Wow! How the time flys! I didn’t realize it’s been 3 weeks since I have last written! To all my supporters- I am sorry!
I am so excited to tell you about last week in Summerset East, South Africa. We traveled there on October 10 for about 8 days to do a program called Beat The Drum based off the movie about a boy who tries to help his village that is dying of AIDS. I got to stay in a South African home with a couple a sweet couple Elmar and Andre. Their hospitality was overwhelming -I loved every mintute of it. On Saturday and Sunday we had intense training on the material we were going to be teaching in the schools. I was paired up with Davie a guy from my team who’s from New Jersey. We taught in a black school named Johnson, and taught twenty eight 10th graders. The week was absolutely amazing! We taught them about values, aids, abstience, and lastly we presented the gopsel. The class totally came together and united. They were very open, honest and vunerable with us. Every day we went to the school and taught for one hour. (1:30-2:30) On Thursday Davie and I thought we would have 3 hours to prepare in the morning, but found out at 8:30 that morning that we would need to be at the school in a half hour at 9am! I wanted to panic-we had nothing prepared! But God quickly reminded me that He had everything under control- and this was gonna teach me to fully depend and listen to the Holy Spirit. So Davie and I prayed about the day and went in totally relying on God. The day was amazing! The mood in the class that day was serious and to the point. We really drew the point across that if they didn’t turn their life around 2 out of every 5 students would die within 4 years. That really hit some kids hard. One kid told us that if he didn’t change he knew he was gonna die. Then Davie presented the gospel and the Holy Spirit spoke through him so clearly. 17 of 28 students accepted Christ! We got to pray with each student one on one to accept Christ. Then almost all of them decided to abstain from sex until marriage- it was incredible! God defintely moved in their hearts. Some girls came up to me after class for prayer and to talk.
I built a relationship with a girl named Zihkona who is 16. She is a very sweet, who wants to live to honor Jesus. I felt God telling me to give her one of my rings so that she could have a purity ring to remind her of her commitment to Christ and her future husband. The next day Davie and I took the class down to the youth center in town to get tested for AIDS. I was prepared for the worst- but by the grace of God every student tested negative! What a miracle! We got to pray with each student after they got tested and praise God for His grace. It was so amazing to see how God brought my class together as a body and family in Christ. It was hard to leave Summerset East the next day, but I left with a heart of joy and graditude at what God had done through me.
Keep praying for Summerset East! Pray they will remain faithful in their decisions to Christ and to purity!
Til Next Time,
Hi Ellen,
Great testimony..please give our Sarah a huge…long..
hug and kiss!!! love ya girls and we are all soooooooooo
proud of you..keep praisin the Lord!
Peggy and all of Bullerville!
ELLEN!!!…BTD was AWESOME…God really used you to do his work. He’s proud of u…I’m proud of u.
I am so proud of you, Ellen. You are such an amazing lady and I’m so excited about what God is doing through you.