Hello friends! I hope you are doing well and are enjoying the world cup from your side of the world. I am a week into an outreach in mahvusa and things are going wonderfully! I will update you guys soon, but i wanted to use this post to tell you about an opportunity i have been given to serve in malawi.
My first outreach to the continent of africa began with a trip to malawi in 2004 to do AIDS education workshops for the young people there. It was that summer that God took a hold of my heart and grew in me a passion to serve him in africa.
I am currently planning on returning to malawi in late august for a week and a half to serve alongside the pastors i have previously worked with. This time, my friend and i will be leading two different youth conferences for the young church leaders of this country. We are very excited about this opportunity and eagerly expect much kingdom growth.
Part of the planning process for this outreach involves raising the appropriate funds to make two youth conferences happen. Since this trip is independent of JAM, i am looking to raise an additional 2,000 US dollars for airfare, accomodations, educational supplies, etc. I am trusting that God will supply and asking if you would like to get involved financially to make this outreach a success.
Checks can be made in my name to my parent's home address:
5446 edgewood lane
paradise ca 95969
my parents have access to my account as this is the easiest way to transfer funds. Thank you so much for your willingness to support! May God bless you as you choose to be faithful to His Kingdom.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
World Cup
Hello! We are a week into World Cup time and there are already so many stories! All of our planning and prep is finally being implemented and God is doing incredible things in the process. I wish I had time to write down everything, but for now, all I can say is faces are being turned towards God and it is really cool to witness it. Here are a few stories of the goings on around here:
I’ve spent this first week with a ministry team of 80 people from America, Argentina and some High School students from the suburbs of Cape Town in a township called Imizamu Yethu. We visited homes and prayed with people, led children’s ministry programs and youth soccer programs during the day and hosted big screen showings of the soccer games at night. I come here once a week for only a few hours to minister and it’s been so good to spend an intensive week here with the people.
One of the most significant times of the outreach for me was spending time with the young girls of the township. We spent a day teaching them about sexual abuse and how it is okay to say no and ask for help if they are in bad situations. Some people say that 1 in 4 girls who live in townships are sexually abused by the time they are 14. We explained that God can help heal pains from abuse and make young girls feel new. We also gave each girl a hand made doll to remind them of how unique and hand made they are. It was powerful to be able to speak truth into girls’ lives and watch as they really listened and held each doll as a precious gift. My heart broke to hear some of these girl’s stories. We are hoping to continue to work with these young ones as much as we can.
On the second night of our outreach, a fire broke out in the township. Because of illegal wiring to bring electricity to the shacks, this happens a few times a year, leaving families who already have few possessions with absolutely nothing. This fire took about 15 shacks before firemen were able to put it out. I spent that night talking and praying with the people who lost their homes. I held little kids as they pointed to where their house used to stand. It was a hard night, but a significant night and I really felt God’s Presence there as we prayed with the people. Four of the people who lost their shacks are friends of mine. We go to church together on Sunday nights and drink coffee together. Now they have nothing. They sleep on the ground where their houses used to be and literally have nothing but the clothes on their backs. Poverty always kicks you in the face when you really know and truly love the people who are affected.
The whole next day I helped my friends clear away the rubble from their shacks. They were able to look me in the face and explain how much God has provided for them in the past and will continue to provide their every need like a father provides for his children. There was a sense of peace about them I know only comes from God. Their lives speak a louder gospel than my life ever will.
On Monday night, I was able to go into the city near the stadium and do some street ministry and evangelism. We met with other organizations at a church set up as a home base for groups to come and serve. Before taking off to the streets we all prayed together for the work God was going to do that night. I held hands with believers from Norway, Australia, South Africa, England, Colombia and Argentina as we worshipped and prayed urgently for God to use us that night. I have never felt a more tangible, literal and beautiful picture of Church.
On the streets we prayed and shared the gospel with a lot of workers and tourists. It was such an exciting atmosphere and many people were open to share their lives and receive prayer. Towards the end of the night, I met a young women who was standing alone on a street corner. She was very vague when I asked her questions and I could tell that she had been living on the streets and was most likely a prostitute. It was really hard to talk with her and she refused to open up. Eventually, she let me take her to the church, where we were screening the game and I got her some food. I hooked her up with a pastor who could find her a place to stay and an organization that works with prostitutes and street girls. It is estimated that tens of thousands of girls are being trafficked into the city for world cup to be used for prostitution against their will. Others are coming to prostitute themselves as the only way they know to make money. There are no easy answers and no romanticized way of getting out of situations like this. Speaking with the girl that night, my heart broke for the layers of pain she is carrying in her small body and the overwhelming amount of healing that must take place in her life. But God breaks chains. In His good and perfect way. Her eyes still haunt me and I pray for her often. Please pray for her too. Her name is Lindsey.
Tomorrow, I drive back up Mahvusa, a small village in Limpopo. I will be there for two weeks. Please pray for our time there as we will be doing a lot of discipleship and outreach into an area we have not reached yet. Please also pray for the families who lost their homes in the fire. And for girls like Lindsey who are trapped in Prostitution. And I could use prayer for strength, I am feeling pretty exhausted right now.
I’ve spent this first week with a ministry team of 80 people from America, Argentina and some High School students from the suburbs of Cape Town in a township called Imizamu Yethu. We visited homes and prayed with people, led children’s ministry programs and youth soccer programs during the day and hosted big screen showings of the soccer games at night. I come here once a week for only a few hours to minister and it’s been so good to spend an intensive week here with the people.
One of the most significant times of the outreach for me was spending time with the young girls of the township. We spent a day teaching them about sexual abuse and how it is okay to say no and ask for help if they are in bad situations. Some people say that 1 in 4 girls who live in townships are sexually abused by the time they are 14. We explained that God can help heal pains from abuse and make young girls feel new. We also gave each girl a hand made doll to remind them of how unique and hand made they are. It was powerful to be able to speak truth into girls’ lives and watch as they really listened and held each doll as a precious gift. My heart broke to hear some of these girl’s stories. We are hoping to continue to work with these young ones as much as we can.
On the second night of our outreach, a fire broke out in the township. Because of illegal wiring to bring electricity to the shacks, this happens a few times a year, leaving families who already have few possessions with absolutely nothing. This fire took about 15 shacks before firemen were able to put it out. I spent that night talking and praying with the people who lost their homes. I held little kids as they pointed to where their house used to stand. It was a hard night, but a significant night and I really felt God’s Presence there as we prayed with the people. Four of the people who lost their shacks are friends of mine. We go to church together on Sunday nights and drink coffee together. Now they have nothing. They sleep on the ground where their houses used to be and literally have nothing but the clothes on their backs. Poverty always kicks you in the face when you really know and truly love the people who are affected.
The whole next day I helped my friends clear away the rubble from their shacks. They were able to look me in the face and explain how much God has provided for them in the past and will continue to provide their every need like a father provides for his children. There was a sense of peace about them I know only comes from God. Their lives speak a louder gospel than my life ever will.
On Monday night, I was able to go into the city near the stadium and do some street ministry and evangelism. We met with other organizations at a church set up as a home base for groups to come and serve. Before taking off to the streets we all prayed together for the work God was going to do that night. I held hands with believers from Norway, Australia, South Africa, England, Colombia and Argentina as we worshipped and prayed urgently for God to use us that night. I have never felt a more tangible, literal and beautiful picture of Church.
On the streets we prayed and shared the gospel with a lot of workers and tourists. It was such an exciting atmosphere and many people were open to share their lives and receive prayer. Towards the end of the night, I met a young women who was standing alone on a street corner. She was very vague when I asked her questions and I could tell that she had been living on the streets and was most likely a prostitute. It was really hard to talk with her and she refused to open up. Eventually, she let me take her to the church, where we were screening the game and I got her some food. I hooked her up with a pastor who could find her a place to stay and an organization that works with prostitutes and street girls. It is estimated that tens of thousands of girls are being trafficked into the city for world cup to be used for prostitution against their will. Others are coming to prostitute themselves as the only way they know to make money. There are no easy answers and no romanticized way of getting out of situations like this. Speaking with the girl that night, my heart broke for the layers of pain she is carrying in her small body and the overwhelming amount of healing that must take place in her life. But God breaks chains. In His good and perfect way. Her eyes still haunt me and I pray for her often. Please pray for her too. Her name is Lindsey.
Tomorrow, I drive back up Mahvusa, a small village in Limpopo. I will be there for two weeks. Please pray for our time there as we will be doing a lot of discipleship and outreach into an area we have not reached yet. Please also pray for the families who lost their homes in the fire. And for girls like Lindsey who are trapped in Prostitution. And I could use prayer for strength, I am feeling pretty exhausted right now.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Aquarium
These last few weeks have been busy planning/training/preparing for world cup ministry. During the 8 weeks of world cup, our team will be leading outreaches into 10 different communities in and around Cape Town and all up and down the country of South Africa. We are partnering with local churches and ministry teams from all around the world. We will reach out to the homeless, do evangelism on the streets of the city, serve in soup kitchens, run soccer clinics and tournaments, do children’s ministry programs and youth discipleship sessions. We will be doing outreach to prostitutes and screening soccer games on big screens in townships. We are excited to see what God does!
Before I start focusing in on world cup happenings, I wanted to share a quick story of a day I spent with Gloria, one of the women I have been visiting in Imizamo Yethu, a local township. Gloria lives in a compassion house for people who have disabilities and AIDS. She has a problem with walking and gets around using crutches. Gloria has had a crazy past and doesn’t have any contact with her family, who live in the rural north of South Africa. She had a relationship once, and a baby, but the child died at a young age because he didn’t have anything to eat. I always hear statistics of the thousands of children that die every day because they have no food, but it is a completely different feeling to look a mother of one of those children in the eye and hear her story. Every week, I love to come into Gloria’s room and look at the crafts she makes and clothing she knits in an effort to support herself. Her smile is contagious and I never see it leave her face.
On one of our days off, a group of us decided we would take Gloria to see the aquarium in Cape Town city. In all her years of living in the township, Gloria had never been to the city, and we were excited to show her around. We picked her up at the taxi stop and took a long, crowded ride to the waterfront. It was so cool to wheel Gloria around the aquarium and watch her eyes light up as she saw all the beautiful kinds of exotic fish and penguins and sharks. I felt like we could have spent days there and never run out of things to marvel over. Gloria was so excited and amazed at every little creature in every little exhibit. It reminded me of how God’s heart beats to take his people out of the broken worlds they live in and show them His glory, grace and everything excellent and amazing about himself—that’s the gospel—bringing people into a relationship with Him. After the aquarium, we stopped by a craft market, which Gloria went crazy over, and spent the rest of the evening scrambling around the city looking for a taxi that would take us home. Gloria told me that night that it was a day she will never forget, and she will always tell people her stories of spending the day with a bunch of crazy Americans in Cape Town.
I’ll try to keep the updates coming, but I’m gonna be on the road quite a bit. Please pray for the ministry we will be doing these next few weeks. We’re gonna be crazy busy and it’s a little overwhelming. But I know how excited God is to advance His kingdom during this time and I feel so humbled and privileged to be along for the ride and chosen to serve in South Africa “for such a time as this”.
Before I start focusing in on world cup happenings, I wanted to share a quick story of a day I spent with Gloria, one of the women I have been visiting in Imizamo Yethu, a local township. Gloria lives in a compassion house for people who have disabilities and AIDS. She has a problem with walking and gets around using crutches. Gloria has had a crazy past and doesn’t have any contact with her family, who live in the rural north of South Africa. She had a relationship once, and a baby, but the child died at a young age because he didn’t have anything to eat. I always hear statistics of the thousands of children that die every day because they have no food, but it is a completely different feeling to look a mother of one of those children in the eye and hear her story. Every week, I love to come into Gloria’s room and look at the crafts she makes and clothing she knits in an effort to support herself. Her smile is contagious and I never see it leave her face.
On one of our days off, a group of us decided we would take Gloria to see the aquarium in Cape Town city. In all her years of living in the township, Gloria had never been to the city, and we were excited to show her around. We picked her up at the taxi stop and took a long, crowded ride to the waterfront. It was so cool to wheel Gloria around the aquarium and watch her eyes light up as she saw all the beautiful kinds of exotic fish and penguins and sharks. I felt like we could have spent days there and never run out of things to marvel over. Gloria was so excited and amazed at every little creature in every little exhibit. It reminded me of how God’s heart beats to take his people out of the broken worlds they live in and show them His glory, grace and everything excellent and amazing about himself—that’s the gospel—bringing people into a relationship with Him. After the aquarium, we stopped by a craft market, which Gloria went crazy over, and spent the rest of the evening scrambling around the city looking for a taxi that would take us home. Gloria told me that night that it was a day she will never forget, and she will always tell people her stories of spending the day with a bunch of crazy Americans in Cape Town.
I’ll try to keep the updates coming, but I’m gonna be on the road quite a bit. Please pray for the ministry we will be doing these next few weeks. We’re gonna be crazy busy and it’s a little overwhelming. But I know how excited God is to advance His kingdom during this time and I feel so humbled and privileged to be along for the ride and chosen to serve in South Africa “for such a time as this”.
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