Hello Friends!
I hope that this blog is more informative, since I am writing it when I am not pressed for time. I also hope to upload a photo or two!
I wanted to paint a picture for you what it is like here in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I have been asked on more than one occasion if my impression of coming to Africa would be that there would be lions and elephants running around like crazy! While I was attempted to say yes, I did not imagine going to share my faith on a campus with wild animals roaming about. However, to my surprise there are actually some animals that roam around on the campus and this is common because the campus is actually built on a nature reserve. I have seen monkeys come out from the trees and bushes and search through the trash for food. I have heard stores of monkeys stealing your food. That has yet to happen to me, and I hope it doesn’t! So other than the fact that there are not animals running around like crazy, another difference between here and the US is that they drive on the opposite side of the road and the car. The driver is on the right hand side of the car, but driving on the left side of the road. Now that we’ve been here for a few weeks, it feels natural to be on the other side. I must admit that I might be a crazy driver coming back to the States!
I think I have mentioned this before, but the sky is absolutely amazing. I don’t know what it is, it is just stunning, and I cannot look away sometimes! Speaking of the sky… the moon is also different here. When it’s not a full moon, so like a crescent shape, it is upside down, U-shaped and not C-shaped! It’s so cool! I try to capture pictures, but it’s very difficult.
Some other things that are specific to Port Elizabeth, is that it is “The Windy City” and “The Friendly City”. I have experienced both. One day on campus, I could barely walk because it was so windy. They also say that you could experience all 4 seasons in one day! On Thursday this happened. In the morning it was cold and rainy, an hour later there was not a cloud in the sky and no wind, but then the day ended pretty chilly because of the wind and of course more clouds. And I experience the city’s friendliness every day I talk to students on campus. I have not been turned away from a conversation so far and even if they only have 10 minutes before their next class, they still talk and are super open and friendly. I love it!
Almost forgot to mention the food! The food here is good, different, but good. I was actually talking to yesterday to Kyra (see more about her below) and we miss Mexican food. I want a burrito so bad right now, but it’s difficult to find beans and tortillas and chips here! Chips here are French fries, so you can buy a burger and some chips, but no stinkin’ burritos!!! They also have samoosas. Those are tasty! I don’t know what to describe it as. Kind of like a fried thing with stuff in it. I’m very good with my words as you can see! Haha I finally pitched in to buy a French press so no more of nasty instant coffee! Even though it was pretty speedy to make, it wasn’t nearly as tasty as the real stuff!

Let me tell you now a little bit about my team, because they are a huge reason I am enjoying my stay here so much! My roommate is Kayla. She is super sweet and encouraging and we just get each other. Jessica was on Summer Project with me last summer, so we already know that she is pretty awesome. Shannon went to high school with me, it has been so neat to reconnect with her and be here is South Africa with her. Who would have thought that two kids from Templeton would end up in the same country, the same time, on the same Project?!?! Annie is a sweet heart and really funny. We laugh a lot. Cameron is my home girl and I was the first one to make her laugh so hard that she snorted; I like to brag about that to the boys! Dave and Kyra are married and are super chill. I am learning so much from both of them, they make me laugh and they love coffee! We get along well! Dave and Kyra have 3-year old triplets. They are so cute and definitely keep things interesting. Their names are Ellie, Cooper and Paisley. Dave’s mom is also here. Her name is Barbara, but we all call her Aba, because that’s what the trips call her. She is super good at the game Banana Grams, she wins a lot, but is still kind enough to help me spell some words. Jeff is awesome. We have several expressions here about Jeff. Some of them are: “What would Jeff Clay do?” or “Jeff Clay up” (meaning “man up”). So yeah he just rocks. Brandon keeps our team together. While we all are going crazy, he maintains his cool and brings us back to reality. Tyler is a gentleman. Always willing to help and be there and he is pretty cool too. Mitch and Josh kind of fit into a category all on their own! They definitely keep the energy up and keep us laughing. They also like to pick on me A LOT. But its good I guess, I’ve never had older brothers before, but if I did, I imagine that they would be similar to Mitch and Josh. Please pray for our unity as a team. Although there have been very minimal issues, as the time goes on, I can see how prayer would be greatly appreciated. Praise God also for all of these people in my life, including the Trips! They have displayed Jesus to me in multiple ways and I am so grateful for their lives and their stories and for their friendships! Fun fact: we are taking the guys out to dinner tonight in order to appreciate them in all that they do for us, including offering jackets when we weren’t expecting it to be windy and for walking us ANYWHERE we want, without hesitating or complaining and always insisting that a man go with a group of girls somewhere just to make sure we’re safe. They are so sweet! So maybe say a little prayer today around 5pm (SA time) or when you wake up I guess! We will begin our adventure at that time by singing our own version of Justin Bieber to them!

As far as our ministry on campus goes, it has been going very well! We are still meeting new students but at the same time connecting with students that we have already met. We are now in the process of searching for student leaders that can take over and lead the ministry that we leave on campus. If you could pray for our movement here, that would be excellent. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would help us discern leaders and other students that we should invest in, and guide us to those people if we have not already met them. Please pray for the people that we have met. I have been blessed by four girls that I met almost two weeks ago. Their names are Ranesha, Marvalene, Heledene and Vicky. They are all very sweet and kind and hilarious. I enjoy my time that I spend with them. Please pray that through me, the Holy Spirit can help deepen their understanding of the gospel and who God is. Please give some praise to God also, because since I have been here, many of you, I’m sure and others have continued to give financial support and I have reached it, all because of your support and prayers. Praise God also for all the work that He is doing here in and through us. It’s awesome to see how He has led us to certain people and see His name being glorified here.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and keeping up on my life this summer! It has been an encouragement to read some of your comments and know that there are some people far, far away that are interested! I am not promising my blogs to be this long in the future, but I hope you understand. I hope that this gives you some in sight on my life here in PE. If you want to know anything else or want me to expand on some details, let me know so that I have some sort of direction when writing my blog updates!

“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long” –Psalm 25:4-5

One last thing, I promise. My last blog I said how Pastor Kenny was preaching from Galatians about the one and true gospel. Here is that gospel:
“the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins” –Galatians 1:3-4

It's a long update!

Hello Friends!
I hope that this blog is more informative, since I am writing it when I am not pressed for time. I also hope to upload a photo or two!
I wanted to paint a picture for you what it is like here in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I have been asked on more than one occasion if my impression of coming to Africa would be that there would be lions and elephants running around like crazy! While I was attempted to say yes, I did not imagine going to share my faith on a campus with wild animals roaming about. However, to my surprise there are actually some animals that roam around on the campus and this is common because the campus is actually built on a nature reserve. I have seen monkeys come out from the trees and bushes and search through the trash for food. I have heard stores of monkeys stealing your food. That has yet to happen to me, and I hope it doesn’t! So other than the fact that there are not animals running around like crazy, another difference between here and the US is that they drive on the opposite side of the road and the car. The driver is on the right hand side of the car, but driving on the left side of the road. Now that we’ve been here for a few weeks, it feels natural to be on the other side. I must admit that I might be a crazy driver coming back to the States!
I think I have mentioned this before, but the sky is absolutely amazing. I don’t know what it is, it is just stunning, and I cannot look away sometimes! Speaking of the sky… the moon is also different here. When it’s not a full moon, so like a crescent shape, it is upside down, U-shaped and not C-shaped! It’s so cool! I try to capture pictures, but it’s very difficult.
Some other things that are specific to Port Elizabeth, is that it is “The Windy City” and “The Friendly City”. I have experienced both. One day on campus, I could barely walk because it was so windy. They also say that you could experience all 4 seasons in one day! On Thursday this happened. In the morning it was cold and rainy, an hour later there was not a cloud in the sky and no wind, but then the day ended pretty chilly because of the wind and of course more clouds. And I experience the city’s friendliness every day I talk to students on campus. I have not been turned away from a conversation so far and even if they only have 10 minutes before their next class, they still talk and are super open and friendly. I love it!
Almost forgot to mention the food! The food here is good, different, but good. I was actually talking to yesterday to Kyra (see more about her below) and we miss Mexican food. I want a burrito so bad right now, but it’s difficult to find beans and tortillas and chips here! Chips here are French fries, so you can buy a burger and some chips, but no stinkin’ burritos!!! They also have samoosas. Those are tasty! I don’t know what to describe it as. Kind of like a fried thing with stuff in it. I’m very good with my words as you can see! Haha I finally pitched in to buy a French press so no more of nasty instant coffee! Even though it was pretty speedy to make, it wasn’t nearly as tasty as the real stuff!

Let me tell you now a little bit about my team, because they are a huge reason I am enjoying my stay here so much! My roommate is Kayla. She is super sweet and encouraging and we just get each other. Jessica was on Summer Project with me last summer, so we already know that she is pretty awesome. Shannon went to high school with me, it has been so neat to reconnect with her and be here is South Africa with her. Who would have thought that two kids from Templeton would end up in the same country, the same time, on the same Project?!?! Annie is a sweet heart and really funny. We laugh a lot. Cameron is my home girl and I was the first one to make her laugh so hard that she snorted; I like to brag about that to the boys! Dave and Kyra are married and are super chill. I am learning so much from both of them, they make me laugh and they love coffee! We get along well! Dave and Kyra have 3-year old triplets. They are so cute and definitely keep things interesting. Their names are Ellie, Cooper and Paisley. Dave’s mom is also here. Her name is Barbara, but we all call her Aba, because that’s what the trips call her. She is super good at the game Banana Grams, she wins a lot, but is still kind enough to help me spell some words. Jeff is awesome. We have several expressions here about Jeff. Some of them are: “What would Jeff Clay do?” or “Jeff Clay up” (meaning “man up”). So yeah he just rocks. Brandon keeps our team together. While we all are going crazy, he maintains his cool and brings us back to reality. Tyler is a gentleman. Always willing to help and be there and he is pretty cool too. Mitch and Josh kind of fit into a category all on their own! They definitely keep the energy up and keep us laughing. They also like to pick on me A LOT. But its good I guess, I’ve never had older brothers before, but if I did, I imagine that they would be similar to Mitch and Josh. Please pray for our unity as a team. Although there have been very minimal issues, as the time goes on, I can see how prayer would be greatly appreciated. Praise God also for all of these people in my life, including the Trips! They have displayed Jesus to me in multiple ways and I am so grateful for their lives and their stories and for their friendships! Fun fact: we are taking the guys out to dinner tonight in order to appreciate them in all that they do for us, including offering jackets when we weren’t expecting it to be windy and for walking us ANYWHERE we want, without hesitating or complaining and always insisting that a man go with a group of girls somewhere just to make sure we’re safe. They are so sweet! So maybe say a little prayer today around 5pm (SA time) or when you wake up I guess! We will begin our adventure at that time by singing our own version of Justin Bieber to them!

As far as our ministry on campus goes, it has been going very well! We are still meeting new students but at the same time connecting with students that we have already met. We are now in the process of searching for student leaders that can take over and lead the ministry that we leave on campus. If you could pray for our movement here, that would be excellent. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would help us discern leaders and other students that we should invest in, and guide us to those people if we have not already met them. Please pray for the people that we have met. I have been blessed by four girls that I met almost two weeks ago. Their names are Ranesha, Marvalene, Heledene and Vicky. They are all very sweet and kind and hilarious. I enjoy my time that I spend with them. Please pray that through me, the Holy Spirit can help deepen their understanding of the gospel and who God is. Please give some praise to God also, because since I have been here, many of you, I’m sure and others have continued to give financial support and I have reached it, all because of your support and prayers. Praise God also for all the work that He is doing here in and through us. It’s awesome to see how He has led us to certain people and see His name being glorified here.

Thank you again for reading my blogs and keeping up on my life this summer! It has been an encouragement to read some of your comments and know that there are some people far, far away that are interested! I am not promising my blogs to be this long in the future, but I hope you understand. I hope that this gives you some in sight on my life here in PE. If you want to know anything else or want me to expand on some details, let me know so that I have some sort of direction when writing my blog updates!

“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long” –Psalm 25:4-5

One last thing, I promise. My last blog I said how Pastor Kenny was preaching from Galatians about the one and true gospel. Here is that gospel:
“the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins” –Galatians 1:3-4

Church!

Away Brothas, Away Sisters
I think that means hello in Africaans. Haha. So it has been pretty busy around PE, SA. I have less than 8 minutes to post write an update, so bear with me. I think the highlight since my last blog was going to church on Sunday. We went to a Dutch Reform church in the morning which is spoken in Africaans and this guy Ian had to translate for me and a few others. haha. But Sunday night we went to a church that is held on the NMMU campus and it was way different. The Dutch Reform church is very formal... sit for this song and stand for this one and dont clap with the music. But the church on campus was similar to a gospel church. People were singing their hearts out and clappin and dancing. I enjoyed that one... I even picked up on the sway of the people singing! It is awesome to see the same gospel preached across nations! Its all the same. Christ came down to save us from our sins. Period end of story. And I am eternally grateful! :)

First week!

Hey Everyone!
Sorry that I haven't been very good about keeping this blog updated. We don't have a lot of internet accesss here. Anyways... We traveled for over 24 hours to get here and it was a long and tiring trip. We spent about 2 days in Johannesburg (aka Joburg). I think the highlight of that trip was the fact that I ate a catepillar and the people there. They are so kind and hospitable! After that we flew into Port Elizabeth (aka PE). PE is a lot warmer than Joburg. Joburg I think was below freezing and PE feels like summertime back in Cali. It is nice here. We have spent this entire week approaching students on campus and talking to them about the culture and their spiritual and religious backgrounds. My favorite conversation so far was yesterday when my friend Annie and I approached 2 students sitting on a bench. We learned that they are actually twin sisters and are practicing Muslims. They told us about what they believed and we were able to share a little about what we believed as well. What was so great though was that they had never heard of God's love being "free". They believe that they have to earn their way into heaven by doing a ton of good works. So it was awesome to share that we believe that God loves us first, despite our sin and our sinful nature. And then out of God's love we love others and do good works. We don't do good works to earn God's love! It was amazing and so powerful to share that with them. I think that is about all for now. Sorry this is scattered brain and stuff and I feel that it might be rushed, but hopefully you get an idea about what its like here!
Prayer Requests: Please pray for me personally. I have been getting sick the last few days and I don't want it to get any worse than it is right now! I have a sore throat, a minor headache and my sinuses hurt, really bad! Please also pray for my team! They are amazing and I love all of them! But yesterday we discouraged to talk to students and share the gospel. So pray for provision and endurance and strength and courage! Thank you all so much for checking in on this blog and praying and thinking about me and my team! It means a lot! I hope that all is well and that I can update again real soon! Love you
E

Today is the Day!

So here it is. The long awaited July 12, 2010. I am super excited. I am so excited that I woke up before my alarm went off! Which if you know anything about me, you know that I do NOT wake up to my alarm. It usually takes me about the 4th or 5th time for it to go off before I actually roll out of bed. Just ask my roommate! ;) But this morning I was up before it went off! In fact, it just went off about 10 minutes ago.
Anyways, enough about the alarm! Let me share with you some cool things that have happened in the last 4 days or so. First off God is good, so good that He works in weird ways and no matter what always provides! I have received 100% of my goal! I am very, very thankful and speechless.
Yesterday, my friend from work, aka Stacey, aka Thing 2 took me and my sister out to lunch. This picture is of me, Mickey Mouse (our boss) and Stacey. We talked a lot about South Africa and what its going to be like there. Some of our conversation was funny, and some of it we discussed things that I hadn't thought about before so that was helpful. But I am grateful for her friendship and for helping me think through some things while I am there.
Stacey is just one example, but I have been blessed by many friendships in the last year. So this is a shout-out to all my friends that have been by my side and praying for me and helping me get through the tough times. No names to be mentioned here, you know who you are ;)
Ok, well enough blogging for today, I have to finish packing! But before I go some prayer requests: first, let's give a little praise to God for being so awesome and so wonderful for to me! Please also pray for me team, that we will bond, not just as friends, but as brothers and sisters, so that we may accomplish the work that God has prepared for us to do. Also, that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit. That's all I can think of for now, but feel free to pray for whatever the Spirit leads you to pray for! Love you guys! Thanks again!
<3 e

4 days until I meet the team!

Hey Everyone!
Here is my new blog! yay! I attempted to keep a blog last year while I was in Santa Monica, but that sort of failed. This is summer project number 2 and I hope to keep it updated more, especially since I will be half-way across the world, with no cell phone! So here it is: my blog! Please check it when you have a chance, or when you remember. Maybe just bookmark it now so you remember to check it! ;)
So to give you an update, if you didn't already know... I am going to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I will be there for 6 weeks. I meet my team in 4 days and fly out in 6 days. The picture above is part of the team from UC Irvine. Mitch is on the left, then me, Josh and Jeff. Mitch and Josh are students and Jeff is the operations director for the trip. I missed the red shirt memo for this picture, and as you can see we are all a little crazy, but I am positive it will be a blast! I am super excited for the people that I am going with and equally excited for the people that I will meet and encounter on the college campuses we will be visiting!
As far as support goes I am at about 76%, which means I still have about $1200 that I need before Monday! Prayers are greatly appreciated and if you read this in the next few hours or days or even in the next couple of weeks and would like to help me or my team reach our financial goal please let me know. Like, seriously let me know!
Please also pray for my team, the people we will encounter, our health, the rest of our support, that God would guide us, and use us to glorify Him and bring many people to a point of decision.
Thank you in advance for praying for us and being updated with everything that we are doing. If you would like more information on my trip or have any questions, please feel free to contact me or leave me a little message here!
Looking forward to sharing with you all that God is doing in Port Elizabeth!
Much love to all!
Until the whole world hears,
<3 e