Hands and Feet of Jesus

Wow, what an incredible trip! I can't believe the week went by so fast. God has done some much through the team already, I can't wait for you all to hear the stories.  

We spent a lot of time last week in the schools here in Worcester. The schools invited us in to meet with there students, and we had the opportunity to minister and pray for so many students. In one of the schools a lone we held an assembly for over 850 kids. Most of the time we met in classrooms though, meeting with the seniors, getting to share different things about life. We really saw God's heart for disciple this nation. God was really putting on our hearts to go deeper into what it means to be a Christian rather than just a pray this prayer kind of message. One of the team members got to speak several times on the importance of education, others spoke on the infinite value and worth that each of them has in Christ,  and for the little kids somebody of our team told hilarious Bible stories.

This weekend we got to take a bit of a break before another busy week. Saturday night we took an evening drive through a Game Park and got to see some crazy animals. We were about 15 from a Rhino!!!! Which was neat, but then.... Sunday we drove into Cape Town to do the whole tourist thing. We spent the morning at Hillsong Church (they just planted a church there) then we drove up Table Mountain over looking all of Cape Town. Then we drove about an hour south to Cape Point. The southern most point of Africa, where got a chance to pray and speak life over the continent looking to the north. One a side note as we were driving out to the point we almost hit an Ostrich that was standing in the middle of the road... no big deal... it's Africa! Then we headed back up the beach at sunset to see if we could see some penguins. By the time we got to the town it had already gotten dark, so we didn't think we would see any penguins since we wouldn't be able to go in the park, and then all of a sudden in the middle of the road was a (FLOCK?) of penguins just waddling along the road. So we went looking for more and found a ton. It was definitely an experience.

This week we really started digging into our work project which is building the soup kitchen. We got the ground leveled out last week, and then this week we have started the actual construction and building. With the support of some local companies, we are building a beautiful, 12 x 26ft  patio with a roof for them to serve between 100 and 150 kids a day. I will make sure I put lots of pictures up for you guys to see.

Thank you so much for your prayers. God is doing such a wonderful thing through this team. We can't wait to tell you all about it.

Karl

ONE WEEK!!!!

Hey Go Team,

Well we have one week, gettin down to the wire and I can barely sit still I am so excited. So I just wanted to give you a quick run down on how the next few weeks of our lives are gonna look. Some of the finer details I will let you know when you arrive but I just wanted to give you an overview of how things are gonna go down.

Ok so...

June 17 You all arrive!!! We will drop you off at your home where you will be staying the evening, let you drop off your stuff, get settled and then we will just hang out for the evening and get to know each other.

June 18 We will meet up at 8:30 in the am and start our briefing. We will be going over some cultural things, learning our Hello's in Afrikaans, spend some time in prayer and worship for the trip as well as getting to know one another.

June 19 We head out to Africa!!! We will fly from Orlando to New York, and New York to Cape town, with a possible stop in Dakar Senegal to refuel. (sometimes they do this, on bigger planes we make the whole trek)

We will arrive in Cape Town South Africa at 4 in the afternoon, where we will be picked up by Fola from Ywam South Africa.

We will then travel by kombi (kinda like a van) up to Worcester South Africa, which is an hour from the Cape Town airport. We will get settled in and do some orientation and rest up for the big days ahead.

June 20 (God willing) if jet lag isn't to bad we will start right away with our ministry. We will be doing a number of different things throughout our time there. Working in what they call "Townships" or "Squatter Camps". These are the Ghetto's set up during Apartheid. We will be working with a number of different Ywam Ministries including building a playground and soccer field for the children, working with some basic medical needs, playing with LOTS of kids, doing some prayer ministry with the people in the community, and doing some different practical work through out the community. 

We will have a couple days off to try to enjoy South Africa a bit as well and then on July 4th we will head down to Cape Town, to fly out and head home.

July 5th we will be arriving in Orlando at 4 in the afternoon, try to get rested after an AWESOME trip, do some debriefing of the things God did in and through us, and then head home to tell everyone the amazing things we experienced God do in South Africa.

I am so excited guys, this should be a really good trip! Ps Check out this video of the first time I was in South Africa, hopefully it inspires you a bit!

http://web.mac.com/taylormaxwell/iWeb/www.taylorandbrittany.com/Videos.html

Karl 

South Africa News

Hey Team,

Many of you have probably seen on the news lately that there has been some violence spreading in South Africa. I wanted to first just let you know, that I am watching the news and US travel warnings very closely, and second challenge you to prayer. 

The violence has been in area's the South African's call Townships. They are little Ghetto's set up during the time of Apartheid (which you will learn about when you get down here). In the Townships there are many refugees from neighboring countries. People from Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and northern countries like Ethiopia. The violence has been targeted at these people groups, because of the anger and frustration that the Black South Africans have towards these people groups. The anger comes from the thought that these people groups are taking jobs and land from South Africans, so the South Africans want to drive them from their country. 

The violence is not directed at westerners, and we will not be in any area's directly affected by the violence. However we will be keeping close watch on the situation and My leadership and I will be praying and deciding how best to move forward for the safety of our team. 

So... What do we do about this!?! This is the exact reason why we are going to South Africa. This country needs the love of Christ!! Their is so much heart ache and struggle in this country. Especially in the Townships, among the Black South Africans and the tribal people. We need to pray for this country. Start impacting the country even before you set foot on African soil by praying for this situation. For the displaced refugees from the neighboring countries, for the South Africans that are causing the violence, for the tension and frustration between the South Africans and foreigners living in their Country. Let this awful situation fuel your passion and prayer for this country, and lets bring the light of Christ to a dark situation! 

Hope you guys are well, I am even MORE excited about the trip now! Pray Pray Pray!!!! If you feel like God is pressing anything on your heart specifically, please email me about it, I would love to know. Thanks team, WE ARE GOING TO AFRICA!!!!

Karl

Places to watch for yourselves and some recent articles,

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/

http://topics.cnn.com/topics/south_africa

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24829539/

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Hey guys, Hope everyone is good. Here is a couple things for you to check out.

This first one is the CIA fact page on South Africa. It is just an overview of the country, people groups, government, and some basic current issues.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html

This second one is a site that I use called Lonely Planet. It is just a brief overview of South Africa as well. 

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/south-africa/

Here is a site for you to see some pictures.

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/South_Africa/

Oh and this is an important one as well. This is the SkyMiles Frequent Flyer miles website. Even if you don't travel much, it would be a good to sign up. You get A LOT of miles from this trip. It is free to sign up, and they collect your miles, to give you free trips. How could you go wrong!!!!! 

http://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_skymiles/index.jsp?t_cc=sm0060

South Africa here we come!!! Hope you guys are well. Email me if you need anything or if there are ways that I can be praying for you. 

Karl

Facebook Group

Join our face book group and stay up to date with all we are doing to prepare for this trip.

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=507313552&k=XVG64VP2VXXMXF1ERF6ZP

South Africa here we come!!

Mercy Trip Team,

I am super excited about the trip this summer. God has been setting up some amazing ministry for us during our trip. I am gonna post a couple of things on this site that hopefully will be helpful to you, while preparing for the trip. I am praying for all of you as God is getting you ready to change the world! Please feel free to contact the office if you have questions or with anything that we can be praying for you. WE ARE GOING TO AFRICA YEAAAAAH!!!! 

Karl