Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

I'm jumping on to give an update on the work God is doing in South Africa! We've been here for about a week now, and it has been amazing! We are joining the interns at the ministry, Impact Africa, and I could not be more blessed with a beautiful and nice place to stay and wonderful people to grow in relationship with! While we are in Johannesburg, South Africa, we are essentially interns, so not only do we get to serve throughout the week in amazing ways, we also get to attend discipleship classes and enjoy fellowship! There are 7 interns and 8 of us World Racers.

There are several different ministries Impact Africa does, so far my favorite has been Outreach. We have gone out to Informal Settlements, which are essentially squatter villages, and share the Gospel with those communities! It truly is the most heart breaking thing I've ever experienced, and the first day was very difficult, especially seeing the children living in those conditions! But Impact provides resources in other ways, our job when we go out is to meet their greatest need, which is Jesus. I love just getting to know the people, there is such a hunger for the Lord, and people are willing to talk about him! Over the past week I have just been amazed by how much I've been able to hear and see the Lord work when we give everything to Him and sit at His feet. Yesterday for example, during my quiet time, I prayed that God would give me a story that I could share with someone during outreach if I felt lead. He gave me the story of the paralytic man. Then that afternoon we came up to a big group of kids and ended up deciding to share that story with them. Then right as we are giving goodbye hugs to the children, a man with a cane and an injured back and leg came by, just like the paralytic man in the story! He had unfortunately been drinking, but still talked to us for a very long time, and listened. I don't know all of what God was doing in His heart and what the Lord will use that time for in His life, been I knew the Lord was moving in the conversation as we were able to share the story with him as well and speak truth about who the Lord is to him!

We have also been serving with Impact Students, and we will be serving in Impact Kids and Impact Baby Rescue later this week! But I wanted to highlight why I called this blog "The Joy of the Lord is My Strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). On Sunday we attended an African Church that was a whole new experience for me! The pastor preached a wonderful long sermon in English, but before and after they sung worship songs in Zulu. Although I could not understand the words, we all danced and sang, it was truly a celebration, and the joy of the whole church was overwhelming! We truly got up and danced for Him (Psalm 149:3)! And as we talked to the injured man yesterday, he said that He prayed, but it was clear He did not have a relationship with God. We asked if he felt peace and joy in the Lord and he said he did not. And as we've shared our testimonies in ministry, one of the most powerful things is to share how God has given us true joy in Him! Our strength in ministry and all throughout our lives is the joy we have in our Savior and His faithful character and promises to those who follow Him, go and share that!

There is so much to say! But our team would love prayer for boldness and Gods guidance as we do ministry and that He would remove any spirit of fear within us! You can also pray for each girl on my squad to know and love Jesus deeper, and to remain healthy (we had two girls get sick this past week, but seem to be getting better). And personally I would love prayer for increased faith, peace, and guidance in the Lord each day! Thank you all so much for your support and love! I miss you all!

Love,

Abigail