Swapping gum trees for razor wire

By the time you read this I'll have swapped the gum trees and gullies of the Blue Mountains for the jacarandas and razor wire of Johannesburg, South Africa.

I've never been there before. Everyone I meet has a story to tell about the place. There are plenty of horror stories, but plenty of hope as well.

So why go?

Well, it all started a year ago when I met the Rev David West, the Senior Pastor of Melville Union Church, linked with the Church of England in South Africa (CESA).

At a mission dinner one evening he spoke about his church: a place where each week street kids sit next to actuaries, where students from all over Africa meet to study God's word, and where South Africans, black and white, praise God together in one spirit.

I'd been weighing up my post-uni options, trying to prayerfully work out exactly where I could best serve Jesus with my life, and that night the lights just switched on.

I approached Dave after the dinner that night, and he invited me to undertake the Ministry Apprenticeship Project (MAP) " a South African version of Australia's Ministry Training Strategy " for 12 months at Melville.

2006 was the final year of my degree, so I figured that this would be a great time to explore the option of full-time ministry. So I jumped at the chance.

Basically the MAP will be a year of on-the-job ministry training. I'll be working with university students and street youth, hanging out at Sunday services and studying at the Johannesburg Bible College two mornings a week.

I don't know what this year will hold. I do have some fears: crime, I'm told, is a significant problem and I'm bracing myself for the culture shock of a country with 11 official languages. For the first time, I'll be living a long way from home.

But I have great confidence and hope.  I'm being supported by my family and friends, as well as Springwood Anglican Church and the Church Missionary Society.

And I know that God's the master potter and I'm ready to be shaped.