World Cup Updates

Hey all. The World Cup is well on its way. Last night was the start of the second round of each pool. South Africa got murdered 3-0 by Uruguay... it was pretty depressing. The outreaches are going well. This week I worked in the Hout Bay and Imizamo Yethu outreach. It consisted of a lot of Soccer clinics, childrens ministry, soup, house visits, and screenings of the matches. There were a lot of younger folk from Stellenberg Church. They are grade 7-9 Afrikaaners from a pretty nice community. Needless to say some of them had some difficulties on their first outreaches. I don't think I've ever been on a ministry team that had so many people cry during an outreach. I realized that I really don't enjoy soccer all that much, so it is a stretch for me to really be into running soccer clinics. Tuesday night we were hosting screenings of the soccer match that night. I was at a church in Hout Bay helping set up and I just happened to glance across the valley and saw flames shooting up out of Imizamo Yethu. The fire was 100-150 yards from the community hall where the other half of our team was hosting a showing. They had to evacuate our team from the community hall. Fortunately no one was harmed in the fire but an estimated 20 people lost their homes. I was going to go into IY wednesday to help clean up but got caught up in a bunch of other stuff on the otherside of town. That is just how this ministry goes. We have come under so much attack from the enemy this week it's been crazy. But amidst all that God continues to show how he is faithful and good. In about an hour I start to make the long journey to Mavhusa. The trip will take us two full days of driving, and I mean full days. It will be much more rural then Cape Town and we won't have much access to internet so don't be expecting a post until after July 4 (Happy Independence Day for everyone back home!). Much love for everyone!

No Greater Love

There are some moments in your life when there is no doubt in your entire being that there is a divine God who is good, who loves his children and provides in such an amazing way. Tonight was one of those nights. I was in the City Center of Cape Town doing some street ministry with Git. If ya'll know me pretty well you'd probably know that street evangelism is one of my LEAST favorite things. It just seems so shallow to me. Tonight was completely God ordained though. We were standing on a street corner and there was a young man standing about 20 feet from us leaning on a wall watching the crowd pass by towards the new Cape Town Stadium for tonight's soccer match. Git began to talk to him. He didn't really feel comfortable talking in english so I stood by and smiled and prayed while Git conversed with him. Later on in the night I was able to pick up some bits of his story. His name is Raymond. Today is his 25th birthday. He was standing waiting for his shift to start at a restaurant he works in. As he waited he was watching all the people going by to the stadium celebrating, blowing their vuvuzelas, laughing and having fun. He was reminiscing all the birthdays he had as a youth when his family would celebrate and laugh with him. He has only seen his family once in the last three years. He moved to Cape Town in search of work to support his family back home and has only been able to accumulate enough time off to visit home. Tonight he was thinking about how alone he feels on his birthday. He has no friends in Cape Town and has spent a lot of time lately questioning his existence, questioning God. Tonight we were able to celebrate his birthday with him. Though it was brief and only consisted of a can of Coke and a muffin from the 7/11. It meant something to him. He said that tonight was an affirmation of the questions that he had been asking. God cares about him. God desires relationship with him, and he wants that relationship. Thursday and Friday are his days off so we are going to pick him up Wednesday night and bring him out to stay at Apostle and come along our outreaches. God is so so good. Not the we have done much for him, but that God had divinely appointed us as a blessing in his life tonight. Greater love has none than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

The Time is Now!

The World Cup has finally begun. South Africa opens the tournament with a monumental draw against much higher ranked Mexico. I kept saying I was going to cheer for Mexico (or Meksiko, if you spell it in Afrikaans lol) and all my JAM buddies gave me the dirtiest looks. You'd be amazed by how united this Country is behind their team, Bafana Bafana. We watched the opening match at Stellenberg High School. Stellenberg being a predominantly white suburb usually wouldn't put much thought into soccer but all over the place people wear their countries colors and fly the South African flag. Yesterday the U.S. ended with a draw against England, the strongest opponent in our pool. If we continue to play well we should make it past the first round. I must say that I particularly liked the way the U.S. team plays more then any other teams I've seen yet. They are physical, like any American should be.

The outreaches have begun. The team for Prince Albert left today. The Imizamo Yethu team of about 80 will be arriving at Apostle during the day today at some point. I will work on the IY team until I leave for Mavhusa on Thursday. Just a side note-- Mavhusa is a two day drive north and I will not have internet there so there won't be any posts on Mavhusa until I return to Cape Town on July 4th. Yesterday we had a big rally in Sir Lowry's Pass (a colored township that we work in). It was awesome because it was organized and put on by two leaders in the community who JAM disciples. They are both ex-gangsters with rough backgrounds but they have huge hearts to serve the Lord and see Sir Lowry's Pass transformed. God used the day to reaffirm something that He has been putting on my heart. I watched these guys put on their rally featuring a soccer tournament, dance competition and various other little activities. They did a good job, but their skills in organizing and putting on a big event was really lacking. The tournament was difficult to manage and the times when the Gospel was meant to be shared were difficult to understand and get people to pay attention to. These guys need to be equipped. Their passions are high but their skills are few. Now, God obviously can still work with a willing heart, but people like this ex-gangsters are all over this world with the passions to transform their communities, but the lack of training to make it happen. I want to develop a way to take what I have learned in my ministry program at APU and equip people from these communities with the necessary training and tools to advance the Gospel effectively in the ways that they so strongly desire to.

Catching up

Hey all. Sorry for not posting in several days. Time is beginning to speed up and days are beginning to blur together. This week has flown by with all the "normal" scheduling. Been doing work around Apostle Battery (Jam's campsite in Cape Town). Cleaning bathrooms, yardwork etc. Today we put in a new fire pit. A victory circle South African style as I like to call it. That was a lot of work and a lot of fun. I continue to build awesome relationships with the JAM staff. It is truly a blessing to get to work here. Yesterday (Thursday) was our day off. We went into Cape Town down to the waterfront with a girl from Imizamo Yethu. I hope that it was a blessing to her, it was really awesome to take her out. She is disabled and doesn't get to go out much. Her name is Gloria, by the way. As I said earlier the days are beginning to blur together. I am finding myself into the niche of JAM ministry but find myself missing things from home in lulls in time. I miss stuff like mexican food, the NBA playoffs (Go Lakers!!!) and driving... on the right side of the road. God reveals to me the life of a missionary.

Here's what I've been dwelling upon:
"And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." And calling the crowd to him and his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."
Mark 8:31-9:1

That's a mouthful... sorry, but it's so powerful. I've been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and he talks about how to fully embrace discipleship of Jesus Christ we must fully embrace the sacrifice of the Cross... meaning that we know God loves us because he gave his Son and so we must also give of ourselves as well. So to sacrifice sometimes we must miss Boni's Tacos, Taco King, the NBA, BBQ with mom, chilling with roommates, etc. For me to live is Christ.