Where we are today...

With Spring Break only a few weeks away, we can't believe how quickly the summer is approaching. Before we know it, we will be finished with exams and done with our first year of college!
God has truly blessed us in the response that we have received from our family and friends who have donated money to help support us in our mission to South Africa. Yesterday we found out that our church, Grace Community, has decided to donate a generous amount to both of us. God is good! Thank you to all of you who are making this trip possible!
We have each raised a little bit over half of our individual $4,000 goals, which gave us enough money to purchase plane tickets yesterday.
This is so exciting for us to know that this trip is actually a reality! Now all of the money that we raise will go directly to the work that we will be doing with the ministry of Thembisa.
The more money that we are able to go down there with, the more work that we will be able to do for the people of South Africa. So God willing, we hope that we will receive more support in the near future.
If you feel called to help us in this great adventure, please feel free to contact either of us at our e-mails:

bstarr@email.unc.edu
wafeltch@email.unc.edu

or our cell phones
Ben: 919-906-2235
Andrew: 919-961-3347

If you are sending a donation in the form of a check, please make it out to either Ben Starr or Andrew Fletcher, and send it to either of the below addresses:

Ben Starr
Room #311
450 Ehringhaus Dr.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Andrew Fletcher
6705 Miles Dr.
Raleigh, NC 27615

Thank you so much for your continued support!

In Christ,
Andrew and Ben

Why I am Going

I first became a Christian the summer between my sophomore and junior year in High School. Over the summer I went on a mission trip to Mexico with my youth group from Grace Community Church in Raleigh, NC. From the start of the trip I feel in love with sharing the love of Christ through Service. This love of missions and service spurred me to continue going on mission trips with the youth group and eventually for a return trip to Mexico before college. The last trip to Mexico was a time of spiritual growth and a time to rest to before entering college at UNC. Mainly, the trip was to share the love of Christ with the Mexican people. I spent a month there, the longest trip I had taken so far, and grew to know and love the people there. While my Spanish is broken, communication became easier as the month went on. I was able to tell but most importantly demonstrate Christ's love by building homes and fellowshipping with the Mexican people. From past trips I had become aware of the poverty people lived in but I had never experienced it first hand. This changed while in Mexico. We had the opportunity to stay with a family for three days and two nights. I was lucky and stayed with a women who had two homes on her property. The homes however are nothing like here in the US. The home is one room and is not quite twice the size of my dorm room. Many families have one bed and some essentials for six or even ten people. I shared the room with Martha's sons, one had TB. The women stayed in the other house and there were 4 of them. Martha is one of the lucky ones. I experienced what it was like to live in utter poverty, to not eat breakfast or dinner (lunch only because the organization fed them) and then work an 8 to 10 hour day doing construction work. This experience increased my desire to do mission work. I began praying about things to do this summer. I asked Chuck Halley about his trips to Africa and I quickly felt like God was opening up doors that would allow me to go. This past fall I began the preliminary planning and after Christmas began to finalize details and begin fund raising. I am excited to see the ways that God will use to show his love towards the African people. Please be praying for Ben and me as we prepare for this journey and while we are there.

Andrew Fletcher

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? – James 2:14-16

What We Need / Background

The ministry of Thembisa depends on volunteers coming to the ministry with the ability to finance their own work projects. In order for each of us to actually make this trip a reality, we each have to raise at least $4,000. We love the fact that we will be able spend the money raised where we feel it is needed the most. Apart from this cost, we will also need to buy our plane tickets and we will have to pay for housing and food to the family we will be staying with.

In our latest e-mail from Andrew and Rae, they informed us that there is a great need for housing for the people in the Embo Valley area. The ministry is experimenting with ways to construct houses using sandbags, and they say that this is a great opportunity for us to get involved with when we arrive. Help is also needed with building the village that is being constructed at Hope Farm, and help is always needed tending to the crops on the farm. Hope Farm is the name of the compound that we will be living in. It is a place that, grows food for the family of missionaries that lives there, and for the neighborhood. It will soon be home to a number of families in the "village". These families will be taught skills such as farming to help them provide for themselves. Hope Farm also hosts bible studies, provides clothes and food for the neighborhood, and provides after school activities for children. Whatever money we raise will go to help all aspects of this ministry.

There are obviously a lot of opportunities for us to get involved, and we are excited to follow God's call wherever he leads.
If you feel called to sponsor us, you can contact us at our e-mails in the previous post.

While we are in South Africa this summer, we will update this blog regularly with what we are doing, and how God is working in South Africa.


In Christ,
Andrew and Ben

Welcome to our Blog!

Just so everyone knows, Andrew and Ben are pretty new to this whole Blog thing, so bear with us as we learn how to put stuff up on here.

We're in the process of working out all the details for this summer, but we know that we'll be leaving for South Africa on May 22, and we'll return to the United States on July 18.

We just heard back from Andrew and Rae Wartnaby, the missionaries that we will be staying with in South Africa, and they say that they are excited to have us down there this summer.

Fund raising is the key for us right now, and we're so blessed in the response that we're getting from our family and friends. God will provide!

If you have any questions for us about what we're doing, or if you would like to help support us, please contact us at either:

wafletch@email.unc.edu
or
bstarr@email.unc.edu

For more information on Thembisa, the ministry that we will be staying and working with in Durban, South Africa, check out the link at the bottom of the page.

In Christ,
Andrew and Ben