Africa Journal

We had our final meeting at my house last week, a time for food and fellowship, devotional and commitment time, and distribution of equipment and items to pack. Team members are in final exams this week before meeting at the airport for departure this Sunday, May 17, to begin the 30 hour trip to South Africa. An email today from Cape Town indicates that plans are coming together for time in schools and gatherings at community-wide events. I am confident that God has divine appointments awaiting us upon our arrival in South Africa.

God is good and faithful. He has provided the funds needed for this trip and we trust Him completely for all He has planned. It will be a new place for all of us and we are excited to be invited to share in what He is already doing in Cape Town in and through Living Hope Center. We go in His name and pray His will be done in and through us.

Thank you for sharing the journey with us through this journal. Pray for us!

BW

Posted by Tony at 03:47 PM | Permalink

There are three things that come to my mind before we take off for South Africa on May 17th.

The first is that I feel so blessed and honored to be able to travel the world and spread the Word of God. I was thinking the other day about the places and countries that I have been to, and all have been because of Belmont. I am thankful to be apart of a special University, with great people. I feel like we have a great mission team this year and am excited about our journey to Cape Town.

The second thing is I am excited about learning about the South African culture. I am anxious to see how they live their lives and how it compares to Venezuela and Brazil. I am almost certain that it will be a unique experience and I will learn a lot from it. We will be there for ten days so this is plenty of time to get the full experience.

The third and most important thing that comes to my mind is that we are traveling to a different continent and are trying to get complete strangers to give their lives to Christ. It is a special value to have to be able to work as a team and complete this task. As we share our testimonies with these kids, and get to know them I believe that we can get majority of them to show their true love for Jesus. I am also excited about my relationship with Christ getting stronger. On the other two mission trips I felt like I became closer to God and that is what these trips are all about.

Again, I am excited about going to South Africa with our team. Hopefully it will be an experience we will never forget!

Keaton

Posted by Tony at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hey everyone, starting to get things ready to go on my second mission trip with BW and a new group of athletes. Brazil was awesome and I learned and am still learning from things that I saw and heard from people over there. Now I'm onto my second journey and it's going to be as awesome as the first one. I've never been to Africa and will probably never get a chance to go back so I'm going to make the best of it while I'm over there trying to; Show the kids how much I love them, How much God loves them, and just have as much fun with them as I can in the short amount of time that I will be with them. Can't wait to get over there! When I do I'll give everyone an update on how things are going.

Rachel

Posted by Tony at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The annual Sports Evangelism Mission Trip is scheduled for May 17-28, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa where the team will work with Fish Hook Baptist Church and the Living Hope Center. Ten student-athletes and Tony Howell, Assistant Volleyball Coach, will accompany Betty Wiseman to do sports ministry in local townships, schools, and communities within the Cape Town area. Team members are basketball players Keaton Belcher, Drew Hanlen, Mick Hedgepeth, Andy Wicke, Cacy Burtnett, Whitney Seals, Rachel Swisher, former player Stefan Baskin, and volleyball players Carly Frazier and Jenny Gray. The team is scheduled to travel with the School of Religion Study Abroad students and faculty who will remain in South Africa for an extended stay. While there the team will work with leaders of the Living Hope Center to establish an on-going sports community outreach ministry.

Posted by Betty Wiseman at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)