We recently got to Johannesburg after a week of debrief, and I’m ready. I’m ready to run at the enemy clothed in godly armor and fight for lost lives here. 

We have done evangelism in the local squatter camps, and the fruit has been real. We are working with an organization called Impact Africa, and their mindset is definitely kingdom first. They love like Christ, talk about Christ, and lift his name above all other names! They get it. Impact Africa knows relational ministry and seeks the lost, just how I know Jesus would. 

Evangelism has been my favorite part of ministry on the race.

“If you went to the marketplace to get groceries, and the next day you are told you’ll be doing evangelism at the market for ministry...those days shouldn’t look any different. Evangelism is a natural way we live when we know Jesus!”

I heard that quote before I left for the race while at Launch, and those words hit me deep. If/when we choose to be a Christ-follower, our whole lives are full time ministry! That’s such good news...we know Jesus! 

People seem to desperately long for relationship with God here, it’s not like the USA. I don’t know how to describe it, but people just live differently. They don’t have as many distractions and things to take their eyes off the Father. 

My group for the day was blessed enough to pray over an elderly woman named Daisy. She was nearly blind in her both her eyes, and she held in her hands a pamphlet given to her by some Jehovah Witness missionaries that visited a few days earlier. We approached her sitting outside of her shack, and started to get to know her. Learning about her visual hindrance, we asked her if we could place our hands over her eyes and she allowed. We prayed for healing in Jesus’ powerful name...and she was healed. SHE COULD SEE! Praise God. 

Here in South Africa alone, there are 11 official languages. Impact Africa offers us the gospel of John in most of the languages where we are and we get to pass them out to the people we meet. 

The beautiful thing was with Daisy, she had blindness until truth was placed in her hands. Crazy beautiful how the lord uses hardship for his perfect plan!

After saying goodbye to Daisy and her beaming smile, we walked to a man named Alford. He is what people here refer to as a Sangoma, or a traditional healer. My team leader, Jesse, the day before had talked to Alford briefly and told him He’d be back the next day. So we made our way to his home where he kindly welcomed us in.

We got to have a great conversation with him and share the gospel with him! He told us that he was raised a Christian and a Sangoma, and we got to hear his heart of what that was like. He was confused and torn spiritually. His job was to sacrifice animals for ancestors to heal those who came to him, and we got to share with him the ultimate sacrifice...Jesus. We walked through scripture and shared with him what had just happened with Daisy and where our power comes from! 

Acts 1:8 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

God is too good and this is just one of the many beautiful happenings that I’ve witnessed in the first two months. 

Stay tuned.

-Drew