South Africa
August / Johannesburg / All Church Trip
8/4/2023
- 8/13/2023
OVERVIEW
Our work in South Africa is about profoundly and sustainably offsetting the barriers that come with extreme poverty, an AIDS epidemic, and the aftermath of apartheid.
IMPACT
Whether you’re working in rural villages in Durban or the informal settlements in Johannesburg, you’ll see God moving in radical ways. You may be helping a child to read and defeat the odds stacked against them, building into a preschool that can change the trajectory of generational poverty, working in the kitchen helping prepare meals, or planting a garden that provides nutritious food to the students and local communities.
STORY
Experience beauty and gratitude in a way that will change your life. It’s intense. It’s powerful. It’ll shake you up. In fact, it may just spark a whole new direction for you.
Signup Deadline: 4/6/2023
When: 8/4/2023 - 8/13/2023
Deposit: $300
Size of Trip: 40
Crossroads Community: Churchwide
Focus: Vulnerable Children
Audience: All
Minimum Age: 10
Restrictions: Background Check Required
Total Cost: $3,600
Day 1
Depart from the US. The journey begins with a relaxing flight across the Atlantic to South Africa. Dress comfortably, bring your favorite book(s), and prepare to enjoy the inflight movies. It’s gonna be a (long) great day!
Day 2
Arrive in South Africa. After a long flight we’ll get settled into our accommodations, maybe meet our partners on the ground, and focus our energy on the experience ahead.
Day 3
After coffee and breakfast, we’ll head to Grace Bible Church. It’s an incredible place to worship and experience praise. Our friends at Grace will host us for lunch, then it’s off to the Apartheid Museum with the 20th Century history of South Africa.
Day 4-7
The next few days are spent working alongside Build the Future—an organization that builds preschools across South Africa, starting with food gardens and sanitation. Build the Future gives kids the best start to their early learning development.
Day 8
Experience landscapes and wildlife on a local game drive and a visit to Constitution Hill.
Day 9
Depart South Africa. It’s been a long, productive, spirit-filled week, but now it’s time to head home.
Day 10
Arrive home. Your family and friends have missed you but wow, you need sleep. Be prepared to share your experience, but also be sure to rest. That jet lag is no joke.
Cradle Moon Lakeside Game Lodge
We’ll be staying at the Cradle Moon Lakeside Game Lodge. There are fifty, two-bedroom thatched bungalows. Each Bungalow has a tea and coffee station, en suite bathroom with both bath and shower facilities, and a veranda where guests can enjoy watching a glorious African sunset. Zebra, Giraffe, Wildebeest, Impala, and Springbok roam the grounds outside the rooms. Rooms overlook a beautiful lake with a rock wall dam and waterfall.
Regarding food, expect a typical breakfast buffet of eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, toast, pastries, cereal, yogurt, and fruit with coffee, tea, and juice. Lunches will be bagged lunches of PB&J sandwiches, fruit, and chips. Dinner will again be a buffet with a salad bar, usually chicken, beef or pork entrees with plenty of pasta, potatoes, and veggies. You won’t go hungry.
BUILD THE FUTURE
Build The Future was founded in 2006 to facilitate the early learning development of children in the informal settlements around Johannesburg. They believe that to encourage these grassroots communities, they must be “in the trenches”. So they are working to start pre-schools in these communities around South Africa, knowing that children who are given healthy food and an ideal learning environment today will be the successfully employed, tax-paying citizens of South Africa’s tomorrow.
What precautions will be taken for COVID?
- A negative COVID-19 test is required within 72 hours before departure.
- Follow CDC guidelines.
- Follow all requirements of state and local authorities, as well as the rules of any vendors, venues, or partners that we visit or serve.
- We will not require proof of the COVID vaccine to go on this trip which is consistent with Crossroads’ overall approach. However, if you are not yet vaccinated and are considering getting it, we want to encourage you to consider the time between doses and the departure date.
If you do contract COVID during the trip, you will need to quarantine. We do have insurance that will make any extra hotel, lodging, and medical expenses reimbursable to you up to certain limits.
How much does it cost?
$3,600. This covers your flight, hotel, meals, work supplies, travel insurance, and activities. Not covered are things like souvenirs, snacks at the airport, passport fees (if you need a new one) and shots (if you decide to get them).