DAY ACTIVITIES

Hey blog followers! It's Allison. We had another busy day of teaching classes, conducting team building activities, and having a movie night where we watched Despicable Me. The kids absolutely loved it. Hearing their laughter is priceless. Will and Makenzie are here to share some more specific experiences they had today...

Today was a very busy day full of lots of learning and fun. It started with our usual team devotion, then we all sang worship songs together, and then we split into our small groups (Katrina and I are in charge of the 11th an 12th graders) and talked about making room for the Holy Spirit in our lives. After teaching two more classes on manners to the kids in the morning, we had a great afternoon playing sports and doing team building activities. The highlight of the day for me was definitely singing worship songs with all the kids in the morning - their voices harmonize so beautifully together, and they seem to take worship so much more seriously than a lot of us do back at home. Although these kids are learning a lot from us, I am beginning to see that we are learning at least as much from them! - Will Phelps

Wow, it is only the 3^rd day here and I am completely overwhelmed by God’s goodness. I am so thankful God is taking us on this adventure with Him. Today was a day filled with worship, classes, team building activities, crafts, and sports. I got to make picture frames with the kids today and it was so much fun to see the kids creativity and how much fun they were truly having. My absolute favorite thing is to hear the kids worship and sing together. I would make the 26 hour plane ride all over again just to hear their voices. They have the most pure, full voices that reach right to your soul and touch you. It truly feels like a piece of heaven and it will forever leave an impression on me.

Myself and the rest of the team are also definitely being taken out of our comfort zone in many ways. One way, is that each of the girls on the team are house parents for 4-6 Academy girls and we live with them in their dorm room. While this is out of our comfort zone, it is the most amazing opportunity to connect with the girls. It breaks my heart to hear some of the stories about my girls lives back in Phillipi, but God has reminded me that I have such an amazing opportunity to really love on these girls and reach out to them right now. If you could pray for our Academy girls and that God would be near to them and show them His truth, grace and love, it would be much appreciated.

Also, please pray that our God would renew our energy and spirits and give us strength and patience.

Love always, Makenzie

DAY 1: MEETING THE KIDS

Today was day 1 of our camp with the Bridges kids, and I have to say it was a long and crazy one but in the best way. The students arrived and I was nervous wondering what the day was going to look and be like. Will they like us, will they understand us just so many unknowns. I was so surprised at how welcoming they were of us and just the joy they had to be here. Throughout the day we had activities from the balloon popping game to soccer and even an acting/film class. It took a little effort but once we got going in an activity they took off and made us laugh and enjoy this time fully. I’m blown away at their lookout on life and how much love they have for one another. Tonight we had a bon fire with s’mores and between all of our team we had a full-blown s’mores factory going. The fire took a little time to get started, we had about 30 mile an hour winds all day but once we did the students gave us all a memory we will never forget. All of them started to sing worship songs in both English and Xhosa while a couple students played the drums.

It was one of the most soul touching events I’ve ever experienced, one that just brings you to tears because you can feel their joy, just pure totally unhindered Joy. I just found myself getting lost in the moment and feeling so blessed to be here with them. We got to dance with them around the fire praising God for his blessings; it’s something I know we will all remember for the rest of our lives. Today started out with nerves and the complete unknown and ended with joy, praise, and friendship. Today was an amazing day; I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Many Blessings Amanda Johnson<3

FINALLY HERE!

After 23 hours of air travel plus another 4 hour layover in London, We have made it here to South Africa! Our team has been through a long journey and definitely shows on our tired faces. However after meeting up with Peter, Matt, & Kristy @ the airport, our energy surge was rejuvenated by the fact that we are all finally here! It was about another 45 minute drive from the airport to the Bridges of Hope Academy in the town of Franschhoek. On the way, we saw beautiful mountains and landscape in the distance but more vividly were the squatter towns and poverty of the people.

Our agenda for today is to get ourselves situated in BOH, unpack, prepare and sort the supplies for the activities and the orientation. We were definitely running on fumes when we went out to dinner. Sunday was another full and challenging day. We were happy to find our beds and recharge for Monday when we will meet the kids for the first time! Please keep praying for us and pray for physical and spiritual strength.

Team arrived safely

We just received a message that the team arrived safely.  It usually takes another day for them to get settled and post a message after their first day.

Sometimes there is information in they daily Bridges Of Hope update.  You can sign up for that here. http://www.bridgesworldwide.org/interact/pray/

Team departed

The team was checked into their flight and has left. Here is a picture just before they went through security.

SOUTH AFRICA 2012: PACKING PARTY

BID US "HAMBANI KAKUHLE" (Go well, Goodbye)

3 DAYS AWAY UNTIL SOUTH AFRICA!!! We are ALL super excited for this opportunity and blessed to have the support of our family, and friends.

On Monday, we had our final team meeting before the trip and the packing party commenced to a frenzy and hit us in rapid realization that we are actually doing this!!! We had a lot of past team members to support us and help launch us off to our own odyssey. South Africa has always been a destination in my bucket list and it wouldn't be fair not to know anything about the country before entering it. Here are a few things I thought you would like to know about this beautiful nation.

If you do not know anything about S.Africa: it is at the bottom tip of the continent where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. Population is about 51 million. 80% black, 9% white, 9% colored.
Social and Political structure had been Under the Apartheid law since 1948 till it was repealed by the early 1990's! Former president Nelson Mandela was the first to be elected by a fully representative democratic election. He also diversified the government with multi racial democracy. (See movie INVICTUS 2009 for the cinematic effect. Starring Morgan Freeman & Matt Damon and directed by Clint Eastwood)
South Africa is also the leading nation with 5 million of its population infected by HIV. close to 10% and have thousands of orphaned children wandering the streets without food or shelter.
80% of them have a history of abuse: physical, sexual or emotional. (referenced: Fall, M. (1986). Street children. Street Children, 13, 47- 53.

Please support our team in prayer. Pray that we may find strength in each of us and have God use us with his will and not our own.. Pray that we may adapt well with any obstacles that may be put in our way. Pray that we can find commonality with the kids in BOH and grow to understand them and just love on them. Pray that we have a sound and safe trip. Pray for our families at home. We hope to carry on like the past teams before us spiritual and emotional support to who ever we may come across and also help bring this nation and its needs into light and global awareness. We leave this Friday January 6, 2012. Much Thanks

I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.

Philippians 4:13

Last minute vaccinations

We always recommend you get your first shots three months in advance of our trip, but if you don't want to deal with the hassle of the county health clinic or waited until the last minute you don't have any choice but to go to a private clinic.  When I was bitten by a dog this was the top recommended doctor in Orange County to deal with travel vaccinations and infectious disease. He was awesome. Highly recommended.

Peshimam, Mahmood, MD
Mahmood Peshimam, M.D.
10900 Warner Ave. Suite # 115
Fountain Valley CA 92708
United States
Telephone: [+1] (714) 968-8600
Email:mpesh@mol.net
Languages: Principal - English; Other - Spanish, Urdu, and a little French
Pre-Travel Vaccination, Official Yellow Fever Vaccine Center, Post-Travel Medical Consultation

3rd Wednesday Prayers

Last week, we had the opportunity to be prayed for at 3rd Wednesday at RockHarbor. Amanda J, Makenzie, Kari and myself were there along with Jared from our leadership team. Our church had the opportunity to gather around us and pray for our trip. We were prayed for individually, that we would have strength to do God's will. We also prayed for those at Bridges and those in Sweet Home, that their hearts will be prepared for our arrival. It was amazing to have so many people gathered around us, all praying for this mission we are about to embark on. I look forward to having the same opportunity to pray for the rest of our team at the packing party!

MEET THE FACES OF THE SOUTH AFRICA 2012 TEAM

Hello All,

As the days tick down closer and closer to our departure, 53 days and counting! We've forgotten one important thing and that is to put some faces on our blessed team. So, with the help of Will and Amanda Phelps, and an ever growing strong league of Christian fellowship, I want to officially introduce everyone on the 2012 South Africa team!

Last Sunday was our seventh official meeting of the group and God has really been doing some work on preparing us for this great venture. The meeting brought back a number of old team members from past mission trips showing their support and preparing us emotionally and spiritually. The meeting started off with a powerful and valuable devotion from Jared Gibo sharing his thoughts and feelings before getting onto the plane and heading off 8,000 miles away!

As far as it is from our own respected neighborhoods in Southern California, we also learned more about the people of South Africa and how its political and racial discrimination became ever so potent and clear with its Apartheid laws. These laws were set by the white minority government called the National Party to deliberately separate their citizens by three different categories: Blacks (Bantu), White (Europeans), and Coloreds (of mixed race). This help enforce segregation onto the blacks and coloreds and racial discrimination. It wasn't till the late 1980s and early 1990s where the S.A. constitution was redrafted and ended many of the apartheid laws!

As our trip grew closer and more tangible, so did our itinerary for the the next two weeks of our trip. We had already divided our team to host and come up with ideas for the children during their first week of coming into the Academy. We hope to bond and enjoy each other's company in those short two weeks. We planned games, arts and crafts, as well as teaching social health and academics. Alan Freedman and Mark Gamo are also continuing on developing a sustainable business plan for a group of women who wishes to start their own sewing and tailor business.

Our team has been working really hard to prepare ourselves for this and really appreciate every one's support. I would also like to bring light to our past teams and leaders that willingly open themselves up on becoming a solid support and who help bring this all together. Please pray for our team for power and courage that we may act on God's purpose and follow him devotedly. Pray for our team as a whole and may we find strength and anchor within each other. Please pray for each member on our fundraising for the trip. And also please pray for our team leaders: Alan Freedman and Claire Coyne as they take eleven frightened people into an an unknown land for them and hopefully may we all make it back!

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

November 4, 2011-Defining our personality...

Team Social #2-We decided to get together for "nutritious" pizza and a good game of 'Apples to Apples' which we learned is a good way to define your personality!

October 23, 2011-Spiritual Warfare

Today was our 3rd team meeting in preparation for our January trip to South Africa. Andrew started off our meeting with a devotional geared towards trusting in God’s plan for our life. This led us into an opportunity to grow as a team in an unplanned, unexpected way as we shared the incredible influence that spiritual warfare can play into our lives. Our team leaders advised us several times that from the moment we turned in our applications, we would be faced with spiritual warfare of varying degrees. Today we had the opportunity to share how we have all been challenged in different ways as we prepare for our trip. Spiritual warfare is powerful but allowing yourself to open up and trust that your team members will support you is what will help us overcome. So for all praying for this trip, please pray that each team member will continue to trust in God’s plan and overcome any and all negative influence that may attempt to deter us.

On a lighter note, we had the opportunity to debrief following our trip to Watts. What an amazing experience for all of us! I loved the chance to serve alongside my team members. Through discussion and reflection, we came to realize that what the children and people of Watts need more than anything is love, compassion, and a feeling of community. Watts has an amazing group of people that are passionate about loving God. Our prayer is that they are able to spread this love further, into their community…That Powerhouse Church in Watts will continue to reach more and more people…And that every member of this church will feel God’s love and spread it to every person they come into contact with.

A special thanks to everyone who is supporting our team with prayers and with finances. We are so humbled by your generosity. Please continue praying for each team member as we continue to raise money for this trip.

Ephesians 6:10-11 Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

POWERHOUSE CHURCH VIDEO BLOG

Hello All,
Our South Africa team was all about diving into Fellowship with the Powerhouse church community. We cooked, cleaned, played, taught, worshipped, shared, and played some more with these bright eyed kids and after talking to a member of the serve team group Clint Robinson, I too also felt that I was the one who was more touched with humility, praise, and God working on me from the inside out just from being around these kids. Here's a little Video Clip shot and edited by our team Videographer: Amanda Phelps.
We hope to bring more of our team expeditions through videos as well as pictures shot by Kari Messina. Have a good weekend all and please share this blog to anyone you think may be inspired by it as much as you and I. Speak and share Jesus without fear.




Rock Harbor South Africa Team: Watts Serve Day in LA! from Amanda Peck Phelps on Vimeo.

Mission Series

[This blog post was written by one of the August team for the Rock Harbor Main Blog. The post continues the discussion that the church is having on Family, Mission and Identity.]

I remember my first mission trip ever. It was with my high school youth group and we were going to Mexico for spring break through Azusa Pacific’s Mexicali ministry.

I was so excited. I had been waiting for what seemed like forever to get a chance to go on this trip. There was planning, prepping VBS curriculum, and so many other aspects. Every Sunday leading up to that week I would stay after church with my team and work hard. Finally the day came where it was time to leave.

And all of a sudden I was so nervous. I didn’t know if I wanted to go. I didn’t know if I could sleep in a dirt field for a week in a tent surrounded by thousands of people. I got in the church van and headed for an adventure that unbeknownst to me would hide in my heart for years to come.

Since that spring break over nine years ago I have had the opportunity to return to Mexicali one other time and also spend three weeks in China teaching English in a summer program. Even with those three trips I never felt that mission was a calling in my life. I didn’t feel called to mission in any way.

I was wrong, God had other plans. Isn’t that always the case? Over the last year God has stirred a fire in my heart for the country, the people, and the kids of South Africa. So this year I decided to apply to go on the ROCKHARBOR trip to South Africa. So in April I started a journey of planning, prepping, fundraising, with a team of 22 amazing other Christ followers.

In August we set out on two long plane rides to get to South Africa. And then for two weeks we ministered to, loved on, laughed with, and had deep discussion about God with the students of Bridges of Hope Academy. These students had been through more pain and struggles then I could comprehend, but had such joyful hearts and such passionate faith. I truly lack the words to describe the ways that these students touched and impacted our team. Though they have been broken, they know Christ brings them together.

There are so many moments and stories that I could think of personally to illustrate how I saw South Africa and how I saw my teammates and friends serving God. Looking back the verses that we have been reading in church from 2 Corinthians keeps coming to mind. Christ’s love urges us. It compels us to serve out of the overflow of His love in our lives. I learned on this trip that this is what mission truly is no matter where you are. While in Africa I went through some incredibly low, stressful, anxiety ridden times. I was being attacked in places that are my weaknesses and my team came around me and prayed. They encouraged me, served me, and blessed me. And in this same way they blessed, encouraged, and served the people we come into contact with. My team taught me what true mission was in Christ.

And because of these lessons I am empowered and ready to keep my mission going. One of my wise teammates stated in one of our late night debriefs that while the people of South Africa were our short-term mission WE were part of a long-term mission. The people that we are in contact with daily are our long-term mission. Out of the overflow of our hearts, the overflow of Christ’s love for us we need to be urged on to serve the people around us everyday.

This is why it is so important to learn of Christ’s mission for us and to not be afraid of it. I never thought after that first trip to Mexicali nine years ago I would now being feeling a calling and burden for people in a country across the ocean. I never thought that I would desire and strive to live mission in my daily life. But that is what Christ calls us to do. We need to not step away from it or say it’s not for us. We are Christ’s ambassadors to the people we see everyday.

POWERHOUSE CHURCH OUTREACH

FELLOWSHIP

On Sunday Our South Africa team went for a fun adventure to Powerhouse Church in Watts, CA. Powerhouse is a church that brings people together and one of the main reasons why our team was there to learn fellowship and unity within our team. We arrived early to help prepare breakfast for the Children service. We plunged right in with connection with the kids through playground activities and serving them pancakes and eggs.

As I walked through the spaces and looked through artwork and the motivational praises that's abundantly surrounding us all through out their walls, I saw that this church provides a safe and loving environment to all that seeks God and its people. Taking the passage right from their mission statement on their website: (http://www.wattspowerhousechurch.com/) "Bring our neighbors to Christ through works of love and the Work of the Holy Spirit!" (Mathew 22:39)

CONNECTION

After worship held by our own Rockharbor members and a powerful message by our own Alan Freedman, we served the church members lunch and had more time to get to know more about the people. From my own experience, I saw that people of this church had a real strong faith and connection with God. Just from looking accross the room, I saw a unity within a neighborhood that might be challenged by the economical and social hardship that enatils in their city. I pray that our team will grow in faith and unity learned and practiced by Powerhouse Church.

September 30, 2011-Team Social

We are so excited for our next trip to South Africa! The January team has already started some training sessions and this past Friday, we had our first team social. This gave us all an opportunity to get to know each other in a laid back setting. Our team member, Amanda, was gracious enough to ask her parents for permission to use their amazing house in Laguna Beach to hold our event. The night started off with us playing Catch Phrase while we waited for everyone to arrive. Claire brought us food from Wahoo’s as we were able to share our first meal together. After a wonderful tour of the property given by tour guide, Amanda, we had an opportunity to listen to our leaders share their “defining moments.” These are moments in our lives that we had to rely on God in a real, tangible way. It was a great opportunity to watch our leaders be open about their relationship with God. We plan on all being able to share our own “defining moments” in future meetings. For now, we are looking forward to our serve day this Sunday at Powerhouse Church in Watts. Please pray for our time at Watts. Please also pray for each team member as we continue our fundraising for this trip!