Ramblings

Hey, so just finishing up some days off. Here's what went on. Wednesday night we picked up a couple of other Americans from the airport (Nate and Lauren from Kansas). Thursday, with most of the staff off doing their own things at home, we Americans all had a fun tourist day in Cape Town. Went to the waterfront, looked in shops, blah blah. Friday we drove out to Stellenberg which is a primarily white neighborhood of Cape Town where Gerhard and several other members of JAM are from. Stellenberg Church is also a big partner with JAM, Gerhard's dad is the missions pastor there as well. Hung out with Anton (Gerhard's brother who I also met at Hume last summer) all day Friday. I gave him a tapout sweatshirt and he gave me rugby jersey. Great trade. Friday night was a service for Team 1000 (The outreach movement that we're working with for the World Cup, more to follow on that). Saturday I watched Rugby all day, it was awesome. This morning (Sunday) we led worship at a church in Hout Bay, five minutes away. It was awesome I thought. More on the church service to follow.

Now for the good stuff...

At the Team 1000 outreach meeting, the message moved me in a couple of ways. Because of the FIFA World Cup the speaker spoke along the terms of winning the battle against the enemy (like winning a soccer game you know). He challenged us as to whether or not we're winning the battle against the enemy. We get so caught up in our own personal life, our own personal growth and performance that we lost sight of the fact that we as the church have a global mission of winning this world for Christ. Today in church there was a presentation by some YWAMers on sex trafficking in South Africa and all the specific ministries being done during the World Cup in response to this issue. Not to take away from the heartbreak of something like sex trafficking but God took my focus to something else. I was thinking about all the people who will be doing ministry here because of the World Cup. It's great that so many people are committed to impacting the world at this point but I got to thinking about how the church should be concerned with reaching the whole world all the time. I think of the book of Revelation where John talks about seeing a multitude from every tribe, nation, and tongue praising God. Such a feat is possible if we all had this "world cup" mentality towards the world all the time. People would always be concerned about social justice issues like sex trafficking, poverty, malnourishment, etc. People would always be concerned with the American teenagers drowning out the voice of God with Xbox and iPhones and the man losing his family the the pursuit of the American dream. How do we turn a whole generation, worldwide, back to the heart of God?

Rugby with Jesus

We were in a township this evening. I got to play rugby with Jesus. I could tell it was him because I recognized him in the beautiful smiles of all the children who out of the midst of so little showed me so much love, hope, and peace. God is breaking my heart in such a marvelous way.

This Beautiful Mess

Jet-lag is hitting me bad right now. Slept for several hours today... still feel like I could sleep more and more. Did an awesome outreach today in a community called Imizamo Yethu, also called Mandela Park for any of you having trouble pronouncing that (as I am, ha). I would like to list off the languages that I encountered today on our outreach: English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Spanish, and Portuguese. Imizamo Yethu is a black township, most the children spoke Xhosa, the JAM staff primarily speaks Afrikaans and English, and the Brazilians speak Portuguese and a broken Spanish with me and the other Americans. It was amazing because in the midst of confusion across the languages, God's love felt so strong. It was a beautiful mess. At one point a Brazilian woman was using one of those little block things that folds in different ways with pictures on it of the Gospel message, trying to speak in English and reading off a cheat sheet to a bunch of kids who only spoke Xhosa and only showed any response to the words "Jesus" and "love." It's awesome out here. God is doing great things. Thinus, JAM's second hand man was telling me that a lot of people have been prophesying over the country lately saying that a great revival is going to start in Cape Town and work its way northward over the whole continent and eventually the world. Let's pray for that to be true. God is moving a lot of interesting people into interesting places in this country before the World Cup and I can only imagine that if we are faithful to serve He will do something truly great. Keep it real. Love God and love others.

The Surreal Deal

I have safely landed in South Africa and arrived at the JAM base in Hout Bay, near Cape Town.  The flight was long and uncomfortable, California could not be farther from South Africa.  The country is beautiful.  The first thing I noticed as my plane was making it's decent into Cape Town was the grand contrast in living styles.  Looking out onto a hill I could see beautiful houses, as I followed the ridgeline my eyes crossed a road and there was a shantytown.  Wealth and poverty mixed together like I've never seen.  Git (Gerhard) wasn't at the airport to pick me up.  I guess he was confused and thought my flight landed at 12 midnight when I landed at 12 noon.  This was cause for an adventure.  I hired out a tourist/taxi driver and with no phone number and the wrong address for JAM we started to try to find the camp.  Got to drive through Cape Town which was beautiful.  It's a city unlike any oher I've been in.  Let me tell you, South African drivers make LA drivers look like the best in the world.  I'm thankful I won't have to drive while I'm here because between the reverse side of the road and the pedestrians running everywhich way it'd be bad.  Anywhoo... Long of the story short we found a phone number and got directions and I made it to JAM's base at 2 pm, walked around, napped, chatted with Git for a while and then left to go on an outreach.

The outreach was awesome.  We ran a soccer seminar for a couple of hours with a team from Brazil.  The Brazilians are traveling around to different communities putting on these mini-soccer camps (which they were excellent at doing).  They partnered with JAM to work in some of the communities where JAM typically does ministry.  JAM functioned more as a facilitator for this outreach which meant my job was helping the Brazilians with English and picking up cones when their was the need for that.  Don't know exactly what's on the plate for toady, some outreach somewhere.  This guy named Derek is here checking out JAM and might be going on full time with them to help disciple the JAM interns.  I might run some errands with him today in town while I wait for the outreach tonight.  Continue to pray for me, It's been an awesome first 24 hours in SA.  I must admit, it's good to get out of LA, and the USA.  Keep it real. Love God and love others.  

LAX

I am all checked in at LAX. It really started to hit me in the car as we were pulling up to LAX, this trip is finally happening!!! Now I am settling down the excitement, nervousness, and anticipation as I wait for my first flight to depart. Give or take 30 hours from now I'll be in South Africa. Hope that I'll be able to get some internet once I arrive in SA so I can give an update on safe arrival. If not, just trust that God has delivered me there successfully! Keep it real. Love God and love others.

Prayer Requests Pre-Trip

Only a couple more days until I depart for South Africa. My bag sits packed at the foot of my bed only needing the minor details to be packed into it now. Out to run some last minute errands like buying a second camera battery and printing pictures of friends and family to share with people over there. With so much of the preparations completed, and what feels like so much time left before I leave I turn to spiritual preparations for the trip. Through some awesome personal conversations on Sunday, God pointed me to the book of James for personal study this week. While I could write for days on the wonderful lessons God was teaching me from James, the most profound for the preparation of this trip was found in chapter five where James’ exhorts his audience to pray saying, “the prayer of a righteous man has great power as it is working.” Prayer is all I have left to prepare me for this trip. I invite you to join in partner ship with me as I pray over the following issues. Firstly, the anxiety and worry of this trip is hitting my mom much more than it is hitting me. I’m praying that God will comfort her in her apprehensions about my trip. I am 100% sure that I am following in God’s will and have faith that God will protect me as I travel. I am praying for travel mercies. I continue to push to the back of my mind the horrible daylong flight that I will have over the Atlantic. If only traveling from New York to Johannesburg didn’t take 24 hours. May God grant me an uplifting spirit during the long time of travel so that all who I encounter along the way may see Christ alive in me. I am praying for the full time staff members of JAM. During the upcoming week and a half they will be preparing to launch the winter ministry that I will be partnering with them in. We will launch this campaign of outreaches on May 26^th. Pray for the FIFA World Cup. With such a large venue to be held on the stage of South Africa, eyes from around the world fill find themselves on the country this summer. With such a great opportunity come great risks. Pray for God’s hand over the entirety of the country during the event. Pray that God’s heart would permeate the people who travel to the country to follow the tournament. Pray that God would open the eyes of all who travel to the country so that they would realize that while they sit in a beautiful stadium supporting their country’s team, only minutes away disenfranchised youth live in some of the most extreme poverty. Finally, pray that God would refresh my heart. As some may know, I have grown restless in the past months at school. I eagerly await this opportunity to go into the world, to live an adventure with God. Pray for a refreshed passion for finishing my schooling at APU in the fall and for clarity and direction in God’s calling for my life once I graduate from APU. Thanks ya’ll. Keep it real. Love God and love others.

Oh, this was a cool idea thought of by Pastor Chris at FBC Cambria Sunday for how to remember to pray for me. Anytime you see or hear something about the FIFA World Cup on the TV or Radio throw up a prayer for me!

Pre-trip jitters???

I am nearing in on a week until my departure to South Africa. I must admit that it seems surreal that this moment of my life is actually coming. For any who know my story, I had times where I doubted that God would be taking me to South Africa at all. With the door to study abroad through APU’s South Africa Semester closing, the door to serve with Jabulani Africa Ministries opened. I met Gerhard Duvenhage, founder of JAM, in the summer of 2009 while working at Hume Lake Christian Camps. Throughout the course of the 2009-2010 school year I began to pray about and plan a mission trip to work with JAM this summer. I fly out of LAX on Saturday, May 22 at 11:40 pm. On May 24^th at noon I will step off of the airplane in Cape Town, South Africa. I feel prepared for this trip. God has worked so much in my heart to prepare me for the ministry that I will be walking into. I still do not know exactly what my role with JAM will be for this summer. When I ask, Gerhard simply replies by saying “a little bit of everything.” Earlier this week while on a brief road trip with some friends I was praying through the fact that the best year I’ve had at APU had just ended and that I was about to leave my closest friends and family to travel half way around the world. Somewhere on the road God blessed me with the contentment that I can leave my American life for two months without it being the end of the world. While I will greatly miss friends, family, sitting in this beautiful Cambrian coffee show where I write from, my mind and heart turns towards poverty, towards the shantytowns, towards the drunken masses that will follow the FIFA World Cup. John 15:13 reads, “Greater love has none than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” On another account Jesus tells the disciples, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” Yet another time, “He who gives up his life for my name’s sake will find it.” I wait in great anticipation for the next two weeks, I have decided to take my laptop and do my best to blog on my time, as well as update facebook for all who will follow to see how God is working in South Africa and in me this summer. I look forward to thoroughly sharing God’s passion for South Africa with everyone when I return. Keep it real. Love God and love others.