After arriving back in Capetown, our team split into smaller groups, based on the areas of ministry in which we wanted to be involved. My group has been focusing on raising awareness about human trafficking, which is a huge issue in South Africa and is becoming an even bigger one because of the 2010 World Cup. We have spent numerous hours researching, talking to organizations that deal with trafficking, hanging awareness posters around the city, and talking to people to raise awareness. As we have delved deeper into this issue, it has been heartbreaking to see the dark reality of trafficking in this country...

• Most human trafficking is done for the purpose of sexual exploitation
• 27 million people have been victims of human trafficking
• Most trafficking victims are girls between 5 to 15 years of age
• 1.2 million children are trafficked annually: 1/2 of those children are African
• Trafficking is a $33.9 billion industry
• The U.S. State Department estimates that 100,000 people will be trafficked into South Africa for the 2010 World Cup
• Between 28,000 to 30,000 children are currently being prostituted in South Africa: 1/2 of these children are younger than 14
• Children as young as four are prostituted

I cannot look at these numbers as just statistics; each number has a face, a name, a life.  Not a single one goes unnoticed by the Creator. "Slavery" is often talked of as a thing of the past, but there is more slavery in the world today than at any other point in history. I wonder, in our modern world that boasts of freedom and equality, how has this been allowed to happen?

-Hannah-

Over the past ten days, Team South Africa has been slowly winding our way up the Eastern Coast in an oversized yellow "truck", on the first part of our month-long overland adventure with Cross Country Missions.

We've made stops in Victoria Bay, Jeffrey's Bay, and Cintsa, and are currently in the Transkei region in a small coastal town called Port St. Johns.

The primary language spoken in the areas we will be visiting during the rest of the month is Xhosa, a language filled with pops and clicks that make for interesting truck rides as we all practice our clicking skills.

Our ministry has taken a variety of forms--weeding gardens, ministering to street kids, making connections with people through our cameras, praying Scripture out over a region from a mountain top, street evangelism, and sharing God's love to kids by joining them in their national sport, soccer.

We have had the opportunity to experience a wide variety of South African-style worship, from the very colorful and eclectic Jeffreys Bay YWAM base worship to the liturgical formality of an Anglican service (conducted entirely in Xhosa).

It has been a delight to be able to see and experience more of the contrasts that exist in South Africa, and we have been filled with excitement and hope as we imagine what God envisions for this land and these beautiful people.

Prayer Points:
-Continued health and protection for our team, particularly spiritual protection as we head into a rural area entrenched with witchcraft.
-That we would be able to use our time here to truly touch peoples' lives with the love and power of God--deep connections rather than surface encounters.
-That the Lord would go ahead of us and prepare hearts to be receptive to our ministry.

Our team of 17 arrived in Cape Town on June 27 (safely and with all luggage in tow) to be greeted by unexpectedly chilly temperatures. Getting the necessary gear to stay warm has been a top priority as we prepare to leave on an overland trip through rural South Africa for the month of July.

Cape Town is extraordinary. It is a city of contrasts; it seems that when God painted Cape Town on the canvas of the world, He chose from some of His best creations and put them all together in this one place... I have felt as if I were on a mountain top in the Swiss Alps, on an endless stretch of white sand beach in the Caribbean, in the heart of third-world Africa, and even in Paris' Montmartre... all on the same day.

We have not fully engaged in ministry yet, but it has been encouraging to see connections be made with people, whether it's on the street, on a train, or in the middle of a shopping mall. One of our team members, Amanda, had an exciting opportunity to share her testimony with the man sitting next to her on the 18 1/2 hour flight from Atlanta to Cape Town. Another passenger approached the same man and interjected the identical Bible verse Amanda had just finished sharing. It was a God moment as the Kingdom net was cast forth at 30,000 feet.

Prayer points as we head out of Cape Town tomorrow:
-It is quite a bit colder than we anticipated; there is no heating anywhere, and many of us "freeze" our way through the nights. Coming from Hawaii's hot temperatures, this is quite a shock...please pray we stay healthy!
-Team unity... we will be spending the next 30 days together living out of a cramped passenger truck (with no access to showers for much of the time!)
-Keeping our focus on God regardless of our circumstances is so key in effecting our ability to share God's love. Please pray that the next 30 days are a time of drawing closer to the Lord and learning to walk in His presence as a lifestyle, unhindered by distractions.

Called to LOVE.

Team South Africa is composed of a group of students who are beginning the outreach phase of a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) PhotogenX Discipleship Training School.  We range in age from eight to sixty. We come from diverse backgrounds. We have a broad range of photographic skill levels. We represent different nationalities. But we are united by a common purpose: to love... first God, then ourselves, then each other, then all of humanity... one day at a time. 

We will embark on a month-long overland journey up the coast of South Africa on July 1, stopping along the way to minister within various villages and communities. Following our return to Cape Town at the end of July, we will spend two months working with The Voice for the Voiceless, a ministry which "seeks to identify and raise awareness of issues of social injustice, with the aim of mobilizing people to prayer and radical action." (http://www.avoiceforthevoiceless.co.za/)

These are our stories, but not only ours; they are the stories of the beautiful souls whose lives cross paths with ours, whether for a brief moment, an hour, or a day. 

 We invite you to join us as we follow in the footsteps of a radical lover who changed the course of history. Through our words and pictures, we hope that you will see Jesus and His redemptive plan for humanity a little more clearly. 

-Hannah-