January 2020

First blog! How exciting!

This is just a quick post about what I have been doing over the past year, and what I will be getting up to next!

In January 2019 I went to Muizenberg, Cape Town, to do a Discipleship Training School through Youth With A Mission. My class got divided into teams for outreach and starting at the end of March, my team and I did two weeks in Cape Town and eight weeks in Japan. It was a really incredible journey that was tough, but yet so exciting!Throughout the whole school I learnt a lot about who God is and what that means to me. It was definitely a redefining moment in my life, and I got to see what it really looks like to live a life saying of just yes to Jesus. While I was in Japan I felt God was telling me that my next yes should be to doing a biblical school in Taiwan.

I came back home to Johannesburg in July last year, which I found quite challenging, especially adjusting to living at home after living in a large multicultural community. Although it was really great to see friends and family again.

In order to raise funds for the bible school, I had to make a CV for the first time (I know, GASP, Claire finally had to do adult things at the age of 22) in order to get a job. God really had his hand in this, and literally four days after applying for jobs, I got a job offer at a tutoring company. So I have been tutoring for the past six months, which has been challenging but rewarding at the same time.

I will be leaving to go to Taipei on the 14th of March and I will be doing the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) with YWAM. This is an intensive 9 month program where I will study the entire Bible 5 times over and dig deep using the inductive Bible study method. I am really excited to build a great foundation of knowledge and have a deeper understanding of God's word and how I can apply this to my life. I also think that this will be a great aid for reaching the nations as a missionary.

If you would like to know more about what is happening in my life or you would like more details, feel free to message me or comment any questions!

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Prayer requests:

• For safe travels to Taipei - no problems with flights due to coronavirus.

• For good health while I am there.

• For God to keep preparing my heart for the next season that is about to start.

• For finances - that I will have a good month of tutoring, as well as finding people to support me as this trip will be self funded and I will need to cover the following costs:

- The course and accommodation - R65 000

- Food - R27 000

- Miscellaneous costs (like laundry, stationary, trains, monthly necessities) - R5 000

- Flights out of the country in order to renew my 90 day visa twice while I am there - R3 000

I am currently short of around R14 000 in order to cover these costs.

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If you are keen to make a donation towards these costs, my banking details are below:

Account Details: Bank name: Standard Bank Branch name: Northgate Branch code: 1106 Account holder: Miss Claire CM Stead Account number: 28 046 886 5 Account type: Current SWIFT code: SBZAZAJJ

Reference: SBS - Name/Anonymous

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Until the next update,

Blessings,

Claire