Dear all,

As some of you will have heard I am heading out to Durban, South Africa this summer for 2 weeks and I thought I would let you know a little more about it.

I’ll start at the beginning (always a good place to start!) During the summer of 2005 I went to a festival called Soul survivor which is an event attended by thousands of young people from across the world, where we spend time learning more about God and worshipping him. While I was there I felt God laying Africa on my heart, in particular the street children of Africa and a desire to serve him there. At that point I was 16 years old and about to start my final year of school so I really had no idea of how I could go about it so I prayed more and realised it would happen in Gods timing and not mine. It was hard to accept as I am quite impatient at times but I got on with it knowing it would all work out.

Here I am 3 years later and it is finally all happening and it has happened in Gods perfect timing. As some of you may know, I have been working in Henderson the Jewellers for 2 years but I decided it was time to leave and I had my last day last week. The exciting thing about all this is that less than a week after I hand in my notice this opportunity arises. If I had still been working it would not have worked out for me as I would have been working all summer but as it works out I now have my weekends and holidays free to fundraise and do training. Go God!

Enough of the background story, I will now tell you all about the project which I will be part of. The project is called Soul in the City Durban and it is being organised by Soul Action which is an organisation set up as a partnership between Soul Survivor and Tearfund. The aim is to serve a city by working alongside and partnering with the people and churches of Durban as they meet the needs which are most prominent in their communities. There are short term missions going on throughout the summer of 2008 and a larger scale mission happening in 2009. I will be flying out to Durban on the 26th of July and coming home on the 10th of August. During my time there I will be working in a team of 8 people alongside a church doing whatever they want us to do whether that is working with street kids, decorating a new building, helping with outreach programmes or whatever else is going on within that church. I will find out exactly what I will be doing during my training weekend in Watford at the end of April.

As you can imagine, the trip is costing quite a bit of money but I know God will provide for me if this is indeed his will for me. I have a number of fundraising events coming up starting with a coffee morning on the 5th of April which I would love to see you at. The dates of other events will be confirmed at a later date but you will also have a ceilidh and possibly a fun day to look forward to!

If you have any questions about my trip or suggestions for fundraising, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I do hope you will keep me in your prayers as I know God is going to do amazing things through this trip and I also know I will not get through it without his strength and support. Thank you for your time and may God bless you.

Joanna Stubbs