September 2025: From the Nation That I Love
- Thaddaeus Alexander
- Sep 28, 2025
- 4 min read
September flew by as quickly as it began. Over the past month, I have been in FFSA’s newest school, The Leadership Track. This is the school one must complete before becoming staff at our base. Some of you may be wondering, “Didn’t Thaddaeus already do this school in January?” Technically, no. In January, I did my internship with FFSA. During that time, I was asked to pray and consider staffing DTS. After a time of prayer, I felt that the Lord did indeed want me to staff DTS. However, this past June that DTS was canceled. This was a blow to us on the DTS staff and the leadership team. We were then informed there would be a new training school, which would now be the requirement to staff DTS. The previous requirement had been completing a DBS (Discipleship Bible School). I hadn’t done one of those schools, but I was still asked to staff. Our DTS was canceled in June, just two weeks before it was supposed to start. When we were told that, if we wanted to staff DTS, we had to do another school, there was definitely an opportunity for offense—I had to resist it. Through prayer, I decided to approach this with the best attitude, saying: “I believe the things I will learn in this school will be paramount to my leadership, and in a year’s time I’ll say I was a fool to think I could staff a DTS without it.” So far, that mindset has proven true.
Weeks One Through Three
In the first week, we did a deep dive into our base history and culture. I had studied this during my internship, but this time it felt different. As the history was retold, it wasn’t just a story anymore—it was my story, and the story of all of us at FFSA. Hearing the history felt like hearing the lineage of my ancestors: the men and women who built what I now live in. I’ve lived in South Africa for about nine months now. This is home. This is the place God has sent me. Revisiting our culture and principles gave me a deep sense of ownership. I was proud, proud to be part of a God-honoring culture that practices sacrificial love. Even when we discussed the “boring topics” like policies and procedures, I now saw them as safeguards to keep our community pure and God-honoring. By week two and into week three, we began going through the books of the Bible. We studied the Pentateuch through Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, then moved into First and Second Samuel, the prophets, and First and Second Kings.
Faith Trip
We as a school will be going on faith trips from October 9th–11th. During these trips, we are split into groups and sent out to pray and trust God to lead us. At first, I was very nervous, but the Lord has lifted my anxieties. As my team prayed, we felt God direct us to two places: Bloemfontein, one of the capitals of South Africa located in the Free State Province, and Kimberley, the largest city in the Northern Cape Province. We are still praying about what He wants us to do there, and I’m excited to share the stories in next month’s newsletter.
Outside the Classroom
Outside of class, a group of us visited a rehab center called Hope Again. We shared testimonies, preached the Word, and gave the men there an opportunity to respond. Around 30–40 guys were present, and we prayed one-on-one with most, if not all, of them. In my free time, I’ve also been part of the coaching staff for our FFSA 7’s Rugby team. Over these nine months in South Africa, I’ve really fallen in love with the sport. I even attended a provincial game in early September. Sport is such a powerful way to connect with people. During my DTS, I got into soccer as a way to connect more deeply with locals in Mexico, and it worked. When I came to South Africa, I wanted to do the same with rugby, and it’s been a great bridge into the culture here.
A Heart for South Africa
I truly love this country, and I’m so glad the Lord has sent me here to serve His people. I feel a burning on my heart for them—whether in town or in the townships, whether rich or poor, whether black, white, or coloured (which is not an offensive term here, but rather a recognized people group—I encourage you to research it). Whether they speak Zulu, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Tswana, English, or any other language. I am here to serve. I will remain here, serving the Lord, until He tells me to go somewhere else. Until then, I am all in.
Closing
Thank you so much for reading my newsletter. It is such a joy to share with you what God is doing in my life and in South Africa. Please continue to pray for me.
If you would like to support me financially, you can do so through my equipment page, which makes your donation tax-deductible. You can find it on the home page of my website or by following the links below, please let me know how I can pray for you. If you are not in a position to support me financially, I ask that you continue to keep me in your prayers. And please let me know how I can pray for you as well.
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