6 Weeks Left... Here's what's happening!

I can't believe it, but we are closing out our time on campus. Our team has two full weeks at UKZN and we only have three weeks left with Ukukhanya Life Care Center (ULCC). It been a very busy semester and the Lord has worked in ways I could have never dreamed before. It has been both a privilege and an honor to watch Christ work in the lives of so many men and women! It is a bittersweet feeling to be closing out our time in bible studies and in discipleship. As I look back its amazing to see how God has used the students to change there campus for the Kingdom. We have so much to be thankful for. Since the camp five girls Bible studies and two guys Bibles studies have been meeting weekly, there have been three successful work days at ULCC with thirty plus students serving, we've welcomed in a new leadership team just last week, and most importantly, the students at UKZN have grown in their intimacy with Jesus. There are so many exciting stories I want to share! I can't wait to sit down with all of you when I get home and tell you the many things I haven't been able to share with you over the year. For now, I  wanted to let all of you know that we have just over a month remaining in our STINT year. I wanted to fill you in on what our last month holds, and ask you to join me in praying for our last 6 weeks in South Africa. 

The next two or three weeks we'll spend most of our time on campus finishing up the year. Our last day on campus is the last official day for lectures. The following weeks the campus will shut down for a study break and for the exam period. So, the next two weeks is going to be an very busy and emotional time. We hope to continue to meet with students and spend good time with them if they have any free time during their study break. We hope to be a good support to them as they enter into their exam period and care for them well in their last few weeks. Our last day on campus we hope to have a social to end the year celebrating all the Lord's done in this school year. There is a lot to celebrate and be thankful for! 

Here are some praises and prayer requests for our last few weeks on campus. 

Praise:

• For 9 new members who are joining the leadership team at UKZN! God has raised up an eager and excited leadership team for next year! I am excited to see how God will use them.
  
• For three successful full work days at ULCC! Over 30 students have now served at the center, helping with renovations and serving the community. 
  
• For the 40 plus students who are involved in Bible studies!
  
• For the growth God has allowed men and women to experience this year! 
  
• For all of our student leaders at UKZN. These men and women have been obedient to God's call for them to lead. We can praise the Lord for their willing hearts!
  
• For the first women's Bible study in the Sports Science faculty.  
  

Prayer:

• For peace for students as they enter into an extremely challenging and stressful time in their studies. They are currently overwhelmed with projects and test, and they haven't even entered into their finals yet. Please pray that they can find rest in Jesus. Pray that in this time they can continue to make their relationships with God their first priority. 
  
• We can pray for their availability in the next two weeks. Their schedules are extremely demanding in this time. So we can pray they would have time to attend their bible studies and connect with their communities. 
  
• We can pray for their studies and for limited stress and anxiety in this time. 
  
• For our last times together in discipleship and in our Bible studies. Please pray that I can love these women well in our limited time together. These girls mean so much to me and I want them to know that I care for them deeply. Please pray that the Lord will give us good time together and intimate times with Jesus when we are meeting. 
  
• The Bible studies on campus are student led and the movement is student led. So please pray for our student leaders as they plan and prepare for the 2010 school year. Please pray for the movement and for the students God has called to lead in Bible studies and in discipleship. 
  
• Please pray for our end of the year social. Pray that it can be a great time of fellowship and celebrating all the Lord has done at UKZN over the year! 
  
• Please pray for Jess and Jade as they persevere in their Bible study in the sports science faculty. For the last few weeks women have not shown up, but every week they are faithful to show up and pray for their peers. They are confident that if the women see they are here to stay, that God will bring them when they are ready. I am humbled by their great faith. It's so encouraging to see them have big hopes and big dreams for their classmates. God is so good, and they know it. Please pray for they as they wait patiently for women to come to the study, that they are confident the Lord has called them to! 
  

Once we finish on campus we are left with a couple important tasks. We need to start closing out the lives God has built for us here, and prepare for the incoming STINT team. We were the first STINT team to come, but we are certainly not the last! After closing out our campus times we will spend a couple weeks in Durban closing out our lives and preparing for next years STINT team. 

Here is how you can be praying for us in this.

Praise:

• For the new STINT team! Four girls and two guys will arrive in SA in January 2010 to start their year here in KZN!  
  
• For the great blessings He's poured out to out team here in Durban. The closer we come to ending our year, the more I realize just how blessed we are. The Lord has provided for our team over and over again. Join us in praising Him for the countless blessings He's given in our time here in South Africa. 
  

Prayer:

• Please pray for closure as we leave people we love, churches we've been involved with, and families God has allowed us to be a part of. 
  
• Please pray for all the little details as we close out our times. For example cars, leases, and so on. 
  
• Please pray for our preparations and planning times for the new STINT team. We are currently helping with housing and other settling in details. Please pray that we can be a blessing to the incoming team as we are leaving. 
  

Once we finish closing out our lives here in Durban we are meeting up with the Pretoria team in Cape Town to start our debrief for the STNT year. We will spend time with some national staff at a debrief conference in our remaining time. After we finish our debrief we are back on a plane to make it home in time for Thanksgiving! 

Here is how you can be praying for our Debrief time.

Prayer: 

• Please pray that we can have great time with the Lord, preparing for our transition back home. 
  
• For quality time as a team of eight. We have missed that this year with the split. We are looking forward to quality time together. 
  
• Pray that we can celebrate all the Lord's done in the last 11 months. It went by so quickly. 
  

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and for all of your love and support. I hope this update gives you a good idea of what our last 6 weeks is going to look like. Thank you for joining with me in praying for my remaining time, it means so much to me. I just want to say thank you so much again for all you've done to send me here this year. It's an honor to serve Christ with you, here in South Africa. 

God Bless, 

Amanda