Jeffery's Bay, South Africa - First Year Missionaries
Radical
discipleship for college students wanting to follow Jesus' model
Come join
a small group of college age students in Jeffery's Bay!
The First Year Missionary program (FYM) in South Africa is an internship for individuals ages 18-22. The internship lasts for nine months, and is designed to train you to minister the Gospel of Christ in South Africa.
This program is not an academic study program. You will be immersed in the missionary lifestyle. The FYM program has both a ministry and discipleship component. Through FYM ministry, you will be challenged to understand and personally surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. You will minister the Gospel alongside local missionaries and pastors in a relational ministry and evangelism area of your choice. We will spend the first couple of weeks exploring different ministries, so that the internships will center on each person's interests and God's leading. You may be involved in this internship individually or with a team member, depending on safety.
Trip
Details:
Start Dates: Fall 2008
Length: 9-months
Airfare and travel: One round-trip estimated at $1,700.
Cost: $6,750 + airfare
Team Size: 10-12 participants
aged 18-22
Team Discipleship:
There will be weekly one-on-one discipleship for each team member, and group discipleship and teaching 3-4 times a week, mostly from the FYM team leaders. At times, local pastors, missionaries, or other believers will share in discipling the team.
A major focus of the FYM program is personal discipleship. You will be mentored by a godly man or woman, someone committed to helping you mature on your personal faith journey. Emphasis is placed on daily surrender and releasing anything that may keep you from close communion with God.
Group discipleship will focus on growing as a community of believers. Daily teaching hits major topics such as communion with God, spiritual gifts, evangelism, disciple making, leadership, church planting, missions, the body of Christ, and worship. Team discussions are geared to build into each individual the core foundations of being a disciple of Christ.
Ministry
in South Africa:
While in South Africa, you will each focus on a ministry internship for roughly 20 hours a week. You will minister independently as you work in the Townships and poorer encampments of houses that are built out of scrap wood and other materials. During the first week we will introduce you to various projects like working with orphans, AIDS counseling, door to door ministry, soup kitchens, teaching in schools, planning of gardens, working with local women in the community, kids clubs, teaching individuals how to read and write, feeding points, sports ministry, building and painting of houses, etc. These projects are already established and you will join in on more than one of them. You will also work with the local church in the community. Building friendships with the local people will be one of the main focuses to lead them to Christ.
Although the internships are individual, we will also spend a smaller amount of time ministering together as a team in a variety of settings.
Housing:
You will live with other First Year Missionaries at our FYM house in Jeffrey's Bay. The base is in a great location, on the Eastern Cape. It is safe and close to both the beach and the town center. But just a short walk from the surf shops and tourist areas are some very needy areas. This is where many of the ministry opportunities will be and the community where you will be working. You will have access to laundry facilities, internet, and a phone at the base.
Location Description:
Within hours of your arrival, you're going to discover that South Africa is a great melting pot of cultures, colors, languages and traditions. South Africa broke free from ‘apartheid’ ten years ago and they are very proud of their diversity. It is a nation of 44.8 million people of different origins, cultures, languages and beliefs. It’s not called 'The Rainbow Nation' for nothing. South Africa has 11 official languages - and scores of unofficial ones – Afrikaans is the most prominently spoken among the South Africian peoples with English being a strong secondary language including the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life.
The 2001 census revealed five main racial categories by which people could classify themselves: African/Black - 79%, White - 9.6%, Coloured - 8.9%, and Indian/Asian - 2.5%.
One of the largest attractions to South Africa is the scenery. Wildlife abounds and with a vast area of natural settings your eyes will continue to roam. Mountains, plains, valleys with rivers and of course the coastal line offers beauty than can rarely be surpassed.
In terms of religious affiliation, about two-thirds of South Africans are Christian, mainly Protestant. They belong to a variety of churches, including many that combine Christian and traditional African beliefs.
South Africa occupies the southern tip of Africa, its long coastline stretching more than 2,500km from the desert border with Namibia on the Atlantic coast southwards around the tip of Africa and then north to the border with subtropical Mozambique on the Indian Ocean.
The need for Christians to minister here is urgent. HIV/AIDS has taken a major toll and the country hosts a high orphan rate with pockets of poverty in many locations.
Weather:
South Africa has a mostly temperate and pleasant climate, with lovely warm sunny days most of the year. Being in the southern hemisphere, the seasons
are opposite to those experienced in Europe and North America, so if you’re wondering, yes they spend Christmas on the beach.
Summer is mid-October to mid-February, autumn from February to April, winter May to July, and spring August to October.
Read
trip reports & see pictures from current and previous FYM trips
to South Africa.
Click on a date for more information:
Fall 2008
If you have any questions contact us by email
or phone, 1-800-881-2461.
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