Saturday, October 16, 2010
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!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Local ministry
We just finished our first week of local ministry and it was wonderful! We have about six different communities we serve in locally. We begin each day with worship and prayer and then split up into two groups to serve these communities. Many areas are pretty new for us, and we are just beginning to build relationships and pray for god's direction on how we can best serve. God opened a lot of doors in our first week. Here is the low down of some sites we are serving in.
Hout Bay has a fisherman's township that we've been praying about serving in. The people aren't very friendly there and until this week, we haven't been able to build any relationships with young people. On Monday, we met a man who is doing soccer ministry with the local youth. He is very excited to partner with us in ministry and we are excited to work with the youth in sports ministry.
Cape Academy is a boarding school for ten to twelve graders from disadvantaged communities who show leadership potential. These students are away from home and don't really get the support and love that families bring. We're doing a bible study there on Monday nights and it was so cool! We had about twenty students show up and they seem really happy to be there. I was reminded of how much i love youth ministry!
Imizamo Yethu is the township that is closest to our base. It is very diverse and has people from many other African countries who have come here to find work. We had a big soccer game with the local youth and hope to do house visits and compassionate ministry in the homes of the people there. We are also praying that God opens doors for us to minister to the girls there.
Sir Lowry's is a township we've been doing children's ministry in for a few years. The children have opened doors for us to begin building relationships with their families. After walking through the township and visiting and praying for families in their homes, we go to a big field and completely exhaust ourselves playing with the children. Right before we left, we met a few youth who were interested in starting a small group. There is nothing for the children and youth to do here besides drugs and abuse is really common. I've only been been to Sir Lowry's twice, but my heart has broken into a thousand pieces for this place and the people here.
As for me, I'm doing well. South Africa is wonderful and inspiring and humbling and i feel so priviledged to be where my biggest passions and the world's biggest needs collide. God is definitely moving here and i love being a part of it. Please pray that God continues to open doors and give us direction as we enter our communities. Pray for the young people we will be meeting and discipling. And pray that we love well and share Christ's love with the world.
Hout Bay has a fisherman's township that we've been praying about serving in. The people aren't very friendly there and until this week, we haven't been able to build any relationships with young people. On Monday, we met a man who is doing soccer ministry with the local youth. He is very excited to partner with us in ministry and we are excited to work with the youth in sports ministry.
Cape Academy is a boarding school for ten to twelve graders from disadvantaged communities who show leadership potential. These students are away from home and don't really get the support and love that families bring. We're doing a bible study there on Monday nights and it was so cool! We had about twenty students show up and they seem really happy to be there. I was reminded of how much i love youth ministry!
Imizamo Yethu is the township that is closest to our base. It is very diverse and has people from many other African countries who have come here to find work. We had a big soccer game with the local youth and hope to do house visits and compassionate ministry in the homes of the people there. We are also praying that God opens doors for us to minister to the girls there.
Sir Lowry's is a township we've been doing children's ministry in for a few years. The children have opened doors for us to begin building relationships with their families. After walking through the township and visiting and praying for families in their homes, we go to a big field and completely exhaust ourselves playing with the children. Right before we left, we met a few youth who were interested in starting a small group. There is nothing for the children and youth to do here besides drugs and abuse is really common. I've only been been to Sir Lowry's twice, but my heart has broken into a thousand pieces for this place and the people here.
As for me, I'm doing well. South Africa is wonderful and inspiring and humbling and i feel so priviledged to be where my biggest passions and the world's biggest needs collide. God is definitely moving here and i love being a part of it. Please pray that God continues to open doors and give us direction as we enter our communities. Pray for the young people we will be meeting and discipling. And pray that we love well and share Christ's love with the world.
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