Well friends, we have officially made it eight months into the race. I know that I haven’t been the best at updating this leg of the race, so today I want to give you all a little recap.This is just going to be a few of the highlight facts from the past few months, so just the basics really. I have a few more blogs coming soon, but for now I am so excited to share this little part of my journey with you!
Where Have we Been these Past Three Months?
We arrived in Africa in the beginning of December we arrived in Cape Town South Africa, where we only spent two wonderful days. From here we took an overnight bus to Jefferys Bay South Africa. Here we spent two weeks, including Christmas. Thats right folks, we got to spend our Christmas at the beach in South Africa! Next we split into our teams and moved onto Mokhotlong Lesotho. Lesotho is a country within South Africa, and it is the most beautiful! We were just in a little town living with the most kind couple. After this we moved over to Manzini eSwatini (Also known as Swaziland), which was tropical and also very stunning! Here we served at an AIM base, where we got to use our tents for the first time!
What Has Ministry Looked Like in the Last Three Month?
South Africa: In South Africa we were working alongside Global Leadership Academy, which is a school in Jefferys Bay South Africa. We arrived on their summer break, so we did a good amount of gardening, painted a bathroom, and spent some time doing ATL (Ask the Lord) around town.
Lesotho: This month was a packed one! We spent our mornings before breakfast, either at the local boarding school or the local hospital giving a 15-30 minute devotional. After this we would pick up rocks around the hills for the foundation of the new church add-on, or for the last few weeks I would teach preschool at the school. Then after lunch we would again pick-up rocks, garden, or prayer walk. We also got the opportunity to preach on Sunday mornings at a few local church, as well as run a youth group on Friday nights.
eSwatini: Here we split into several different groups amongst our squad, which consisted of maintenance, administration, farm/agriculture, and care-point ministry. Myself and two others were placed on a team, where we started at our hosts house doing some behind the scenes work for the care points, then we went to one of the care points and helped out. A care point is basically a feeding center placed in impoverished communities throughout the countryside of eSwatini. The organization we were working with has a total of 39 care points all throughout Eswatini.
What Changes have Happened in the Past Three Months?
Well, there have truly been a lot of changes over the past few months, but most of them took place in Jeffreys Bay. As we arrived here we had team changes and role changes. If you aren’t familiar with the world race, you are placed on a squad, ours is 18 girls. Then you are split into teams of 5-7, which are the few people you invest deeply in and get to know on a more intimate level. My first team was Pinky Promise, we spent the first four months of the race together as we adventured through Central and South America together. But in Jeffreys Bay, it was time for team changes, so we played a game of hide and seek, and were united with our new teams that our leadership had been praying into. My new team name is rooted, which it has been so cool to see how the Lord has been teaching us through our name. Ill have to write a blog about that soon.
The other big change was role changes. On the race we are all given a job to that helps out team and squad run well. At the beginning of the race I was our team treasurer. Basically what that means is I handled all of the finances for our team, making sure all of our needs were met throughout our ministry months. As we switch teams, our roles also changed. Now instead of handling the finances, I am a Beauty for Ashes coordinator. AIM (the organization that the world race is under) has put together a women’s retreat program that works all around the world. So as we go into each country, as well as on my team, I get to put together small women’s retreats everywhere we go!
Well friends, there you have it. This is defiantly not all of the details, a whole ton happens in three months. But, here is a little overview from our time in Africa so far. We are currently on month eight, which we are spending in Rwanda! We are expectant and excited to see what Holy Spirit has for us here!
Thanks for all of your support and prayers!
Love you guys lots!
KEN
What a year you are having, Kendell. Praise God for this opportunity for you to serve Him in a very active way. I’ve always wanted to go on a mission, but the Lord keeps telling me my mission is here. So, I am living vicariously through you and cheering for you. God bless you and your team and your every ministry. Joan Kauffman
I cannot wait to hear about all the Beauty from Ashes retreats you have put together! We love you!
Awe, thank you Joan! You are always the first to jump on here and give me encouragement. it honestly means more than you know! I’m so glad these stories are encouraging you! I can’t wait to come home, have coffee with you and share! Love you lots!
I love hearing your perspective on what’s happened for you on the race. I know God continues to help you grow in confidence in the giver of the gifts He has given you.