All My Love, Gennavieve

Yesterday at our service site I was able to witness the comforting presence of God. We arrived and the weather was being a big pain-heavy rain and strong winds. The previous day, we could not even get to the site because of the flooding; so, today was important to catch up on our lost work pruning the rose geranium in the fields. We headed out into the fields when the rain had paused for a moment. We were with the Zulu ladies, which was our first time getting to work beside them. I glanced up at the sky, which showed blue patches, the sun poking its head through. I smiled, happy to feel just a bit of sun in the cold air. As we began working, however, the sun was soon swallowed up by the clouds and down came the rain. I could sense that the ladies were not pleased and I was tempted to begin complaining but I decided to sing instead. So I started praising my Jesus. “So good, so, so good to me” and “You’re beautiful” over, and over, and over again. I knew that if I stopped sin

This week started the first days at my service site, Walk in the Light, in the town of Haniville. Today one of the men who lives on the site, Jimmy, greeted us and one of the students responded in Zulu. Instantly, Jimmy's face became clouded with a frown and he mumbled disapprovingly to himself. I asked him to explain and he did, boy he did! Jimmy passionately discussed how he is Afrikaans and takes great offense when others speak to him in Zulu. He warned our team that we should refrain from speaking in the native tongue because people want to speak English and they believe you are assuming their lack of intelligence by partaking in Zulu conversation. So, here I am currently attempting to ease the language barrier by studying Zulu (clicks and all) and this man tells me that it is offensive! While I acknowledge that this is only one man's opinion, I have witnessed his opinion present within others. It is difficult at times knowing there is not only a language barri

How blessed am I that I can learn from leaders who have lived with an immense amount of experience and thus achieved a great deal of knowledge that is being imparted to me! This week, we began our Global Community course, which is taught by a man named, Francis. Francis is incredible. You’d have to meet him to truly experience the truth of this statement but just imagine this… a constantly smiling man whose intelligence leaves you awestruck and whose stories make you desperately hungry for more. A man whose humility sets him apart and whose passion for helping others is inspiring. I am blessed to be under his mentor-ship as I begin the service sites. He guides the students along the path of understanding the complex, and fairly new, idea of sustainability and empowerment. In the past, missionary work, global aide, and natural disaster support, has been executed in a manner that leaves the community dependent. This dependency becomes a community’s biggest downfall and Franc

Once again I am writing about another fantastic learning adventure out on our Biology practical, although, sadly, today was our last class. We traveled to a dairy farm to take a tour and examine the different aspects of agriculture and its effects on the environment. The first character I met was, Fred. Fred was a tubby, blonde, English lab who followed us around the entire day. He started with leading us to the beginning tour of the milking room. You could smell this room long before you entered it. We saw the milk machines where they do the testing and sampling for each production. After the technicalities of the process of farming the real fun began as we started viewing the cattle. The baby calves were adorable. I walked from pin to pin sticking my finger to the baby, in hopes they would try to suckle as the farm hand had explained; however, the calves were incredibly fearful and most of them backed up before I even tried to touch them. Only one little calf came towards

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the gory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured our his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us Romans 5:1-5 May the word of God impact you in the way you need today. All my love, Gennavieve

With final exams around the corner I have completed quite an assortment of exciting adventures, all in preparation for studying I promise. From body surfing in the mighty waves of the Indian ocean, to zip lining above the beautiful canopies of South Africa, to sliding down the tarp on AE's grassy hill I feel so blessed to be able to experience wild and carefree fun. I went to Durban on Saturday and the weather was perfect for a swim. The waves were absolutely gigantic and completely powerful! There were several times that my heart would quicken because I got knocked around a little out of my comfort zone. Sunday, we went on a zip lining tour, which was very nice. Having zip lined before I was not nervous and so went first within our group. On a few of the lines, the guides would goof around and flail their arms or reach for trees and bounce off of the branches. However, when I expressed a desire to try to mirror them one of the men said, "Monkey see, monkey do. Monkey t

Last night, I was reminded of the simple and astounding fact that I was created to worship the almighty, living God. In the gospel of Mark (12:30-31), Jesus explains the two greatest commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all you strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.” The Lord brought this well-known verse to my mind and, although I had heard it countless times, I realized the extreme significance of it. So often, I become plagued by anxious questions: Am I truly serving others as well as I can? How can I show other’s God’s love today? Do others around me need encouragement? The common theme among all of these thoughts involves others . I focus on others, when my first focus should be God. The Lord told me that I do not need to constantly be looking for ways to prove my love for Him; merely spending time in His powerful presence is enough. With a to do list mindset and a heart to

These first few photos must be credited to two of the guys with expensive cameras in my student group. Safari weekend was an incredible experience. I was able to see four and a half of the big five, according to Reg, because we saw a cheetah but not a leopard. We arrived at Imfolozi-Hluhluwe park and loaded into our safari vehicles, which resembled the cars within the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland, only much bigger. Sitting in my chair, binoculars ready, and camera in hand my we set of on our first day driving. The road was bouncy and I felt like a little kid because my feet did not touch the bottom of the car. At certain points within the drive I was literally thinking, “Weeeeeeee!” to myself. Our first major event that day was an elephant herd siting. Although there were only six elephants, they were touchable distance from our vehicle as we screeched to a stop to snap some shots. There were three mother elephants and their three calves, which were very small and ent

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7 The Lord is faithful! Can I get an amen? THE LORD IS FAITHFUL! Last week, I felt the pressures of my Biology exam creeping upon me and the night before test day, as I studied, I came to a point where I simply prayed, "God I give this up to you, I have studied the material given to me and I will not worry about this." And I got a sound night of sleep. My fellow classmates were up very late, stressed, and anxious about the exam and for some reason I had this overwhelming sense of peace. I now know that the peace was from the Lord and I am proud to say that I got an A+ on the exam. Know that the Lord is mighty and the small things in life He cares about. Our God is a God who knows what plagues our minds and when we give it up

There I sat, next to a student who knew three different African languages, was a master in a boot slapping customary African dance, and spoke with an accent so thick, I had to focus on each word in order to understand him. Although these characteristics starkly contrasted my own American characteristics, we were both able to relate to each another under the same desire to learn about one another’s cultures and the fact that we are all children of a mighty God. On Friday September 28th, I was able to interact with and learn from native South African students while visiting Union Bible Institute (UBI). This day opened the doors for an intercultural exchange to take place, where barriers were broken as I saw similarities between our lives and learned about the divergences within our cultures that make us unique. One of the highlights of this trip was the chapel service. The students all filed into the room singing-no, belting praises to God. I felt as though I was enveloped in a ch