Bye bye Jbay

Hey friends! We are officially halfway through! Wow, it’s hard to believe that we spent only a month in Jbay (Jeffery’s bay)! Our time there was so sweet, and the Lord has been so kind.

Here is how our schedule works. Ministry days are Monday-Friday. Saturdays are adventure days. Sundays are our sabbaths.

We arrived at the mission house Monday evening of the 16th. Wendy, our host mom, warmly welcomed us with a hot meal and beds. Our squad stayed in the mission house on the GLA (Global Leadership Academy) campus.

The next day we jumped straight into ministry for the first week.

Within my squad, we had 3 different teams. My team consists of Jaiden, Caleb, Isaac, Bethy, Ana, and myself. We were privileged to work at a school called Ithemba. They greeted me with lots of noise and big hugs that first week. The week went by quickly.

Ithemba is a school for 3-6 year olds. My classroom had 16 students who were all 3-4 years old. My class was only 8% of the entire school. Ithemba has 200 students in total. There were 3 classes with 3-4 year olds and then 3 more classes with 5-6 year olds. Every morning, the kids got porridge for breakfast and a hot meal for lunch.

Every morning I walk in, they all jump up and hug me, calling me “uphro”, which means teacher in Afrikaans. They are all so sweet and are so hungry for attention. They will sit in your lap, play with your hair, or do chants with you every chance they get. The teachers and staff were incredible and so sweet. I got to learn all of the kids’ names, and I think I knew them by the time we left Jbay.

After the first week, we did not go to Ithemba, because they had a week-long break for their holiday, Heritage day.

Monday, we spent time off after a busy first week. Tuesday, we did some street evangelism with Pastor Lucas. I would have loved to spend more time hearing from him because he had so much wisdom. He also had a gift for making street evangelism a fun and safe experience.

Something that was really powerful for me was hearing a testimony from an ex gangster. He was part of a gang and had killed several people in his past. He was addicted to drugs and alcohol and ended up in prison. One day, he found the Lord while in prison. At that time he had one more year in prison according to a card he was assigned to keep that showed his release date. The day he found the Lord, a guard came up to him and said he was being released. He showed the guard that his card said one more year, but the guard said that the computer said that his release date was that day. After he got out, he knew he wanted to leave the gang, but if he did, he would risk being killed. He chose the courageous step and went to the guys, fully expecting to be killed for his faith. Once he got there, they simply said, “We can’t kill you,” and let him leave. He knew at that moment that God was protecting him. After he shared his story with us, we prayed for him. His story really inspired me and made me see more of how God can make beauty from ashes.

Wednesday through Friday, we helped do some work for a mission house right next to ours. We painted a bedroom and bathroom, and we shoveled some dirt for a parking lot.

On Saturday, some of us went to Addo elephant park and saw warthogs, ostriches, zebras, and elephants!

On Sunday, we joined Wendy at GLA church and had a nice day of well-needed rest. The next two weeks we continued to work at Ithemba. Two nights before we left Wendy made us a braai (which is the South Africans version of a BBQ).

Leaving was so bittersweet. It felt very final, because we were the last World Racers to stay in the mission house due to some of WR’s future route changes. It was difficult for Wendy too, because she had been a host mom for years. God was closing this door and opening another for her and her daughter.

We made so many friends that it was hard to leave. I love the quote from Dr. Seuss, “ Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” During my time in Jbay I learned to slow down. While we were often busy doing ministry and forming relationships with our squad, I was able to enjoy what was in front of me. The culture helped with that. While South African stores run on a typical American business day, 8-5, South Africans also highly valued going home to their families.

My heart is so full when I think about the goodness of God that I have seen during my time here. A verse that has been on my heart this past week was Habukkuk 3:19, “ The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread heights.” I was flipping through, it caught my eye, and I reread it. I realized that Habukkuk is such a beautiful book that does not get the attention I think it should.

We left October 13th at 01:20 AM and embarked on an 18 hour bus ride to Nelspruit for a couple-day debrief until the 17th. After our debrief time, we will leave from Nelspruit to Swaziland for a month.

Fun fact! To say ‘thank you’ in Afrikaans say, ‘buy a donkey.’

Keep an eye out for a Swazi update in a month! Until then please pray for the following:

-Wendy and her daughter’s next ministry steps

-Ithemba, for the admin/teachers and kids

-All the people we ministered to on the streets, that they’ll stay focused on Him and that if needed circumstances need to change, then they will (job, homelessness, finances, etc).

-Ministry in Swazi

-Our team

-Myself, that I’ll stay present and love those around me

Big thanks to AG for editing, love you <3

Have a blessed day!

In Christ,

Sarah Mei