Well think of this as 2 posts in 1...

So i realize that i have not been posting as many blogs as i should be. Especially since i'm sure people want to hear about our adventures in Africa! Well to start from where i left off, we have been working with 2 different communities, each of which i love in different ways. Mbonsweni and Kabokweni. I just love playing games with the kids and being able to see their smiling faces. It never ceseas to amaze me when i hear their stories of how hard life for them is, yet everytime i see them smile and laugh and play. It truely is amazing how grateful these children's hearts are. Recently the New Hope team came down for a visit/mission trip. I'm so glad they came! For those of you who don't know, here's a short version of my history with New Hope: I started going there with my family when it literally had first started. I was about 4 or 5. So about ten years ago. I grew up in New Hope and for the longest time i knew just about everyone there. I built lasting relationships that are still going strong and this church is my family. It was very hard for me to say goodbye to them. So back to the original story. I was SO excited to have them here. My long time friend Sarah Spurgin came with the team(: She stayed with me and we just had a blast! Among the team there were old friends and new friends but everyone of them family. Today we had to send them off to go back to America to share their wonderful testomonies. I truely hope that had a life changing experience and I'm SO glad i got to spend time with them(: So here is the 2nd post of this 2 for 1 blog.

Just a short story that i whipped up about today..:
So today, much to our suprise, we saw a snake. The first one since we've been here and to say the least it was intimidating. My mom saw it as she was about to walk out the door and quite calmly said " Oh My God a snake!" to which i excitedly jumped up to go see. Unfortunetley by the time i got there it had slithered as only snakes do, in between two rocks. My mom ran out the door and stayed as far away as physically possible from the snake sheltering rocks as she went to go get help. As she hurried along I waited for a good shot of adreniline to see a poisonous snake right in front of me(: So i waited at the door for a good spook. And suddenly there was something shining that had been there before. I threw the door open but that just scared it and off it went back into its shelter. Not long after, My mom came back with Stanley, an African student at the YWAM base. He caried a water bottle full of kerosene and matches. Then i realized, they were going to try to catch it on fire! Bravely Stanley drizzled the flamable substance in and around the crack. Next thing i knew the whole thing was up in flames. Just when i thought that it was over and that the snake was sadly suffering inside what he assumed to be his shelter, it came racing out with no harm done. Boy was i suprised to see the size of that sucker. It was HUGE. Probably at least 3 feet long WHILE IT SLITHERED! Not only was it huge and scary but then i realized it's color. It was a dull grey color with a little bit of yellow underneath. A black mamba. A highly dangerous and highly venemous snake native to Africa. My heart stopped for about a millisecond then beat fast with the adreniline i had been waiting for. Believe it or not it only took a couple of seconds for the snake to come out of the burning rocks, and glide into a whole GIANT set of new rocks. So there they went again, setting the rocks on fire. Unfortunetley, the slimy creature never came back out. We still don't know where it is which disturbs me even more. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! So after a long day of sending off the New Hope team and sleeping quite alot of the whole snake ordeal, i decided to take a relaxing bath. Relaxing as it was, the whole effort was pretty much ruined when i got out and saw that there was none other than a snake skin hanging from the INSIDE of our sliding front door. Not near big enough to be the skin of satan, i mean the snake we say today... but big enough to make me nervous. Now i sit here writing about my snake day and probably making you worry. Well no need, because i'll be okay(: just keep me in prayer and also that snake. but not in the same way ;)

well i know this blog is already EXTREMELY long but..
some prayer requests:
.The DTS students are leaving for 5 week outreach on Monday. Including my dad.
.I would LOVE to go to youth camp with the New Hope youth this summer, so please be praying for that as much as possible.
.Safety for the New Hope team as they fly back.
.Relationship for us as we continue to work in the communities.

I also want to thanks EVERYONE who donated food or spices ect. to us! they are defenitly appreciated!

Thanks everyone for the support,
Rae