South Africa

Well, Where to begin.

I'm in my second season here at Alliance. I'm still working as a naturalist and loving every minute of it. One of the exciting things that I will get to part take in this year is going to South Africa and serve there for a month at Camp South Africa (CSA). There are four naturalist going from Alliance.

We leave in Nov. and will be back in Dec. Here is our support letter that we have sent out asking for support through prayer and financial.

Dear friends and family,

Hello from California!  I hope all is well for you and I trust that the Lord is providing for you faithfully!  I just finished my first season here at Alliance Redwoods, and I’m having a great summer.  The Lord continues to faithfully guide and direct me and I am excited for what is in store!

I have the opportunity to participate in this missions opportunity:

Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds has been running a camp since 2002 for the poorest of the poor in Cape Town, South Africa with the following aim: to establish a temporary community that provides:

·       Hope to the children of the "Lost Generation" by introducing them to Jesus Christ through camping ministries.

·       Healing by providing programs that would serve to change the lives of children spiritually and socially.

·       Unity by bringing together children of all South African ethnic, cultural and language.

·       Partnerships by collaborating with other Christian camps and organizations in South Africa with the goal of offering relevant training and cultural exchange programs.

Specifically, I will be gone from November 16 - December 14, 2012 to minister with several others from Spring Hills Community Church in Santa Rosa, CA and Alliance Redwoods, at various locations in the Western Cape, South Africa. I will be sharing a cabin and leading devotions for a group of about 7 to 10 junior high and high school age campers.  The first week will be training and developing relationships with the street and squatter township kids and inviting them to camp, along with working out the logistics.  During camp, I will then be a counselor, help lead worship and activities, and generally help where needed.

This is an exciting new ministry and I need your prayer and financial support.  Please, please pray for us!  We will need God’s strength, wisdom, and protection. The cost will be $1,900 for the entire Program, which includes travel, food and lodging.  Please don’t feel financially obligated to support us.  We would ask, however, that you prayerfully consider what your part may be in this whole process and be obedient to that.

We are extremely excited about what the Lord will do in us, through us and around us!  Thank you for your love and support.  If you have further questions, feel free to contact me.

Sincerely in Christ,

Victoria Thompson

In order to receive a tax-deductible receipt, make your check payable to Alliance Redwoods and write CSA12 and on the memo line:

This will ensure your gift is designated for this particular trip. This gift is non-refundable, and if for any reason a team member or team does not go, or more money than the required amount is raised, the money will be used to support future Camp South Africa ministries sponsored by Alliance Redwoods.

If you have any questions related to Camp South Africa, please feel to contact the CSA Director:

Mervyn Coetzee at 1800 576 2509 ext.139 or email him at: mervync@allianceredwoods.com

For more information checkout: allianceredwoods.com

 

Growth

So much has happened in the time I started here at Alliance. I observed how some of the classes are ran here, then the next week I had a group of students who I taught while being observed by returning naturalist. Had my first outing in my car since being here. Learn their high ropes and the rescue bag (then pushed myself way out of my comfort zone with traveling over to the extreme side of the high ropes). Then I ended up being a life example of an emergency take down when I was coming back from the extreme side of the ropes course, it may of been scary and (personally for me) embarrassing at the time, but I pushed myself and grew from the experience.

I also have had the oppertunity to learned more about the camp they support in South Africa. I'm praying about whether or not I feel God is leading to apply to possibly have the oppertunity to be one of the team members who could go to South Africa.

Now this coming week will be the first week that I will be teaching students on my own. I'm nervious about it, but with the training we recieved and the notes and time talking about what they observed I feel like I'm ready. Fingers cross.

End of Training/ ACROS/ Exams

Well, training weeks are now offically over. Kidos will be coming to our grounds soon. Makes me a nervous wreck. Within these three weeks we learned pretty much everything that we need to know, plus more for the schools who will come to our grounds. I'm ready to get my feet wet and start teaching again. This will be so different then T-lee. Students are here for a week, so we will get to know them better and see many of them step out of their comfort zone and grow.

This past weekend we went to a conference called ACROS. It is a christian based organization that was created for those who teach outdoor ed. It was a fun weekend. The first seminar I attend was about why it is important for outdoor ed to be around. So, many students really enjoy getting to go to camp to have hands on learning. The second seminar was about classroom management. Many of the things mentioned during this seminar they do here. The third seminar I went to was about adding creative writing time to the week. I was really good. Seeing some of the students writings from the speakers camp were awesome. Then he gave us a chance to go out and spend 10 minutes to reflect and write. He gives his students a minimum of 30 mins to do this. The final seminar was on team building. That was fun, because we actually did a couple of team building activities.

Training

Well two weeks of training are now complete. Next week is our last week. Time is flying here. Also, the rains have come back to the area. It's been a crazy two days of rain and there are about 4 more days of rain predicted before a break. I honestly believe that we have had the amount of rain we would get back home in a year here in 2 days. The little creek outside our house is like a rushing river. Crazy.

So, back onto training. We have learned a number of there rope elements, and a bunch of the classes. My favorite class we learned so far is orienteering. Though, this was my favorite class to teach back at T-lee. In the ropes elements we've learn so far I really like the pinata.

First days

Well I'm here at my new job. It is really pretty here. I'm surrounded by extremely tall trees. The people here have been so nice and very helpful. I will admit I am feeling homesick but I have been trying to push through this. Monday starts our three weeks of training. Then mid-february students will becoming for classes. I will be putting pictures up in upcoming post. Well that is a quick update from me about my journey. Night <><

Traveling Across the Country

Well day 2 is over. Traveling has been smooth sailing so far. There has not been much construction along our travels, so that has helped with our progress. Also the weather has been beautiful. So, in two days my dad and I have traveled from PA to Oklahoma. Tomorrow we will continue on, and our next stop I get to spend the evening with a good friend of mine from the lcm program.