Just a couple of thoughts...

     This has been our first “real” week here in Pretoria, South Africa! Since we arrived last Monday, I have been immersed into a new culture and surrounded by all different kinds of people. South Africa has 11 official languages, which means that their culture is really diverse and rich.  As we walk through the Resident Halls (“the Res”), it’s amazing to hear people communicate using all different languages, oftentimes combining several at a time. 

     My ministry group is made up of Anna Hensley, Erin Evans, and myself, and we will be spending our summer in Inca, a 12-story all girl Res Hall.  God has blessed the ministry work that the CO staff has already done in that particular Res. We met at least 10 girls on our very first day on campus, which was huge because we now have connections to introduce us to the other girls on their hall! Our main goal this week is to further our relationships with them and invite them to Hashtag, our weekly CO meetings.  The girls that have been the most interested in “the Americans” are Tobogo (Left) and Nomsa (Right).

We are praying that these girls are interested in the gospel and will want to meet with us on a weekly basis to talk about the Lord.

On the weekends we take a break from ministry and enjoy South Africa! Last weekend we drove 45 minutes to Johannesburg and went to an Apartheid Museum.  Apartheid was a period of time when segregation was an extreme problem, where black people were kicked out of their towns, transported to areas that weren’t even on the map, and sometimes killed.  It was really hard to read about everything that happened and the torment that people were forced to go through. However, in the last 20 years since Apartheid ended, South Africa has begun to restore itself and move towards racial equality.

Afterwards we went to Soweto, which is the largest township in South Africa (a township is equivalent to a county in the States).  Everywhere you looked you saw streets with houses piled on top of each other.  It wasn’t a very nice part of town, but the people were really nice and excited to see us!  As we waited for our food at a local restaurant (which was just a house that sold food), little kids would run by and blow kisses at us!

I’m excited to see all that God has in store for us this summer! We went to a professional Rugby game yesterday and had about 16 students come from the University! The purpose of events like this is to create shared experiences with the students and build strong relationships with them!

This next week we will meet up with them individually and see where they are spiritually. Please pray that God will continue to open up doors… literally…. And that we will be able to spread his Gospel through out this campus!

- Anna Schuler

Video We Made For The Weekly Meeting

CCP Update 1

Fun video for bible studies

We are shooting videos for the campus bible study on campus called Hashtag! # We are blessed to have Anna Hensley on our team, who is gifted in video editing and will be doing this video for the study tonight. The video theme is based on our experiences this summer and using the term hashtag, #, to make fun of what we have seen this far. In this day and age of twitter, people often talk in terms of #this or #that. So our team thought it would be funny to do a video based on that.  We hope that this video would serve to create a fun environment for the bible study, as well as an environment that will see the authority of scripture as the most important subject of the night.

He is Faithful

The Christian life is not by any means all butterflies, rainbows and happiness. But sometimes, God picks us up from the hard times by blessing us with a day filled with His faithfulness... Complete with the butterfly and rainbow package. That day was today. 

Monday and Tuesday was a little difficult for me. I miss Georgia, and the enemy has been tempting me to believe that God isn't going to effectively use me this summer. It's so easy to lose trust that our God is a faithful God. Not a kind of faithful God, but a really. faithful. God. I told Jesus that I really want to trust Him, even though it is so hard. Please read about how He encouraged me today.

It is Wednesday, May 21st which means a lot of things to me. It means that I have been in South Africa for ten days, that we are midway through the first "real" week of our trip, and that tonight was the first Bible study in Zinnia, the residence hall I'm doing ministry in. I cannot believe that it has already been ten days. We are so very very busy every day that it has been flying by! 

Every morning we wake up early, eat breakfast, get ready, and meet in the living room by 8:00. We have sharing  and prayer time for about thirty minutes followed by breaking up to have our own personal time with God. After that, we always have some form of training; followed by lunch; followed by either hanging out, planning a Bible study, communicating with family, or reading a book! Then, at 2:30, we load up the van and head to campus. This week, we have been packing a lunch and staying in our Res's until 8:00pm. It's been a bit exhausting, but God has been using it.

When we arrive at Zinnia, the first challenge is always getting into the building. Only the residents have a key, so we have to strategically wait to run in after a resident's coming or going. Once we get in, we knock on doors and introduce ourselves. There are twelve floors in Zinnia. We have been working our way down since Friday, and today, we made it all the way through! Not every one answers the door, but we have talked to over twenty girls. We are meeting everyone we can, getting our faces and names out there, and beginning to build relationships. This week we have been inviting people to Bible study. Campus Outreach South Africa has never done ministry in Zinnia, so none of the girls have ever heard of it. We had no idea what to expect to happen at the Bible study. I've been praying all week that God would help me to trust Him with the outcome, even though it is very hard for me. I often think that sharing the Gospel is all up to me. Today, I felt peace that He would provide. The Lord answered my prayer so beautifully. 

We got to campus at 3:00 today and went to a room of new girls. There were three of them: Thando, Thulisile, and Ayanda. We had a pleasant conversation with them, followed by Whitney and I giving them an invitation to our Bible study. The conversation was short, and I didn't think they would come. Following that, we went to the room of two girls we met our very first day in the Res last Thursday, Claire and Niria. We had our first spiritual conversation! It was beautiful. We talked about lots of things, one being how crucial it is to spend time with God. I think they are believers. Hopefully our conversation was an encouragement to them as it was to us. (They also gave us delicious coffee... What a sweet bonus!) I've been praying all week to have our first big conversation about Jesus in the dorm rooms. God answered that prayer so faithfully.  

At 8:00, Whitney and I went back to Zinnia after some dinner (because of Bible study starting at 9:00, we went home for dinner this time). We met with Nammy (Staff) and Bridget, one of the student leaders for CO here in Pretoria. We talked about the Bible study and how we would all work together to make it happen. We all co-led under the direction of Nammy. We wish to get the girls we meet plugged in with Nammy and the student leaders so that after we come back to the States they will have a place to grow. We had no idea what to expect, but Whitney and I prayed that we would praise God if no one came, if everyone did, or inbetween. 

We texted 36 girls that we have met, and invited them. 

5 of them came to the Bible study. 

Praise Him!! Five girls to the first Bible study there has ever in that building. We prayed for all 36, but God wanted just Came, Adrienne, Namonde, Kyly, and Thulisile to be there. I'm so grateful. 

The study was about "investigating Jesus". For example one of the paragraphs in the study we used read: "It is not until a person commits themselves to Jesus through repentance and faith that they actually become a Christian and begin an eternal relationship with Jesus. This investigation is designed to help you personally evaluate Jesus' words and life so that you may personally evaluate your own life." 

We talked about how you can't just read the scriptures, go to church, or grow up in a Christian culture. To be a Christian, you have to commit your life to Jesus. 

The Lord was glorified tonight! Please pray for Whitney and I, as it is our job to follow up with these girls and talk in more depth. I think that it would be a blessing for you to join me in prayer for the names I mentioned above, or maybe pick just one girl to be praying for. 

After the Bible study, I looked at the phone I am using for South Africa and saw a text from Adrienne. It read: "Hi. I just wanted to thank you for introducing me to this wonderful journey to "investigate" God. I really hope to learn a lot from you guys over the next few weeks. Hope you have a lovely evening." 

How encouraging. God faithfully answers our prayers. He loves us so very much, and He is worthy of being trusted!! 

Today, I learned that deeper than I ever have before. 

Blessings, 

Kelley

Kissin' Kotas

What’s up what’s up. Howzit. Sawubona. Shap shap. Hello. Here’s a look at some of the things we got to experience in the past week…

We ate some kotas in Soweto which is usually some sort of meat and chips (fries) in a bread wrap sort of thing. They were delicious, especially the meat they called Russian. This is a picture of Kelley making out with a Russian. She kissed it before every bite.

This a picture (taken by Anna Hensley) of all the girls including Nammy and a local guy. There were also some kids playing soccer in the streets. Siyanda says these kids will grow up to be better than Lionel Messi.

This is a picture of me blowing by everybody in touch rugby. Some of the names I heard people call me were: the cheetah, freight train, the untouchable (but not because of my socioeconomic status), and ball hog.

Check you later!

- Matt

Ministry News

Jesse and I led a Bible study tonight in Kiaat. Siyanda's been leading one the past few weeks this semester, and he gave us the privilege to lead tonight's. Our topic was "True Christianity,"so we talked a lot about loving God on a daily basis in everything we do. We went through the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-40 and how we need to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We covered Ephesians 2:1-5, how we are dead in our sins, but we are made new in Christ.  Our response to this is living for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:15). Then we went through the parable of the great banquet in Luke 14 which gives us an illustration of how God invites us to partake in His righteousness for eternity, yet we make excuses, and therefore aren't loving Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind. We must be like the poor, crippled, and beggars who know they need Christ and won't pass up the opportunity to be with Him.

It was really cool to lead this Bible study. It went pretty well, and there was a fair amount of participation. Thirteen guys showed up, including one guy who had never been before. Ministry's been really good thus far in Kiaat. We've only been doing it for a few days, but we've met a lot of guys, and I can see a lot of potential for growth this winter. The girls have had success too in their res's. They've met tons of new girls and have had girls show up to their Bible study who they didn't think would. Keep praying for us and the students at TUKS, and we hope to see the Holy Spirit really move here in Pretoria.

- Matt

Left to right: Matt, Mkhize, Siyanda, Vince, and Jesse

Orientation, Culture, Campus... Our First Week!

Well, we have completed our first week here in Pretoria. It has been a great week filled with a new culture, new experiences, and a new family for the next seven weeks. It has also been a pleasure for all of us to get to know the CO staff here in Pretoria: Jeff and his wife Kris, Siyanda, Nammy, and Mpho. It is so sweet to see their hearts for God to be glorified here at TUKS in Pretoria. Thanks to the staff's help, we are getting acclimated to this new city quite well.

     During orientation, we learned about the culture and more about the job we will be doing this winter (summer back home, of course). During orientation with the CO staff, we toured Pretoria a little bit, ate at a couple of restaurants, and went grocery shopping. This is my first time out of the U.S. and I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to the culture, the big picture is the same. People are still people (and all people need Jesus), but it is the many little differences that make this place seem so foreign. Here is a list of some fun differences I have noticed so far: 

The team and I are shocked to see cars driving down the road with no driver, before we remember that the driver's seat is what we are used to as the passenger's seat. The seat difference along with driving on the left side of the road is very difficult to get used to. I keep continuously thinking we are on the verge of getting in a car accident because of turns other drivers make that seem horribly wrong. When I sat up front on my birthday, I felt like I needed to be driving. (The guys on our team: Pascual, Matt, and Jesse; are the only ones to be driving during our trip. They have had driving lessons the past two mornings and are doing a great job thus far.) 

When we rode from the Johannesburg airport to our house in Pretoria, the speed limit signs read "120". We all freaked out about the insanely high speed until we realized it was kilometers per hour, not mph like we are used to.

There are a lot more people begging in the streets than I have ever seen in Atlanta. 

The cars are mainly brands I completely recognize such as Hundai, Toyota and Ford. For me, that was a surprise. There are also a few brands of cars I've never seen before. 

It feels as if I'm at the beach because all of the trees are so tropical. They are also very short! 

Every single house has a large gate with very sharp points at the top, along with an electric fence above the gate. In the States, we have gates or fences for decoration and slightly for protection. Here in Pretoria, a sharp gate with an electric fence is crucial for safety. I have yet to see a home without this protection. Here is a picture of our gate:                 

On the nutrition facts, instead of "calories" it says "energy". Isn't "energy" much more appealing? 

South Africans call traffic lights "robots" 

The trunk of the car is called the "boot" of the car. 

"Lekker" is a very trendy word used for awesome, cool, etc. for example, "that movie was lekker!!!" 

I have not met a South African who only speaks one language. There are multiple languages being spoken all the time! Everyone speaks English. 

People here call gas "petrol". Also, at the "petrol" stations, there are attendants. You never pump your own "petrol". 

Although I'm sure that many of you reading are aware of these things, but the above are just a few of the fun things we as a team have found to be different here in South Africa.

What is more important than the fun orientation period is that we had our first two days in the Res's this week. Whitney Zorn is my ministry partner, and the two of us will be working in the Zinna Women's Res during our time here in Pretoria. Zinnia's mascot is tinkerbell, and the first years are called "Pixies". We are open to whomever the Holy Spirit leads us, but we are hoping specifically to get to know and share with the "Pixies" of this building. Campus Outreach is not very well known throughout this res, so Whitney and I will be building relationships and hopefully starting an investigative Bible study... Or as I like to call it, "Bible doing"- discussing God's Word and how we can actually live it out. So far we have met several girls and we would love for you to join us in prayer that their hearts would see God's light in us and be drawn to HIM.

The other Res's we will be working in are the Kiaat Men's Res and the Incca Women's Res. Matt and Jesse are in Kiaat while Anna, Erin, and Anna will be in Incca. Please be praying for Kiaat, Incca, and Zinnia. Pray that the Holy Spirit fills the halls of these Res's and that Jesus would show these students that He is here to meet them wherever they are... That at any moment they can drop their nets and follow Him. 

Thinking of the possibility of students coming to know Jesus this Winter reminds me of when I gave my life to Him. I get emotional remembering how far I was from God and how much I didn't want Him. He found me in my desperation and weakness and showed me that He is a God of healing and forgiveness. I now can say that I have a personal relationship with The Ultimate Healer, The Perfect Lover, Friend, and Father! And... it has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with Him. Oh, how I long for others to find this Love. 

Thank you for your prayers. 

Blessings! 

Kelley Delchamps

     -Kennesaw State University

Butterfly

It's been an amazing experience so far in South Africa. When I started working full time on the college campus with Campus Outreach in August 2013, I never imagined that I would be here this summer. God had a plan even greater than what I could even ask or think.

Today a colorful butterfly just landed on the page of my composition book while we were sitting outside on the grass in the courtyard of the church, and I thought it was beautiful and a unique thing to happen. Then, the longer it just sat there, the more I thought about how in the past God has used the butterfly to speak to me as an illustration of freedom. The butterfly is initially just a caterpillar enclosed in a cocoon while it grows and develops, and when it is ready, it comes out as a beautiful butterfly with wings to fly. This is a picture of the awesomeness of God's creation, and of how He has and is working in my life and heart. Many times I just want to stay enclosed in the safety of a cocoon where I don't have to face fears or discomfort. But God has already given me beautiful wings to fly through His grace of Jesus Christ's sacrifice for me to be set free from sin and to be made alive in Christ. I have the freedom to be myself, to not be bound by what man thinks, to be a light for Christ. This small butterfly landing on my page gave me encouragement for the day to walk in His Spirit. God has given me wings; I just have to let go of the cocoon and use them!

Meet the Team!

For some of you this might be your first opportunity to meet all who are on our ministry team this summer or winter, as it is winter here in South Africa.   So let me take the time to introduce you to our 2014 Cross Cultural Project Team!  Pictured above from top to bottom, left to right:

Top Row

Erin Evans - North Georgia College & State University (NGCSU)

Matt Williams - Georgia Tech (GT)

Hannah Hawkins - Staff

Anna Hensley - Univ. of Georgia (UGA)

Jesse Baker - GT

Pascual Thedford - Staff, Project Director

Bottom Row

Kelley Delchamps - Kennesaw State Univ. (KSU)

Whitney Zorn - NGCSU

Anna Schuler - NGCSU

Sharon Thedford - Staff, Pascual's wife

First Campus Prayer morning

Good Morning!!! We are blessed this morning to have our first campus prayer time. We are meeting with student leaders from the campus of TUKS Univ. of Pretoria. We are praying for salvation to come to the campus and for God to move.  Every Friday we will be praying for the campus.  So pray for us and with us that God would move on the campus to save souls.

Sneak Peek into our Summer Together!!!!

Greetings and welcome to our blog for our Cross Cultural Project(CCP) this summer in South Africa!  We will be sharing the gospel of Christ on the campus of the University of Pretoria.  Watch the video above to get a visual of some of the many great experiences we will have this summer.  Pray for us that God would grant us boldness to share the gospel of Christ.