What Happened in Mavhusa: Five Awesome Jesus Stories!

Beloved friends and family! Here is a brief update on our trip! (I use the word brief because if we were to write all the crazy ways we saw God at work these last few weeks, this blog would never end!) God blew our brains and hearts and exceeded all expectations! Your prayers were all felt and now we sit back in awe and thanksgiving…

Our team was made up of seven young Americans and eight Africans. We partnered with a handful of passionate and humble JAM missionaries who are serving long term in Mavhusa, a village in Limpopo. Mavhusa is a spiritually dark village that suffers from issues of poverty, abuse, lack of employment, witchcraft and drugs and alcohol. But through His children who live there and the JAM missionaries God is breaking chains and transforming it into a village of light,

Our big prayer before we began our trip was, “God, please show us how we can best love the people of Mavhusa.” The answer God put on our hearts was the simplicity of Jesus and the simplicity of love. And so we went out with no agenda but to simply love everyone we met to the cross of Jesus Christ. We went around telling Jesus Stories to everyone who would listen. Here are five short stories of what God did with these:

On one of the first nights, a handful of our team got to pray with one of the many traditional healers who live in the village. Traditional healers attempt to heal people using a combination of rituals, herbs and ancestral worship. Most traditional healers are completely against anything related to Christianity and some use their rituals to cause harm on the village, but this woman allowed us into her house and asked us to pray for her knees and legs. The best of this healer’s own medicine and rituals could not even heal her own body.

We prayed for God to heal this woman and returned a few nights later with a chicken dinner we had prepared for her. She was so happy to receive the food and said she felt so loved because we came and spent time with her and provided the gift of a meal. The next morning we returned to share a Jesus Story with her. We shared the story of when Jesus healed the crippled man at the pool and how Christ has the power to heal. The woman stated that she didn’t know Jesus and we shared the gospel with her. Then the woman declared that her knees and legs haven’t been hurting since we prayed for her and that it was Jesus who healed her! She stated that she also knows Jesus’ love because He sent us to love her!

A young man was at the house listening to the whole thing. He had come to the healer from another village for her to heal his neck. The woman told us she couldn’t heal the man’s neck and asked us to pray for him so Jesus could heal him too! The traditional healer was giving us her clients to heal in Jesus’ name! Later that day, we ran into the healer’s daughter who was so shocked her mother would let us pray with her. The daughter also allowed us to pray for her own legs which had been hurting. There are many traditional healers and witch doctors in Mavhusa and a lot of fear that accompanies the things they do. But Jesus is breaking in and declaring Himself as the True Healer and we are excited to see how that will transform the traditional healing community and the whole village.

Another woman we met had a small business making and selling beer for the village. We met her as we entered her house to find a bunch of drunk customers hanging around at her home made bar. The women took us aside and told us that she desperately wanted to go to church. She told us that she was a Christian but was not allowed to go to church because of her profession of selling beer. The church gave her vegetables to sell instead, but when she was not able to make enough money to support herself and her family, they kicked her out. We spent some time ministering to this woman and explaining that the church wasn’t a building but a people. Then we told her we would come back and bring church to her!

A few days later, we returned with our bibles and shared a Jesus story with her and her family. The story we shared was Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine. We explained that Jesus took jars used for ceremonial washing, a symbol of separation that kept the “clean” jews from the “unclean” pagans and transformed it into wine, a symbol of celebration and the lubrication of life. The woman really connected with this story as we explained to her that she follows a Christ who invites everyone to His table, even those who are considered sinners in their community.

Our little house church really turned into a church of inclusion as a man known as the village drunk came to hear the story as well. This man, who was there the first time we came, ran up and proudly presented his hand, which we had prayed over the time before and it was healed in Christ’s name! The JAM missionaries hope to continue to bring church to this woman and all the others who are not allowed inside traditional church doors to bring hope to those who need it most. We see such potential in this woman as she serves all the drunks and “sinners” of the village and can reach out to them in love just like Jesus!

One of our team members also met and ministered to a woman who was part of a ZCC church. The ZCC or Zion Christian Church, is the largest church (or cult) in South Africa. The members of this cult do not believe in Jesus. Instead they believe in praying to dead ancestors in order to get a hold of God. This cult also follows practices of healing rituals. One ritual is to draw water and then pray over it in the name of certain ancestors with the belief that it will give the water healing powers for life. As our team member spoke with this woman, she got to share the Jesus Story of when Jesus met the woman at the well. In this story, Jesus introduces the woman to alternative living water, a water far better than any well could ever hold. He was offering her Himself. We got to use this Jesus Story to explain to the ZCC woman that the only water capable of healing and new life is Jesus Christ. The ZCC members present themselves as very moralistic upstanding people. But underneath, I see a great thirst for the love only found in Jesus Christ. We believe God is still working on this woman’s heart and the hearts of all ZCC cult fellowships in South Africa.

One of the most powerful moments for me was a Jesus Story we did at a local high school. Every week, high schools in the area have an after-school church service. These services are attended by both Christians and kids who are just trying to get out of study hall, their other option for that time period. We knew this would be a cool opportunity to share the gospel. The services, called LCOs, usually involve someone getting up in front of the group and giving them a list of things they should and should not be doing as Christians. The church in South Africa struggles with legalism and moralistic focus over the transforming power of the gospel.

During one LCO this week, we got to share the Jesus Story of when Jesus cast many demons out of the crazy naked man who lived in the tombs by the cliffs and sent them into a herd of pigs. The students really seemed to resonate with the story. Africa is a very spiritual place and they understand demons much better than young people in America. But even more important, these kids got a break from hearing a legalistic sermon and were hit hard with the furious love of Jesus, who radically pursues the lowest and most pathetic humans He can find. After the story, we got into small groups and the students opened up to what they heard in the story and its affect on their own lives. A handful of students accepted Christ that day too! It didn’t take an alter call, it was simply through conversation and the realization of Christ’s love. The JAM missionaries plan to continue with the discipleship of these beautiful young people. I’m so excited for the future of these LCO communities as Jesus continues to break the chains of legalism with his transforming love.

And finally, the children! We didn’t go anywhere on our trip without at least a half dozen young kids trailing alongside of us. We joked that our mission station also functioned as a day care center and we spent so many hours simply running around and loving on the children of Mavhusa. There is a lot of child abuse and neglect that takes place here. We noticed that the kids that hung around us the most were the dirtiest and most neglected. These young kids were truly the least of these. A few times a week we would walk through the village and round up the kids for a Children’s Outreach Program at the school. We taught them bible verses and Jesus stories all week. On one of the last days, we taught the Jesus Story of when children were coming to Jesus and his disciples were pushing them away. I will never forget the look on the children’s faces when we explained that Jesus will never push them away. His arms are always open. Our message was simple. We loved the children and told them of Christ’s love. But they totally understood. I dream of a Mavhusa where these young kids grow to know and love Jesus right back and so become the spiritual leaders in their church, village and community.

The world is so desperate to know true love. The world is desperate to fall in love with Jesus. But some times the church is so busy trying to tell its attendees what they can and can’t do and consumed with other trivial matters that they completely miss its head that is Christ, the one who is even more desperate to show His people His furious love. Christ’s great desire and pleasure is to love every witch doctor, village drunk, and beer lady, every neglected child and refugee and cult leader in every village and city in the world. He pursues this mission by bringing people half way around the world, setting up circumstances, sending dreams and visions, healing hands, knees and legs and providing chicken dinners to village women. He will do whatever it takes to get His children to know Him. That’s how big is love truly is. And Jesus Christ looks absolutely beautiful in the world when His children simply run around looking like, serving like and loving like Jesus, and bringing others to the foot of the cross. That is the privilege of what we got to do these past few weeks. We didn’t build a building, run an evangelism crusade or set up a medical clinic. We simply entered into people’s homes and lives and Jesus did the rest. Because He is the ultimate pursuer and He still pursues. And that is why our journey is not yet over…

2 days to go!!

Hi friends! Please pray for our Mission Trip to South Africa beginning in two days! We will be leaving Monday, July 25^th and returning on August 13^th. We have spent the few weeks leading up to our trip fasting and praying and our prayer has been, “Father, how can we BEST love the people of Mavhusa?” We are bursting with excitement and our hearts are full and more than ready to be poured out with God’s furious love upon those so desperate to know him. These are some things you can pray for us for!

1. 1. Safety for us as we travel half-way around the world and back!

2. 2. For the young Africans of Mavhusa to be built up in love and discipled to become the spiritual leaders of their village

3. 3. For the trip leaders and missionaries of Mavhusa; that they may lead with God’s wisdom, discernment and direction

4. 4. For God to break the chains of spiritual darkness, child abuse, disease, oppression, addiction and poverty

5. 5. For revival to burst out in the village so that every man, woman, orphan, widow, refugee, gang member, witch doctor and traditional healer to be made new and come to have a relationship with their Father

Art for Africa!!!

Please consider supporting our team's trip to Africa this summer by purchasing a painting of an African boy or girl!!! It will look amazing on that blank wall of yours, you can look at it and smile, knowing that you have given to God's Kingdom work in South Africa, and it can serve as a reminder to pray for God's children overseas! Here is the official lineup of the paintings I have done and hope to sell:

"HOW ARE YOU" (18"x24") $50

We lovingly call this child "how are you" because he used to only know two phrases in English: "how are you" and "I am fine" Watch the video below to see "How are You" receive his first pair of shoes a few years back when a mission team from Fresno came up to serve:

"VONI" (18"x 24") $50

Voni lives in the hut nearest to our Mission Station in Mavhusa. It's hard to walk through the village without little Voni running up to us and hugging our legs.

"HEAVEN" (18"x 24") $50

Children in Africa have beautiful names. "Heaven" is a reminder of what is to come!

"MIRIAM" (24" x 48") $100

Another one of my favorite children! We also call this girl "superglue" as she love to attach herself to the JAM missionaries when we come to visit

"MOSES" (18"x 24") $50

Moses is a young refugee from Mozambique who, until recently, has lived in a refugee village called Zone 2. A few months ago, the South African government forced its inhabitants to leave their homes and seek refuge in neighboring villages. We pray often for the children of Zone 2 and hope to re-connect with them on our trip

"CELEBRATION" (18"x 24") $50

The first thing I notice about children in Africa is their joy! African children know how to celebrate and find joy among immeasurable circumstances. They are the strongest children I know.

"JABULANI" (24"x 48") $100

Jabulani means "rejoice" in Swahili. These children are rejoicing at a Children's Outreach, which includes games, songs, a lot of hugs, and a message of God's love

"STEPHEN" (18"x 24") $50

With 60% of the African population under the age of 18, little boys like Stephen are the face of Africa. They are not the future leaders, but the NOW leaders. That is why Discipleship and character development are so important

"GRACE" (24"x 48") $100

This is another girl from Zone 2 with her little sister. Older children are often given the responsibility of caring for their siblings as we see villages full of children toting babies around with the on their backs.

"BLESSING" (24"x 48") $100

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. -James 1:27

And if you can't afford a medium or large sized painting, I've made each one into a smaller version (8"x 10") for only $10 each!...

If you are interested in purchasing any of these paintings, please let me know by responding to this blog, or emailing me at mmeyer882@gmail.com. Thank you SO much for being a participant in God's movement in Africa!

Coming Back!!!!!!!

I hope this post finds you guys well! I can’t believe I’ve been back in the States for six months already! It seems like just yesterday I was running up and down South Africa with Jabulani African Ministries in our work to make disciples of all nations. The best way I know how to describe what it feels like to be in America after an indescribable year in Africa is by quoting Jena Lee, director of Blood:Water Mission as she describes the same reality:

“I straddle two worlds. One foot in America. One foot in Africa. My heart is split. It’s an awkward place to be, as it stretches the legs upon which I stand. I would prefer to be in one place instead of straddled awkwardly across an ocean. Contrary to American doctrine, however, I think we’re supposed to be a little bit uncomfortable as we live within the tensions of this complicated world.”

Coming back from a year in South Africa has definitely been an adjustment for me. There is not a day that goes by without my heart hurting to go back. I do many outreaches here in Sacramento among the homeless and among children in low-income housing apartments and trailer parks and after each outreach, I remember the townships and communities we would enter into and the faces of the people we would speak to and the children we would throw up into our arms.

My biggest prayer since I have returned has been: “God, given everything you have allowed me to experience and learn from you these past few years, how can I best love the world this next year of my life?” I believe one answer God has given me to this question is to return to South Africa with a team of Americans to continue in making disciples.

For the end of July and the first two weeks of August, I will be taking a team of young adults to Mavhusa, a tiny village in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. There is a huge need for spiritual presence and the knowledge of Christ in this area, which suffers from issues of poverty, witchcraft, unemployment, drugs and alcohol, and disease. The suicide rate is very high among the youth here as many don’t know where to turn to for hope. Our team will be coming alongside the young missionaries of Jabulani African Ministries as they work towards building spiritual leaders among the youth and young adults of this area. (You can read a lot more about Mavhusa by looking at some older posts of my time there)

We hope to run some children programs, visit youth in their high schools, continue in the construction of a youth camp JAM is working on building, and maybe even running a youth camp for local youth to encounter Christ. There will be compassionate ministry towards refugees from Mozambique who have fled from the oppression of their homeland. There will be of soccer games, and hut to hut evangelism, many youth group meetings around fireplaces and whatever else we can do to support the ongoing ministry of JAM in Mahvusa.

I am very excited to return to South Africa and take an amazing team of friends with me to experience serving God in this beautiful and broken country. Please pray for the village of Mavhusa and the missionaries who serve there. Pray that the youth, orphans and refugees of this area will know God as their father and friend. And please pray for our team as we prepare ourselves for ministry across an ocean and raise funds towards this endeavor.

If you are interested in supporting us financially, please make your checks out to JARON ministries (The American organization that is assisting us in getting over there) and mail it to:

4710 N. Maple Ave. Fresno, CA 93726

Also, put a memo that says you wish the funds to go towards Megan’s trip to Mavhusa in July/August

Finally, since it is Holy Week, I wanted to give a shout out to the glorious and gracious God who gave us Jesus, the suffering servant on our behalf who conquered death so our sins can be absolved and we can rejoice in the Presence of our King for all eternity!!! Let us never forget what He has done for us!

“Sing for Joy oh Africa! The Lord your God has risen upon you now!”

Beautiful Things

Going Home

The other night our team went downtown Cape Town to do some street ministry and pray for the people who find themselves on the street. We prayed with a homeless man named Michael Jackson, spoke with some young partiers on their way to the clubs and hung out at the mini-bus station where workers were catching the last taxis home. We met a street vendor selling biscuits and chips to buy his way back home to Congo. Like so many other vendors he came down hoping the make lots of money during the World Cup, but found himself on the streets when the opportunity failed to provide the riches he had hoped for. At the end of the night, we found ourselves amongst several parking lot guards and a couple homeless women in a dirty parking lot at the edge of the city. The topic of conversation came to Jesus, and a woman suddenly started to lead us in a beautiful Xhosa praise song to God. I remember looking around the circle of people (the guards, the homeless and our missionary team full of all our different colors and cultures) and thinking how crazy it is that we all found ourselves together in this impromptu worship service to God.

This has, to a large extent, been a picture of my last nine months here in South Africa. I’m always gathering together with a group of crazy diverse people. I often look around and ask myself, “how did I get here?” Ministry is messy, dirty and sometimes I wonder if it will even work at all. But at the end of the day, we always manage to make a somewhat beautiful melody of worship and glory to God.

As I write this blog, I have two more weeks left in South Africa. Most of this time will be spent saying goodbye to my friends here in Cape Town and the people I have met in the communities we serve in. My ministry and relationships with these people have gone through a sort of process since I first started work here. When I first entered the townships I felt a great pity for the people there and horror at the poverty they face and the lack of opportunities they have. Then I phased into a stage of compassion where all I wanted to do was give them as much love and mercy as I could in my weekly times with them. Finally, my love for them grew and they became more than just orphans and AIDS patients and Rastafarians and unemployed refugees from various countries—they became my dear friends. As I say goodbye, I am saying goodbye to brothers and sisters, mothers and nieces and nephews, although our skin color is so different and our way of life so foreign. I am sad to say goodbye and know I am changed by the relationships God has given me with these beautiful people.

I am excited to reach American soil, but I know I will miss Africa as soon as I get there. I will miss driving our van through townships and picking up as many children as will possibly fit and taking them to a nearby field to run and tickle and love on them. I will miss sitting in our kitchen and listening to all the different languages of my ministry mates as we joke and laugh about practically anything. I will miss African worship and the beauty of African skies. I’m realizing that my facebook statuses will be a lot less exciting and that bagging groceries is not as adventures as chopping up a dead mule with a machete and scooping up maggots to compost the drain of our new mission station toilets. But as much as I know God called me to Africa I am confident He is calling me back home.

I’ve learned a lot here. One thing, and certainly not the most important, is how to live on the road for months at a time. I usually traveled really light with one duffel bag, one backpack and a sleeping bag. I’ve learned to leave things behind that I no longer needed or weighed me down and pick other things up as I traveled to different circumstances and locations. This is the best way I can describe my change since coming to Africa. I have let go of things I felt I needed in America and discovered that I really didn’t need them in the first place. I have shaven off a bit of American culture that has disguised itself as Christianity and added a whole new set of lenses with which to view and serve God. It’s God’s brilliant and creative plan to move Christians all around the world so we can learn just how Big He is and How to serve him in a more full all-encompassing way. I came to Africa convinced God wanted me to strengthen the church over here. Now I can look at my African brothers and sisters and tell them they are strengthening the church in America by God sending me here to rub shoulders with them and gain a whole new set of luggage.

These are some things in my suitcase I have left behind: My American need for efficiency and orderliness. The idea that ministry needs a budget. The belief that I must wait for someone else to start something if I want to see change in the world. My sense of entitlement to possessions, a career, three meals and a cup of coffee a day and an abundance of clean water. The idea that success and significance is having a good paying job and owning your own house. The seeming importance of comfort over the radical life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.

These are some things I’ve picked up along the way: A bigger view of God. A bigger understanding of how much God loves the world and desires to see everyone run into His sovereign arms. A realization of how powerful the gospel is—we just utter it and God convinces hearts. A deeper understanding of what makes hearts broken and how to enter into these situations incarnationally like Jesus. A huge love for community, even if your family looks and acts so different from you. An appreciation for the hospitality of other Christians and the blessing of borrowing. A tolerance for endless road trips across entire countries. The ability to run a children’s program when 500 kids show up and you don’t even speak the language. How to lead a mission team of Brazilians and Australians through a township of South Africans, Zimbabweans and Malawians. How to lead a Bible Study with Rastafarians. How to greet others in a half a dozen different languages. How to blow a vuvuzela. How to best eat chicken feet and discover new ways of changing up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. How to live without Starbucks and breakfast burritos. Discovering the fact that I can live just fine on a suitcase of possessions. Discovering the fact that when you sacrifice and give stuff up, God always gives you so much more. He is always the giver. Discovering the fact that you can’t make a difference unless you are different and being a Christian comes with a continual fight against comfort zones. A realization that so much of our spiritual growth is about attitude, surrender and sacrifice and God takes care of the rest. Learning to listen to the Holy Spirit and letting the “God in you” totally take control. Living every day on God’s mission.
Running decisions, actions and attitudes through the lens of God’s Mission. Realizing how amazing and humbling it is to be invited by God on His Mission and finding out that nothing else really matters.

Finally, and this is the question I’ve been getting by a lot of my American friends back home: “What are you gonna do next?” I don’t have all the details for an answer yet, although I’m excited to find out what God has for me in the homeland. I do know these three things: I know that God wants me to do the exact same thing I’ve been doing in Africa—making disciples and living on God’s Mission. It’s a lot harder to love on mission in America, especially when you don’t wake up in a hut each morning. Everything is so comfortable there. But I’m excited to practice and encourage others to do it too. I know I will be going from discipling young Africans to discipling young Americans. My dream is to help raise up more missionaries, more passionate lovers of God who will not take mediocrity as their lot, but will be willing to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth (or the ends of their communities). And, finally, I know God is calling me to invest in Africa for the rest of my life. I want to raise funds to feed hungry children in Malawi. I want to continue to train up other youth leaders where resources are slim. I want to take a team of Americans to villages to love on orphans who are desperate to know love. I want to help make Christ look absolutely beautiful in this world by looking like Him, acting like Him, loving like Him, and teaching other to do the exact same thing. Wouldn’t that change the world?

Malawi

Hello friends! Here’s an update on our recent trip to Malawi! Malawi is a tiny country a few countries above South Africa. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, but the people there are among the most beautiful people I have ever met. I first came to Malawi on a short-term missions trip when I was 18. It was there that God captured my heart for Africa, and brought me back to this side of the globe so many years later. There were just two of us that went, me and my friend Lucia, and as we flew past Zimbabwe and Mozambique, I kept thinking about the way Jesus sent his disciples out two by two to go into communities and proclaim the Kingdom of God.

And proclaim the Kingdom we did! Our ministry was focused mostly on teaching and preaching. We spoke at churches for the upper class of Malawi and villages where the world’s poor came to hear hope. We taught on weekdays in the city for a service where professionals come on their lunch breaks. We did some street ministry and spoke with beggars and street vendors.

The highlight of the trip was teaching at a multi-denominational youth leader conference in Blantyre, one of Malawi’s major cities. There were youth leaders from all different churches and ministries that came to get training. We taught basic theology, disciple making and leadership principles as well as practical skills to lead a youth group and ministry. It was such a privilege to work with leaders who were so passionate to love and serve God in a country that needs so desperately to hear of His hope.

At the end of the training, we stood in front of many young men and women eager to use what they have learned in their own ministries. Many of the guys plan to start soccer ministry programs for the youth in their villages. Others want to get their youth groups involved in taking care of orphans and widows. This was the first ever youth leadership training to be done in Malawi, so thanks to all the sponsors who gave money to make this happen. I look forward to a future season of God’s love exploding in this country because of these men and women desperate to share Christ’s love.

The villages we visited were the most rural and poverty stricken areas I have ever been to. One village called Chitakale Area really changed me forever. We drove far out on a dirt road to get there. As we came to the open field where we were to share God’s word, we were greeted by so many young children and elderly men and women. There were no mamas around; no men and women that looked like they could be parents. The village leaders explained that many of the children were orphans. HIV/AIDS has taken many of the parents. You see this in a lot of places in Africa, but Malawi is known especially for this. The orphans sleep in the huts of the elderly, but they can’t properly take care of them. The school only goes up to grade 4, then the children have no way of getting further education because the other schools are so far away.

Me and Lucia spent two days in this village loving on and playing with the children and bringing them food. As I sat with the little girls on my lap, I could feel their swollen stomachs and my heart broke knowing they are not getting adequately fed. At the end of the day, it was so hard for me to leave this place. I will be working to raise funds for Chitakale once I return to America. They desperately need daily bread. They need a school built so their children can learn. They need an orphanage. I cannot think of anything better to do than to look after these orphans and widows. God loves these people with a great big father heart. Let’s imitate our father and worship Him by being fathers and mothers to His children. Please let me know if you would like to help me in this endeavor.

God has taught me more in this outreach than any other outreach I’ve been to this year. If I were to write about all of it, this blog would never end. All I can say is God is so faithful and we have reason to rejoice in every circumstance. The people of Malawi teach me to rejoice and I am so humbled to hear them praise God in their suffering. Once again, I come into a country hoping to make a difference and find myself completely changed.

The last thing I wish to share with you is my future plans: I have prayerfully decided to return to America in early October, making my stay in South Africa nine months instead of a year. I am confident that God wants me in America for the next season of my life. I‘m excited to return home, but I know that I will miss serving God in such a unique and beautiful country. The plans once I return? I simply want to do what I have been doing in Africa: Making disciples and living on God’s mission. I am confident He will fill in all the details when the time is right.

I write this blog with gratitude in my heart for all the Americans that have made this ministry year possible. Thank you for walking me through these eight months and encouraging me with prayer, email and support. The investment you have made in South Africa has reaped eternal benefits. I look forward to seeing you all again very soon and hearing about what God has been doing with your wonderful lives.