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”.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Pentecost
Pentecost has always been that religious holiday I’ve seemed to overlook. I’ve never really taken time those five weeks after Easter to celebrate the day the Holy Spirit was unleashed in hearts and languages given that began the birth and movement of the Church. This year was definitely different. I got to celebrate Pentecost in a stadium with thousands of Christians representing about a hundred different nations for the Global Day of Prayer.
The Global Day of Prayer movement began 10 years ago with a bunch of people in Cape Town who were desperate to intercede for their country and world. Since then, the movement has spread to all 220 nations, who set up prayer meetings and assemblies to pray on May 23rd making it the biggest prayer meeting ever in the history of the world! I watched as the stadium filled up with people from all the continents speaking all kinds of languages, ready to call out to God.
Our ministry team was part of a procession that carried all the countries’ flags out around the stadium in order to pray for the nations. I couldn’t take part because I sprained my toe the day before playing soccer with a Brazilian ministry team and was limping around pretty badly. As I was sitting to the side, a woman came and asked if I would pray in the event. I was humbled and privileged to be able to pray for the young people; that God would raise up a new generation of Christ followers who are filled with the Holy Spirit and willing to boldly share God’s love to the world. It was as experience I will never forget!
It was so cool to look out and watch all the people worship and pray, each in their own language and cultural way. Seeing everyone made me realize how amazingly big God is to have created such a diverse world full of beautifully different people. I kept thinking of that day of Pentecost when God gave us His Spirit. I always pictured everyone in that small room jumping around and many different languages filling the air in a crazy epic worship service to God. Two thousand years later, it still happens, except tens of thousands of times bigger because God was desperate to share His love with everyone, to the farthest places of the world. I saw the result of this today and was truly overwhelmed.
Praying with people from the nations was just the start of the global Church ministry God has blessed me with this summer. The next two weeks I will be serving alongside a ministry team from Australia followed by a week with Brazilians, then two weeks with some Americans, and a week with Indonesians. Our home has been opened up to groups from Namibia and Zimbabwe. God is truly moving His church around and I’m excited to see what He makes of it!
The Global Day of Prayer movement began 10 years ago with a bunch of people in Cape Town who were desperate to intercede for their country and world. Since then, the movement has spread to all 220 nations, who set up prayer meetings and assemblies to pray on May 23rd making it the biggest prayer meeting ever in the history of the world! I watched as the stadium filled up with people from all the continents speaking all kinds of languages, ready to call out to God.
Our ministry team was part of a procession that carried all the countries’ flags out around the stadium in order to pray for the nations. I couldn’t take part because I sprained my toe the day before playing soccer with a Brazilian ministry team and was limping around pretty badly. As I was sitting to the side, a woman came and asked if I would pray in the event. I was humbled and privileged to be able to pray for the young people; that God would raise up a new generation of Christ followers who are filled with the Holy Spirit and willing to boldly share God’s love to the world. It was as experience I will never forget!
It was so cool to look out and watch all the people worship and pray, each in their own language and cultural way. Seeing everyone made me realize how amazingly big God is to have created such a diverse world full of beautifully different people. I kept thinking of that day of Pentecost when God gave us His Spirit. I always pictured everyone in that small room jumping around and many different languages filling the air in a crazy epic worship service to God. Two thousand years later, it still happens, except tens of thousands of times bigger because God was desperate to share His love with everyone, to the farthest places of the world. I saw the result of this today and was truly overwhelmed.
Praying with people from the nations was just the start of the global Church ministry God has blessed me with this summer. The next two weeks I will be serving alongside a ministry team from Australia followed by a week with Brazilians, then two weeks with some Americans, and a week with Indonesians. Our home has been opened up to groups from Namibia and Zimbabwe. God is truly moving His church around and I’m excited to see what He makes of it!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Guys Camp/Prince Albert
Short update for you'all: more to come soooon!
Two weekends ago, the guys on our team had a men’s camp with a bunch of ex-gang leaders from Sir Lowry’s. They played paintball in the mountains and rugby on the beach. Our team laid out the gospel, along with the warning that following Christ is tough and requires sacrifice. Three guys in the camp accepted Christ, including Night, (who we now call Neals) the biggest leader of the bunch. I’ve been so blessed to see God crash into Sir Lowry’s with His love, and I’m even more excited to see what happens these next few months. God loves to take rebel enemy leaders and turn them in to passionate preachers of God’s word. All of the guys on the camp committed to meeting with us every Wednesday to get discipled (which is the really important part). I’ve been learning about what can happen when Christ followers get that His gospel is powerful and lay it out for people with boldness, letting God do the rest.
This last week, a group of six of us went up to a place called Prince Albert to meet with the young people and train them to do sports ministry for world cup. Prince Albert is a small mostly colored town five hours north of Cape Town. We spoke in classrooms, churches, and school assemblies. We spent the nights in a boarding school with the students, which was super fun. We never had any definite plans each day, but God was really faithful to provide us opportunities to serve. One of the highlights of the week was watching Keith, one of our teammates who is from Prince Albert, speak and serve in his hometown. One of the needs and, therefore, the themes of our messages to the churches was unity both among churches and within churches, in order to work for God’s mission. We will be returning to Prince Albert next month during world cup to do a community wide outreach, partnering with the churches we trained with during this outreach.
That’s all I want to write now. I’ll send a longer post soon. Thanks for your prayers!
Two weekends ago, the guys on our team had a men’s camp with a bunch of ex-gang leaders from Sir Lowry’s. They played paintball in the mountains and rugby on the beach. Our team laid out the gospel, along with the warning that following Christ is tough and requires sacrifice. Three guys in the camp accepted Christ, including Night, (who we now call Neals) the biggest leader of the bunch. I’ve been so blessed to see God crash into Sir Lowry’s with His love, and I’m even more excited to see what happens these next few months. God loves to take rebel enemy leaders and turn them in to passionate preachers of God’s word. All of the guys on the camp committed to meeting with us every Wednesday to get discipled (which is the really important part). I’ve been learning about what can happen when Christ followers get that His gospel is powerful and lay it out for people with boldness, letting God do the rest.
This last week, a group of six of us went up to a place called Prince Albert to meet with the young people and train them to do sports ministry for world cup. Prince Albert is a small mostly colored town five hours north of Cape Town. We spoke in classrooms, churches, and school assemblies. We spent the nights in a boarding school with the students, which was super fun. We never had any definite plans each day, but God was really faithful to provide us opportunities to serve. One of the highlights of the week was watching Keith, one of our teammates who is from Prince Albert, speak and serve in his hometown. One of the needs and, therefore, the themes of our messages to the churches was unity both among churches and within churches, in order to work for God’s mission. We will be returning to Prince Albert next month during world cup to do a community wide outreach, partnering with the churches we trained with during this outreach.
That’s all I want to write now. I’ll send a longer post soon. Thanks for your prayers!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Another Update!
Hope you all are doing well! I just had a much needed week off (spent at a friend's relative's farm up North) and am back in Cape Town for the next two weeks. The whole city is hyped up for world cup (and we are too!) Here are a few stories of what God is doing in the city in the meantime:
I just spent the last few days at a camp for about eighty 11th graders from a local church we partner with. To say the camp was amazing is an understatement. God changed so many young people's lives! Because the camp was in Afrikaans, i was pretty helpless to listen to the teachings or lead much of anything, but i was able to teach a workshop and spent most of my time doing one-on-ones with the students. God has been teaching me through these language barrier situations. I feel like i am often too quick to rely on my own sense of competency and ministry skills and live in the rhythm of schedules, rather than living in the rhythm of the Holy Spirit. God is re-routing me to be helpless to everything but His voice and it's pretty cool! I'm learning a lot!
I also had an amazing time at Sir Lowry's Plain yesterday, a local township we serve in. I have been discipling a young woman there named Nicolene who is growing and learning so much! When we first met her and her boyfriend, we learned that she was HIV positive, considered herself a Rastafarian, had no income and felt pretty rejected by society. We've been reading the bible with her and her boyfriend and she is now a baby Christian eagerly growing in her faith! Doing bible studies with Nicolene is always the highlight of my week. The Gospel really comes alive when you're reading it in a shack with a family that is HIV positive. The biggest privilege is to look into the face of the least of these and say "Jesus came for you." And it's even better when you realize they believe it!
One of the biggest problems in Sir Lowry's is gang violence. But the cool thing is how much God loves the gang leaders! Last year, JAM was able to befriend a gang ringleader named Pulkie. Through one of our camps, he came to Christ, renounced his violent past, and is now at bible school training to be a pastor. Another gang leader named Vykie came to know God through this camp and works with us when we go to the township on Wednesdays. We are having another "Sir Lowry's Gang Leader Camp" this weekend with about 15 men going. Among the campers is a man named Night, who is the craziest, most violent gang leader of the bunch! The girls left our camp for the weekend because we have no idea what to expect. But if we know anything about God's heart for the gang leaders of Sir Lowry's, we know that He will do amazing things again! Please pray for this camp, we are excited to see God do His thing!
As for me, I'm doing great! I'm enjoying seeing God move and celebrating that with my ministry family. South Africa has become home and i have officially settled in. More updates soon! World Cup is gonna rock!
I just spent the last few days at a camp for about eighty 11th graders from a local church we partner with. To say the camp was amazing is an understatement. God changed so many young people's lives! Because the camp was in Afrikaans, i was pretty helpless to listen to the teachings or lead much of anything, but i was able to teach a workshop and spent most of my time doing one-on-ones with the students. God has been teaching me through these language barrier situations. I feel like i am often too quick to rely on my own sense of competency and ministry skills and live in the rhythm of schedules, rather than living in the rhythm of the Holy Spirit. God is re-routing me to be helpless to everything but His voice and it's pretty cool! I'm learning a lot!
I also had an amazing time at Sir Lowry's Plain yesterday, a local township we serve in. I have been discipling a young woman there named Nicolene who is growing and learning so much! When we first met her and her boyfriend, we learned that she was HIV positive, considered herself a Rastafarian, had no income and felt pretty rejected by society. We've been reading the bible with her and her boyfriend and she is now a baby Christian eagerly growing in her faith! Doing bible studies with Nicolene is always the highlight of my week. The Gospel really comes alive when you're reading it in a shack with a family that is HIV positive. The biggest privilege is to look into the face of the least of these and say "Jesus came for you." And it's even better when you realize they believe it!
One of the biggest problems in Sir Lowry's is gang violence. But the cool thing is how much God loves the gang leaders! Last year, JAM was able to befriend a gang ringleader named Pulkie. Through one of our camps, he came to Christ, renounced his violent past, and is now at bible school training to be a pastor. Another gang leader named Vykie came to know God through this camp and works with us when we go to the township on Wednesdays. We are having another "Sir Lowry's Gang Leader Camp" this weekend with about 15 men going. Among the campers is a man named Night, who is the craziest, most violent gang leader of the bunch! The girls left our camp for the weekend because we have no idea what to expect. But if we know anything about God's heart for the gang leaders of Sir Lowry's, we know that He will do amazing things again! Please pray for this camp, we are excited to see God do His thing!
As for me, I'm doing great! I'm enjoying seeing God move and celebrating that with my ministry family. South Africa has become home and i have officially settled in. More updates soon! World Cup is gonna rock!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Mahvusa/Zimbabwe
New update for you, and it’s packed full of good stuff! Our outreach started with a two day drive all the way up the beautiful country of South Africa to the Limpopo province and a little village called Mahvusa. Jabulani African Ministries partnered with the people to build a church there a few years back. The village chief was impressed and offered us some land to build a youth camp and mission station. So that’s what we have been working on! Our dream is to have a place where youth come and learn about God’s love through camping ministry and are discipled and trained to be spiritual leaders in their communities. Our days were filled with construction and hanging out with the village kids. Our nights were spent discipling the young adults in Mahvusa and Dzingidzingi, a neighboring village. We are excited to see these young adults take part in this project and take the reigns of ministry, the way true missions should play itself out.
My heart has broken into a million pieces for the beautiful and broken people of this Province. One area has especially taken a hold of my heart and rendered it forever changed. Zone 2 is the name of a squatters’ settlement for refugees who have fled war in Mozambique. It is difficult for these people to return home, and the South African government pretends they don’t exist out of their lack of solutions for this people group. There is no running water, electricity or schools within walking distance for their children. Out of all the places I’ve been, I have never seen more poverty than I do in this place. This week, JAM began a Preschool and soup kitchen for the young children of Zone 2. It will be run by Pastor Life and his wife, Josephine, who are full-time missionaries of JAM and locals. Please pray for this young couple as they serve in Zone 2. There are many challenges and many stories that daily break their hearts.
The stories of suffering and images of poverty here are overshadowed by the hope I see God has for this place. One of my highlights was watching Lifter, a member of our team and resident of Mahvusa, minister in his home town. Lifter has a past of gang involvement, robbery and drugs, but his life has been forever changed by the love of Christ. Lifter shared his testimony this week to his peers who have never seen this new God-changed servant. Next January he will be back in Mahvusa doing soccer ministry and being a spiritual leader in his community. I am so proud of my friend and excited for the potential of having this humble leader serve his village.
After a week in Mahvusa, we took another day long drive up to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is currently one of the most politically corrupt countries in the world. The inflation rate is so outrageous, the country began using US dollars as a way to cope. All along the road, street vendors sell fruit or whatever product they might have had in order to survive. Unemployment is high as these people look for a way to support themselves and their families. Yet another broken place filled with beautiful, determined people.
We went to Zimbabwe to lead a conference for youth leaders of churches all across the country. There were about 50 youth leaders, counselors and reverends who attended. These people were so passionate about their leadership in the discipling of young people, but lacked training, theory, and resources to lead well. We came in to encourage and fill in that gap. We taught a lot about Christ-like character in ministry as well as a ton of practical application on being a Christian youth leader and pastor. The Zimbabweans have very limited access to crayons and paper for their Sunday School classes, yet alone resources and teaching curriculum and they soaked the information up like a sponge. At the end of the conference, we sat before an overjoyed and exuberant class of Christ-followers with a re-charged passion to take what they have learned to their youth groups back home. I was so humbled to take part in this process and encouraged to see the heart of these beautiful people. After the conference, we took a tour of the mission station where we were staying and checked out a nearby youth camp which was in ruins because of vandalism that happened during a war.
During these trips, we were able to look back to see how God’s work began and look forward to imagine new and beautiful things for the Kingdom. In Mahvusa, a young American woman named Laura came to serve the people in 1933 after a short term missions trip there won her heart. Single all her life, she poured thirty years into these people, building a Preschool and church and ministering to medical needs. It was this woman who led the village chief to Christ when he was a boy and this chief would later welcome us into his land to begin a camping ministry for God. Now I look forward to a future of many young Africans embracing Christ and glorifying Him through the beginnings of this young woman. In 1891, a young South African man felt called to take Christ to Zimbabwe. He was not a preacher or a missionary, just a simple Sunday School teacher, and he was ill so much his parents thought he would die in a few years. But this man spent his life in Zimbabwe, beginning a mission station, translating the Bible into Shona and opening a school for the deaf and blind. Because of this man’s willingness to sacrifice for the gospel, many schools, ministries and churches are in operation. His work helped create the churches that sent the youth leaders to our conference who will now go out and spread Christ’s truth to all the young people they represent. In both places we got to visit the graves of the brave missionaries who went before us. My heart is both terrified and excited about my future. Will I stay here and follow in their footsteps? Will following after God’s heart mean my life will only get crazier? Please pray for me as I seek God’s direction.
And so were my last few weeks: crazy, significant, and full in many ways. I spent my 25th birthday living in a hut and chasing after and loving on snotty faced kids. I celebrated holy week and a Christ who came down to live in the dirt of our lives and sacrifice for the salvation of the world very dirty myself (I showered twice) and contemplating my own sacrifice. Following Jesus is crazy! God is huge. My heart is full.
I would like to begin supporting the work in Zone 2 by raising funds for the ministry and soup kitchen. If you are interested to see how you can get involved, please send me your email address or click to follow my blog. I will be sending out a newsletter shortly that gives more information on this area and steps to get involved. Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I am very blessed to have a wonderful family of people who love to see God move as much as I do. May God give you grace and peace as you live out resurrection!
My heart has broken into a million pieces for the beautiful and broken people of this Province. One area has especially taken a hold of my heart and rendered it forever changed. Zone 2 is the name of a squatters’ settlement for refugees who have fled war in Mozambique. It is difficult for these people to return home, and the South African government pretends they don’t exist out of their lack of solutions for this people group. There is no running water, electricity or schools within walking distance for their children. Out of all the places I’ve been, I have never seen more poverty than I do in this place. This week, JAM began a Preschool and soup kitchen for the young children of Zone 2. It will be run by Pastor Life and his wife, Josephine, who are full-time missionaries of JAM and locals. Please pray for this young couple as they serve in Zone 2. There are many challenges and many stories that daily break their hearts.
The stories of suffering and images of poverty here are overshadowed by the hope I see God has for this place. One of my highlights was watching Lifter, a member of our team and resident of Mahvusa, minister in his home town. Lifter has a past of gang involvement, robbery and drugs, but his life has been forever changed by the love of Christ. Lifter shared his testimony this week to his peers who have never seen this new God-changed servant. Next January he will be back in Mahvusa doing soccer ministry and being a spiritual leader in his community. I am so proud of my friend and excited for the potential of having this humble leader serve his village.
After a week in Mahvusa, we took another day long drive up to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is currently one of the most politically corrupt countries in the world. The inflation rate is so outrageous, the country began using US dollars as a way to cope. All along the road, street vendors sell fruit or whatever product they might have had in order to survive. Unemployment is high as these people look for a way to support themselves and their families. Yet another broken place filled with beautiful, determined people.
We went to Zimbabwe to lead a conference for youth leaders of churches all across the country. There were about 50 youth leaders, counselors and reverends who attended. These people were so passionate about their leadership in the discipling of young people, but lacked training, theory, and resources to lead well. We came in to encourage and fill in that gap. We taught a lot about Christ-like character in ministry as well as a ton of practical application on being a Christian youth leader and pastor. The Zimbabweans have very limited access to crayons and paper for their Sunday School classes, yet alone resources and teaching curriculum and they soaked the information up like a sponge. At the end of the conference, we sat before an overjoyed and exuberant class of Christ-followers with a re-charged passion to take what they have learned to their youth groups back home. I was so humbled to take part in this process and encouraged to see the heart of these beautiful people. After the conference, we took a tour of the mission station where we were staying and checked out a nearby youth camp which was in ruins because of vandalism that happened during a war.
During these trips, we were able to look back to see how God’s work began and look forward to imagine new and beautiful things for the Kingdom. In Mahvusa, a young American woman named Laura came to serve the people in 1933 after a short term missions trip there won her heart. Single all her life, she poured thirty years into these people, building a Preschool and church and ministering to medical needs. It was this woman who led the village chief to Christ when he was a boy and this chief would later welcome us into his land to begin a camping ministry for God. Now I look forward to a future of many young Africans embracing Christ and glorifying Him through the beginnings of this young woman. In 1891, a young South African man felt called to take Christ to Zimbabwe. He was not a preacher or a missionary, just a simple Sunday School teacher, and he was ill so much his parents thought he would die in a few years. But this man spent his life in Zimbabwe, beginning a mission station, translating the Bible into Shona and opening a school for the deaf and blind. Because of this man’s willingness to sacrifice for the gospel, many schools, ministries and churches are in operation. His work helped create the churches that sent the youth leaders to our conference who will now go out and spread Christ’s truth to all the young people they represent. In both places we got to visit the graves of the brave missionaries who went before us. My heart is both terrified and excited about my future. Will I stay here and follow in their footsteps? Will following after God’s heart mean my life will only get crazier? Please pray for me as I seek God’s direction.
And so were my last few weeks: crazy, significant, and full in many ways. I spent my 25th birthday living in a hut and chasing after and loving on snotty faced kids. I celebrated holy week and a Christ who came down to live in the dirt of our lives and sacrifice for the salvation of the world very dirty myself (I showered twice) and contemplating my own sacrifice. Following Jesus is crazy! God is huge. My heart is full.
I would like to begin supporting the work in Zone 2 by raising funds for the ministry and soup kitchen. If you are interested to see how you can get involved, please send me your email address or click to follow my blog. I will be sending out a newsletter shortly that gives more information on this area and steps to get involved. Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I am very blessed to have a wonderful family of people who love to see God move as much as I do. May God give you grace and peace as you live out resurrection!
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