We had the wonderful opportunity to host a team of 26 students from all over the United States for 3 weeks this summer. They changed many lives and had their own changed as well. Take a closer look at this video to gain a better understanding of how they spent their time here, and to get a feel for the authenticity that served as the backbone for the entire trip.

Does this sound like something you’d want to spend a couple weeks doing? Hop on over and take a look at our student and adult Thrive Trip opportunities.

This past July we hosted the Thrive Student Trip under the watchful supervision of Cassie and Brandon Hart, leaders from the States that we’ve had led the Thrive Student Trip the past two years. They’re a huge part of the reason that Thrive Trip is so instrumental in the students’ lives that come out; their dedication and pure, steadfast joy in the Lord and His work is a shining example of the life we should all be striving to live.

Cassie is an elementary school teacher, and when she came out in July she brought notes of encouragement from her third-grade students. They were both humorous and refreshing. Here are a few of them:

Hello my name is Eva. God loves you and he’ll never let the earth fall into the sun, you his daughters and sons.

Your friend,
Eva

: :

Dear Missionary’s, I hope the African children understand what you say. God has you in his hands.

Love,
Natalia

: :

Hello, you are doing something that is great! Thare is hope for all the children’s family, frends and them. Keep up the good work.

Love,
Megan

The Thrive Trip team met a man named Thomas who was suffering from epilepsy. Thomas had no family and was living with a friend. The man who cared for him was gone most of the time, so Thomas was usually left alone. When Thomas was younger, his mother read Bible stories to him and his siblings. Both of his parents tragically died, and the children were left to the care of their grandmother. Unfortunately, his grandma was a sangoma (witchdoctor) who tried to poison the children. Thomas thanks God for being saved from being poisoned.

The group prayed for Thomas, asking God to heal his epilepsy. When they were finished, Thomas said that he had felt power course through his body, and he knew that God had healed him.

When the group returned to his house after lunch, Thomas was already looking better. He was talking more clearly, and both of his eyes were open. They shared Scriptures with him about the healing power of God.

The next day, Thomas was walking down the street, waving to them. He told them he was filled with joy, because God sent them to him. He can’t read, so he has the friend he lives with read the Bible to him. He wants to bring the man to Christ and to church with him on Sundays. Thomas says he will always remember the day he was healed, and he wants to share Jesus Christ with everyone he knows!

When we hosted a team from Mountainview Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, God—as always—worked as much in the lives of the team members as He did in the lives of the nationals they touched. Here’s the stories of three of the team members.

Chris
Chris was most impacted by a woman his team met, Sarah. He was touched by her love, humility, and trust. He believes the level of trust she was able to show was possible because though she had never had a white person enter her home, the love of Christ abounded. The experience was humbling and will stay with him forever. Chris says his heart is broken for the people of South Africa, and God gave him compassion for their situation. He now feels equipped with the information and the heart to better allocate his resources for sending others into the mission field.

Lani
While Lani was in Intabazwe ministering, she met a woman who said something she will never forget: “Maybe God sent you here just to speak to me.” Lani was also utterly taken aback by the amazing power of prayer. Her group met two men who were alcoholics, and after praying with the men for an end to their addiction, the men stopped drinking.

Aiden
This was Aiden’s first mission trip, and he feels this experience has truly shaped him. His eyes were opened to many things, including the enormous amount of potential in the people of the villages—the potential for the adults and children to become incredible leaders. God showed Aiden the power of sharing Jesus Christ with people through relationships. He is anxious to share what he has learned here in South Africa with the members of his community back home. Aiden is also waiting for God to send him on his next mission trip. His heart has been burdened to share the love of Christ all over the world, “How can we stay in the United States when there are people out there like [these people]?” He is returning home equipped with a heart for many, many more mission trips!

Christina Corvin, one of our Outreach Staff interns, shared this amazing story with us:

When I was out doing ministry with the team we hosted from The Falls Church, we saw God do the miraculous!

On our second day in Qwa Qwa, my group saw a woman sitting on her front step, eyes covered with her hands. We introduced ourselves and found out her name was Maria. Her eyes were horribly bloodshot and had a slight cloudiness over the pupils. She said she had been in pain for over two years. And then she pointed to her feet and told us she couldn’t wear shoes because her feet had been painfully swollen for a long time. We asked if we could pray and she said, “If you pray for me, I will be healed.”

We were all instantly encouraged by her incredible faith, and we prayed for her. When we finished praying, she told us the pain was gone! We were so excited and told her that we would keep praying, because by the end of the week, she was going to see us coming, clearly.

Sure enough, we went back the next day, and her eyes were no longer cloudy, and there was still no pain. And then the next day, God had healed the pressure, and the blood vessels had relaxed and her eyes were no longer bloodshot. She thanked us repeatedly and told us she thanked God for bringing us to Africa. We left with our spirits high and our hearts encouraged by God’s healing grace. He is not just alive and moving, He is alive and moving in the small corners of the world, like Maria’s house in Qwa Qwa. We thank God that Maria can see perfectly and pain-free again.

Oh, and she can wear shoes again, too.

We love having mission teams on the base, and are never disappointed with the brilliance of the pictures they take. We’ve recently added mission team photo galleries from Frontline Church, The Falls Church, Summit Church, Mountainview Church, and our very own Thrive Trip Team. You should really check them out!

We’re so glad to be a part of the lives they change while they’re here with us. Take a look in our photos section to see even more!

I was gifted with the priceless opportunity of spending time in Qwa Qwa these past few weeks with our student Thrive Trip, and I’ve tried to describe to people what happened during those 3 weeks, but my mouth can’t seem to fit around the right words. There aren’t any words big enough or deep enough to do it justice, but I’ll try my hardest to get as close as possible.

We spent two full weeks in ministry, but towards the end I could have sworn that no more than two days had passed. I usually struggle to see immediate fruit in relationships. This time, however, it seemed as though every single man and woman we met had been specifically set aside for us. Walking from house to house, we did more than help with chores and share a couple Scriptures; the Holy Spirit took our words and placed them directly in these people’s hearts. In short, we reclaimed souls for the Kingdom. We brought light into places that were drowning in darkness, and hope to homes that were shrouded in despair.

During this whole trip I didn’t just witness Basotho lives change, I watched as every single Thrive Tripper became someone greater than they’d arrived here as. They flew in as timid, nervous students, and left as fierce, powerful warriors for Christ. They changed lives. They conquered. They healed. They changed a little piece of Africa. How many people can say that?

Brian, a member of the Frontline team that worked with us last month, shared some of the moments that have indelibly inked themselves on his heart.

If you ask me what my favorite or most memorable moment was, it would come to a three-way tie. The first was seeing the Word of God alive. All Scriptures are God-breathed and boy, does that give it some oomph. I have witnessed Scriptures wielded like a sword, fighting false teachings and lifting the blindfolds of purposelessness. The second would be the day we took part in Leadership Summit. I had the honor and privilege of working with 20 of Qwa Qwa’s best and brightest. In them was a fire that will fuel the light that is consuming the darkness in South Africa. Lastly, the pediatric ward at Qwa Qwa’s regional hospital broke my heart. When you hold babies whose heads aren’t even as big as your palms and you pray with the only conscious child in isolation who knows he’s been abandoned, how can you walk away without being pierced by their situations?

I admit it was tough—tougher than I could have ever imagined—and it would have all been a fruitless effort without the hope that is in Jesus Christ. To know that there is more, to press onward because there is more—that is what will change South Africa.

While Nathan was here with his team, Frontline, he had a unique opportunity to spend a few days with a South African witchdoctor. His experience is a testament to the power of a few simple words, and how easily they can change lives:

When we arrived (at the witchdoctor’s house), we offered to help out with chores to get a better understanding of the culture, but that offer fell on deaf ears as we found ourselves sitting in the kitchen discussing the differences between the two cultures. It seemed like the first day was more of a spiritual test — an attempt by the witch doctor and her husband to see whether or not we were true Christians and to test our depth of Biblical knowledge.

We returned the next day to open arms. The small talk quickly turned to deep conversation regarding the AIDS pandemic, why God allows the virus to run rampant, and other hard questions. To be completely honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it was by divine intervention that I was able to come back with Biblical examples and answers to each of their difficult questions. By the end of the day, we had built a sincere bond with the family. They understood that we were “disciples of God” and were able to offer them encouragement through the Bible. Although I do not know whether or not the witchdoctor has stopped practicing her ancestral worship, she did swell up when we explained God’s forgiving love and she noted that she “wished she had never been born with such a gift”.

Since it was apparent the family had limited resources, we decided to purchase a Bible for them. But, when we went to present the Bible, we discovered her brother had passed away. She was an emotional wreck. So, after giving her the Bible, we got into group, laid hands on her and prayed for her. I hope that our presence and our conversations have led the family to a new level with God and that the Bible has been able to bless them with a deeper understanding of the true Word of God.

A mission team member from the Cornerstone team we hosted back in April shared this story with us:

At the schoolyard I introduced myself to three women that were watching our team play with the children. I started to have a conversation with them and they told me they were Christians. We talked for about twenty minutes or so and they were asking me questions about America and I was asking them questions about Qwa Qwa. Then I asked them if their church was a Bible-believing church (the women could speak English really well). They said that it was. Then I asked if they believed in witchdoctors or their ancestors. They said, “Yes we believe in our ancestors.”

I began to talk about what the Bible says about those things. I told them that those things aren’t from God! I shared from Deuteronomy, Hebrews, and Joshua, and showed them that God was the only One to put their trust in! “He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!” I took time to minister to them about being deceived by Satan. I could see their faces begin to change and they said that they hadn’t known about all this! I asked if they wanted to surrender their life to God and ask Him to forgive them for believing in other gods. I shared how I was a single mom and that God always provided for me and my children! I encouraged them that He would provide for them, too! They all wanted to pray and I led them to the Lord! Praise God! I told them that I look forward to seeing them again–in Heaven!