Jess is 21

Well, turning 21 in South Africa is a big deal. My good friend Jess Trollip turned 21 yesterday and I was blessed to be apart of it. She is studying in Cape Town, so the celebrating took place here. A true South African 21st consists of a party with a theme, speeches, food and a lot of fun. It is in short a rite of passage celebration. Along with being invited, I was also asked to speak. I am incredibly honoured, but still not sure I am deserving. Jess' party was held in Darling which is a small farming town outside of Cape Town. It was heaven for me. Darling is the hometown of her boyfriend, Hanco and was the perfect place for her party. She chose not to have a formal scene but rather one with hay bales for seating and finger foods. Jess isn't the "formal" type which is one reason we get a long so well! I went as Superman complete with a cape and all. This came about because I lovingly call Jess "Superman". She is an incredible inspiration to me and I am so thankful to have her in my life. We have become great friends in a short amount of time. We will actually only spend a little over three months in the same town together my entire field time due to her studying in Cape Town. That to me is a little bit crazy, that while we don't have daily time together, we are as close as we are. We are just very similar in several ways which makes it easy. Part of my speech included the fact that Jess is the friend that I prayed for before coming to South Africa. She is someone who is a sister in Christ and who pushes me to be better. God has blessed me through Jess in unimaginable ways. I could go on for pages about this friend and sister who I cherish so much, but don't worry.. I will wrap it up. I just wanted to quickly write and share with you a bit of South African culture in the form of birthdays and ask that you keep Jess in your thoughts as she embarks a new chapter in her life as an adult. Please pray that she is able to continue to serve God whole hearted and grows in her love for Him daily.

True Love Waits

I wanted to take a few minutes and thank those of you who were able to make Joey and my trip to Mozambique possible back in February. If you don't know, we were able to spend two weeks in Mozambique, a bordering country to South Africa working with two missionary families where they shared the True Love Waits study/ program with us. This study promotes and teaches sexual abstinence using biblical principles. Something that I love about this study is that it teaches people that they can truly relate to the Bible because each example or story told is from Scripture. It is cross cultural and reminds listeners that God has a plan for their sexual life. Joey and I are about to leave within the hour to return to Archadia Primary where we will be making our second appearance teaching the True Love Waits study. We invite you to join us in prayer as we try to educate the youth of South Africa. We have been able to speak with over a hundred children at Archadia alone. I have taught the study a few times without Joey to girls around Port Elizabeth and am excited about the upcoming opportunities. God is opening doors all over Port Elizabeth through the schools. Our only set back is time. I leave for Cape Town on Friday for two weeks where I will be able to teach in several schools there as well. Joey, unfortunately will not be able to join. Please pray for hearts to be open to God's message for the youth we meet and that we will be able to relate to and influence some. Our vision is for leaders to emerge from the larger groups we meet with and that we might then mentor them on a more personal level, with the hopes that they will then influence their peers. Thank you for being apart of our lives and the confidence we have that we can come to you and count on your for your participation through prayer.

In Christ,
Lindsay