even though I am in Africa, I'm not doing anything that radical.  I've been building relationships, doing construction work, playing games with disabled children, and spending some time with some orphans and reminding them that God loves them.  These are all things that I could easily do in the United States and there is no reason I shouldn't.  I'm really determined to live my life intentionally when I get back and truly look to God to see how I should invest my time.  There are a ton of different organizations that I want to join at UNC, but I would rather spend my time and energy by doing things that I know God wants me to do.  It would be so easy for me to get distracted with the busy lifestyle I'm expected to live in America and with all the new things that I will be a part of in college, but I'm going to do my best to stay focused on God and on the reasons that He put me at UNC.  Just like I tried to take everyones advice and be "all here" while in Africa instead of thinking about all the things I'm missing back at home, while I'm back in the U.S. I still want to be all there.  It would be really easy to focus on how much better life was in South Africa or the plans God has for me after college, but if God wants me to be at Carolina for the next few years thats where I'm wholeheartedly going to be.  We can't always understand the things that God does in our lives, but they all come together in the end to form a brilliant plan that no man could ever think of on his own.  I'm not sure what God's brilliant plan is for me, but I'm looking forward to seeing it as God gradually reveals it to me.  

We leave early tomorrow morning to continue our debriefing at some secret location a few hours north of Johannesburg .  While there, we will get there chance to go on three safaris.  We then leave Saturday night and will finally return home late Sunday morning.  As I'm writing this, I still can't believe we will be home so soon.  CRAZY!!  This will probably be the last post before we get home.  Thanks to everyone who supported and prayed for us while we were here.  We love you all!!

Alison

So a lot has happened since our last post.  The lion park was great!  We got to see a lot of lions up close and even got to pet and hold some of the lion cubs.  They were adorable!  We got in the cage during nap time so they would pretty much let us do whatever we wanted with them.  

The next week my group taught at Limakatso.  It was really good to finally be able to work with the students.  There were 11 disabled students and only one of them had actually been diagnosed.  Sadly, this is a pretty common occurrence here in Africa.  We spent most of our time playing games and bonding with the children and also taught them a bible lesson each day.  They loved having us there to give them attention and just simply love them.  That week was really really cold, but we have gotten used to it, so it didn't slow us down too much.  While we were at Limakatso, Christine's group was on the base oiling cabins.

On Saturday we had fun with a Christmas in July party.  It was also a surprise birthday party for Char, the director of Next Step.  We enjoyed some cookies and cake and had a ridiculous white elephant gift exchange.  Dave, one of the staff here, even dressed up as Santa.  It can get pretty boring on the base on the weekends, so the party was appreciated by all.  On Sunday,we had the chance to repel down one of the mountains on the base. (Mount Everest)  It was AMAZING!!!  Halfway down the boulder, I realized just how high up we were, but it was definitely an adrenaline rush.  I can't wait to repel more in the future.

This week, our two groups switched jobs and Christine went to Limakatso while my group stayed back to oil cabins and staff houses.  Surprisingly, it is one of my favorite projects we have done so far.  We have had great weather in the 50s and 60s and our group has really come together.  I have had the chance to talk to some of the interns I usually don't see that much and we have all gotten to know each other a lot better.  

This weekend we are going to get the chance to go into town and buy shoes, toys and blankets for all of the youth we met at the children's home.  We have already raised over $1200 just from the money we all brought with us and are hoping to raise more.  Please let me know if you are interested in helping.  

It's really crazy how everything is coming to an end here.  The time has gone by SO quickly.  We leave next Thursday morning for debriefing.  We still don't know where exactly we are going, but we know that its about a 6 hour drive to get there and that we will get to go on a safari while we are there.  We then leave Johannesburg on Saturday night to come home.  I still can't believe that it is so close!  We will be home before we know it.  I'm looking forward to get home, but also can't imagine my life outside of South Africa right now.  After the first few days of spending time with friends and family at home, I think I'm going to realize just how much I miss this place and all the people I have met.

Photo time!

Me with some of the kids in Children's Ministry in Qwa Qwa.

Christine at Children's ministry in Qwa Qwa.

Our mission group at one of the houses during relational evangelism.

My group with another family in Qwa Qwa.

Some of my cabinmates plus Christine, but she spends most of her time in our cabin anyways so she is pretty much part of our cabin.

These pictures are really old, but I guess its better late than never.  I will try to get some newer pictures up soon, but uploading pictures takes forever so it might be a little while.  

Alison

A Week of Milestones

We recently hit two milestones.  Sunday marked the halfway point and as of yesterday we have been here in South Africa for one month.  Time is tricky here.  Time is flying by way to quickly, but at the same time I feel like I have lived here forever.  Thinking about going back home is definitely bittersweet.  Of course I miss everyone, but I am not ready to leave this place.  I have loved my time here and all of the people I have met.  Sadly I know that this trip will all be over before I know it.

We have been meaning to update the blog, but we have been really busy the last week or so.  Last week was similar to the previous week.  Half of the group worked on the remodel at LImakatso while the other half stayed on base and worked on lesson plans.  Friday was supposed to be the last day working at Limakatso, but pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong.  We got there and there was a huge puddle of water outside of the classroom.  One of the pipes had burst during the night and water was leaking out.  Also, the floor we had put down the previous day was bubbling like crazy and looked awful.  There was no way we could leave it like that, so we decided to pull up the floor and put down something else.  In the process of pulling up the floor, we also began to pull up the very thin layer of cement.  While all of this was going on, the field next to the school caught on fire and we had to help put it out.  Nothing seemed to be going right on Friday.

Out of a difficult situation came a great opportunity.  We had planned to spend the first two days this week doing relationship evangelism back in Qwa Qwa.  We changed these plans so that all 24 interns could work all day at Limakatso on Monday and Tuesday.  This opportunity allowed us to accomplish more than we had originally planned.  We fixed the floor by chipping out the rest of the cement floor and replacing it with a new layer of cement.  We then painted the floor and added some area rugs.  We also decided that the fresh coat of white paint on the walls of the classroom were too boring and would get dirty very quickly, so we repainted the entire classroom a nice shade of green.  Some of the talented artists of the group also painted a mural on one of the walls.  We rearranged the playground and repainted all of the tires.  On top of all of that, we also repainted all of the desk frames and sanded and varnished all of the tops of the desks.  I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough room or work for all 24 interns, but we all worked very hard and came together to really make the school look great.  I am excited to see the students’ reactions to their school and I hope they see it as a symbol of God’s love for them.

The last two days we have worked in a children’s home in Qwa Qwa.  Most of the people in this home were either sent here because of behavior problems or because their parents could not take care of them anymore.  Alison and I were both in the group that worked with the teens.  We talked about issues that generally are kept quiet, like drugs, sex, AIDS, etc.  We went in with plans to mainly focus on these issues, but when we split up into our small groups we discovered that most of these students had very little access to church or even a Bible, and they struggled with the idea of who God really is.  It has been a neat experience to be able to share with these teens about God and to also give them a safe place to talk about these issues.  One major issues that affects South Africa is AIDS.  South Africa is affected more than any other country in the world and one out of every four people has AIDS.  Despite these staggering statistics, I had not met anyone here who was affected by AIDS in some way, at least not that I had been made aware of.  After hearing the stories from some of the teens, I now have a face to put with the stats.  One of the girls had lost both of her parents and was struggling with whether or not she should explain to her seven year old brother, who is HIV positive, why he has to take certain medication everyday.  Hearing these types of stories make the stats so much more real.  We are going back to the children’s home in the morning to finish up the work we have been doing.  In the afternoon we are going to the hospital to pray with patients.

This Saturday we are going to the lion park.  I’m not really sure what we will be doing, but I do know that there are lions and I’m pretty sure we get to hold some of the lion cubs, so I am pretty excited.

On a side note, I have strangely become a morning person recently.  In the past two weeks I have woken up to watch the sunrise almost every morning.  The sunrise is amazing here.  This weekend I am going to go on a sunrise hike with a couple of friends.  We are going to wake up really early and climb Mount Everest in time to be at the top to see the sunrise.  Those headlamps we bought will definitely be put to good use. :)

We will try to update the blog faster next time.

Christine

Happy 4th of July!

Even though we are all the way in South Africa, we managed to celebrate 4th of July.  Most of our celebrations revolved around food, which everyone was pretty excited about.  One of the most common topics discussed by all the interns is American food.  It seems to be the one thing that we all miss from home.  With the usual toast for breakfast, PB & J sandwiches for lunch, and rice with an unidentifiable meat for dinner, we were all craving some variety.

Like Christine's group did last week, my group got to go into the town of Harrismith for the morning.  After buying some snacks at the food store and walking around the different shops for a while, we all went to a restaurant called Nando's.  There, we all ate some delicious chicken.  It was definitely the highlight of our day, or at least we thought it was at the time.  We thought we could try to make the trip into town a little better, so most of us also grabbed a smoothie at the popular Juicy Lucy and then headed back to the base.  We spent the next few hours with the rest of the interns and (once again) ate some of the snacks we had purchased.  We had been told earlier in the week to be ready for a "surprise" at 5:00 to celebrate 4th of July, but most of us had no idea what we were going to do.  At 5:00, we all piled back into the cars and went to a Native American themed restaurant called Spurs.  They had decorated a section of the restaurant with balloons and American flags for us and served us the one thing we had all been wanting the most...a hamburger.  It was crazy to look around and see how much joy a simple hamburger could give everyone.  The celebrations continued with sparklers (something most American restaurants wouldn't even allow) and giant ice cream sundaes.  If that wasn't enough we went back to the base for a movie night at June and Char's house to watch The Power of One AND eat June's delicious home made kettle popcorn.  

I really don't know how we all ate that much food...I'm pretty sure I ate more in one day than I had eaten in the previous 3 days combined, but it was a good way to celebrate the 4th of July. 

We are all preparing for another week of construction work and lesson plans.  Our lesson plans are almost done, but the construction work is going a little slower than expected and we need to be done by Friday, so we are trying to figure out the best way to make this possible.  We are also going to start planning some lesson plans for an orphanage we will be spending 3 days at in a week.  

Our classes are also going really well, although the piles of homework seem to be getting bigger and bigger.  I wasn't really expecting to do homework over my summer break, but I think the classes are going to be really beneficial and I'm excited to see what I learn from them.   

Alison

"It's the elevation!"

That is a joke we have here on base.  The base is at about the same elevation as Denver.  We blame everything on the elevation.  If we are having a difficult time making it up the hill to the classroom, it’s the elevation.  If we are hungry, it’s the elevation.  If we can’t focus, it’s the elevation.  We have found ways to blame pretty much everything on the elevation.

Last Saturday my group got to go into town.  We walked around the shops and got some snacks for the week.  I was excited to go into town, but it was also kind of weird to be back in civilization in an area that didn’t look that different than what I am used to seeing in the U.S.  That afternoon I had the opportunity to hike Mount Everest with a group of people.  Mount Everest is one of three mountains we have here on base.  Ironically, it is the smallest of the three.  It was a difficult climb, but it was so worth it!  The view from the top was incredible.  It is impossible to be up there and not be amazed by God and His creation.  I will try to post some pictures soon.  On Sunday all of the interns went to African church in the community we worked in in Qwa Qwa.  Let’s just say it was an interesting experience and it was alot different than what I am used to.  It did spark some good discussions afterward, so that is good.

On Monday we started our work at Limakatsu.  In the morning half of the group went to the school while the other half stayed on base.  The group at the school took down the ceiling, renovated the playground, and planted a garden.  We are still in the process of putting a new ceiling up and renovating desks.  Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to start painting the classroom and ceiling.  The group that stayed on based worked on lesson plans.  In a couple of weeks each group is going to spend a week in the school teaching the students about God.  So far each group has had two days on base and two days working on the school.  In the afternoons this week we have been taking classes on Leadership, Missions, Community, and Kingdom Living.  I didn’t really expect to be spending my sumer sitting in a classroom, doing homework, and writing papers, but the classes are really interesting and I think I will get alot out of them.

Yesterday I found out that I was picked by my team leader to be part of a Barnabas crew.  We are responsible for encouraging others.  There are six people doing it (the two team leaders and two people from each team).  Alison and I are on different teams and have different leaders, but we were both picked to be on the crew.  I guess people see us as being encouraging?  We were each given a list of interns and staff that we are going to pray for and leave encouraging messages and notes for.  It will be a new experience, but I am excited to be apart of it!

On a side note, one of Alison’s cabin mates, and someone we have both become good friends with, passed out on Sunday night and hit her head really hard on the wooden floors.  She has a condition where her heart doesn’t pump enough blood, so it wasn’t completely unexpected, but still not good.  She is doing better now, but she has a concussion and has damaged the soft tissue in her neck, which is actually good news compared to what the doctors were concerned about.  She has to wear a neck brace for the next two weeks and if she were to hit her head again, it would probably do permanent damage.  Please pray for her healing and comfort in this painful process.  

Christine

We are now done with our first official week of mission work.  We spent the first four and a half days in the village of Qwa Qwa visiting families and then spent Friday afternoon in a hospital praying for the patients there.  This week was a frustrating one, for the most part.  After three days of being in Qwa Qwa, I realized that relational evangelism is definitely not my calling.  It's not that I minded going into town, but I felt like I was just trying to get through each day instead of really enjoying it and connecting with the families.  It helped me see that although some people thrive from building one on one relationships and hearing stories from peoples' lives, I need to actually be moving around and doing work to feel "productive".  Our whole group was a little discouraged, because some of the other groups were coming back with amazing stories of how they were able to teach people so much about Jesus, while we couldn't get past surface level conversations.  We did, however, get to teach children's ministry on Wednesday afternoon, which was great!  It was amazing to see how much excitement and energy the kids had. 

 Thursday morning, things started to look up.  After sitting  around for 3 straight days, we finally had work to do!!  We were able to help someone plant a garden in the morning and collected firewood for a family in the afternoon.  We had visited this family on Tuesday and were amazed to see how excited they were to see us again.  Even if we hadn't talked about much, it seemed to have a big impact on them.  We spent the rest of the afternoon praying with them and taking pictures with their family.  

On Friday, we met a woman who had been a born again Christian since the '70's.  She eagerly read the bible with us and gave us pictures of her family so we could pray for them.  It was interesting to see how she lived, because she had a pretty nice house, while everyone else we talked to lived in shacks or very poorly built rooms.  Later that day, we went to the hospital to pray for the patients there.  It helped open my eyes to the power of prayer, but I'm still struggling with the idea of healing.  There were a lot of people who told the patients that once we prayed they were healed and that they didn't have to worry about getting sick again, but I know multiple examples of Christians who go against this statement.  I feel like God can heal, but He has that power and it is His will and timing of when people are healed.  I'm struggling to believe with certainty that God will heal every person I pray for every time.  

Next week we get to start demolition and rebuilding a center for disabled children.  I can't wait!  Finally something I'm familiar with!!  We are also going to start our classes and creating lesson plans for when we teach at the center.  

Please pray that God continues to stretch us and give us strength for all the work we will be doing next week.  Also pray that the weather starts to get better here (we have been having constant 40 mph winds and really really cold weather) so we are more productive each day.

Love you guys!!

Alison

Qwa Qwa

Today was our second day doing ministry.  The last two days we  have gone into the village of Qwa Qwa, which has about two million people.  We are doing relationship evangelism.  We split into groups of four or five and, with a translator, walked around the village.  We pretty much stopped at houses and invited ourselves in.  Although this is a completely foreign concept in the U.S., it is perfectly acceptable here.  My group talked with several people/families to get to know them and their culture.  The goal is that after we get to know them, we can talk to them about Jesus and the gospel.  We also offer to help them with their garden or some of their chores.  It was great getting to know some of these people and their culture.

I think we can learn a lot from the people of Qwa Qwa.  Life in the U.S. is very fast paced and people feel like they always have to be doing something.  It is much different here.  People are not that focused on the time.  People take the time to spend time with others and get to know each other.  As a result, families and communities are very close and important.  People here are also very friendly and are willing to do anything to help others, even strangers.  This is the way we were meant to live.

Yesterday was definitely a growing experience.  It pushed me outside of my comfort zone and I got to learn a lot about the culture here.  I had high hopes for today, but was a bit discouraged after our ministry time this morning.  All of the groups came back at lunch with stories about how they were able to really connect with their families and how they were able to spread God’s word.  I felt like our group was making no progress in our conversations.  I was reminded that God doesn’t always work on our time and that He is working and we are making a difference, even if it seems small to us.  We did all we could do and now we have to trust God to do the rest.  Tomorrow we are going back to Qwa Qwa and will visit the families we have met.  We plan to help them plant a garden and hopefully we will able to have quality conversations.

For those wondering, it hasn’t snowed here yet, but we could see it snowing in the mountains which are all around us.  Although we don’t have snow, it is very cold and windy here.  Unfortunately, I just got news that it will be even colder tomorrow.  My fingers are frozen right now so I am going to end this post, but we will try to update it in the next couple of days.

Christine

This place is beautiful!

After a full day of flying, meeting the other 22 interns, and driving about 2 hours to the mission base, we finally made it to the place we are going to call home for the next two months.  We got here around 10 at night and we were all exhausted, so we all quickly unpacked and went to bed.  We woke up the next morning to the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen. This place truly is beautiful.  It's amazing.  We spent the first few days getting to know each other, learning our way around the base, training for the tasks we will be doing this summer, and looking at our lives and why God brought us here.  Last night, we spent about two hours in the freezing cold laying under the stars.  It was incredible!  I have never been able to see so many stars in one area.  We can even see part of the milkyway and a ton of shooting stars.  It is so easy to see God's beauty in a place like this.

I'm pretty sure they thought it would be fun to confuse us, so they put us each in four different groups.  We have our mission team groups, our work groups, our cabin groups, and our children's ministry groups.  Christine and I will be in the same children's ministry group, but are in different groups for everything else.  On the base, my main jobs are doing dishes and working in the coffee shop.  Christine is in charge of loading and unloading the vans and working the cash register at the coffee/curio shop.  

Tomorrow will be our first real day out in the mission field.  We are in groups of 4-5 and will be focusing on relational ministry.  We are going to be talking to different families in the town.  It will definitely push me out of my comfort zone, because we could potentially spend 2 or 3 full days talking to one family.  That's a long time to talk to one family that I have never met before, not to mention coming from a completely different culture.  I'm really excited to see what God does in each of our groups.  

On Wednesday, my children's ministry group will be leading in the afternoon.  We are still in the process of planning what we will be doing, but its going to be good.  And before you ask, because I know its the first question you were asking yourself, YES we will be playing cow cow lasso.  I have faith that the Basotho children will love it just as much as everyone back at Grace.  There is an intense game of Uno going on right now that I can't resist joining, but we will try to update as much as possible.  Please continue to pray for us and remember that you can always e-mail us if you want. :)

Love you guys!!

Alison

So...I wanted to have a really deep and meaningful post before we left, but its 2:28 am and I'm still packing so it looks like that isn't going to happen.  I just wanted to thank everyone that is supporting and praying for us.  It has been such a humbling experience and this trip would have not been possible without all of you.  

It still hasn't really hit me that in about 7 hours I will be on a plane to South Africa.  It is something I have been talking about for so long, and now I actually have the chance to do it.  I really hope I'm ready.  I saw a sign the other day that said "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called".  It reminded me that even though I am inadequate, God has called me to Thrive Africa for a reason and will still use me in some way.   Even though I'm clearly not capable of changing the world, God is and that's all that matters.  I am just trying to surrender to God and focus on His will for me so He can actually use me.  

We leave RDU at 10:08 Monday morning and fly into D.C.  We will then meet the other 22 interns in D.C. and fly to Johannesburg around 5:00 that evening.  I don't remember the exact time we get into South Africa, but the flight is about 17 hours long.  It is going to be a very very long day, but I can't wait to meet the other interns.  I won't have access to a computer for a week after I get to South Africa, but should have fairly regular access from that point on.  

If you want to e-mail us our address is kacgamble@yahoo.com.  You can also write us at 

Alison(or Christine) Gamble
c/o Thrive Africa
PO Box 965
Harrismith 9880

South Africa

Alright, now back to packing.

Alison 

I can't believe we have just over five weeks before we leave for South Africa! These past couple of months have been a challenge, but God has really been working through both of us as we prepare to serve Him in a bigger way than we have ever done before. I always knew that if it really was God's will for us to go this summer, He would make it possible, but it has been incredible to actually see it happen. He has once again showed me to put all my trust in Him and follow Him wherever he leads me. It's such a simple statement, so why is it so hard to actually do sometimes?
One thing that has helped tremendously me through this whole process are the people God has put in my life who have done mission work in Africa that I have been able to talk to as I try to prepare for this summer. It has been truly amazing to be able to hear all their stories and get advice from people who have already experienced what I'm about to go through. Last weekend, I was able to fast with one of these friends as we both prepared for what God has planned for us this summer. In the past when I have fasted, I have been able to refocus and get a renewed perspective on what really matters to God. This time, I was so busy that I felt that fasting had no impact on me. I woke up Sunday restless knowing that I wasn't spending the time to actually listen to God. I felt God pushing me toward a book by Erwin McManus called "Uprising". I ended up changing my whole schedule and spending the rest of the day reading it. The book focuses on the character of a follower of God and how to live a life passionately devoted to Him. The thing that stuck out to me the most was humility.
"The quest for honor is not where we pursue humility for greatness, but where we pursue the greatness of humility. The goal is not to know if you're humble, but to live as a servant, to give your life away for the good of others regardless of personal benefit or consequence."
Humility is the key to serving God. It is so easy to be sucked up into the me-centered world we live in, but God calls us to a life that is so much better! God has continued to show me the importance of humility and has reminded me that I can't do it on my own, but with His help so much is possible. I can't wait to see how God uses me this summer, even with ALL of my inadequacies.

Another exciting thing this week-we got the list of all the other summer interns! It has been so exciting to talk to and start to get to know everyone!! I can already see how supportive and encouraging this group is going to be this summer.

Alison

John 3:30-He must become greater; I must become less.

Next Step

We recently found out that we have been accepted as summer interns with Thrive Africa. We will be spending eight weeks of our summer in South Africa working with missionaries and going into local towns to build relationships with people and to help these people in various ways. You can go to thriveafrica.org to learn more about the program. We are participating in the Next Step program.

We are now starting the process of raising money for the trip. We both need to raise $4250 by June 1st in order to go on the trip. Although it will be difficult to raise this money, we are completely depending on God, family, and friends to make it happen.

This is definitely an exciting time full of new experiences and I look forward to what is to come!

-Christine

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."
Mark 16:15