Picture This...

Picture this:
A young man about 17 or 18 years old is standing on a small stage in front of you. He has long hair that is pulled back into pig tails. His pants are way too big for him and they are sitting pretty low on his waist, and his huge t-shirt swallows him. Below his left eye is a scar from where his little brother threw a rock at him last week. His eyes are closed as he sings, “You are all this heart is living for, Jesus!” His name is Themba. Next to him is another young man from the Democratic Republic of Congo whose life used to be controlled completely by his anger. His eyes are also closed in worship. Beside him is a 13 year old boy as timid as he can be to be in front of people along with a young woman and her older brother who plays the piano. Behind them sits another young woman who can play just about any song you could ask for on the guitar. This group spent two hours the previous night, a school night, practicing for this event. All around you are people from many different languages and cultures from all over the world. They are all youth or young adults. Look to your right. There is a young Indian boy with his head bowed in prayer. In front of you, a young black woman has her hands raised in praise, but keep watching her – later she will fall to her knees with her face on the floor in humility before her King. Now look to your left. There are more young boys with their heads down worshipping their Maker. In the front corner is another woman with her eyes closed as she sings along. There is a huge smile on her face. This is what she has given her life to. She left the country so familiar to her where she grew up in order to serve her Father. Her new home is across the ocean and has been for many years, and she hates even to leave it for a few weeks to go to her first home, but she knows that she has to. This is how I spend my Friday nights at Lyndhurst Baptist Church along with about 60 other youth and young adults. These people give up their Friday nights after a long week at school to come together and worship the Lord. The worship team is not one that many would expect to find in the states, but they are incredible and truly lead the group into worship. They even give up a school night once a week to practice for a couple hours. So as you eat lunch on Fridays, think about this youth group. Pray that it would continue to grow. Pray that Themba’s group that he started at his school will continue to be dedicated to meeting with one another. Pray that those who are coming who do not know our Father will find Him. Pray that those who do believe will be able to stand firm in the face of persecution and attacks by the enemy. There are many who have recently committed their lives to Christ. If you would like to commit to praying for any of these specifically, please let me know.
I have another picture for you:
You have just driven past about 5 million people and are now in a more rural area. You have picked up a man who working to complete a seminary degree which he started while he was being held in jail for a crime he did not commit. Now you turn off the small two lane road onto a dirt trail. Your supervisor has told you that you are going to see the church that he and this other man have planted in an informal township with a name that translates into English as “Problems.” The informal townships have no electricity and no running water. You drive past many shacks made out of corrugated tin, large cinderblocks, and various other signs and materials. You finally pull up to another shack about the size of a dorm room or two. Inside there are two loving women who run a day care in the church for small children. They have deliberately chosen this life for themselves. There are about 20 kids inside from babies to 5 or 6 year olds. One of the youngest begins to cry and a girl about 4 years old comes over to comfort her and wipe away her tears with her own shirt. The rest of the kids are quiet and well behaved, and if one begins to cry, the women pick him or her up and tie them to her back where the child quickly falls asleep. While you sit inside and hold the children and play with their toys, the boys head out to finish building the church bathroom – four small walls around a hole in the ground. This will redefine your definition of church. Please pray for the women who care for these children and for the children that they will grow up healthy and in the love of Christ. Pray for Alfred the pastor that he will be able to continue to minister to the people and that he will be able to finish his degree. Pray for the church, Vision Baptist Church, that it will continue to grow and that God will continue to work in it and through it.
More side notes:
If you tell someone to turn at the next robot, it means turn at the next traffic light.
Bags are not free at the grocery store. They are 30 cents. Take your own.
If you say, “I’ll see you just now,” it means, “I’ll see you later.”
Our trash can is a rubbish bin with the words “Piki Tup” written on the side of it.
People push shopping carts through the mall because that is where the grocery stores are and no one seems to mind. They even take them into the restaurants in the mall and park them next to their table!
I am allergic to South Africa.

I have finally arrived!

Mambo! (an informal Swahili greeting). I have now successfully moved into my new home in South Africa. The last three weeks have been difficult, wonderful, amazing and trying all at the same time. The first two weeks I was in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. We had rice at every meal and tea and coffee twice a day. The roads there are quite small with no traffic lights. The speed limits are not enforced because the police are on foot. People ride their bikes along the road and push carts filled with various fruits and other goods. The people are extremely friendly and love for you to come and sit with them and share a coke. Satan has a strong hold on much of the culture where there are many Muslims and almost every single person has been touched in someway by witchcraft. In fact we met a young girl who several years ago was possessed by demons. Please pray for the team that is ministering there in Dar. God has truly sent some amazing people to minister to Tanzania. While there I learned to sleep under a mosquito net in very hot temperatures and how to filter my water several times to ensure that absolutely everything in it was killed. I also learned how to rely more on God. When you are taken away from everyone and everything you know, you begin to realize that He is all you truly need, and He is willing and able to provide for all your needs. As I write this, our house has been infiltrated by a few of the kids from the neighborhood who want to see the dog we are watching!
A few interesting side notes:
A white person in Tanzania is a wazungu which means person who runs around in circles.
Cheesey means crazy in Swahili.
I got stung by a jelly fish in the Indian Ocean and then got to touch one as it was swept onto the beach by the tide.
There is no such thing as a refill in Africa.
Mangos give you a rash if you eat too many.
A female nopheles mosquito can bite over 100 times in one night….and she carries malaria!
It was hard to leave all the friends in Tanzania, but after two weeks, I was ready to see my new home for the next four months. Our apartment here is very nice – maybe even nicer than my apartment at home! We have a wall with electric wire surrounding our complex with a guard at the gate. Most homes here have a wall with some type of wire at the top along with gates, bars, and several doors. The culture is extremely diverse with Black, Afrikaaner, British, Coloured, and Indian along with many others who have moved here from other parts of Africa but all speak English. Our ministry here is focused on the youth at Lyndhurst Baptist Church along with the people in our apartment complex. We have already begun a relationship with our neighbor who has invited us over for a Braai (bar b q) tonight. Plus thanks to Teddy the dog we are watching we have met most of the children. Please pray that God would continue to send the children and that we will be able to begin storying through the Bible with them on a regular basis. Also, please pray that He would continue to bless our relationship with our neighbor Heather and her daughter Samantha. In addition, please pray for the youth at Lyndhurst. We met many of them last night and they are searching, but their culture does not understand what it means to have a Father who will love unconditionally nor do they have security in their faith, and though you ask them if they believe, and they say yes, they still do not believe they are promised eternity with the Father. Please pray that God will help us to see the world through their eyes and love them as He loves them. Now it is getting a little too hectic in our house as the boys have broken into a dance party! In fact, four year old Pappillou is attempting to do the Superman! Please pray that he, JoJo, and Sami would see something in us that will lead them to question as much as is possible what they are being taught by their culture.