Well, it is today that I fly out to South Africa. I am a bit nervous about the flight as I have never spent that long on a plane before, but am more nervous about what I might find at the other end and how it might affect my life.

I am leaving behind a caring family and a warm house for sleeping in below freezing conditions at night and working with children from the slums by day. Why? Because I love God and want to share him with people who need his love!

For the past five days I have been on an orientation course at Bulstrode together with the other ten people that I will be trekking with, and it has got me really excited me about the trip. The guys I am going with seem really cool (and in the unlikely event that one of them reads this, I love you guys!) and as a team we have bonded fairly well.

It has been a hectic schedule, learning about both the physical and spiritual dangers and obstacles that we might face, as well as planning the activities which we will be carrying out with the children when we get out there.

British Airways has kindly allowed us extra baggage to take out educational resources and so we have been collecting together lots of craft and educational materials, and it has been a massive encouragement to me to see how much we have collected.

I do not know how much internet access I will have in South Africa, but I will update my blog when I get the chance. For those that wish to receive more regular updates via email and pray for me please request to be added to my prayer list.