Just a quick update

Hey… just wanted to drop you guys a quick line and an update on how things are going. I also want to apologize for the lack of photos lately… I will be taking some more soon. Things are continuing to move forward here. Last night I went to a braai with my soccer team. It was great to get to know the girls better and show off my lack on dancing skills. But I am learning and there is more than enough ability going on down here that I will learn. This was an opportunity to get to know some of my teammates better and to have a few more one on one conversations. I had a moment where I was filling my water and I was floored with how blessed I am once again. I prayed that God would let me impact even just one of these girls lives. That would make it all worth it. The team is very special and very welcoming. Some of the girls opened up to me a lot tonight and just confirmed my call to be here as they trust me with more of their lives.

Our second Plett training camp went very well, once we got there. We were using Kyle’s GPS that had the coordinates right, but really it had no idea how to reach the site. Luckily God takes care of us and Kyle looked up at just the right time to see the sign where we needed to turn. The fact that it was dark didn’t help… haha. Our team is really gelling and although we will be few in number, everyone works hard and it will be cool to see how God carries us through our mission.  It was great to hear everyone’s stories and get to know them better. Carol taught us a lot about understanding and presenting the basics of what it means to be a Christian and I am looking forward to the conversations God has planned for us at Plett.

I am still waiting to be registered so I can play with TUKS as they need some sort of international clearance… not really sure about that. But so far all of our games have been cancelled so it hasn’t caused me any trouble. Yesterday we showed up, but there was no ref so the game didn’t go. I had a chance to catch up with a couple of the girls that I knew from camp last year that play for our opposition. It was great to talk with them and they are interested in starting up a team bible study as well! God is moving!!!

There have been six girls consistently going to church from the HPC which is great! I haven’t been able to go with them since the first day because we have been away but they are taking the initiative and I was blessed that our assistant Pastor was willing to go and get them!

Today we are running a 6v6 soccer tournament and I will likely be sharing my testimony there. Please be praying that God will take my words and transform them to impact those who are present.  Also my housemates went back to the US for support raising and so a couple is house sitting upstairs but I’m all alone in my basement here.  It is good and bad. I enjoyed a night of hanging out with Shorty on Friday. It is great to be building into her life and I am very blessed by her friendship! My Zulu lessons have begun so that will be interesting!!

I guess the final exciting thing is that my parents are coming in a week!! I am looking forward to giving them the chance to see what I am doing here and hope they begin to understand why I love this country so much. Please pray for safety as they travel and that they will be a part of the ministry and not just tourists while they are here.

I pray that you are all keeping well and look forward to hearing from you!!

Mid October Update!

Hey guys,
I wanted to give you a quick update before I leave for our second Plett training camp. Things  have definitely been moving forward. The goalie coach for the U17 girls plays on my team at TUKS (University of Pretoria) and she invited me to come out to their training sessions. Mandy (the coach) wants the girls to see what it looks like to train with intensity and pace.  This is all God because last year there had been some girls doing some sports ministry with the girls and they were asked not to come to the training any more. To be allowed into their sessions is crazy. My body is feeling the training a fair bit as one team is running a ton and the ground is pretty hard for diving on (kind of like home mind you...). But I know it will get me back in shape and I am so grateful for that!!
The second thing that has been going on is I am getting involved tutoring the girls as I mentioned. That has been going well and the girls are seeing it as an asset. The other great thing about it is the positive response from their floor mentor, Linda. I met her the other night and it was great to hear the response and her excitement to meet me. The unfortunate thing with her is that there were some misunderstandings between her and one of our AIA staff and she had said that she didn't want to ever see this staff members face on the floor. That was a tough blow, so her response to having me there is a real answer to prayer!!

I have started meeting one on one with Shorty, and Mary is very excited to be discipled and spend more time together! This is exciting. I also have a bunch of girls who are excited to be going to church and took 5 of my young ones last week. I spent some time with Rachel (one of my under 17's) last Sunday and she is looking forward to more times like that to just talk and pray and answer questions.

Last Saturday we had an outreach in Joburg... Photos are in the Previous post. It was a big success. Shorty shared her testimony and we are looking to build a deeper relationship with the Jannis Kids club down there. This will be a cool opportunity for more girls to talk about their faith and their passion for their sport!!

I am also building some good relationships with Kaylin one of the keepers and Shenell (one of the girls I tutor). I am excited to seek more opportunities and doors that God will be opening including a bible study with the TUKS girls and Saturday's to build into the younger girls.

Lastly I am going to attempt to get names and photos and details of each of my girls at the hpc. I would love if I could get 25 of you willing to take one of the girls and be willing to pray for her! I will keep you guys updated on that idea!

Love you all tons and please stay in touch!!!
Rachel

A Photographic View of Saturday's Soccer Clinic

And so it begins...

Hanging out with Cor!

Oh man! So much to update you guys on. It has been great getting settled in here in Pretoria. The girls only came home on Sunday night. The first few days I just went to the gym and enjoyed having a home that I can settle into. On Saturday I had the chance to go out to Krugersdorp to celebrate Settie’s (my boss Chris’ wife) birthday. It was such a blessing to feel a part of their family. Cor (their 4 year old son) took to me and hung out with me for most of the day. As did the little one Peter. And the girls have taken to calling us aunts. So I got to be Auntie Rachel which was great. I also had some interesting conversations with a family friend of theirs and Settie regarding the presence of the Occult in South Africa and some of the other issues they face. I learned a lot. I left that time feeling blessed and filled. I love the body of Christ!

This photo was taken by Peter... He's only about 3... I think he has some talent!

Lynn Marie, Kirsten, and Venolia enjoying the pool! 

  On Sunday, I went to church after watching a devastating rugby world cup game. The Boks completely dominated everything but the scoreboard. At Church, the pastor was talking about the importance of keeping Christ at the centre of our evangelism and of our lives. We were looking at Acts chapter 13, when Paul despite his constant pain and having John Mark leave them persisted with his journey and when he had the chance; he boldly proclaimed who Christ is and what He did.  I also celebrate a Canadian thanksgiving with my American housemates, an old friend that I met at camp named Mary, Missy, and some new friends that were visiting Paul and Haley. It was a great time of fellowship and we all bonded over the Mexican food that I made. There were no turkeys available here but it was a great chance to thank God for the multitude of blessings in my life. That includes you guys, the opportunities that I have being here and most importantly for sending His Son Jesus Christ to save me from my sin! When I was taking my friend Mary home we had a chance to chat a bit. She was sharing the impact of our camp last year. God used it in huge ways to renew the team and many of the girls faiths. At their training camps, and on tours the girls have started having bible studies, praying as a team before meals and asking Christ to be a part of their athletics and their lives. And God has been blessing their team. They qualified for the 2012 Olympics for the first time ever! And while their team was stretched to be at qualifiers also had enough depth for a good showing at the All Africa Games. It is amazing to know that you were a small part of a catalyst of God’s working in their lives. It is even more amazing to me that I get the chance to be a part of a longer investment in these girl’s lives.

On Monday I met with Granny, we discussed how I could best help the team, and I started tutoring the girls on Tuesday night. I will be helping with everything from English to accounting. However, I don’t know a whole lot about accounting, but I can help with most of the other subjects. So far the girls have been responsive to my help and I think it will build some strong relationships. It is a bit tough because I go to training from 6-7:30 then immediately to tutoring from 7:30-9 or 10 but I feel a difference even in the first few days. So it is well worth it. I am still looking to become more involved with the girls but I am not sure what that will look like yet. I would like to help with some soccer skills as well as starting up a bible study and discipleship. But I am trusting God’s timing and leading with that.

The last exciting thing is that I have started training with the Tuks (University of Pretoria) soccer team. I am learning just how out of shape you get when you don’t train for 4 months… but it is good. Definitely enjoying the burning in my lungs and quads.  I have been talking with Shorty, who I met last summer at camp, and we have some interest in having a team bible study! So I am excited to get going with that. Shorty will also be sharing her testimony in Joberg at a soccer camp on Saturday. I am excited to have a greater involvement in her life and feel so blessed by her friendship!

So that is a bit of an update on what is going on here. It is cool to see God put the pieces together for me and I want to go forward trusting His leading. Please pray for wisdom for me both in teaching the girls and next steps. It is nice to start being involved and can’t wait to see what God has planned! Love you guys!! Thank you for your continued prayer!

Moving Time

Kitchen

Living Room

Hey, just wanted to give you guys another update on how I am doing. I have now settled into my new home in Pretoria. I moved in on Wednesday and figured I would post some photos for you! I have been enjoying trying to find some routine; this will become easier once the girls are back from holiday on Sunday. I have enjoyed being so close to the gym and slowly will be getting back into shape. I need to be ready for our beach mission because it is an intense two weeks.

My Room

My room

My Room

Since Cape Town there have been a few things going on. I drove up to Pretoria before I moved to try to connect with the girls. We had planned this over a week in advance for me to connect with them, but when I arrived the coach had the girls tied up in meetings for the entire day. That just proved to be confirmation of the importance of my location here in Pretoria, instead of having to drive for an hour back home in that situation I can just hit the gym and drive the 5 minutes home. 

The Tank

Joy of the Goal

A couple of weekends ago we helped out with an AIA fun day at a Christian Academy in Southern Joburg. We were asked to run a soccer tournament in this big blow up “arena” with nets. It was slow going but we ended up with 8 3v3 teams. We also had a trophy and a prizes. We put our own team in as well. Missy and I were the only girls in the tournament but we represented well :) 

I took on a team of about 20 kids with a guy playing on a different team in the tournament. This one little guy was a champion. He didn’t care who or what was in his way, he just ploughed through. When he got knocked down from running into knees or anything else, he just shook it off. The other cool part of the weekend was that we were able to bring along one of our Plett Outreach team members to come and get a taste of sport ministry. A small taste as it was not a gospel focused day, but it was still a great chance to love on the community. 

Our Team: Basil, Missy, Me and Kyle

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The last big event of these past few weeks was our first Plettenberg Bay Beach Mission (Plett) training camp. The goal of this first camp is team bonding and gelling. (Pictures should follow soon) It had a bunch of the usual; create a war cry, a team dance, volleyball, ultimate Frisbee,  obstacle course, tire stacking, build a square with a rope blindfolded, mafia, a number of great games of signs, we even put each of our team members through a rope spider web, without anyone touching the ropes. (every time the ropes were touched you went back to the beginning.) Probably the most memorable part of the weekend was the egg game and the most impactful was the silent run. The egg game starts with everyone having an egg taped onto their head. You then procede to play a type of capture the flag, where the only way you are tagged is if they crack the egg. The first two people on our team to have their eggs cracked (Kyle and Missy) said “it’s not so bad. The egg doesn’t really splatter just lean forward and it drips off” The first time my egg was cracked it splattered everywhere. There was egg on my arm, on my shirt, in my hair, so gross!!! The game ended with everyone in the pool and some crazy memories to be had by all. The most impactful part  of my weekend was probably the silent run. We ran just over 2 km and I was talking with God and the one thing He put on my heart was that I can go an entire day without once thinking about His sacrifice and His mercy.  This is such a challenge to me and something I am going to focus on. Life is too short not to live it with my eyes focused on Christ. The impact of His death on the cross should affect all my thoughts and each of my actions daily.  If I am not living for Him, what is there to be living for?

I want to thank you for your prayers for me. I hear frequently from some of you and from my mom how you are lifting me up and it means so much to me. If there is a lasting impact and fruit from this ministry it is because it has been covered in your prayers! Daily I am grateful for your love and support! Please continue to pray for me as I try to find my place in the girls routines at the HPC and as we move towards our Beach Outreach. Please pray for divine appointments and the preparation of hearts. Pray for clarity for our message and for growth in the students’ lives. We have our next training camp on the 21^st of October. Please be praying that our students would prioritize this time and work hard leading up to it so that they can attend fully.  At our first training camp we were missing 5 students and three had to leave early for their studies. We need a committed team.  Pray that the students will see the value of the sacrifice that they make to be there and pray that God will bless them with effective study times. Love you guys tons! Blessings!