It’s been almost 3 weeks since I left Seattle for South Africa. Which means I’m more than a quarter of the way through with this internship. Hibo!

But right now I’m here in South Africa, loving life.

We spent our first week in training and team building. There are 24 of us students from across the states living here this summer as Next Step interns for Thrive Africa. We have become a family of sorts. That first week was key to us becoming that family. We were also able to learn a lot about Basotho culture and Basotho people. I started practicing my Sesotho again. But I probably should have  practiced some more before getting on that plane. I’m a little rusty.

Our second week out was spent doing relationship evangelism in Qwa Qwa. The 24 of us are split into 5 ministry groups and each is paired with a translator and then sent out into the village. Our week of ministry in Qwa Qwa went pretty well. Our group went to several houses during those 5 days, but we were really able to connect with 2 families. Sunday of that week we went to visit the church that we had been working with in Qwa Qwa. It was fun to experience African church again. Definitely different from church back home. But I love it!

This week we are working on rebuilding Limakatso, a disable children’s school in Intabazwe. It’s been a great 5 days of construction. We are making quite a bit of progress. There is still one more week of construction. So once we finish I’ll post before and after pictures! : )

Classes also started this week. We are taking 5: Leadership Lab, Community, Kingdom Living, Missions, and Basotho Culture. Fantastic! It’s awesome to be in classes taught by missionaries and experts. Dave, who is teaching Basotho Culture, is currently working on getting his PhD in Basotho Culture. I had forgotten how much I loved being in classes. It’s making me a little more excited for school in the fall.

Tomorrow we have some town time. I’m excited to head into Harrismith and check out everything.

Since my computer isn’t working right now (and it won’t be fixed until I get back home), I’ve had to borrow my roommate’s computer. So I won’t be able to email as often. But from here on out I’ll be doing my best to update the blog 2 times a week at least and still send out my weekly newsletter on Saturday or Sundays.

That’s all for now. : )

This week I had three different people say I was a “natural born leader.”

What?

I’m not. I tend to shrink back and blend into the woodwork more. I tend to love being behind the scenes. I stand up and lead when I’m asked to do it or when I absolutely have to. But otherwise, I’m generally fine with following.

And then I remembered something one of my leaders told me on the last day of interns. She said I had zeal, just a different kind of zeal. A quieter zeal. I don’t lack passion, it just doesn’t show like most everyone else.

Leadership comes in many forms, shapes, sizes, colors, titles. It’s hard to define. Hard to narrow it down. But just because you don’t always want to be at the head of the line, doesn’t mean you aren’t a leader. It’s not the title, or status, or even the words you say that make you a leader. 

The heart placed in you, now that’s what makes you a leader.

You know when you haven’t seen or talked to a friend in a long time, so you make plans to go grab coffee (or tea) and catch up? Or maybe that’s just a Seattle thing. But either way, that’s what today is here at Brilliantly Redeemed. It’s been well over a month since I’ve last posted. Almost 2 months I think. Life on this side has been crazy and hectic, but amazing.

Since so much has happened lately, I’ll sum it up for you pretty quickly:

• Last you heard, I was on spring break and I was getting ready to head to Washington DC. Needless to say, it was an amazing trip! Even better than in February. Prayer times with the team were amazing. God really showed up and rocked my world.
• After DC, much prayer, and several meetings with leaders I made my final decision to go to SPU in the fall. I had been deciding between doing a second year of interns and school, and let me tell you that was a hard decision to make. But now I am SPU bound, and I’m not looking back.
• I finished up my last few week of interns after Washington DC and graduated on May 18th. Bittersweet.
• But just before that, I turned 18! Finally.
• My best friend came to visit me for my 18th birthday! We spent a week together. It was pretty much amazing. I even got to take her senior pictures! Such a fun shoot.
• I had my first photo gallery! Yikes! It was definitely nerve wrecking to put my work out there. But it went well and I was able to raise $1200 in one weekend to go towards my internship this summer!
• I’ve been diligently working on some business stuff. Which is coming along great. The website should be up soon. But for now you can keep checking out the blog.
• This is my last week in the United States. This coming Sunday I will get getting on an airplane and headed towards my beautiful South Africa. It will be my home for the next two months. I’ll be living and working at the Thrive Africa base as one of their summer interns. It’s going to be an amazing two months and I can’t wait to see what it holds for me.

Well I think that is about all for now.

Your turn…

This week is my spring break. A few days ago I had fully intended on spending this break having some Jesus time, getting stuff done around at home, and just relaxing. Because, hey, if you have a break, why not take it?

But now here we are on Sunday night and my break is just about to start. I’m looking at my calendar for this week. Right now it’s getting filled up with photoshoots. Right now I have 4 scheduled and 4 more that are trying to get schedule before I leave for Washington DC on Friday. Yikes! 8 shoots within the span of a week? Slightly impossible, yes. But at least that will accomplish most of the 15 that I have challenged myself to complete before interns is over.

Well yesterday was the first of the 4 (possibly 8!) shoots for the week. I got to spend a few hours hanging out with my dear friend Ali, who is just amazing and extremely photogenic! Feel free to hop over to the other blog and check out some of the photos from the shoot.

So much for having spring break. But I guess it should be a good dose of a creativity boost for me, right?

I finally made good to my promise.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from my trip to DC back in February.

Enjoy!