A few days into the journey...

Hey everyone! Tyler here.

So, yesterday was a very exciting day for us. We were able to actively live out Jesus' call in Matthew 25 by visiting a boy's youth prison, not far from where we are staying. The boys we ministered to were mostly ages 15-17. We started off the time with arts and crafts, where we let them draw either their most favorite place on earth, or something very dear and special to them. We also made paper airplanes and a few of our tables taught them how to construct paper tanks as well (thanks to Jake). I also got to share the gospel with the boys in my group, using colors to explain the message of Jesus to them - black = sin, red = Jesus' blood, white = we are now clean and white as snow, blue = baptism in Christ, and green = new growth as believers. It was great! After that we all went outside and played intense games of rugby and soccer. These kids were good! It was amazing being able to talk and fellowship with so many of them. Our time was ended by a long session of dancing. Learning that most of their favorite music comes from Akon, it was exciting being able to bust out some new dance moves while laughing and playing with the boys. We all had a terrific time!

Waking up this morning, we attended an amazing church service in the middle of one of the townships of George. This group of believers were on fire for the Lord! It was evident that the Holy Spirit was alive and moving in this congregation! Worship and celebreatin lasted for at least an hour. Everyone was so excited that we were there and made a big deal out of it. All of us were so humbled to be in the presence of such noble, upright people. The pastor had a moving sermon as well, and the service ended with communion and more worship, alltogether being over 2 hours long. None of us wanted to leave! We then got some lunch back where we are staying, and spent a nice afternoon at the beach, relaxing and re-charging our batteries for this next week to come. Seeing the Indian Ocean was incredible! The waves were huge! At 5:00 we attended another church service held by the leaders of the Life Academy, an organization that we're working with. This was another profound service filled with the Spirit of God and compelling worship. At the end, we talked with a guy who heads up a surfing ministry here in George, and he laid out the details of when we'll be working with him at the beach ministering to kids. We should be with him Tuesdays and Thursdays, which we are all excited for. After that, we had dinner at our home base and started planning for tomorrow's session.

We are so excited for the next couple of weeks that God has for us here! We love and miss you all. Keep us in your prayers, as you are in ours, and especially pray for the people of George and South Africa as a whole. Pray that God will continue to shine His light on them as we serve as His hands and feet. Much love.