This one time when I went to South Africa and was never the same

For those who may or may not know, I recently returned from spending two months in South Africa. Man, that feels weird to say. (There are several posts about why I was going and somewhat of what happened while I was there. If I were blog-savvy, they would be linked here. But, alas, you must scroll down my homepage to see those posts.) Some of you may have also noticed that I didn't post a lot about what happened. A few have asked, others have waited for me to bring it up.

Let's be honest, there may be some of you who gave me money and are wondering why. What did I do, go on a two month vacation?! Paid for by my friends and family?! Don't worry, I don't begrudge you those questions. I understand them completely. And, if you'll allow, I hope to address them.

August 1 I flew out of Atlanta and started the journey to South Africa. Let me tell you, it was an adventure getting there. One which I chose to withhold until I returned for the sake of everyone's nerves. Let's just say, New York City and I aren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment. Although it is a pretty funny story.

So the first week we spent going to schools and meeting the locals. During the evenings we attended a conference being held at the Life Church (who we were there to serve) Wednesday evening through Sunday morning. Sunday morning was their four year anniversary, and it was amazing getting to celebrate with all of the new faces I had been praying for, for so long.

The following week I found out that a few things had occured during some of the services, and long story short, the church ended up having to shut its doors for good.

Thankfully because I had not been at the church for a long time, I was not emotionally wounded by what happened, but was greatful to be in South Africa to help the pastor's family. For a while before I left people had asked me what I was going to do, and I didn't have any straight answers. I believe that this was so that I didn't go with expectations, just to have them crushed. The Lord knew what was going to happen and had me there to help the pastor's family through the transition, as well as teaching me some things about myself (which I will share in a later post).

Thank you so much to everyone who supported me and gave. I was able to see some of the ministries that are happening in and around Durban, was able to help out at a local high school for a while, and most impoortantly was there for a family that was hurting and just needed the hands of Jesus. I could not have done it without you.

(And please, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.)