A U G U S T 2 0 1 0

“For I cannot help but speak of what I have seen and heard!”

Acts 4:20
“Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work
in your days that you would not believe if told.”
Habakkuk 1:5

Pray, Pray, Pray

~Pray that our camp glorifies the
Lord and that each student leaves
experiencing the extravagant love
of the Father.
A new month with new stories! ~Pray that we use these last two
months of the year efficiently and
Here
we
are
in
the
middle
of
September
now.

Time
is
definitely

spend our time exactly where God
flying
by
this
year,
and
I
will
be
back
home
in
no
time.
I
cannot
wait

wants us and with who He wants
to
see
you
all
in
person
and
tell
you
more
of
what
God
has
been

us to be with.
doing,
and
hear
more
about
what
He
has
been
doing
in
your
lives.

~Pray that we would each
August
flew
by
faster
than
I
can
even
explain.
It
began
with
two

experience God’s love more and
weeks
on
campus
with
the
summer
project.
Those
two
weeks
were

be able to love one another with
incredibly
fruitful
for
our
ministry.
At
Westville,
the
American

the love God calls us to have.
students
met
many
South
Africans
who
are
ready
to
be
future

~Pray that God would give me
leaders
in
our
crusade
movement,
as
well
as
any
students
who

wisdom.
desired
to
make
Christ
Lord
of
their
lives
for
the
first
time.

~Pray for the unity of the future
STINT team that will be here in
I have been following up with one of these students named Mandy.
Durban.
When the girls from summer project met her she was agnostic,
~Pray for God to provide as me
believing that there was a God but that there was no way anybody
and my team begin to raise the
really knew who he was or that you could ever know him. 


prayer and monetary support we
Upcoming Events! need for our year.
Rugby Outreach Angus Student Camp
September 15 September 16 September 20-22
Professional Rugby Hosting a large We are having a
player Bismarck outreach event at second camp with
Du Plessis is Howard College. the students from
helping us do an both Howard and
outreach in the Westville.
sports science
department.
 A MINISTRY UPDATE FROM ALYSSA MONDA AUGUST 2010

As she tells the story of how she met Kelly Anne and Jenny,201she 2010
speaks
about how random it was that she was standing where she was, and
that so many weird things happened that day to get her to where they
were. She spoke with the girls and told them that she didn’t believe in
Christ but that she thought there was a God. They shared the Gospel
with her but said she disagreed with what they were saying. The girls
invited Mandy to our weekly meeting a few days later, and said
goodbye. On Friday afternoon, Mandy was at the bus stop getting
ready to leave campus like she always did. She was distracted and
missed a few buses and then decided to come check out our weekly
meeting for some odd reason. Barrett spoke about the life of Paul;
a Jewish leader who hated and murdered Christians, and how he
turned into a man willing to let God use him radically to tell
people about Christ even to his death. Mandy decided to think
more about this, and how if somebody like Paul could somehow
see God is such a radically different way maybe she had it all
wrong and could do the same. She decided that day to think more
about Jesus and learn more about Him in order to decide what
really was truth.

That next Monday Kelly Anne, Jenny and I met with Mandy. We were able to talk more about her life
and I was able to share more of my testimony with her, about how I used to mock the church as well when
I was younger and never pictured myself being somebody who would go around telling people about
Jesus, but that it isn’t this weird thing to me anymore. It is just that I fell in with love Jesus and have
experienced the way that He changed my life making it more joyful and abundant, and that my desire is
for everyone to experience this
same kind of life. It’s kind of
like seeing a good movie and
you want to tell everyone to
go see it so they can enjoy it as
well. We were also able to
share the Gospel more clearly
with Mandy. We were able to
tell her about God’s love for
her and his desire to know her personally, yet that because we are
all imperfect people and mess up all the time we can never know
him in the way we are created for. That seemed like bad news to
her, but then it was great to share the good news about how Christ
came to earth to live a perfect life and become our sin so that we
might be come the righteousness of God. Upon hearing these
things once again, she said that God was making it clear to her that
it was the truth and that nothing else made sense so she decided to
trust her heart and pray asking God to forgive her sins and become
Lord of her life.

Since that day Mandy has been hungry for God. She is studying in
the book of John and we meet to discuss many of her questions. It is great because she is actually seeking
truth about who Jesus is and what the bible says about Him, instead of just taking our word about it all. I
love seeing her heart as she continues to seek after God and know Him for herself in creating her own
personal relationship with Him.
2
 A MINISTRY UPDATE FROM ALYSSA MONDA AUGUST 2010

Since the project has been gone one of our student leaders,201 2010
Lelo, has
been finding me in his free time so we can talk to people on campus
about their spiritual lives. We have had several conversations with
students and nearly every time we step out in faith and share with
students about God’s love they are interested and share with us a
desire to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. A few weeks ago we
went out to talk to people like we normally do, but this time Lelo
was full of fear. Katie was there with us, and was able to share with
Lelo about stepping out in faith and trusting God as we overcome
the fears that we have. Lelo was afraid because he felt like we were
supposed to talk to a white guy that was sitting on the bench next
to us. This was an interesting moment for Lelo, seeing as apartheid
ended very recently in this country and many of the repercussions
still exist amongst the different races here in South Africa.
Ultimately we sat down with Daniel and spoke to him about his
life and his beliefs in God. We could tell that he was hurting and
he was another student who desired to know something about God
and the meaning he brings to our lives.

Lelo was able to share with Daniel about Christ and how while we are trying to do everything we can to
get to God that we cannot without going through Him. It is like all of us trying to swim from here to
America. My entire team could try to swim and work hard and strive to get there, and some of us may get
a little farther than another person but ultimately we will never get there. That is the same way it is with
God. No matter how good we are or what we try to do we will never get to Him. Yet the beauty is that
God saw us struggling to swim to him and sent a rescue boat named Jesus Christ, and all we have to do is
get on the boat. Lelo shared this with Daniel and added how much
God loves us like a Father does. He explained to him that God has
so much more planned for our lives than most people experience,
all we have to do is get on the boat. Daniel looked at us and said he
thought that was something he could
do and that he would love to pray and
get on that boat. It was so awesome to
see the way God desired to work in
Daniel’s life, but even more exciting to
me in how he used that to work in
Lelo’s life. This conversation was so
powerful to Lelo as he saw what happened when he trusted God to help him
overcome his fear.

Later that day, I sat down with Lelo and he told me that this was what he was
called to. That nothing meant more to him than talking to other people about
Christ. He knows that this is what he is called to and what fills his life with joy. It
is what allows him to experience the abundant life that God has for him and it is such a blessing for him to
do it. He told us that he understood why we were here from America and that while he thought we were
crazy before for leaving America he understands now. He understands because we get to change lives
everyday and offer people the greatest gift of all. Lelo has developed a huge desire to follow Christ, and
share his experiences with everyone around him. That was a blessing for me. It helps me to see that God is
using our team here in South Africa and that even after we leave God will continue to work. God is not
only sending us out to the harvest here, but He is also raising up workers that will do the harvesting long
after we are gone.
3
 A MINISTRY UPDATE FROM ALYSSA MONDA
Speaking of how God is raising up workers to
serve Him here in Durban, I say thank you for
your prayers that people would feel called to
STINT here next year. When August began
there was one girl, Erica, who had committed to
coming to Durban next year. My heart was
broken at the thought of our students having
nobody to continue to mentor and disciple them,
as well as at the thought of people not being here
to join God in the mighty work he is doing.
However, now that August has ended there are
five girls with the same desire, myself being one
of them. I came into this year knowing that there
was a big possibility of me staying for another
one, but never really felt called back to Durban
for next year. Somehow that all changed once a
possibility of a team
began to arise,
and as I began to
tell other students
why they were
needed here in
Durban.
Our ministry is
definitely growing
and our students have become very strong
leaders, but the Lord continued to show me that
they still needed more direction and training in
order to continue onward with the same
momentum. As he was showing me the need for
more training, he was also showing me the need
for continuity in a movement. It seems unfair for
Americans to come to the campus and give these
students some ideas on how to run things and
then leave, only allowing more Americans to
come with new ideas and change everything a
few times and then leave again, setting the cycle
up for another round of confusion. That is
simply not an effective way to build leadership.
AUGUST 2010
201 2010
Yet while these facts showed a clear need for
STINTers to be in Durban next year, it was not
enough to keep me around. My desire is to come back
to America and live a normal life with Chick-fil-a,
Moes, Papa Johns, Fro-Yo, my car, my friends, and
most importantly my family; to go to church and work
with a youth ministry and impact lives back in the
states. That would be the easy thing to do and that
would be very enjoyable. Yet as I began to dwell on
that thought, and move forward in thinking about
possible jobs back home, my heart became very
discontent.
I found myself dwelling upon three things the next few
weeks. One was that for the first time this year I did
not want to be in Durban and only wanted to be at
home, which was not normal at all because I love it
here. The second was that I came here for two
reasons: one being to tell every student in every place
on UKZN’s campus about the love of Christ, and the
other being to raise up national leadership that would
be able to reach the students I could not reach in my
short amount of time. Neither of these goals have been
accomplished and there is still so much that I want to
see happen at UKZN. If I came here to reach
everyone and I am telling
students that their desire
should be to reach
everyone what kind of
example am I setting in
leaving before the work I
was called to do is
complete? The third thing
I found myself dwelling
on was the way that
Christ called His
disciples all throughout
the bible.
4
 A MINISTRY UPDATE FROM ALYSSA MONDA AUGUST 2010

201 2010

He said leave everything and follow me, pick up I have been refined and grown and I am beginning to
your cross, count your costs, do not worry about see a picture of the radical life change that Christ
what is happening at home you come and follow desires and inspires when we truly seek His face.
me and it may be hard but I promise that it will This year has been more of a blessing than I realize. I
be good. He says if you are my disciple then you have experienced God in new ways daily, and He
will find out where I am working and you will has with no doubt changed my life during my time
join me there. I
have
found
that
God
is
working
 here. Next year may be the hardest year of my life. I
at
UKZN
in
amazing
ways
and
I
have
decided
to
 may not have as many interesting and fun
join
Him
here
again
next
year.
This
was
the
 experiences as I did this year. I may be lonely and
decision
I
made
as
I
considered
each
of
these
 miss this year’s team. Everything will be different
three
thoughts.

 and in the beginning I have no doubt that everything
will be more challenging, but I am not staying for fun
Initially
I
was
firm
in
my
decision
but
reluctant

experiences or for the story of being in South Africa.
in
my
excitement
about
it.
I
found
every
reason

I am staying in order to follow the Lord. I am staying
why
another
year
here
would
be
horrible,
but
 because God is writing an epic story here and He has
God
has
been
gracious
in
allowing
me
to
see
 invited me to be a character within His story. I am
what
we
are
called
to
and
how
great
next
year
 staying to continue to join God as He changes lives
really
could
be.
I
love
the
students
I
work
with
 at UKZN, at Ukukhanya, in Durban, and in Africa
and
love
seeing
them
grow.
I
really
enjoy
the
 as a whole, and I trust that as I decide to stay I will
girls
I
know
who
will
be
on
my
team
next
year.
 find just as many blessings waiting in front of me;
God
has
given
me
more
amazing
stories
this
year
 including the new amazing team he has raised up in
than
I
will
ever
be
able
to
share.
He
has
blessed
 these other faithful women. These blessings will not
me
in
more
ways
than
I
can
count.
I
have
spent
 be there because I deserve them or because I did
the
year
with
five
incredible
teammates.
I
have
 anything for them, but because God loves me like a
seen
things
that
most
people
will
never
see.
I
 Father and desires to see me filled with joy as I rest
have
had
my
heartbreak
as
I
find
myself
falling
 in Him.
in
love
with
orphans.



Contact Me:
Skype call: 027 076 537 2373
Email: Alyssa.monda@gmail.com
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Address: 84 Plumbago Terrace-Foxglove
7 Flamethorn Drive
Westville 3629
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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