I love visitors

I had the privilege of spending the better part of 2 days with Keith and Kelly. They came to South Africa to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. I showed them around town -some of our favorite tourist spots, talked about ministry (the ups and downs), received great encouragement, and were treated to some very nice meals that I wouldn't get to experience without their treat! I was honored and enjoyed every minute with them.

They even brought me a suitcase FULL of things on my wish-list. I was honored and so grateful!

While walking in the Company Gardens, Kelly asked me, "What do you miss most about America?" I said, "This." I went on to tell them both that I really miss people that I've known for a long time. I miss people that challenge me spiritually. I miss talking about life with people older than me, getting their perspective and gleaning wisdom. Keith is a brilliant business man and Kelly is his side-kick (along for every adventure and his greatest support). Driving in the car, Keith was just telling me about his life right now, things going on in business and in his spiritual life and I was totally encouraged. I love seeing how God is at play everywhere and how those of us living vastly different lives in totally different worlds can speak love and wisdom and encouragement into each other ... for endurance and growth and steadfastness!

Thank you Keith and Kelly!

Praying each of you reading this will take advantage of your spiritual community and glean wisdom from the Body of Christ!

Lunch near the Waterfront and the Cape Town Stadium

Me and Kelly at Mama Africa

What atmosphere at Mama Africa! Loved the live band!

Masi TV ad: preventing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Thought I'd show some of my South African culture:
This ad features my friend Mzo and 2 children from Masi that are a big part of Living Hope! This ad is just one of many that run on South Africa TV trying to make families aware of Infant Care and HIV Prevention issues.

art lesson in Capricorn Teens Club

I miss art.

I miss creating.

I know God has a purpose in giving me an art-education, but I'm waiting to use it fully here in my new land of South Africa.

I borrowed an idea by a blogger, Lauren Johnston, whose blog is entitled, Inspired by the Creator. I don't know this woman personally, someone sent me a link to her blog because they thought I'd enjoy her creativity! She's an amazing artist and paints visuals of scripture and what God puts on her heart. This blog post: http://inspiredbythecreator.blogspot.com/2011/08/god-of-this-city.html inspired me to recreate this lesson with my South African teens.

This lesson incorporated music, physical art, and creative thinking.

The lesson went like this:

1. I first let them listen to the song lyrics of God of This City. They closed their eyes, laid their heads on the table, and most importantly were silent!

2. As the song played a second time, I asked them to write down words that came to mind - I gave examples: city, Capricorn, love, Lord, purpose ...

3. They were then given lots of art medium (all from our Living Hope supply closet given by volunteers who come short-term): oil pastels, color pencils, chalk, markers, crayons and a large sheet of construction paper.

4. I told them to draw a picture of whatever this song meant to them. I urged them to think in terms of their own community of Capricorn and what God wants Capricorn to be.

5. With the song playing softly, they drew!

Ironically, all of my 'artsy' girls did not show up for Club that day. The attendees were mainly boys and most are the boys who RARELY speak to me, and if they speak, it's in grunts. These boys are usually hard to work with because of their behavior problems and lack of respect for adults (clearly because of their home-lives). This day, the boys were quiet, participated in ALL activities and instructions, were respectful, and at the end of the day, one boy said, "that was really relaxing." Another told me they enjoyed Club being "different" that day!

What progress!

I had a wonderful time with our rebellious teens that day! Art bonded us!

___________________

Lyrics of Chris Tomlin's song, God of This City

[Verse 1]
You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

[Verse 2]
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City



Recap in Photos:

Me explaining the lesson

Everyone working ... silently!

A teen boy presenting his artwork and meaning to the class

My rendition of Capricorn through God of This City: homes touched by the church, Light in each home, vegetation and beauty surrounding the community, fruit from LIFE!

Needs Assessment

Recently, Living Hope held a training session from an outside organization who's doing fabulous work in South Africa. They call themselves Warehouse (http://www.warehouse.org.za/index.php). This past year, I've been captivated by tools and strategies for helping relieve poverty - not just our outward eye-view of physical poverty, but emotional, spiritual, mental poverty. I've been reading, collecting ideas, thoughts, transforming personal ministry practices in these areas. The Warehouse's philosophy and tools hit me right where I'm at. God is so good about bringing the right people at the right time!

My favorite part of the training was identifying the 10 Human Needs. This list classifies and helps identify how people react and 'make up for' the lack of certain 'human needs' which lead to poverty mentality.

The 10 Basic Human Needs:

Participation

Creation

Affection

Identity

Understanding

Protection

Freedom

Subsistence (working, being useful)

Idleness (rest)

Spirituality (relationship to God)

After talking about these in depth, many 'poverty actions' came to mind. For instance, it always bothered me that during the month of December for Christmas Celebrations, families will spend hundreds of Rand on name-brand shoes for their children or new, expensive dresses for Christmas parties. I didn't understand why they would spend their December monthly income on such extravagant items. Why is the child down the road literally going without food for days, yet wearing Nike shoes? When studying the Warehouse method of identifying Human Needs, I now understand that some of these families will overcompensate in one area to overlook another. They spend their money on outward acceptance (name brand shoes) so that people will look at them as if they're able to provide for their children, they're able to afford 'extras.' When they step out of Capricorn, people won't look 'down' on them or judge their physical appearance. Essentially saying, "people's view of them is more important than their basic need for food and daily sustenance." And yes, the clothes wear out, the cycle continues ... I can go on and on about how all of us compensate for the lack of our Human Needs. This list and other training from Warehouse gave me tangible ways to spot these needs; they showed us how to prioritize ministry. They gave us ways to approach the community and ask individuals their opinions in order to gain favor with the locals and provide local-involved ministry (empowering the individual that you really want to engage and minister to)!

That's just a preview of my lessons learned. More to come. I urge you to soak in this lesson as well!

Local Missions Conference

I was shocked and honored when a local church (that I've never been to) asked me to be their opening speaker at their VERY FIRST Missions Conference. This church (Full Gospel Church in Fish Hoek, South Africa) is a mixed-culture church - predominantly white South African with lots of other local cultures mixed in. When I sat down with one of their pastors to get details of this event and to find out what exactly I was to speak about, the pastor told me that the church is not currently very 'missional.' The church has recently been flooded with teachings on The Great Commission (Matt 28) and the pastors have been preparing their congregation on the necessity of 'selfless service' and the church's responsibility to GO! So, I began praying and asking God what I was supposed to speak about. I felt unworthy and inadequate, and I was thankful for both. I spent weeks looking through scriptures that "called me" to missions here in South Africa and I was guided to speak about HOW I was called to the Mission Field.

I told them that this journey began years before I even knew what was going on. I prayed a prayer that has been powerful and fruitful:

"Lord, before giving me what I want, make me who I need to be."

That bold prayer changed my life forever. It changed my perspective, my purpose, my direction.

I told the church that I sat through 8 Global Impact Celebrations (our Shades Mountain Missions Conference) before I really tuned in as if the message was for me. I would sit in the congregation and pray for our youth, for families, for singles... to give their lives to missions, to GO, to be obedient ... but all the while, I was content with 'my ministry' at Shades. I found great pleasure that I was already on the mission field at my church. But, that Shades mission field was only the beginning. It was the training ground for something bigger.

I gave my testimony - talking about my dream to be an artist, all my schooling faced my desire to succeed in 'this life.' I then told about how God grabbed my attention when I was in University and I began helping lead Youth Small Groups; my heart for true, walking-life discipleship began there! My part-time work with the Student Ministry at Shades Mountain led to a full-time job there, and that led into many 'transitioning' positions within ministry. I was given multiple opportunities to serve internationally on mission (short-term); my eyes were opened to God's work amongst the nations. My heart stayed in South Africa and I knew this is where God was calling me. But it was through 2 specific chapters in Matthew that I was called: Matt 7 & 8. Praying through those scriptures, I knew God was asking me to be stripped from my 'American comforts' and step out into His plan.

- I was to take the log out of my eye so that I could cleanse myself from judgement (Matt 7:5)

- I was to ASK God what His plan was. Not just to continue in my ways and my own plans (Matt 7:7-8)

- The Golden Rule gripped me. I would want someone to show me Jesus. I'd want someone to sacrifice their comfort for me. I'd want someone to literally show me how to "enter the narrow gate." (Matt 7: 12-13)

- I wanted to bear God's good fruit. I wanted RESULTS! I didn't want to be thrown into the fire (Matt 7:18-20)

- I did NOT want to hear God say 'that He never knew me' (Matt 7:21-23)

- I wanted to live a wise life - with my foundation in Christ (Matt 7:24)

- I wanted to live in faith in Jesus' authority (Matt 7:28)

- I wanted to touch those that seem unlovable; I want to give healing life to others (Matt 8:3)

- I wanted to have faith like the Centurion - when Jesus praised his faith and was proud of his belief (Matt 8:10)

- I heard God say that I was to be a light in a dark place - showing Jesus' purpose in discipleship and living a life worthy of Christ (Matt 8:14-17)

- I needed to drop my socially acceptable excuses - that I was 'taking care' of people, I had a responsibility to stay. I held on to the excuse of too little funds, not being married, needed to wait on the 'right time' to go and serve Christ. My excuses vanished in Jesus' words in Matt 8:18-22

- And then Jesus reminded me that He is over 'even the winds and the waves' - so what was I to fear? (Matt 8:23-27)

- And the words "go" have many meanings in the spiritual realm. God's power in the spoken Word is enough for me! (Matt 8:32)

+ Matt 28:16-20 - The Great Commission

+ Mark 10:13-31 - Let the little children come to me & The Rich Young Man

+ 1 Peter 1:3 - Living Hope

+ Isaiah 58:10-11 - Pour yourself out for the hungry, afflicted, be fresh water to thirsty people

My three main points:

. Pray bold prayers

. Listen: the message is for YOU

. Uncover your excuses

So, I spoke. I watched a church attentive to God's Word and call upon each of their lives. The Missions Conference was kicked off and I was humbled and honored to be a small part! I'm watching God's plan unfold and the importance of living amongst the people become fruitful in trust, in respect, in God's purposes! This journey has just begun to take root!

_____

Bonus material to this story...

Because I had to be at the church early (6pm) to test some media I used, meet with the pastor, pray, etc ... I was so hungry. It was 9:45pm before I got out of the church. I think it was because I'd been talking about America and was nostalgic, I ran to McDonalds for a chicken sandwich and fries! MMMmmm... it's such a treat to eat out. I guess I was celebrating God's goodness and faithfulness.

Combo meal at McDonalds in South Africa: R35

In US Dollar: $4.17

Feeling of being in God's Will and fruit being shown: priceless!

new Living Hope website:

http://www.livinghope.co.za/

The Marketing/PR department along with an international church partner in the US have spent countless hours updating the website and its content. I'm so proud of their efforts and passion to spread the vision and mission of Living Hope to a wider audience, and hopefully help people like you (on the other side of the world) keep up with Living Hope news and success stories in a better way!

... note: I had nothing to do with the feature story on the front page. All the volunteers had to fill out a form about their job at Living Hope. I'm honored to be part of the web-launch, but it's a little 'large' for my taste. Check it out!

Youth Camp SUCCESS!

What a weekend! Youth Camp went FABULOUSLY!
Thank you for all your prayers and concern. My health is still weak, but God's perfect strength sustained me until I could crash on Sunday afternoon. I know this was yet another piece of proof that God wants us to rely on Him for strength and wisdom.

As you know, the Capricorn Community Church Youth had to 'earn' the privilege of attending Camp this year. They had to attend Youth activities, Bible Studies, participate in Fundraisers for Camp funds and show a genuine interest in being part of the physical Body of Christ, THE CHURCH! This has proven to be the most amazing lesson our youth have learned. There were many times before camp that I'd think, "Man, I wish ______ were coming with us, they really need to hear what's going to be said." Or I'd entertain the thought of allowing some to come that didn't quite earn enough points and give some grace, but I didn't. I stuck to our agreement and had no grace for those that didn't follow-through. We heard the youth numerous times talk about how much the appreciated the 'point system' and even the parents agreed with our weeding-out of those that don't really want to grow in Christ, many just come for the outings and 'fun' given. So, God is teaching us all that we must work and sacrifice. What a sweet, valuable lesson for our Capricorn Church!

This camp was vastly different than last year's camp. We had NOT ONE discipline issue. Everyone participated in EVERY activity. There was NO COMPLAINING. The youth were TOTALLY RESPECTFUL. The sessions were long and involved a lot of group participation and looking up scripture and giving feedback and being spiritually, emotionally vulnerable with each other ... and they did it all! The group of 17 youth that came with us were those that really want to grow. They're the ones that usually get punished for the errors of others and the whole group gets privileges taken away because of the 'naughty ones.' But this time, the distractions were taken away and these youth were able to focus solely on Christ and their relationship with Him and truly take hold of what God has for them. I was in tears one session as the youth were opening their eyes to scriptures that were beginning to take root. Youth were speaking into the lives of their peers - giving each other encouragement and rebukes out of God's Word. This past year and a half have been very trying to me. I've had to wait on God's timing to move forward and wait on the youth and congregation to ready themselves. My impatience and desire for them to grow has been personally difficult. But I cried because I felt so blessed to be in God's presence with these particular youth. I felt blessed that God was allowing me to tangibly see the fruit of His work. I felt blessed to have waited on His timing!

The imagery of a tree and it's roots and fruits were strongly emphasized in each session.
We took the Youth through 4 sessions:
1. Who am I? - Identity in Christ
2. Where am I? - figuring out how mature their faith is and areas where they need to grow
3. Reality of Satan - (led by Severo) - speaking of Satan's attacks on Believers, strongholds that keep us from moving forward in our relationship with Christ.
4. Reality of Temptation - (led by Meagan) - about what Satan will try to do after camp, the temptations that we have the ability to overcome through Christ.

There were tears of brokenness, there were prayers of renewed seriousness in relationship to Christ, there was power moving through our youth! God allowed our oldest youth girl (12th grader) to see how wayward she'd become and she rededicated her life to Christ! I had the privilege of praying with her specifically - and it was especially neat because we prayed for Christ to use her life after school, after she graduates... and this is a prayer and thought that rarely crosses the minds and hearts of the youth in Capricorn. God grabbed hold of her heart at just the right time; God put her on this Camp to hear exactly what she needed to hear in this crucial time in her life. I can't wait to see what God does in her and in the rest of the youth that He's growing!

We also had a time around the camp-fire where we allowed the youth to encourage each other - speak positive words into each others' lives. There were amazing, heart-felt things said to one-another, but the most meaningful of all was what one girl said to Meagan and myself: she said, "Meagan, when I met you, I thought you were boring. You were quiet and didn't play around. Mel, when I met you, I thought, 'what does she have in common with us?' I didn't think an American could relate to our lives. But, I've seen how much you guys love us and how much we can learn from you. I've seen you come to Capricorn so tired, so weary, but you come because you love us and you want to show us Christ!" I was thankful for the many months of simply showing up in Capricorn; I was proud of the perseverance that God allowed us to have. All glory to God for what He's doing through the lives of leaders that have nothing to give but Jesus - we don't have money, we don't have catchy tricks, we don't have unique gifts ... all we have is Jesus and the love He has given us for Capricorn... and that's all we (and they) need.

I'm so proud to be part of what God is doing in South Africa - specifically Capricorn Community Church!


Here's a recap in photos:


Welcomed to Camp by BABOONS (a family of 10). Judy and the kids arrived before us and told us that they were unloading the car with the food supplies, Judy turned around to put some things in the cupboard, turned around again and a huge daddy-baboon was in front of her - grabbing all the cookies on the counter. Judy screamed, the kids began to cry and the baboon got away with our dessert. Shocking, Entertaining South African Wildlife!




Session 1: groups divided into color-teams, looking up scriptures about Identity in Christ and presenting their findings to the entire group!




Saturday morning small groups




Our everything room: Worship-Eating-Game-Movies-Mail-Hangout room!




Our very own Capricorn Baboon-boys climbing trees!




Mel and Basil




Girls getting their game-faces on before Cowboys & Indians Game




Game of Human Snakes and Ladders ... with group challenge




Pastor Severo leading session on Satan and strongholds... so powerful!




Encouragement and affirmation time around the camp fire & roasting marshmallows!




Sunday morning Worship!




Meagan and Mel - exhausted but full of joy!
After each session, the youth filled out paper 'leaves' that answered some sort of question that pertained to the session just taught. Leaves were pasted to the tree branches and the fruitful lessons added to the fullness of the tree - visually showing the Youth how much they'd learned in just one weekend!


I'm full of joy and proud of our Youth!

Mateu

Announcing the birth of my South African nephew: Mateu. Born 1 Sept 2011. This is Meagan's sister's child.
He's just beautiful! Pray for this family with us.

Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

More Shades Hands to Help!

We have 2 amazing ladies from Shades here in Cape Town right now: Susan & Elizabeth! Both have been to Living Hope & Capricorn Community Church previously.

In the mornings, they are with Gail & the Support Group Leaders - doing in-home Support Groups & leading devotions with the clients. In the afternoons, they've helped me with a new documenting-project. We're trying to make files & compile updated info on each of our children & teens. This is a HUGE project because we're needing to make detailed documents with health information, home-environment reports and evaluations, take stock of each person living in the home, what sort of income/grants the home is taking in ... And so much more. This is quite the project & these ladies are helping us with in-put & getting us started in the right direction!

So thankful for church-international-partners!

Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

Prayer Request: Youth Camp this weekend

Please pray for our Youth Camp this weekend. We're taking 17 youth and 5 adults.

 

Pray:

. That youth would receive Christ as their Lord and Savior

. That youth would yearn to dig deeper into their current relationship with the Lord

. For the message of Identity in Christ, Freedom from Bondage, and Living a Fruitful Life in Christ would be received

. For good behavior - taking youth out of their non-disciplined environments is often difficult - enforcing even the smallest rule for the purposes of their safety and others' well-being can be challenging.

. For unity and relationships among the youth to grow

. For youth to step up and lead amongst their peers!

 

We've got a lot of prep work to still do this week. Thank you in advance for your prayers!

Youth Camp Fundraiser Update

Thank you for the many prayers for our Capricorn Community Church (first ever) Youth Camp Fundraiser! We collected around R2500 ($350 US)! Because I was still sick and couldn't leave the house, I didn't get to see the event in full-form, but I got to see video and photos and heard detailed stories about all the people that were there and how unifying the event was for not only our youth but our entire church. 

The youth invited lot of other churches in Capricorn and many churches we don't currently have relationships with were in attendance! As you'll see from the photos, there were a variety of 'acts' that added to the worship of the night (dancers, singing groups, choirs, mimes). I was so proud to hear the reports from our church leaders and from our youth. Praise God for all the hands, feet and hearts that spent energy on this Worship-Event. And our Camp budget is appreciative too!