Our Second Meeting

            Our second meeting was yesterday and we began by first learning how we will say hello to our patients. “Sawubona” means Hello (singular) and “Sanibonani” means Hello (plural). It is exciting to learn new words or phrases each week so we will be prepared to communicate with the South Africans once we arrive! We also met with our different committees and then discussed as a group different committees that we can go ahead and start helping. For Children’s Ministry, please start gathering any balls, chalk or toys and refer any questions to Nathaneal at hallns@musc.edu. For Fundraising, please contact Meredith at meredithbarb@gmail.com if you have any ideas for future fundraisers. Meredith had some great fundraiser ideas such as a movie night at Cinnebarre, a slice night at Andolinis or a pancake supper at Applebee’s. For Optometry, please start gathering any glasses or contact Ericka at weaver.ericka@gmail.com if you know of anyone or any organization who is willing to donate glasses. We should be hearing from Aubrey this week about our Prayer Partners so get excited about getting to know someone new! Some important dates coming up include:

            Sunday, February 5^th – Meeting #3 Testimonies

            Sunday, February 19^th – Meeting #4 Team Unity

                                                    $1000 total due

This week the topic of our discussion was Spiritual Warfare. Ephesians 6:10-12 states, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Spiritual Warfare is a pro-active approach to our faith. Actively resisting the devil when his hosts harass us, and actively pursuing spiritual disciplines that will make us stronger and better prepared. It is actively engaging the enemy when people are in spiritual bondage. The devil is the enemy and our weapon is prayer. As we all begin to embark on this journey, the devil will try to discourage us and work against us. Some tips about being spiritually ready for this trip are to get in shape and expect to get hit, be self-controlled and alert (discern spiritual realities behind situations & circumstances), trust Christ, use God’s plan and weapons, and know who your enemy is and use God’s armor. We are excited for what is to come and please continue to keep us in your prayers.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

South Africa's Flag

    Our excitement is growing for our trip in May, 108 days to go!  Here's a little information about the South African flag to help us, friends, and family learn more about South Africa.

    The flag consists of six bold colors: black, yellow, green, white, red, and blue.  These colors are said to have no official significance, but much reason can be found behind them.  Black, green, and yellow were the colors of Nelson Mandela's political party.  Red, white, and blue are the colors of the National African Congress and a former flag.  If you need more reasoning for the colors, you may look at past South African flags.  Here's what they have meant: red for bloodshed, blue for open skies, green for the land, black for the black people, white for the European people, and yellow for natural resources like gold.
    While colors don't have official means the lines and shapes of this flag do.  The Y of V shape represents South Africa's diverse society and unity.
    The flag was adopted in April 1994, right before the election of Nelson Mandela.  This flag was first commissioned as the interim flag while designers and committees found an official flag.  A public competition brought in over 7,000 designs, but with no success.  Seven days before the general election this flag was chosen, designed by State Herald, Frederick Brownell.  There is usually a five year period of use for an interim flag, but this flag was well received and quickly written into the constitution.

Our First Meeting

Hello All!  Thank you for visiting our mission trip site!
Our team had our first meeting this past Sunday, January 8.  It was an exciting time to meet each member of the team and our leaders, Amanda and Shannon.  God has so carefully formed this group to meet the needs of the clinic, Badplaas people, and the crew.  We come from various medical fields and some non-medical, all with spiritual gifts and abilities to serve these people and each other with.
We learned the basics of our trip and are looking forward to our bimonthly meetings.

Basics Breakdown:
When = May 4-14, 2012
Where = South Africa...Badplaas, Mpumalanga
Purpose = Bring physical and spiritual healing to people, and grow stronger in our faith
Cost   = $3,500 each
Language spoken  = Siswati and Zulu
Things we need = monetary and supplies

Please join us in prayer over the people of Badplaas and over our team.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throught all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21