It's over!

I can’t believe the world cup is over! After months of preparation and four weeks of ministry, we can look back and say with confidence that the world cup was not about soccer. God’s kingdom advanced in South Africa these past few weeks and His Presence saturated the places we stepped into. I feel humbled and privileged and honored and excited that I will never look at God the same way again or underestimate His heart and workings in the world.

I spent the second and third week in Mahvusa, a little village up north. What stood out to me the most about this outreach was the hunger these people have for God. I would be walking down the dirt path and a guy would run up to me with a bible and ask a question about what he was reading. Families would call us into their homes so we could pray over sicknesses and pain. We ran children’s programs each day and the kids would sit and listen to each word that came out of our mouths. Our fireplace at the mission station would fill up each night with young people eager to hear our discipleship teachings. We gave each of the young people a bible and it was awesome to see them passionate about reading the bible for themselves and hearing what God has to say to them. Some mamas accepted Christ for the first time. It was crazy to see it all happen!

While the guys did soccer ministry on the field, we hosted a women’s day for the women in the village. We got together and served tea and cookies and had a teaching. We also spent time praying for each woman as we gave hand massages and washed their feet. The mamas of rural Africa work so hard. From the early morning when they get up they are busy washing, cooking, sweeping and bathing little ones. We wanted to pamper them and serve them the way Jesus would. It was one of those moments I will never forget—looking into each mama’s face and seeing God’s love for them as I washed their dry calloused feet.

We tried to host a big screen viewing of the last Bafana game in the church we partner with. It felt like the whole village showed up! But we couldn’t get the signal to work with our satellite dish and one by one the people complained and went away. We were pretty discouraged. We thought God was going to use world cup to advance His kingdom and we were frustrated that our plans didn’t work. The next morning, we had a children’s program and passed out little yarn dolls as part of a lesson on God’s love for them. It was so cool to see these little children run around the village with these dolls tied on their backs with a sash the way their mamas carry them. It was then God taught me that He doesn’t have to use something as big as world cup to advance His gospel. He doesn’t even have to use us. He can use a little bit of yarn. He can use anything.

We also spent a significant amount of time doing house visitation through the village. On the first day, we tried to go and pray with a woman. She said we couldn’t pray with her because her relative, who lived next door, was a traditional healer and does not approve of anything related to Christianity. We were a little disappointed and prayed silently as we passed by her and the traditional healer’s house. The next day, we received word that the woman had spoken to the healer and he gave her permission to have us over to pray for her. We were excited and the next day, made it a point to visit her home. As we approached, we heard a loud celebration in the traditional healer’s home. There was a graduation ceremony going on for all the people who were becoming witch doctors. Many young people were standing in line to receive the graduation blessing of healing through things like bones and ancestors.

The woman rushed us into her hut so as not to be seen by the healer. Then she brought in her relative that was suffering in her head and stomach. She kept saying over and over “I’m going to die, I’m going to die.” We didn’t know how much of the pain was physical or spiritual. I thought it was funny that, with all the power of the traditional healers in her family and the dozens of witch doctors next door, none could help her get well. The healer had wanted her to be a witch doctor as part of the family tradition, but as we stood by her and spoke with her, she gave her heart to the Lord. We weren’t quite sure what to do. My seminary training never taught me what to do in a situation like this. We decided to sneak her out of the village without the healer’s knowing to a nearby hospital and get her looked at. That night as I lay in bed listening to the sound of drums from the graduation ceremony, I thought about the power of God that far outweighs anything man can think up. Africa is said to be a spiritual continent. It is a place of spiritual warfare. But it is the Holy Spirit that is the real hero. God has been winning and I see and feel that movement every day.

The final week of world cup took me to a township in Cape Town called Phillipi. We ran a program for youth and children in the mornings and helped out at a soup kitchen in the afternoons. Phillipi is the poorest township I have ever been in. As we drove into the township, children came from everywhere crying, “soupie, soupie!” and ran to us with whatever container they could find. As I spent hours passing out soup and bread, I kept thinking of Philippians 2, where Paul talks about Christ, who had everything with God, yet decided to make himself nothing and enter into a human existence unlike mine, but much much lower to show us His love. Maybe he would have showed up in a township like Phillipi. Maybe he would have run around in tattered pants and no shoes crying “soupie, soupie.”

On the last day of world cup, we met with everyone involved in our outreaches to proclaim what God had done. Hundreds of people carrying Christ’s message to ten different spots around South Africa= many amazing stories. I wish I could share them all with you. All I can say is many seeds were sown, chains were broken, faces were turned towards God, and I’m excited to see what happens as God takes those changed lives and continues to build for himself a people who will call on his name.