Jack Kimes

So its been a while and alot has been going on. So I'll just say I am loving it here and am missing every one back home for sure.

Ok so to start off I just got back from Durban...random note I pee'd in the Indian Ocean :) Well we went to a rugby match and that was pretty rad. Got to see alot of great scenery on the drive and had some good times with the people we went with. Besides that not a lot of trips have happened since the last time I blogged but i have been working hard at the school we work at digging a french ditch as well as just coaching soccer to the kids there.

This coming up month well April we are gone pretty much the whole time. We are going to Jefferysbay for a side mission project from the 2-8. We are as well gonna try and learn how to surf, we are pretty stoked about that. Then we get back from there and go to our "teens camp" which is like a summer camp. We are doing a lot there as a team and I'm making the video all week and playing electric guitar so i'm pretty excited. Once we get back from there we are having a huge IMB meeting called AMTM, and its just basically a prayer retreat for all the missionaries of Sub-Saharan Africa. We are pretty excited about that.

Well thats the next month and again i'm going to try and update this more often but no promises. I miss you guys and hope all is well. Continue praying and know that the Lord is blessing me greatly. 

Praising always,

Jack Kimes

Jack Kimes

Hey guys sorry it has been so long on my update...I hate that I haven't done it. Stuff is going really well though. Just a few little things I'm doing and kinda ways you can keep up with me is by pictures that get posted on facebook. 

My usual schedule of the week is on monday our supervisor day, tuesday is our day off, wednesday we go to Aurora Primary School to help tutor school and to coach soccer after school, thursday we go to Lambona AIDS Orphanage, friday is our day to get ready for youth during the night(our wednesday nights are their fridays) Saturday we are in our apartment complex building relationships and trying to just get closer to people, and Sunday we have church in the morning and at night. 

Our wednesdays are pretty hectic but are super good. The kids are really awesome and love having us there cause thats when they know they get to play soccer. Soccer is a good tool and i love the fact that the Lord has given me a little bit of talent to be able to play.

 Our thursdays are AWESOME!! Being at the AIDS orphanage we get to lead a bible study with the "mums" in the morning and thats great. The kids there are super excited every time they get to see males because there are absolutely no male volunteers. The kids come from pretty rough situations, some being found behind dumpsters, some just being left at the hospital, some being beaten and left on the side of the road, and some just being left at the orphanage. The kids are great though and love being loved on! 

I am currently doing alot of skateboarding with the guys from around here and am being a great witness to them. They really need a good influence. There is a christian skateboarding organization here in South Africa called SonSkate and its great. I am working with them and going to skate parks every other saturday. The little hessians (little skater kids) all smoke and it sucks to have to see that but they enjoy asking questions about what i'm doing and about America so it really opens alot of doors. 

Prayer requests: 1. Well the main thing i ask for prayer from the Lord is that I will continue to be used and that i will stay healthy. 2. another big thing is that we continue to build relationships with the people we have met and that we can just be a light. 3. That I will continue to be soaked in prayer and that the Word will continue to bless me daily! 4. Another big one is that i will use my time wisely and be intentional with all interactions and times with people.

Till next time keep me in your prayers

Love and miss you guys,

Jack Kimes

God using my talents

So on Friday and Saturday God was able to use my talents. I was able to cook for a youth valentines day dance which was really cool. I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs. It was a super fun time and on Saturday I braiied "grilled out"  and made a valentines day dinner for our team in Jo'Burg. On Thursday I was able to actually experience what my passion is. I went to an AIDS orphanage and I'm actually going to be working there every Thursday. This place was well maintained and I could tell the kids were really thankful. 

I have been sick for the past four days and I found out two days ago that I'm allergic to a specific type of clothes detergent. My had a bad allergic reaction and my face has swollen up pretty bad. I am just trying to get as much rest as I can and sleep off the reaction. Pray that I will get better soon and be back on my feet strong. I hope all is well back in the States...let me know how the president is doing. I haven't really had time to look up to much on him. Well have a great week I'll post later.

Jack

Long day

So Wednesday we woke up at around 5:30 to go to a school called Aurora. On the way we stopped by the principals office to pick up them and few other people. We pilled in the back of a truck. It was a crazy. Aurora is a Christian based boarding school that consists of kids from "squater" camps. Squater camps are basically tin shacks about 10x10 that a family lives in. They do everything in that shack but Aurora takes kids out of that area for Monday - Friday and gives them a place to stay and an education. Today we taught them English and then after school we started a soccer team and had practice and such. It was so great. The kids were so thankful to have us and are ready for us to come back next week. We will be going every Wednesday to help out from 7 til about 4:30...yeah it'll be a long day.

Today was especially long because after Aurora we instead of going to bible study went on a homeless ministry outreach. We basically had about four cars that followed a truck full of soup and bread. We went all around downtown Jo'Burg and passed out cups of soup and bread. It was such hard thing but in the same sense it was also very humbling to be on there level and just serve them. To me seeing how they looked after each other and I felt as though they would also look after me. It was great. Anyways that was from 5:30 til 10:30 so I had a super long day and on the fact I am really sick so I am super drained. 

Pray for strength and soaking of the Word on my heart. I miss everyone and love you guys...Til next time, Jack

Previous month

Hey guys so sorry it has taken me so long to make one of these blog deals. I have been incredibly swamped with work and honestly haven't had as much time as I would have selfishly liked to start my blog. Be looking for about two or three posts a week though. Anyways a quick recap on what I have been doing since I have been here and kinda what I'm doing as well.
I am doing a HandsOn project through the International Mission Board. It is for college as students who have felt the Lords calling and wish to take a semester off school or who have finished like myself. It as a very inexpensive trip considering all you get do and the place I'm staying in. My flat is most def better than where I lived the previous semester.
Anyways when we first arrived we had a 10 day orientation that consisted of briefing of our projects, cultural stuff, and intense bible studies. I met alot of great people and began to know my new roommates for the next five months really well. They are really unique and different guys its great. But after orientation we got settled in in an area called Greenstone in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a very well maintained area but still is rough. Our main mission here is to reach out to the complex we are staying in. Without us being planted into this community nobody would ever be able to get in to build relationships and hopefully one day share the Gospel.
We are definitely suffering for Christ in our super nice "flats" apartments haha no but really it is easy living but the ministry here is going to be incredibly difficult and most likely not fruitful to our eyes. People here have all they really need and have no need for Christ. It really is a struggle to us and that is the first most important part of prayer we would love to have. Besides our complex we are working with Edenvale Baptist Church and I am helping out with Ignite which is the older youth and I am actually skateboarding every other Friday at different skateparks with a guy named Shannon. He heads up SonSkate which is a Christian based skateboarding organization that is huge in South Africa. So wow its crazy how the Lord gives you gifts that you would never expect to use on the mission field and there I am skateboarding for Christ.
Anyways I have a great team and a great supervisor. Pray for our team that we will continue to unify and grow together and learn together. Pray we will be able to just stand strong and soaked up in the Word, that we will be patient in our relationships with people and we will be very very intentional with the little time we have with them. Til next time which is like right now haha,
Jack