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About South Africa

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Thought it would be good to just lay down some basic info about the country I live in which I assume most of you have not visited. South Africa is about twice the size of Texas. It has a very diverse landscape with huge mountain ranges, grassy plains, nearly jungle conditions, and plenty of beaches. There are two landlocked countries within South Africa's borders. One which is completely encompassed. Map of South Africa Unfortunately, it is ranked among the top 10 countries for income inequality and it is obvious to see the huge gap between the rich and the poor. Hout Bay and Imizamo Yethu, Cape Town I live just outside Johannesburg which is the largest city in South Africa. It is at a higher elevation than Denver, CO and is known for its mines and as a business hub. Johannesburg Skyline Mine in Johannesburg The specific area is known as Muldersdrift and it has many farms and wedding venues. It can feel very rural and remote although it's just a ...
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New Hampshire

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South Africa has  "long stretches of open roads (most of which are very well-maintained), South Africa is one of the best countries for road tripping." (Photo:  Jacques Le Roux)  This is great because we are going to be going on many road trips while we spread camp all across South Africa! Since the last update the Lord has blessed me with an amazing missions conference with some friends in New Hampshire. Aside from being challenged from the preaching God's Word I throughly enjoyed being able to get to know the people of the church and share with them my desire to serve Christ in South Africa and spread the Good News of Christ to the people there. I was also able to teach the teen Sunday School class and somehow almost everyone grew a mustache! If my math is correct support is now at 27%!!! Praise God for this increase and for the others who have pledged to start giving! Please pray: -Continued opportunities to serve and minister to others -More chanc...
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Friday Update: Long Hours on the Road

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If you ever go to South Africa be sure to check out Table Mountain. Recently it became one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" In the past week I have traveled over 1,800 miles driving for a Word of Life Superbowl and sharing the vision of South Africa to people and churches in Pennsylvania. Praise God for safe travel and no vehicle trouble! Please pray during this next week that I will be able to talk to at least  one person per day about South Africa!  I have just over 2 weeks until I go back to South Africa, please pray for the team in South Africa that everything will go smooth with the planning of December Camp. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, prayer requests or jokes! Your Friendly Neighborhood Missionary, Kyle Paradis
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Friday Update: African Mysteries

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Due to the way that Africa is generally portrayed in movies, TV show and other forms of media it is easy to think that is is a wasteland filled with man-eating creatures and devoid of any form of technology.  I present to you a picture of Johannesburg, the city I lived in for the past 2 years and Lord willing will be returning too in the near future! This past week God has blessed me with 3 meetings with pastors and many opportunities to serve in New York. I was able to help the "Ranch Posse" (a camp promotion team) on Saturday by promoting the Ranch and Ranger camp to a local city. I also am planning on driving to 2 Word of Life Superbowl (for more info go to http://superbowl.wol.org/) during the month of November.  Please continue to pray that doors will open for me to discuss South Africa with potential supporters, that support would come in, and that I would have continued ministry while in New York.  Let me know if you would like to talk, support me...
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Woot

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Did you know that hippos are the most deadly African creature? Even more deadly than lions! Also if you use your imagination the country of South Africa looks like a hippo! See the resemblance? :) God has blessed me in these past 2 weeks with some time at home contacting folks and an edifying trip to Maine with John Page the director of Word of Life South Africa. John Page, Bekah Arnold (future missionary to South Africa) and myself enjoying the "super clear" view from Cadillac Mountain. We were able to visit many of his supporters and supporting churches. We were also able to discuss future plans for when I return to South Africa. Since the schedule is so busy this December I will be returning to South Africa to direct our teen and children's camps! Please pray for a full schedule of meetings during November and for continued ministry opportunities in the USA! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to pray for you or if you would like to g...
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Young Adults Tent Camping Camp

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For over a year we have been talking about going camping, like actual  camping with the young adults we work with. Well it finally happened, and as any good camping trip goes there were some problems which makes a stupid story. Here is the stupid story followed by some lovely pictures courtesy of Clayton who is one of those people who likes to take pictures. The day started warm and sunny, the man who had planned the entire camp was about 16 hours away and had left us with a rough mental map of the way things were supposed to go down. There was just one thing that we forgot to factor... we were going camping. We were waiting at the starting location for some laides that we were going to give a ride to, they were intended to arrive at 2:00 so we could start our 3 hour trip. Unfortunately they did not arrive until 3:30pm already setting us back an hour and a half and putting us in danger of hitting rush hour traffic the Friday before a long weekend. ...
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Gold Reef City

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The students were on vacation last week and there wasn't a ton to do around the office so we went to an amusement park. Because amusement parks are not as popular here as they are in the U.S. and because we went on a thursday there were almost no lines. We waited for maybe 15 minutes tops and went on all the working rides multiple times! Roller Coasters are fun
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