First Blog

Hi Everyone!

In about a month and a half I will be traveling to Fort Wayne, Indiana to start training before my team and I head to South Africa. I cant believe how close it is getting since it has been a little over a year since I first felt God’s calling to take this path.

I plan to use this blog as a main source of updates throughout my trip for friends, family, and anyone wondering why I’m in South Africa in the midst of a pandemic. You can subscribe at the bottom of the home page to receive emails when I post.

That is the question isn't it? With everything going on with covid, is the trip still happening? Nothing is guaranteed because of how quickly things can change, but as of now we are all set! The only thing that seems to be an issue is our country’s rise in cases. With different states creating more restrictions and possible travel bans, getting to training and leaving the states is our biggest concern at the moment. I am trying not to stress over it too much and just trust.

With that being said there have been a few changes to the communities we are going to in order to be sensitive to each community's challenges with covid. If you received a letter from me in the spring, you may know the first half of the trip will be in a township working at the local school and the second half would be in a small farming community to do any service work needed. The second half of the trip has changed. We will instead be heading to the southern border of the Kruger National Park to focus on rhino conservation. I know I can hardly believe it either! We will be working with a community made up of 53 villages directly south of the national park. There are areas in the villages where there are no gates, this is where they have the opportunity to let poachers through or not. Along with working with the conservation initiative our team wants to get to know and serve these communities to show them a different world view that protects, loves, conserves.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and kept me in their prayers so far, it truly means so much to me. To stay updated please subscribe to get emails when I post on here! We will not always have wifi during the trip but I will do my best to update whenever I can!

Kaylyn