Hey guys,

Well, our team has been back in J-bay for about two weeks now, and it sure does feel good to be back! It's been awesome to see the team again and to get back into the community. I really did miss it here--the sites, smells, sounds, the people. I missed pretty much everything, except for the cockaroaches.

First a brief recap on what's been going on:

Our first two weeks have just been spent around re-adjusting, planning and getting back into the rhythm and flow of Africa. The past couple days, our leaders have planned a get-a-way for us in Colesburg (in the Northern Cape), on the biggest farm (44,000 acres) I've ever been on in my life! The time was spent just getting refreshed by God and getting our hearts ready for the semester. We had the opportunity to do an outreach at a school, where no missionary team has come and visited before--so it was quite an honor. We split the kids off into the younger kids and older kids. I was with the older kids, and we had a few members on our team share some testimonies and just told them about the love Jesus has for them. Four kids came to know Christ too! So exciting! We also had the opportunity to lead the service at a church in town, which was pretty exciting!

Now to the heart of it all:

Lately, I've been struggling a lot with the concept of home. I feel like I've reached this point in my life where I don't really feel like I have a home anymore. I'm gone most of the year either at school, or recently, Africa, and that has had a real effect on my relationships back home. While I'm still friends with a lot of my friends from "home", we don't have the same connection that we used to. I'm at a different point in my life then them, and things just seem--different.

I also don't even really have a room anymore at my house. My mom has been renting my room out to someone, so all my stuff is packed up in boxes, and I now sleep in a pull out bed in the office (which is completely fine with me because it's about ten times more comfortable then my normal bed). I guess what I'm trying to say is, that what I usually consider my "home", is different now and doesn't feel as familiar.

While we were in Colesburg, we had a morning of reconcilition. Our leaders had sensed our team was becoming disunified, so they had us go off by ourselves to spend time with God and write out our frustrations towards the team, the program, South Africa--basically anything our hearts desired. When we came back to the group, we had a time to share these frustrations with each other, so we can be real with each other and what's going on. Everything that was said came from the heart, but was presented in love, and not in anger or bitterness. Afterwards, we took communion. It was probably one of the most beautiful times of communion I've ever experienced, because, as Bree put it, "it was in it's purest form" because we had just laid everything out on the table, and were real and vulnerable with each other. It felt like a real community. Home.

I've come to the conclusion that home isn't a phsyical place anymore, it's more of a group of people, who you feel comfortable and safe around. People who you can be vulnerable and real with. Who you can share in your joys and victories, to pains and struggles. Just like a family. My team has become this home to me over the past couple months, and I am so blessed to have them in my lives.