My name is Hannah Lea Godward, I’m 18 years old and I live in Essex in the UK. I’m part of a church called Thurrock Christian Fellowship and since September I have been doing a year out serving the church and serving God. I have come to South Africa for the next part of my year out.
While I am here I will be interning and volunteering with Links International SA. Links SA is a charity which is passionate about helping others to break free from poverty. The team is consists of Mike & Beryl Godward (Directors) – my Nan & Granddad – and James Bierbrauer (Projects Coordinator).
I will be here for three months and will be staying with my Nan (Beryl) and Granddad (Mike). I will also be serving in the church and I will be helping out with Nanny round the house.
I will be writing this blog over the next three months to give everyone an insight into my time in South Africa, my internship, kingdom, serving and volunteering. On a more personal side it will be an insight into my thoughts, my feelings, my walk with God and what I’ve been doing in my spare time.
So this is my first blog post, it’s just going to be a basic one as it’s only my first week in South Africa! You probably guessed I arrived safely in South Africa, the past few days I have just been settling in, lazing around and catching some rays as the weather has been lush! Bit windy but I can’t complain as I know its freezing in England! Sorry!
Friday was my first day at work in the office with Mike and James. By way of introduction I had a meeting with James where we discussed the general nature of my internship. In particular, we started to talk about some goals and expectations I have for my time with Links SA – here is just a few I wrote down:
- To grow in God, in maturity and in confidence.
- Learn skills and work experience.
- Serve and encourage people.
James and I spoke about my role in the Links office. Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing the Links SA website which is going to be a real opportunity for me to serve the team and be a part of what God is doing by offering a fresh mind and perspective. My review will be part of helping the team better serve others.
James shared with me a few things he experienced when he first moved here and he encouraged me just to get stuck in with everything, to get stuck in with youth so that I will be able to make friends. We had the youth meeting on Friday, it was the first ever youth meeting so it was new for everyone not only me and it was a really good evening!
Then after our chat I started typing up a personal profile to put up on the Links website and I am now writing my first blog :)
Overall it has been a good few days so far, I’m excited about what I will be doing over the next week. Actually I’m now getting really excited about what God has in store for me while I am here, as I’ve just been reading my sisters blog for a little help on what I should be writing about, it’s so inspiring, you should read it! http://www.supermanssupergirl.blogspot.com/
Can’t wait to write my next blog 
Hi Hannah,
well done!
It sounds good