Ah. So here I am. Two months overdue. Apologies. Outreach has come to an end and so finally I have time and internet to update you all. Wow, where do I even start though? Sum outreach up in one word? Afraid I can’t – intense, amazing, stressful, incredible, redic-redonk, magical – none of them really do it justice by themselves. God’s certainly been moving in the last five weeks – both through me and in me and it’s been really cool to see. There’ve been times when I’ve wanted out, when I wanted nothing more than to be just shlocking back home and enjoying all the comforts that come with that but more often than not I’ve been able to really embrace the time here – making strong friendships within the team and enjoy seeing God work in the lives of the people we came in contact with.

Out of all the places we went I think Kimberley – a small city in Northern SA – was probably my favourite. We had a contact who set us up to work in lots of different schools and the kids and young people responded really well to everything we said. Much better than the prisoners and the OAP-home-inhabitants at least! It was here God really transformed my public speaking skills too – I used to stand there, hands and legs shaking like there’s no tomorrow but God just completely took me and gave me a confidence that could have only come from Him so that these days I even quite enjoy it! Sometimes. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not claiming to be a world-class speaker these days but it’s been really cool to see God working in my life when I thought I was only here to let Him work in others. Blessed to be a blessing or whatever it is!

My sleep-talking has continued in spectacular fashion – much to the amusement of all the lads, and the girls too when they are duly informed of proceedings later in the day. There was one particular moment – I awoke one morning to Andy and Janeal in hysterics and so naturally in my dozy state I was very confused and just a tad annoyed – how dare they be so raucous when some of us are still trying to sleep! I was just about to give them an ear-full when Andy explained my alarm had just gone off but instead of reaching over to turn it off, I’d instead rolled over in my sleep and and in a non-plus kind of was answered it... “Hello?” Ha – never before have I tried to answer my alarm! I didn’t even pick up the phone – must have been some kind of dream! The annoyance left and soon I was laughing as well... good times!

After Kimberley we headed to Rustenburg where we were supposed to rest for a couple of days before heading on up to Botswana. That was our plan at least – seems God had other ideas. We ended up staying two weeks, making day-trips to Pretoria to try and sort out all our visa issues. Turns out the World Cup has completely thrown the whole system off kilter and to cut a long story Sam and Andy – the two Nigerians on our team – weren’t given what they needed for us to get into Botswana. We decided that if they don’t go, none of us do so we all stayed in SA. Was rather frustrating at the time – we couldn’t work out what was going on ‘cause we’d covered the whole thing in prayer and everything – why wasn’t God opening the door? Anyhows, we found out just recently that it’s been declared dangerous for white people to be in Botswana currently – something to do with the instability. Praise the Lord – he was in control after all. Should’ve known!

So we ended up staying in Rustenburg two weeks – we did some ministry but mostly it was just a really good time of relaxation and rest after six intense weeks. We stayed on the YWAM base there which came complete with swimming pool – provided the perfect spot for some sun-loving despite being freezing cold! We were also over-shadowed by a mountain and so one morning Jess and I decided to arise before the sun, pack a picnic and head on an exciting adventure up the treacherous slopes. As you can see – Rustenburg was a welcome respite from what had come before.

Woman’s Day. 9th August. Have you ever heard of anything like it? There’s a whole day dedicated to celebrating women while the men don’t even get a mention. Oh well – life goes on.

It’s crazy. As I’m writing it’s September 9 – feels like summer just completely passed us by down here! I mean, the weather’s been nice enough and people’s Facebook photos of Shepton Mallet Showground have reminded me (with only a little jealousy) that it is in fact summer after all but there’s been none of the two months of doing absolutely nothing which have characterised every summer previous. Strange. Oh well – in a strange sense I’m more refreshed than ever and can’t wait to get stuck into some hard work (don’t worry –I’m sure that’ll change after a week or two) at uni!

After Rustenburg we headed down to East London to help the pioneering work that is being undertaken there – a new YWAM base is under construction! It was a good two weeks – during the first week we were joined by a team from Brighton – was surprisingly nice to relax with people who not only know the meaning of the word ‘banter’ but also entered into it with refreshing enthusiasm. Ha, no that’s not fair – South African’s do banter they just don’t have a word for it and they don’t say ‘Banterrrrrr...’ after every other sentence!

The cinema here costs about £3 – it’s crazy cool. Seen loads of films – including Inception, once it finally came out. I have to say I was impressed and confused but probably more the latter than the first. I think I need to watch it again. The best film I’ve seen has to be Toy Story 3, just for sheer comedy value. Top stuff.

Lecture phase was amazing – I grew a heck of a lot in my faith and as a person – but I would say I think I grew even more on outreach. It’s strange – that seems like the wrong way round but during outreach you really get the opportunity to put what you learnt into practice. There are days when all you want to do is go home and that really forces you to fully lean on God. He’s really drawn me deeper into Him, he’s increased my love for Him and He’s showing me what it really is to live life in Him. True life. What life is all about. And it’s been brilliant – I’m really enjoying life because He is giving me joy. It’s all a journey though and I know this is only the start. I’m well aware that it’s going to be a big culture shock coming back home and a bit of a faith-shock as well but I hope I can keep pushing into Him because that’s been the best decision I ever made and I hope I never forget what wonderful life can be found when we really seek him with all our hearts. Hmmm, really hope this doesn’t sound like I’m preaching – just trying to share a little of what I’ve experienced without sounding holier-than-thou. Trust me – I still have my struggles, I still have my troubles, I still have lots of rubbish going on but through all that I’ve found a peace and a security which sometimes seems close and sometimes rather distant but no matter how I’m feeling I hope I won’t lose hold of that when I come back home and settle into ‘normal life’ once again.

Home-time is just around the corner. In fact tomorrow morning I’m loading all my stuff into the back of a small hire-car and embarking on the eight hour journey to Cape Town. It seems so very, very long ago that I was arriving in that very same city – seeing proper shanty towns for the first time, climbing table mountain and staying with eight others in a far-too-small dorm. So very long ago and yet at the same time these six months have flown by and I can barely believe it’s time to leave already. This experience of the city should be a more pleasant one – Sandy and Jess are coming with and because of her contacts from a past job as a tour operator Sandy has managed to bag us luxury accommodation for only £5 more than the hostel. We’re going to stay one night, do some more exploring and then on Saturday they’re going to drive me to the airport to say our farewells. Now I know most of you back home only really want to hear about how excited I am to be back on home-turf and of course I am but naturally there’s a flip side as well. I’ve been with these guys for six months – we’ve laughed, cried (well they have), sang, danced and annoyed the living daylights out of each other throughout. Its going to be so strange going our separate ways. Leaving England was tough but at least I knew that in six months time I would be surrounded by all the friends and family I love so much. Right now I don’t know when, if ever, I’m going to see some of these guys, and that is really tough. But yeah – that’s just me right now – emotions seem to be going overboard but I guess that was always going to happen!

The last five and a half months have been some of the best of my life. Without a doubt. Anyone thinking about gap years or just taking some time out I would definitely recommend YWAM – six months just dedicated to searching after God is really never going to leave you disappointed. Trust me. This is it then. May write the occasional blog from here on in – but thanks for following this epic adventure. Keep it real.

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