Be Anxious for Nothing – My Journey to Zithulele (Part 1)

Wow. I haven’t seen my keyboard in a while. It’s definitely been too long since I’ve updated anybody on what’s been going on while I’ve been away- actually this is the only time I’ve updated anybody since I left in January. I love writing, but I struggle with knowing what details to include and exclude; and because of that my blogs can turn into books. This one is so important to me that it has 2 parts. Part 1 is kind of a background story, and Part 2 kind of gets deep and personal. I apologize that I’ve let excuses keep me from updating you all on the incredible things that have happened here in South Africa. Now that I’m here, where do I start? 

If you have no idea where I’ve been, my 7 teammates and I left for Jeffreys Bay, South Africa in the middle of January. Our team was originally supposed to serve in Eswatini for 3 months, but because of borders closing due to Covid-19 and other safety complications, our mentors decided to keep us in South Africa. To be honest, I was only slightly disappointed about not going to Eswatini. I was actually so pumped about staying in Jeffreys Bay for 3 months. I was previously placed here with my team from A Squad to serve in partnership with Global Leadership last year, and I was more than happy to serve with this organization again. Also, I think it’s worth mentioning that Jeffreys Bay is a cool beach town, and my soul thrives when I’m near the ocean.

Our first month here we dove into an incredible Bible study program called Veritas. Our team had this huge privilege of really learning how to read and examine the Scriptures in its true context. Our mornings were specifically scheduled to take this program, and our afternoons were scheduled to serve in an after school program called Beats and Books. On occasion, we were able to go evangelize and see people come to the Lord. My heart was getting it’s fill seeing people inviting Jesus into their hearts and trusting in Him as their Savior.

For a month our schedules felt comfortable and organized. The living situation in Global’s beautiful “Mission House” exceeded anywhere we’ve ever stayed on the field. We basically had this whole mission thing in the bag for the next 3 months- or so we thought. If you will, let me give you a short picture of our comfortable little mission life and where it got shot down. 

Here we are incredibly content in our big log cabin containing hot showers, clean bathrooms, nice bunk beds, a beautiful kitchen, WiFi availability, located in a beautiful beach town filled with great restaurants, and only a 10 minute walk to a really nice mall and a grocery store. What a life. 

Now here comes the plot twist. Somewhere in between this perfect setup, our team leader mentions that Global Leadership was in conversation with our mentors back at Adventures in Missions about taking our team to a different part of South Africa for a month. I don’t know if the discussed plan was first mentioned while eating some amazing food at one of the restaurants we went to, or during one of our team times where my mind was just focused on heading to the beach; but somehow I just blew it off thinking it was just an idea being discussed, and that it probably wouldn’t happen. I was deeply mistaken. 

Basically the plans were to take us and 4 of Global’s missionary trainees to a very rural part of South Africa called Transkei. I was definitely anxious about going somewhere I had never even heard of, but the decision to head out to Zithulele on March 1st was final. Rural missions wasn’t new for our team as we previously served in Lesotho last January, but I’m not necessarily an expert at living the rural life, nor was I keen about diving back into it. It may come off as absolutely absurd to some people that someone who gets anxious about new places is involved in a mission program like The World Race, and I would 100% agree with them. I love adventure and the adrenaline that comes with it, but leading up to doing it is always tricky for me because my mind tends to overthink. “What kind of bugs are there?”, is oddly the first thought that enters my mind. I know. I’m such a girl. God really has done a number on me though.

To be continued…