I'm Here in South Africa

Hello friends and family!

I have finally arrived in South Africa after two and a half days of traveling! The plane rides where exhausting, and I am so excited to sleep lying down instead of sitting up in a claustrophobic airplane seat. Besides all that, I was able to pray a lot for this trip and seek out the Lord for guidance and also just get to know Him more by seeking Him out through His wonderful Word. I also had the chance to meet new people (those sitting next to me on the plane) and hear about their lives and even share with each of them some of my own adventures with the Lord. When we (Brian- the man I travelled hear with- and I) finally arrived in Port Elisabeth, SA around noon here, we were greeted by Almarie and Rufus Luttig (the family we are staying with). They are truly such kind and loving people! I had met Rufus once before in the U.S. but I had only heard of Almarie, who is such a strong woman of faith! I look forward to getting to know them both as well as Brian so much better while I am here. We all had lunch together and then they travelled us around for several hours to show use a few of the ministries they are addimatly involved with here in SA as well as to keep us from falling asleep. ;o) Their faithfulness and desire to see these ministries flourish in the best way possible according to the Lord's will is so astounding and a blessing to see! We saw Molly's Place, which is like an orphanage/daycare, and we also visited a Bible college. It brought tears to my eyes to see 50 plus children, mainly under the age of 10 years, in such poor living and playing conditions - Their need for hope and love is so great! They were all so precious and beautiful! I look forward to helping out more over there in the next several weeks! We plan on seeing these and more ministries for a longer period of time while we are here. I will keep you all updated as best as I can and I will try to get pictures up too!

Prayer Request: I found out from Almarie and Rufus that orphanages are illegal here in SA, so places like Molly's place and the daycare type centers that the Luttigs want to build in the Transkei (poor area of SA) are constantly being monitered by social workers and government (mainly the black government) officials. The Luttigs are doing the best they can to help get these orphaned and abandoned children off the streets and into a Christian and loving environment to better their futures, but it is difficult to get the government to allow them to do so. The government has also not presented a reasonable explaination for not allowing orphanages in SA. They trust that God's will will be done and their heart really desires that children would not die (especially from HIV) without knowing Jesus. Please pray that the Lord would soften the government and that he would guide the Luttig as well as others who are helping them in this process.

I must get some rest so I can be ready to go tomorow, but I want you all to know that I love you and that you are all in my prayers! I will post again soon!

In the Lord's service,
Sara