some pictures from cape town

A Christmas message from South Africa

welcome to Cape Town

Yesterday my friends and I drove the 7 hour journey to Cape Town from Plett. Driving was fairly smooth. We passed through many sites from wine country to beaches to mountains. Please notice the photo from behind the Volkswagen van with the little boy sleeping in the back window....only in Africa. The second photo down is from the bay in Simonstown where we are staying in Cape Town. This is the view out of my top window every morning! how amazing is that?!

Cape Town temps are in the mid 70's and its just a great place to relax after some intense outreach from the past two weeks. Riley and I ate at this great cafe today in Fish Hoek called Cafe on Main. I had the egg benedict roayale which just added some salmon to it....it was to die for.

I hope all of you are enjoying family and friends for Christmas. It has been a great joy to be with my friends here in Cape Town. We have shared lots of laughs and great food already with more great times to come...talk to yall soon

-TAE

end of Plett

Today was our final full day in Plettenberg Bay. Over the past few days we have had some great ministry on the beach. A few nights ago night we joined a few hundred other people from town on the beach to sing Christmas carols....it was just awesome. Tomorrow some friends and I will leave for Cape Town to stay with some friends of mine from my Vail days. I will be reuniting with some great fellowship from that 2006-2007 ski season.

Today we ventured up the road to Keurbooms Beach where they had some pretty amazing rocks and natural arches. The waves were amazing and the water was soooo cool but refreshing. Here are some pictures from our time there today.

I hope yall are enjoying the snow today and happy birthday to my great friend Jonathan Edward Small!

pictures will be coming soon from Christmas and all the fun in Cape Town. Prayers are welcomed as we continue to travel around this beautiful country and enjoy our holiday break...May the Spirit prepare our hearts for soaking in His presence this holiday season and preparing us for the year of ministry to come. See yall soon -TAE

update from plett

Hey yall. Plett is beautiful. Its amazing how the mountians run right to the sea here in South Africa.

As far as ministry goes we are in full swing and impacting many people everyday here. Last week was basically beach week for the seniors of South Africa's high school's and many, like America, go to the beach to celebrate and party. With our basic schedule of getting to the beach around 10am and running pick up soccer tournaments and volleyball clinics in the morning followed by a big formal volleyball tournament in the afternoon the days are filled with opportunity to talk to the lost about what a relationship with God is like.

Today I gave my testimony in front about 50 people in our afternoon tournament. We usually have someone introduce AIA and then give a short testimony of how God has impacted their life. I shared briefly that we dont have to work at getting to heaven and that God aims to give us the desires of our heart through a personal relationship with Him. I furthered explained that even though I went through a tough divorce in my family God has helped me to live the greatest life and guarantees me eternal life forever through His word...Our great God has declared us righteous when we accept his Son Jesus.

here are some pics from our last few days including ultimate frisbee and lunch on my birthday! here also is a pic of one of my great new friends i have met here named Jono. He had a bit of a volleyball collision on our second day on the beach and has the eye to prove it. it was great to celebrate my birthday here in SUMMER here but i miss my family and friends from home and I miss the snow!!! keep in real at home yall.

some photos from the drive and here in Plett

day 1 from from plettenberg bay

so my internet here in plett is suuuper slow. so pictures will be coming when i can get some fast internet.

Day 1 here went well. We outreached to hundreds of high school and college students on the beach through volleyball. I dont think I have ever played that much vb in one day. The sun was out and shining and my calfs got mad sunburn! Praise the Lord for After sun aloe.

We will hit the beach running tomorrow with kids outreach in the morning followed by the adult tournament and testimony in the afternoon...someone shares there testimony before we begin playing. Tomorrow I will be speaking before the testimony on the background of AIA. Not too much of a talk that is but its important because we want people to check out more on the website and ask more about what we do as a ministry.

yall take care! goodnight from africa

the road to plett

So we have arrived safely after a 15 hour road trip to the southwest. We are staying at a methodist church and we are very hungry and about to chow down on some african dish. pictures from the journey will be up soon!


thanks for all your prayers! - TAE

off to Plettenberg Bay

Tomorrow morning at 4am local time myself and 20 others begin a 14-hour road trip to Plenntenberg Bay for a 2 week mission with Athletes in Action. We will be doing beach outreach through sport tournaments and clinics at this holiday destination for the next 2 weeks. I ask you for your prayers as we embark on this journey that God will accomplish His will through our teammates and that we will not stand in the way of that.

I hope all of you northern hemisphere people are having a great cold winter with snow and good times. I miss the weather there because its just not the same here with temps near 85 in December!

Pictures from Plett will be coming soon. Here is a picture of one of the Dirks' kids Cor. They are the family I have been staying with for the last month and after the holiday i will be leaving them...so sad but its time to move on and make more of South Africa my home(shoot..I even got an air mattress today for anyone who wants to come visit!).


I will leave you all with a great quote from one of my favorite leaders in the church....

'“The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you.”

- Timothy Keller

All I Need

so this music video doesnt have much to do about africa but it is a pretty powerful video. It shows an average day of two kids and rolls the clips simultaneously to make its point...incredible. The music is great too.. 'All I Need" - by Radiohead

An African Thanksgiving

This past Sunday many people connected with AIA here in Johannesburg came together to celebrate the American Thanksgiving. It was great to envision myself back home through food and fellowship. We cooked most of your usual dishes from mashed potatoes to turkey to even an African version of pumpkin pie that was made by a Bulgarian! I even made a dish....and people liked it! haha. IT was an Apple and Cranberry casserole...yes just take a second and imagine the goodness seeping out of that dish. it was yummy. Thank you to my Momma for the recipe!

Speaking of different nationalities represented we have people here from: America, South Africa, Canada, Bulgaria, and Zimbabwe.

One of the things I am most thankful for is that the body of Christ doesnt change wherever I go in the world. You have great people who are pursuing Jesus with their lives over here too and to share in a great meal with these new friends was just awesome.

back at em!

most of you in america wouldnt believe that there is a Mac store 15 minutes away from where I am staying here in SA but there is. Thanks to a cool dude named Dimitri my computer is fixed and I am up and running again.

A huge prayer request is that we are cooking a thanksgiving meal for about 20 people here tomorrow and as of this moment we dont have power at the house due to a storm so lift that up.

I am jealous of all of you who have the ability to watch college football today! you stinkers! Go FSU and go UVA~!!!!

here is a picture from a few days ago...only in Africa...ITS A BABY LION CUB...not a golden retriever! hahaha love you momma!

man down

so the internet here in South Africa is nuts. You pay for how much you use in downloads so for example Skype calls take more space since they use video. maaaan is it frustrating!

at the moment my internet is down and i am borrowing other peoples internet. Prayers for my modem being fixed and that my computer would be working properly are welcomed.


My November newsletter prints today and should be out in the mail this week.

yall take care! goodnight from Jozi...

I found a place!

God has answered an enormous prayer as I found a place to live starting on January 1 2010. Its a huuuge praise because I wanted a place where I could trust the people I am staying with and with this place I can... Most places here in SA have a cottage connected to a larger house where families live and that is exactly what I will be set up in. This place is a one bedroom but with a living room as well. It was a connection that the staff couple with AIA had here with some firend from church. The place is located in a very trendy part of Joburg called Greenside. I am going over to this family's place on Monday night for dinner to get to know them beyond my first meeting to see the place so I hope to have some pics up at some point of where I will be staying.

Just to clarify I am not getting a place to stay until Jan because I am gone most of December in the Cape doing a beach mission in Plettenberg Bay with about 20 other people with Athletes in Action. The family I am staying with currently says its a-ok to stay here until that mission starts on Dec. 8 so I will just wait to move in until after the new year and save some money.

thank you for your prayers and continued support. I am trying to get out my November prayer letter this week so be looking for that soon. take care!

FC AK

This week has honestly been so filled with the Spirit...its awesome to see how God has paved a path here even before I have come.

There is a 2nd division pro team here called FC AK. I am not sure what the AK stands for in their name BUT I have trained with them twice this week and helped out with Bible Study on Tuesday where we are going through our identity in Christ. And acutally in training I have held my own and made some decent saves as I am playing goalkeeper!

Here is a picture from my first FC AK game this past Saturday where I attended with a players family. This player is named Elasto and he is the captain and originally he is from Zim(zimbabwe). Elasto helps out quite a bit with AIA here in Joburg too. He has a great vision to reach his teammates for Christ that I now get to be a part of by training with them and helping lead the team Bible Study.

Prayers are welcomed for this great opportunity with FC AK of Johannesburg. Here are some pictures from the game on Saturday. FC AK is in the white and orange.

Sunday in Joburg

760 Windsurf Street

hey yall...just wanted to give you a quick look at where i am staying for the month. This house is owned by the Athletes in Action national director, Chris Dirks. He is soooo gracious for letting me stay here for the first month while I find a place of my own. I am off to look at a place tomorrow evening even...praise!

outreach in Pretoria and planning

A few days after arriving myself and two other members of the AIA Staff team here partnered with Campus Crusade to do an outreach at the Beam Orphanage in Pretoria. It was an incredible time to participate in Bible Study with some of the older men and help them dive through Romans 8. We also played sports with the children there before lunch including netball, basketball, and some soccer.

Before arriving at the orphanage our car had a flat tire so I changed my first TYRE here in Africa. Tire is actually spelled TYRE here! isnt that just nuts!

We have been planning this week and its exciting to see what types of ministry opportunities God has entrusted to us here. We are in a bit of a break now because it is the beginning of the students summer break which will last until mid January. Once the new year rolls around we will be having team meetings with the various sports teams at the University of Johannesburg to tell them what Athletes in Action is about and invite them to our kickoff Braai(bbq) and subsequent large group meetings. I will be working 2 days on campus when school gets back and the other 3 days I will be working with some of the local pro teams. There is a goalkeeper, Wayne, who plays for the Platinum Stars of the ABSA Premiership here that I have been assigned to disciple. So I look forward to getting to know him as soon as I can. Also I will be working with a second division team FC AK and I hope to train with them as well sometime soon. That team is lead by Elasto who is one of our associate staff members and a solid believer with a great vision to reach his teammates for Christ.

some things to be praying for:
-a place to live that is furnished (they are hard to come by)
-planning for the World Cup next June...we will be doing that tomorrow.
-that the Spirit would continue to lead our ministry team and that our focus as we plan would not be on what WE can do but what HE can do

safe in South Africa!

I landed yesterday in South Africa and was picked up by two AIA'ers at the airport here in Johannesburg. My second flight was great. I had the chance to converse with an Indian man named Anu for a good bit of the flight who was headed to Joburg on business. I shared with him why I was headed to SA and I pray that I planted some seeds in his life.

Today I woke up about 9:30am local time and for the most part I slept fairly well. I did wake up for about an hour in the middle of the night but anothe Ambien knocked me out! (thanks Dad).

today I will be waiting on my second bag as one didnt arrive but will be here later today and I will be getting some time with Chris Dirks who is the AIA Director here in SA. We had a good chat last night and we will be out meeting people today most likely.

thank you all for your prayers and support. I will be back on the blog to update you all again as soon as I can!

Throwing of all that hinders...

Dubai babaaaaay

I arrived in Dubai safely this morning after a 12 hour flight from New York. I couldnt have asked for a better flight really. I actually was sitting at the window and neither of the 2 seats next to me were taken so when I slept about 4-5 hours of the flight I was laying flat...how about them apples! I also watched Goal!III (a cheesy soccer movie), read some from Phillipians 3 and started a new book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan...which is a grrreat book so far.

As we flew over Iraq this morning I thought about my brother John and the sacrifice he made to serve a year there with the US Marines. He is a baller. And I really cant imagine what a year like would be away from family and in the face of danger everyday. I am so thankful that guys like my brother will go anywhere to protect our freedom.

So I have one more flight to Johannesburg. I will be arriving around 10:15am EST Tuesday. I hope I can hop on my computer again and update my blog once I settle in to let yall see some photos from there. Thank you for each one of you reading this. May His truth go out to all nations...

An Iraqi sunrise....

here is the sunrise from my window. This picture was taken just south of Baghdad and as you can see one of the oil flames in the distance.

leaving new york...

well I just saw Al Gore board the flight so maybe since he invented the internet there will be free wireless! ha.

I am waiting to board my second flight from New York to Dubai and Im anxious to get on the plane and see how good or bad my seat is. I am on a window so I think thats a good thing since this is the longest of my 3 flights at 12 hours.

God has allowed me this morning to have some great conversations with friends and family as its the last chance to call them before I go. It has been great to pray with them as well. And this morning it was a great goodbye with my dad. He prayed for me and we had a great conversation full of confidence in what God is going to do. I am so blessed to have a great dad who loves the Lord with all he is and who supports me 120% with what I am doing with Athletes in Action.

here is a live look from my camera of the aircraft I will be flying in this morning

at the airport!

It was no coincidence that when I arrived at Richmond's Byrd International Airport this morning that Toto's "Africa" was playing over the sound system. I think it was a great reminder for me from the Lord that God is here. Right here in this airport and there is a journey He is taking me on that didn't just begin today but a long time ago before I even knew He loved me.

What is most amazing is that I am blessed by His grace to be able to take a step in to a deeper part of my relationship with Him by going to South Africa. There are many challenges immediately facing me in this year such as working with new people, becoming acclimated to a new culture, and turning Johannesburg in to my new home. But I know that with Christ this is all possible to achieve this and so much more.

On my way to New York City to catch the next flight...

a new look

I have redesigned the website to make it look for Africa-like. I hope yall enjoy the new look. 10 days until I leave!

October 26th!

This morning I recieved confirmation from the AIA team in South Africa that the 27th was a great day to arrive and so I booked my ticket soon after their email response. I will be leaving from Richmond on the morning of October 26th then heading to New York then Dubai and finally Johannesburg. I am excited to arrive and begin serving others and building in to lives in South Africa.

My first newsletter will be coming soon...

WOW I have reached my support goals!

My friends that is no typo in the title of this post. I have reached the target amount to leave for South Africa! I will be purchasing my plane ticket very soon and getting my visa together. All of this is so exciting and none of it would be possible with out your prayers and support!

I am so thankful for each of you...because we we are going on an incredible journey together. I will be sending my first prayer letter soon before I leave!

Johannesburg and the ministry team await...

up to 81%!!!

God is so great. I came back home today after being gone and the Lord has provided more support in the mail! I currently sit at 81% raised. I am getting things together for my visa as I near the point where I will buy a plane ticket and submit my visa to the South African embassy. I look to press forward and go further in the support raising process.

Thank you for checking in with me. I hope everyone reading this is living in view of God's mercy. Have a great night!

72.95%

I have been humbled over the past month learning that support raising is really about the journey you take with God. He has revealed alot to me about myself recently that has helped me gain wisdom as I move forward to my goal.

It has been great to see such gracious giving over the past couple weeks from people like college friends, parents of former teammates, and random strangers. I press on now moving very close to my goal of full support. Currently I sit at at 72.95% and only just last week I was at 62% so God has willed me closer and for that I am very thankful.

A teammate of mine Riley, pictured in the last post, leaves tomorrow for South Africa to join our team. Prayers for her as she leaves and transitions in to the ministry team in SA would be appreciated!

Still looking at an October departure as a reality....more news to come soon!

STINT Breifing

I am in the Denver airport waiting for my flight back home to Virginia and I just had one of the most incredible weeks of my life. This past week at Copper Mountain Resort Campus Crusade and all its ministries, including Athletes in Action, gathered to train all the individuals going abroad for the coming year in areas such as: what its like to share your faith in the country you are going to, how to resolve team conflict, and how to love your ministry team. As for attendance at this briefing in Colorado there were about 5 people specific to the ministry of Athletes Action among 200 some others with Campus Crusade.

It was an amazing week to get to know so many others giving a year of their life to go and share Jesus with the Nations. There are two people in particular at the briefing that impacted me in a tremendous way...

Riley Wogamon is on staff with Athletes in Action. She played soccer at Syracuse and like me was a goalkeeper. Riley and I will be on the Johannesburg team together doing ministry with a few others in the athletic communities of South Africa. She is an awesome person and it was just great to get to know her and I so look forward to serving alongside with her. We shared our visions for reaching the lost athletes in South Africa and it is just mind blowing to know that our great God is preparing in advance so much for us there in Joburg.

Barrett Grant is a life long friend from Forsyth, Georgia. Our dads attended their residency programs together in Roanoke, Virginia back in the 80's. Barrett and I are 4 years in age apart but that didnt stop God from aligning us together here in Colorado as he is leading a ministry team with Crusade in Durban, South Africa. It was amazing to catch up with him and see how God has matured him. I am so excited to be serving just a few hours north of him next year and I am sure our paths will align in our time abroad. His team going to Durban includes many students from all over the southeast. We met several times in breakout sessions with other teams going to the same region of the world. I am so excited for Barrett to take this step of faith and leadership in the year to come...there team will depart January 2010.

Currently I am at 62% of my support raised. I am sending out a prayer letter soon to keep people up on my ministry even before I get to South Africa. I am so thankful for you following my approach to my year in South Africa. Please continue to pray for my financial needs to be met and for a steadfast approach to my relationship with the Lord as that relationship takes priority before any other...

here are a few pictures from my time in Colorado at the briefing...

a great jump...at 56.6%

It has been a long time since my last update with support but with the time there has been alot of moving from the Spirit. God has been huge and support has steadily come in...as of today I am at 56.6% raised! I need to continue to press on in this journey and make calls and ask people for referrals. The road is getting a little closer to South Africa but we still have a good bit to go...roughly $20,000 more to be raised through monthly or one-time support.

Thanks for you prayers and support!

33%

I am trekking along in the support raising process my friends! Its a beautiful sunny day here in Virginia and Im just very thankful for God's provision of late. He has risen up several people in the past few weeks to my support team as well as shown me where I need to step up my relationship with Him.

He has helped me established a better support structure around my walk with Him. Its just amazing when we yield to Him how He will surround us with love and support. God has shown me lately that we need to protect our walk with Him and really surround every aspect of it with attributes that reflect his nature and love.

thank you for supporting me and praying over me in this time. I wouldnt be at 33% without any of you!

keepin on

Well I am aiming on an October depature for South Africa. I am excited that time moves along because that as it goes we inch to Africa. I do pray that with time I become closer to God. The Lord has really been pressing upon my heart to pray for next year and really lay the groundwork for His work to be done in South Africa through the prayers of today.

So as I press on with preparations for Africa I know that God desires my heart to be right along side him every step of the way. Through voicing all that I go through and experience I live out this process with Him by my side. thank you for all of your prayers.


current support raised : 26%

23%

So as my first post on my supporters blog I figured I would get right to an update on where I am in the process of getting to South Africa. I am currently at 23% of my support raised. Its been a interesting road so far in the process of casting to people about where God is calling me to go. I have been learning that this process isnt really about support raising but really just trusting God daily to provide for me in my life. He desires our every thought, action, deed to be glorifying Him. I really know and trust that He will lead me to South Africa but with that call is expected a work ethic and determination in support raising that honors God.

I want to thank you for reading this blog. With our people who are supporting me in prayer or financially or just checking this blog out I very much thank you for your desire to come along this journey with me.

till next time...