On my experience in Quest having the ability to travel to South Africa was a huge impact on my life. My dream in life was to travel the world to see different cultures and God has blessed me to do that very thing. A totally different culture than what I was used too. Realizing how incredibly lucky we are to have the ability to do things here in America. In South Africa I learned many things like being grateful for my family and things I have. I met so many amazing people in SA that have just fulfilled my heart to see how happy they are with what they have especially with God. Seeing God work through me this week being the out going kid I am God has given me the ability to speak with many people going through different situations in life and one person has stuck out the most. His name was Angus. With the talk Angus and I shared a quick testimony with each other with the struggles we have in our lives and he made me realize that I may struggle with temptations in life but God gives me the strength to get away and overcome these temptations. God is my foundation and without him I don't know where I would be without him. I know this is just the beginning of what God has in store of me. I thank God for this amazing experience and the new friends I have met that I can say that they are officially my family.
Quest has been an amazing journey, never in a million years would I have thought that God would take me to South Africa. South Africa was a beautiful country with beautiful people. I was able to see their culture and how they worship God; it was absolutely amazing to hear them sing in Zulu when they worshipped. For me, when people worship God in a different language it amazes me, because God is being glorified and proclaimed with every tongue. I saw God work in South Africa in many ways, but what really stood out to me was when we went to a church that was barely constructed. This touched me to see how much love they have for Christ, because the church isn’t a building but it is the people. God can be worshipped anywhere and it doesn’t need to be in a fancy building, and that’s what I saw. God was being praised in a church that was half constructed. “For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them” Matthew 18:20. Experiencing God at work in South Africa was unforgettable. My team was by no means especially talented at sharing the gospel, and yet God used our humble efforts to touch hearts everywhere. It was astounding to watch God use something as simple as a hug or a smile, to share an infinity of love with a complete stranger. Even though technically we were the ones evangelizing, God's faithfulness and love overflowed from the churches of South Africa, and it's their passion and dedication that encouraged me the most. God is surely alive in South Africa, and I'm just thankful he allowed me witness it. This quest experience has showed me what kind of leader I am and how I serve God to my fullest. This trip has also made realize how thankful we all need to be for what we have. Seeing the kids in schools with torn up buildings and churches without roofs was heartbreaking but I realized how thankful and blessed I am to be able to have a safe protected school and church building and food and water on the table everyday. Thank you for supporting Q19 through prayer, giving and encouraging words. We have returned and now asking God to continue to transform us to be more like Jesus in our everyday life.
We will share personal reflections here over the next few days. Please check back. A highlight slide show is on the HOME page. For the last two days we have been working with the community and having fun. Monday morning, we went to paint a basketball court at a school and we went prayer-walking. Later on that night, we split into three groups to do individual jobs. Tuesday was tourist day. In the morning, we went to a reptile zoo. We got to see crocodiles, alligators, tourtists, turtles, and snakes. We got to play with some of the animals. At the zoo, there was a Zulu performance that taught us about their culture. Later on, we went to the beach and went souvenir shopping. After that we went to a local youth center to play basketball with some of the boys. Not only were we able to meet them and play basketball, but we were able to share some of our testimonies and hear some of theirs. We were also able to meet a technician that was really passionate about God and he was really excited to meet us and talk about his testimony. The past two days have been wonderful life changing experiences and we were so blessed to have the opportunity to be able to do what we done. We'll talk to you when we talk to you.
Parents, youth leaders, mentors and pastors please RSVP for Saturday's return Celebration. The celebration begins at 11:30 and will conclude by 2:00. A lite lunch will be provided. The Celebration will take place at the Rice Memorial Church directly in front of the BCNE building, 87 Lincoln Street, Northborough, MA.
RSVP to [email protected] with your name and number attending. The last two days have been fun! Yesterday we went to two rural areas in northern South Africa and shared our testimonies and growth stories to over 200 kids. We served food to the kids and teens that were attending those two locations. It was eyeopening to see how happy these kids were with just a hot dog or bologna sandwich. We got to learn some traditional South African dances as well as teach them some American dances. We also got to meet a new friend Kenneth who was struggling in his faith and told us that just being with young people really inspired him to come back to his faith. He ended up spending the rest of the day with us and translating at different places.
Today we spend the early morning at Westville Baptist serving with the Sunday school program. We got to share bible stories with toddlers and children. We then drove to Lamountville Baptist Church, one of Westville Baptist planted Zulu churches. We got to experience how the Zulu culture does worship which was amazing! After the service we were blessed with a meal. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with our hosts Deb & Barry and went to Westville Baptist at night to join them for their night service. It has been a long ride, but we arrived last night, after spending a night in the beautiful country of Qatar! Deb and Barry are out host family in SA and they are so welcoming! We already feel like we've known them for years!
We all have been stretched this first full day. We woke up this morning @6 and head straight out to a few Primary Schools on the South Coast. We were able to play games, sing songs, and love on beautiful children! We meet new friends Chris and Michelle who took us around South Coast where we were able to learn about townships and plenty of other things we didn't know about. After Chris and Michelle made us a traditional South African Indian dish called Bunny Chow! This was Delish! After this we headed back to Westville where we met the Youth of Westville Baptist Church, about 130 kids deep. We played games, sang songs, and then our very own Kelly gave a message to the youth talking about prayer. By the time we arrived home it was about quarter to 11 and we are all beat, but it was worth it. We are up again bright and early so its time to go till tomorrow! South Africa Team has departed Boston and Q18 is officially in travel mode. Four teams will be on planes in four directions over the next day and half. Join the journey, pray along! Hawaii Team leaves for the airport at 3:15 AM.
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