Support

This trip to Cape Town, South Africa will be my very first mission trip as well as my first visit to the continent of Africa. I have heard so many wonderful things about South Africa from people who have served there before me, and I am starting to eagerly anticipate what God has in store for our group and those we will be serving. One amazing aspect of the process so far has been watching the donations filter in over the past month or so. Every member of our group mailed letters to their friends and family in order to build a support group; well wishes, prayers and monetary donations were requested. Since then, I have watched some of my closest friends as well as my family show their support by donating to my cause, and I can not express in words how it feels to know how many people are proud of me and believe in my decision to serve on the other side of the world. Even more important are the conversations I am having with these people who are curious about my trip and want to know more. As I tell them more about the group and our mission, some of them seem to want this same opportunity, and I think that my decision to serve might actually inspire some of these people to think seriously about doing the same in the future.

I plan to give everything I can of myself, both physically and spiritually, while in Cape Town so that my support group can be proud and I can come home knowing that I made the most of this opportunity. My prayer is that the group will be open minded and receptive to anything the Lord presents us with, so that we can be a group that makes a lasting impression and a true difference at Southpoint Church as well as in the community of Cape Town.

Brad

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15 - 17

Preparing

I am excited that God had led me to participate on this mission trip to Cape Town, South Africa. God had given me the desire to use my abilities to serve and to continue my growth in relationships to impact people lives. While preparing for this trip I have been amazed on how God had led me to share with a lot more of my friends and family.

I am so blessed to be part of a great group and amazed on how God put this team together. In a short time we had bonded well as a team. I am looking forward to the next four weeks and seeing what God have in store for us and for us to grow stronger as team.

In Christ,

Bri

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your way acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight. -- Proverbs 3:5-6

Being Sent

I am so honored to have been chosen by God through GlobalX to lead this Connections trip to Southpoint Church in Cape Town, South Africa! I treasure my experience that I had on my first trip there last year and can't wait to return to this wonderful people, church, city and country.

When our team first started meeting, there was a theme that surfaced…that GOD CHOSE this team to be SENT BY HIM to Cape Town. What an amazing perspective that is ! I pray that we consistently focus on that, which will bring us outside of ourselves, thus allowing the Lord to do what He wants to through each one of us individually and collectively.

The vision and goals of this trip include:

• To leave Southpoint Church's leadership and volunteers more rejuvenated, more refreshed, more excited for what God is doing in Cape Town than they were when we got there
  
• To accomplish the above through prayer, relationship building, encouragement, service and celebration
  
• To build a team that is unified, positive, ready to go and eager to see what God has in store
• To allow God to foster spiritual and relational life change for each member of the team
• To strongly rely upon and yield to the Holy Spirit for guidance in preparation and to dictate the "agenda" during the trip
• To serve the community through Southpoint's Intersect partner ministries
• To have a ton of fun in the process!!!

As we have been preparing, we have gotten to know each other and are learning about prayer and the Holy Spirit. We have spent and will continue to spend time in prayer, speaking out so much to the Lord.

We leave in less than 5 weeks! Our hope is to use this blog to introduce ourselves to you, our friends at Southpoint, and to use it as a way to share prayer/support needs (yours and ours). We want all involved to know that when we land in Cape Town that we will collectively have been supported by a history of intentional prayer and focus.

We yield to the Holy Spirit and are eager to BE SENT!

~Tracy
(this is me...)

“His divine power has given us everything we need

for life and godliness through our knowledge of

Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.”

2 Peter 1:3