Our most recent missions trip was a missions trip to South Africa!
Check out the daily reports of this amazing trip below!
Tuesday | March 19th
Hello friends and family! Darren and I (are already having an incredible time visiting our missionaries in South Africa as they minister to the Tsonga people! We arrived here Monday night and spent all day today (Tuesday), viewing their ministry, loving on their family, and preparing for GYM camp this Thursday through Sunday! The Schlehlein family is doing an incredible job discipling their children, preaching the gospel, and loving the Tsonga people to Christ!
CBC family, you should be so encouraged to know that we get to partner with a family and ministry like this! Check out the pictures below, and just get a snapshot of all that God is doing here through these choice servants AND through your investment in this work!
We covet your prayers as we have more prep tomorrow for GYM Camp Sr. (Godly Young Men Camp) as camp runs Thursday through Sunday morning. We are so blessed to be part of this! Thank you for praying for us as we ask God to do a deep spiritual work in the hearts of these young men at camp! We love and miss you all!! 
Thursday | March 21st
The last two days have been all hands on deck in preparation and all sights have been set for GYM camp senior 2024. We have taken loads of supplies over to the camp. The women have started prepping for meals, as each meal is cooked at the Schlelien kitchen and hauled over to the camp. We still were able to have some fun though. Tonight was the first night of camp and what a night it was! We had good fellowship, wondrous singing, and the messages were top notch.
Pray for us as we continue to teach life lessons and lessons from the Bible. As these young men are yearning to hear about God and the gospel. Pray also for endurance and strength for us to keep up with the young men here and that we will have the right words to say to touch the hearts of these young men, so they can be Godly Young Men!
Saturday | March 23rd
Wow! Wow! Wow! GYM Camp Senior (Godly Young Men Camp) has been amazing! Today, we are wrapping up 3 days of Christ-centered ministry to 60+ African young men! The Lord has worked greatly in our midst! This camp places a huge emphasis on godly masculinity with a combination of sporting competitions, BAM’s (Be A Man) activities, Bible preaching and teaching, Scripture memory, heartfelt singing, hearty meals, and much Christian fellowship!
The theme of the camp this year has been “discernment.” Godly young men need to be discerning. The theme verse was Philippians 1:9. “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment (discernment).” Philippians 1:9.
Camp closes out tomorrow morning with a special service at Trinity Baptist Church that Missionary Paul Schlehlein planted. It’ll be a combined service of multiple churches gathering along with our 60+ campers! It should be a glorious service!! The service also includes our camp choir and an ordination service of one of Paul’s men. I get the distinct privilege of preaching the ordination message.
Please pray for us as we wrap up camp tomorrow and minister in this special service! Darren and I have been so impacted by this experience and have much more to tell when we return! We certainly will miss being at Colonial for Palm Sunday tomorrow, but will be praying for your service there as well. Please enjoy the pics below and the descriptions of some special highlights of GYM Camp Senior 2024. We love and miss you all and thank you for your many prayers!
Tuesday | March 26th
Our amazing trip to visit and minister with the Schlehlein family in South Africa is coming to an end! We begin our trip home today with hearts full of gratitude to our great God for all that He is doing here, and all that He has done in us! “O bless our God, ye people, And make the voice of His praise to be heard” (Psalm 66:8).
 We praise the Lord for the very special Sunday service that we experienced two days ago! Paul’s first church plant, Trinity Baptist Church, was packed full! God’s people from multiple churches gathered for corporate worship, the special ordination of Brother Reggie, and the end of GYM camp. What a special and exhilarating service! To God be the glory!!
Our Sunday afternoon was spent holding another service at the 2nd church plant of the Schlehleins, Tyani Baptist Church. This church is small, and made up mostly of young people, but oh do they have great fervor for the Lord! The potential of this little church was one of the highlights of this trip!
Yesterday was our sightseeing day. We left before sunrise to head to Kruger National Park, a large African safari reserve, that is the size of a whole province. Darren and I spent some precious time with the Schlehlein family, and a few friends, as we viewed many exotic animals and special sites on the African Savannah! What a special time it was to enjoy God’s creation with this incredible servant family after a busy week of ministry!
Lord willing, we hope to return to Roanoke tomorrow evening! I must admit that we are not quite the same as we were when we arrived 8 days ago! God gave us many life-impacting experiences and taught us many lessons that we hope to build upon for years to come for the glory of God!!
We want to thank each of you for all your love and prayers while we’ve been gone. We look forward to seeing you soon and celebrating Easter Sunday with you!We hope you enjoy these last pics! We love you all!
