Today we started out our day with a devo led by Roberto. We read from Philippians 2, learning about the humility of Christ. We spoke about how no matter your level of faith, we are to live a life that reflects Christ. We are to do this with not only our hearts but also our minds. Our mission for the rest of the week is to humble ourselves as Christ has done for us. Following devos we enjoyed a delicious breakfast made by Elsha and then headed out for our next adventure. Meeting up with Ben andsome other members of the Ambassadors team, we headed off to Drakenstein prison. Here we were able to sit in on a mentoring session led by Ben for about 20 men within the prison. The majority of these men are part of the Hope Academy program led by Ambassadors. The main focus of this program is football, faith and future. Today we focused on future aspect and were taught a valuable lesson on what it means to be a real man. The men were so open to talk with us and gave some insight on the subject that we had never even considered. It was so evident that God has been working in this place and is continuing to do so. Ben taught us all that we are to have a soft heart and a tough mind. We spent time afterwards praying with the men which was a really cool experience. A lot of the men were not concerned with themselves but rather were so thankful for us coming and for the mission of the Hope Academy. God is doing amazing things there and it was so awesome to be a part of that.
After the mentouring session and some rain we were able to head out to their pitch and play a game of soccer. They led us in prayer and then warm-ups. They taught us several chanting warm-ups that we hope to bring back to the states with us. The first half was the Americans (with Chistina and Jessica) against the South Africans. We quickly discovered their incredible talent and tried our best to keep up. The field was a combination of sand and grass and was surrounded by beautiful mountains. I often found myself just gazing at them in awe and missing a pass because of it. The second half we had Josh and two of the Academy players join us, which definitely helped a lot. After the game we joined together in prayer and gave our goodbyes. It's so cool that because of a common love for soccer we now have 20+ brothers in Christ. We finished the morning with a picnic next to the Nelson Mandela statue (because this was the prison he was released from). God is so good and continues to amaze me more and more each day we are here.
Lindsay Hutton
ps - hi mom and dad, i miss and love you!!