This weekend we got the opportunity to go into Port Elizabeth, where part of the team is going in January, and meet some of the local church leaders we will be working with. On Saturday they had a carnival set up for kids from the townships to come and play, and they asked us to help out. So we started off by meeting their missions pastor, Ithemba, who was very excited to finally meet us. He seemed to be very enthusiastic about the help we have to offer, and he has some specific ministries already set up. It was interesting to hear from Ithemba that from South Africa, from his church missionaries are being sent out, even overseas. So I think we all left very excited about next semester now that I know some of the people. What was most exciting was how involved their high school youth group and college-aged adults are in their programs. In most churches that has become a pretty rare thing to have more than one or two adults who run a program for the youths. But it was really cool to see how smooth things could go when there are one or two leaders who can delegate tasks to the youths, who can then provide a lot of the energy and enthusiasm for the younger kids.
