Arriving on my first internship!

“Yo John! What happened to you!? You use you to be this fine young man, now your life is like a roller coaster, doing all these crazy thing just to please people who you barely know.” “I know man, life’s just crazy right now.” “What are you gonna do to fix it?” “ I feel like I need to get busy for the lord again. I mean, I use to be doing missions all around the world!” “Ahhhh! Bingo! I know exactly what I should do. Now that high school is over, I can take a gap year on the mission field.” This was the conversations I had with myself before coming to South Africa. In looking at graduation, I found myself evaluating my life and I realized that I needed a change in direction.

Impact Africa was honestly the first thing that came to mind. I had gone in 2016 and 2017 on short term missions trips but the rollercoaster lifestyle just kept knocking me down. I would find myself doing amazing things for God and the next thing you know, hanging out with the wrong crowd and being influenced by them. I was in the lowest season of my life. Having grown up heavily in the church, I knew I was not doing too well. I felt like I was slowly slipping away this time. I was eager to make a bold decision that would change the course of my life. I took a step to leave everything behind to find my purpose and identity. Because I made that step, I am looking back at being on the mission field in Africa for a little over a week now! I can definitely say I made the decisions of a lifetime.
Since getting here, this random group of people from around the world have somehow grown to be a family so quick. I loved hearing everyone’s testimonies. It was amazing to see how people got from where they were, to here. I like how God puts certain people in our lives to see new things. It is really nice to be doing missions again! It is for sure bringing back a lot of good memories. I loved doing this kind of stuff growing up. It makes me feel at home, but this time I am nervous and excited. My leaders are so excited for me. They’ve seen people come through the process totally changed as a better version of themselves. This first week was a great overview of what we will be doing and getting prepared and settled in, but I am so excited for this next week. I know it is going to stretch me like crazy. I am excited to be doing some classes and putting to practice my faith!

Until next time,
Johnny Tsunami