Domestic Day

I could sit here and give you the dictionary definition of domestic, but I feel pretty confident that you all get the picture of what domestic means. We had a domestic day of sorts because we did not leave the Retreat Center all day (except for Jared who is flying back to the U.S.).  Today we hosted some CHEs from Sweet Home for a mini-retreat focused on spiritual development. We've got quite a full house with 16 ladies, 4 men, 8 children, and 3 babies. It might not be the quietest retreat, but we know God is working in this time! Check back tomorrow for more details about how the retreat wraps up. :)

In other domestic news, I had a lesson on how to make lamb stew! Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
           ❤ keira
P.S. Saw a full rainbow today just after the CHEs arrived.
P.P.S. If that rainbow comment didn't clue you in...yes, it rained again today!

Growing...

Today was another rainy day (I'm thinking that you might be hearing that from us a lot in the coming week if the forecast is correct). 


We had our own "church" service here at the Academy today for the students, complete with a worship (led by Emily & the Bridges Worship Team), a message (given by Jared), and a time of response followed by extended worship in Xhosa (we even knew a couple of the songs from our previous times here). 


After church was lunch, where we continue to "learn" from the students here. In addition to getting to sit with the students and just have conversation we also grow in our knowledge about their culture and habits. Today the girls I was sitting with insisted that I must chew on the chicken bones after I ate all the meat. I told them I didn't think it was such a good idea, but I did appease them by making it look like I tried to chew a bone. I was also reminded of how you think you may have eaten all the chicken off the bones, but the students will soon show you just how wrong you are. Waste not, want not!


After lunch we had a couple of activities for the kids before they were required to do prep time (a.k.a. studying). We were able to use the shed (think oversized garage) to have a little runaround room without being in the rain. Kim led us in a game of "Do you love your neighbor?" that was of course a smashing success. There was running around, chair stealing, strategic maneuvers, and of course LOTS of laughter. It was a lot of fun and kept everyone moving around and sitting next to new people all the time.

This evening Emily, Jared, and I went in to Cape Town to pick up Sinethemba (a graduate of Bridges Academy who is currently a student at the University of Cape Town) to go to an church service at Common Grounds. When our pastors' team was in-country back in June they were able to connect with Rigby Wallace (leader at Common Grounds) to talk about the different ministries we are involved in here in South Africa; we had the opportunity to meet Rigby after the church service which was great since he and a few other members of his church will be visiting Bridges Academy this coming Friday. 


Interestingly enough the message shared at Common Grounds tonight totally overlapped with what Jared shared this morning at our own little church service from 2 Corinthians 11. The major focus of tonight's sermon was about David and how he got back "on track" with God and I really felt compelled to share with you the major points of the sermon because I think that they really resonate with where I am at (and maybe some other members of the team as well, especially as these points might pertain to our trip). So here it goes:
  
YOU KNOW YOU ARE GROWING WHEN:

• you lean more on God's sufficiency than your own abilities.
• you seek God first for faith and guidance on every major issue.
• your weakness deepens your trust in Jesus.
• you're willing to work hard at anything in obedience to God.
• you practice big hearted generosity

I really do feel as though I (and our team) is growing. Please pray for us to continue to lean in to God! I would also ask you to pray for our health, a few people have been feeling a bit under the weather due to allergies (and maybe lack of sleep); additionally pray for Jared and Claire as they are traveling. Jared is headed back to the US tomorrow evening & Claire will be arriving in South Africa on Tuesday.

       ❤ keira

A break in the rain produced another beautiful view here. :)

Photos, plus some Bombin' & Ballin' from Jared

Hello...Jared again!

Just a quick update cause it's late but had a great day with the academy students.  After connecting so deeply over Justin Bieber songs last night, I felt a new level of trust with the students today.  Everyone was extra chatty today and were sweetly and manipulatively trying to convince me to change my flight and extend the trip.  One of the students, Nontando (12 years old - also an amazing singer), told me about a "vision" she had from God. 

Nontando:  "Jared... God gave me a vision that if you left on Monday an A-Bomb would be dropped on Bridges!"

Me:  "Nontando, you know what they say about false prophets right?"

Kristy Andre (Teacher):  "She must have been listening in my history class!!"

Earlier this week we got to watch the Bridges boys play in a basketball match and let me tell you... there is room for improvement.  I was a high school benchwarmer on the basketball team and they think I'm some sort of all star (I love it).  Taking full advantage of my newfound status, I did some one on one basketball lessons with a few of the boys.  Sibu learned to shoot a fadeaway, Aphiwe learned how to shoot a jump shot, Nathi learned a crossover and Sive learned to shoot a basketball, not throw it.  I'm embarrassed to tell you that I'm very sore as I type this.

Today I  also got a really vivid picture of how blessed we are.  There was a "clothing sale" today where the students could buy clothes for 5R (little more than 50 cents).  Each year for their birthday they each get 50R (about $6) that most of them save to use at the sale or buy some chocolate.  The sale consists of old used clothes that have been donated and then some basic items like underwear and hand towels.  Everyone was so excited; it felt like Black Friday (no pun intended).  As I watched the kids excitedly sorting through lots of clothes that mostly didn't fit them it really hit me how these kids are the lucky/privileged kids of the township and how enormously blessed I am.  

A great day here filled with some great conversations.  It feels like I'm just starting to break through with some of them before I have to leave.  Signing off now because I get to teach at church tomorrow!  

P.S.  I'm still holding out on the haircut cause the price keeps dropping.  

P.P.S. Mom and Dad - the kids said you looked like you were 30 years old.  Dad - you look like Jackie Chan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We hope you enjoy a few of our photos from today! Our small team got to spend the morning together and then our Saturday afternoon was spent at the academy with the students. It was great to have the sun come out and be able to spend sometime outside enjoying the sunshine with the students. Jared's prepping for his sermon as I type. We're in charge of the church service tomorrow. Thank you for your continued prayers! ❤ keira

Compelling Purpose

Today had our small team going in several different directions. While the Emily, Kim, & I spent most of the day at the Academy, Jared was in Sweet Home again (more on that below). 


Time at the Academy has always been special to me. To be honest we could be doing homework with the students and I would love it. Today was full of activities with the students. I think we had what might be considered the ultimate dodgeball match today! They took the game very seriously and we played outside for well over an hour in the chilly winter weather. I'm always amazed at the exuberance these young people bring to all they do! There were some very "Bring It On"/"Stomp the Yard"-esque moments in this game, with all sorts of coordinated dance moves and chants. I've never heard Tears for Fear's "Shout" used as a taunting song before today, but somehow they made it work. After the dodgeball mania finally toned down we headed in doors for a more mellow activity where the student had a the chance to exercise their artistic creativity. It was a great way to wind down a bit after the intensity of the outside games and it was also a great time for us to be able to talk and connect with students.


Another fun thing that happened at the Academy today was that seven student from Sweet Home were able to come in for the day and shadow Bridges Academy students. This morning Emily got to drive in to Sweet Home to pick up these students for their outing to Bridges Academy. Some of the students had been to the property before for OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) camp, but never in the capacity where they got to be in the school setting. They had the chance to sit in on classes, interact with other students, eat a delicious lunch (Vetkoek a.k.a Fat Cakes...believe me, these things are amazing), and learn more about what they would need to do to apply to the Academy for next school year. Emily said that one of the best things was seeing how relieved the Sweet Home students were to see some familiar faces at Bridges Academy because the students knew each other from their previous schools in the townships. The Bridges students were great ambassadors for their school and many were sad to see the other students leave at the end of the school day.

Time with the Academy students did not end once dinner rolled around! This evening we had a "Open Mic Night/Coffeehouse" for the students. Yes, coffee was served (decaf only for them) along with tea and hot cocoa. The evening event kicked off with a truly rocking Did party (DJed by none other than out very own Jared with the evening being emceed by Kim) and after beverages were served the performances began. There were six different sining acts from solo artists to trios. If you could only hear these kids sing....honestly the talent still overwhelms me. When we have these types of evenings here it just makes it so much easier for me to see how God has truly gifted each of us with different talents and we have the opportunity to use our talents for His glory! 


The past couple of days have been a struggle for me as I have questioned my role and what my place is in this trip. I was reminded this morning after reading a devotion by Oswald Chambers that it's not about me & my plans for what I can do, but it is about God's purpose "The work we do is of no account when compared with the compelling purpose of God. It is simply the scaffolding surrounding His work and His plan. God takes us aside all the time. We have not yet understood all there is to know of the compelling purpose of God."


Please continued to keep us in prayer as we trust that God has a compelling purpose for all of us being here in South Africa at this time! Thank you for your continued support! ❤ keira




Hello...Jared again!

Today I had the pleasure of spending most of my day with Chris Kamalski.  Chris and his wife, Maxi just moved here from Pretoria to join the Bridges staff and we've had a great time getting to know them!  Turns out Chris and I both went to Biola, ROCKHARBOR and lived in Costa Mesa all at different times.  

About 7 weeks ago all the campus pastors from ROCKHARBOR came out to South Africa and held a men's conference in Sweet Home.  About 30-40 men showed up (way more than expected) and many made decisions for Christ that day.  In response to that, a men's bible study was established for follow up and community.  This morning I got to come to bible study with Chris and the male CHE trainer, Thobela.  Six guys all arrived around the same time; 1 hour late (Africa time is a real thing).  Three of the six were at the original men's event and the other three had been invited by others.  Our study for the morning was 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

"⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Chris shared about the struggle that all of us men face in finding our identity in strength and power and how we try to hide our weaknesses rather than resting in Christ's power.  These verses are so counter cultural for all of us and we all began sharing about what that meant to each of us.  It was amazing to watch EVERYONE open up and share about how God has been changing their lives.  Thobela explained that it is very rare to see African men open up and show vulnerability like they all were so willingly doing.  One man shared about how he was HIV+ and had lost all hope.  He had started robbing people and carjacking because he felt like he had nothing to lose but then God changed his life.  He "felt the power of God".  Another man shared that he constantly pictures the pastors from RockHarbor and thanks God for that day.  Another shared how he had vowed never to come to church but his friend convinced him to come to this bible study and he felt the "power of God in the room".  As we concluded there was such an incredible sense of unity among all the men and you could clearly see that there was real transformation happening.  When Thobela, Chris and I were driving out of Sweet Home we all shared how encouraged we felt and how it really seems like God is starting to stir something big in Sweet Home!  What a privilege it was to join that community today!

Due to some logistical issues Chris and I spent the next hour or two hanging out with Sisanda and Thobela before heading into town for lunch.  As someone very new to the international mission field it was so helpful to be able to just sit and ask questions for an hour - I even got a lesson in Xhosa (their native language).  Chris also had a lot of helpful insight that I soaked up on our couple hour drive and lunch.  Topics included: Xhosa culture, American politics, long term missions, short term missions, fine coffees, and Andrew Richards.

All in all I learned a lot today and was very encouraged.  I felt very thankful for faithful people like Sisanda, Thobela, Chris and Maxi who have given their lives to these communities and I was humbled watching God transform hearts this morning.  

To top off this amazing day I got to come back to the academy and DJ a little dance party for the students!  

In the wise, poetic, inspiring words of Rihanna: "We found love."

What a great day!

Finally. A day in Sweet Home. :)

Now, this is a story all about how our plans got flipped, turned upside down...yes, that line has become a bit of an anthem for our trip so far. I, for one (this is Kim speaking/writing) am incredibly thankful that they have changed. (Yes, I really did just say that friends and family). This morning during our team devotions, many of our prayers were focused on asking God to help us embrace a posture of simply listening today. Simply being content to just observe our surroundings as we went into Sweet Home. Today, our prayers were answered.


The first thing we did when we went into Sweet Home was split into two groups. One group stayed in Sweet Home and attended a CHE training, which went really well and was insightful into how they are conducted by Bridges staff. I was a part of a group that took the caregiver of a student who might be attending our "shadow" day tomorrow at the Academy to a nearby township school. The reason why we had to take her to the school directly was that she had to ask permission from the child's teacher to miss school tomorrow. The teacher gave us the "okay," but throughout the course of this meeting, other concerns about the student arose, which landed us in the principal's office. (No joke. I was kind of excited about this. Who would have ever thought I would end up in a principal's office in South Africa?).


The main concern about this student was the fact that he did not have a birth certificate. To give you a little bit of context as to why this is an issue, in order to go to school in South Africa, children need to have a birth certificate. For some reason, at this school, exceptions are made for some children because the lack of a birth certificate is such a common issue for so many children living in the townships. The teacher and principal were quite concerned because next year, the child will not be able to attend grade 7 since a birth certificate is required for attendance at the high school. The encouraging piece of all of this is how in a school of 1,000 + students and a classroom of 60 students (more or less), this teacher, principal and another staff member were open and willing to assist this caregiver in tracking down this boy's mother, so they could obtain her ID in order to get him a birth certificate. The fact that they offered to go above and beyond what we would consider their normal work hours to help this student further his education was such a beautiful reminder to me of the importance of how a community can work together to make a difference in the life of one child. So much of what we do in our work here at the Academy is just that. Finding our "one" and spending time with them and encouraging them in their faith and studies. while we are and even when we back home in the States. (Yes, when we came back to the Academy today, I felt compelled to go and spend time with my "one").


After the training and school visit, we were all able to go and take a quick tour around Sweet Home before returning to the church for a CHE meeting. Since one of our main focuses on the trip is to understand more about what the CHE program is all about, this was a truly valuable experience for all of us. Our prayers this morning were especially valuable during this time as we relinquished our own agenda for what we wanted to say and experience at this meeting. I think we all found it far more insightful to be there observing and listening as they talked about their home visits and the needs in the community than what we had planned to ask them. Again, so thankful for our time of prayer this morning and for God's voice to help guide our day instead of our own.


Continued prayers for discernment, strength, and unity are greatly appreciated and very welcome. :)
Love,
Kim

busy days....blessed days... :)

Good evening from South Africa – this is Emily bringing you the nightly update!  Today was a busy day, full of lots of learning, fun, and laughter – and with much ground taken for the Kingdom, we all hope. 

As Jared mentioned yesterday, the “civil unrest” in Sweet Home early Monday morning made it impossible for us to go into Sweet Home yesterday or today.  Luckily, today there was plenty for us to help out with in Philippi for the job training that that Bridges is doing for a group of seven young people who are involved as OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) group facilitators for Bridges.  The fantastic part is that four of them are Bridges Academy alumni who many of us know from previous years:  Nomafili, Nono, Sinazo, and Pretty are all part of the Jumpstart job training program (which will hopefully result in their employment with Mr. Price – a local Target-like chain here in SA).   

 

What a joy to get to see these girls again, and to spend some real time discussing important topics like customer service skills (taught by Jared) and personal finance (taught by Keira).  We also got to hold mock interviews and resume consultation with them one on one, helping them refine their skills as they prepare for real interviews!  Please join us in praying for these young women, as well as the young men in the program (Yongama, Yanelisa, and Chumani), as they prepare for interviews – please pray that their real skills and personalities would shine through in these intimidating interviews, and that they would soon be on track to long term employment with Mr. Price! 

When we returned to Bridges Academy this afternoon, a mini-basketball tournament had started, featuring Rock Harbor’s own Matt Andre as head coach of the boys basketball team!  It has been such a pleasure to watch Matt coach these boys, with his consistent, caring, yet firm demeanor, his patience and skill as a coach, and his ability to keep the boys in line (which is not always easy with Bridges boys, we all know :)…they boys are loving basketball and today’s teamwork and consistent play on the court showed how far they have come.   It’s always so fun to hang out with the screaming fans (Bridges girls) who so enthusiastically cheer on our team (and often the other team!) – it was a great afternoon of investing and building relationships with these awesome kids :) 

Finally, we ended the evening with our usual devotions with the Academy students.  After much enthusiastic worship (which is always incredible – a special blessing that God graciously gives me in particular is the privilege of leading these students in worship – it NEVER gets old, and almost always makes me cry - much to the delight of the students), Jared shared a devotion from Proverbs 3:1-6, encouraging the students to keep their eyes focused on Jesus through tough times.  We then had the students split up into small groups and had them pray for each other….the idea for this came from my amazing experiences over the last three weeks of friends gathering around to pray for me and my upcoming year here in South Africa.  It has been the biggest blessing, and a practice that I realize should be so much more a part of how we live out the gospel together.  We should pray for one another – and we should do it often.   I absolutely love stretching our Bridges kids a bit during devotions (or other spiritual development times) – they trust our staff and our teams to lead them in these sorts of activities, and we take our spiritual shepherding roles very seriously.  Tonight I was holding back tears as I saw them laying hands on one another, praying blessings and praises over one another, and holding hands in unity as they lifted one another up before our loving Father.    These kids know how to go all in with God at times, they know how to engage in deeply spiritual practices, and my overwhelming prayer for them is that they are continually drawn ever closer – like moths to a flame – to Christ and to life with him, and that they get new glimpses each day of His incredible love for them.   

 Keep us in prayer, friends…..we feel their full effects.  Things are going well for us, and we are feeling good and energized by all the work we are getting to do here.  God is at work and we are listening and discerning how to best engage with it.  Please pray that the Spirit would speak ever louder….

Much love from all of us,

Emily :)

Day 1 in the books

Hello everyone!  Jared here.

Today was our first official day in country and as we have all come to expect, our plans were turned upside down and re-arranged.  As some of you may have heard there has been some "civil unrest" in the township of Sweet Home where we work that has made it to dangerous for us to visit.  Sweet Home is one of the more primitive of the townships and the people are demanding that the government build houses and deliver more services to the township.  Currently the township is made up of corrugated steel shacks with little to no sanitation.  Apparently, the people of Sweet Home think the most effective way to get more government services is to burn things.

We were all pretty disappointed not to be able to go into the township today but instead of going into Sweet Home, we met with Sisanda, the leader of our Community Health Evangelist program.  The purpose of our trip is to research how our ministry can invest more deeply into the townships and orient our future teams toward this.  It was so great to sit down with Sisanda for a couple hours to hear her heart for the community and figure out where we can fit in and add value.  From my perspective, Sisanda has one of the most difficult job's I've ever seen and she does it with such joy and grace.  Her role is to recruit, train and develop volunteer community leaders in all of the townships that Bridges of Hope works in and then develop individual programs to meet each communities needs.  Easy job for one person, right?

It was a bit overwhelming hearing the long list of needs and issues in Sweet Home but it was also very exciting as there were clearly lots of ways for our teams to invest.  It was also encouraging to hear the impact Sisanda feels the program has had on violence in the townships.  God is moving in Sweet Home!

After our meeting with Sisanda we met with Maxi who works in community development for Bridges of Hope.  Maxi came across an opportunity to potentially place township people into entry level jobs at a big clothing chain, but the issue is that they need to receive 40 hours of job training before August 12th to qualify.  Our team is now stepping in to provide basic job training over the next couple days!  The exciting part about this is that it seems like a program that we can build and continue on long term.  

Our night ended with worship and devotions back at the academy with the students.  We were also able to debrief the day and there was definitely a new sense of excitement as to how God seems to be shaping new paths for our ministry.  Please pray for the unrest in Sweet Home and that God would continue to open doors for us!  This morning's devotion was from Ephesians 3 and is something we want to proclaim on this trip. 

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.  To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."  

- Ephesians 3:20-21

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Funny side note: the academy girls are trying to get me to let them cut my hair.  They said they'll only charge me $100 cause I'm a friend.  :)

Too beautiful not to post twice! A reminder of God's promises. :)

More arrivals in South Africa

Jared, Emily, Kim, & Keira all safely arrived in South Africa today (Monday, July 30th)! Please keep us in prayer as we settle in. Don't worry....more detailed updates & photos will be posted. :)

I am finally here

I arrived last Wednesday after getting settled in to Africa with a week's stay in Cape Town, getting my bearings on the urban culture surrounding the bucolic setting of the school. I did typical tourist stops: a climb up Table Mountain ; a tour of the botanical gardens; museums--including the District 6 museum; and a circumnavigation of Cape Point. I recovered from jetlag and set my watch to local time. Matt Andre met me at the airport to save a longer trip into the city. The hour drive enabled him to give me an orientation. I arrived to find students prepping for exams. They were quietly seated at long tables in the connected rooms that form the classroom building that is Bridges Academy. I delivered the packages of BIC pens and glue sticks that I had brought with me. The plan is for me to work with some students who need to develop some grammar and spelling skills. And of course build relationships, the easiest and most fulfilling part of teaching and short term missions.

On my wrist...

I wear these 3 items pretty much everyday. In a weird sense I feel "naked" without them...my left wrist is too light, something is off balance, essentially something is just not right. Let me share a little something about each of these items.

• My students often give me a hard time for wearing an athletic watch everyday, but it's practical for me & I'm always ready to time an event in class or out at practice.
• The wooden bead bracelet was given to me as a "thank you" gift and it used to have a mustard seed charm, but that fell off months ago yet I still wear it as a reminder of Matthew 17:20 "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
• I can tell you exactly when I first placed the beaded bracelet that says "S. Africa" flanked by South African flag on my wrist, it was August 16, 2008 (the day I left South Africa). This bracelet has been a conversation starter with total strangers, an entertainment to babies & little children who have been mesmerized by the texture and color of the beads, it has also been a reminder of my time in South Africa at Bridges Academy and in Sweet Home, and perhaps it has also been a symbol of hope that I would one day return.

Nearly four years after putting that bracelet on I am returning to South Africa with a small team to  deepen and further develop not only our involvement at Bridges Academy, but to become invested in the township of Sweet Home in a much more significant way through our relationship with the CHEs as we aim to support them as they promote sustainable transformation in their community. Please keep our small team of 5 in prayer as we are gone from July 28th-August 16th. Specifically please pray for: 

• Obedience to God.
• Unity amongst the team members.
• Open hearts (ours and the hearts of those who we come in to contact with). 
• Safety and health.
• Wisdom, patience, and discernment in all situations.

Thank you in advance for keeping us in prayer & be sure to check the blog for frequent updates!

Back to Power House in Watts...

Sweet Home men's event

When I posted the pictures I didn't have time to write any of it up.  After I uploaded them we were out until late creating a connection between Common Ground church and Bridges/Sweet Home.  That went very well and I think it was a good seed that was planted and an agreement to keep pursing some local outreach for their church.

What I really wanted to write was about our first day in Sweet Home.  It had rained all night and was partly cloudy, clear and very cool in the morning.  It reminded me exactly of the night and morning weather for our first ever visit to Sweet Home back in 2007. One of the top needs in the community that our leaders in Sweet Home have expressed (there is a list of 10) was to have more outreach to men.  The leaders have said that the men see the CHE program as a woman's thing.  So they setup a men's event. That and they wanted us to speak on Leading as a team was all we knew going into it.

When we arrived there were at least 40 men milling about in front of the only brick building in Sweet Home.  This is the newer one that we have never been allowed to use on any of my trips.  It is controlled by the local mayor and he want's us to pay for it so we use other facilities.  Amazing that it was open to us.  We went in the building and spoke briefly about our team then Darin McWatters shared a 15 minute message from the bible.  Then Andre Schey shared another 15 minutes.  As Andrew was finishing I really felt compelled to ask them what they wanted. I mentioned to Steve Carter who was going to share next that we might be bringing water to someone who was hungry if we didn't at least ask. He agreed to encouraged me to share next.

I told our story of being volunteers who help bring teams to the community.  That we have brought 8 teams over the past 5 years.  That this was my 4th time in Sweet Home.  That we wanted to see great transformation in the lives of the residents of Sweet Home.  I said that we couldn't do it without them and asked them to tell me how we could help with our teams in the future.  I was speaking all this through our translator Thobella.

One man tentatively raised his hand.  He said that all these men were here mid-day in the middle of the week because there are no jobs.  How could we help with jobs.  I responded that we wanted to help them with training and with creating businesses if that was possible.  That we had already helped the Creche (pre-school) and Sewing business.  That the sewing business was still small, but still a work in progress we were still wanting to help succeed.  That these business were all started by women and why we called this event was that we wanted to also see men getting trained and starting businesses.  We do this through this program called CHE.  I asked Thobella to explain to them how CHE worked in the community.  I thanked them and said we would be sending more teams and looked forward to continuing the process of helping them transform the community of Sweet Home.

Then I think Pete Shambrook shared and during that time Tim Taber asked if he could share about running a small business.  It was powerful to hear and everyone listened intently.  Then Chad Halliburton shared the final message.  It was what a life walking as Jesus Looked like. He asked them if anyone in the room wanted to make a first time declaration to walk with Jesus as we had been talking about all morning.  If you would like that, please raise your hand.  Thirty men raised their hands.  I think we were all in disbelief.  So he repeated the question about this being a lifetime commitment from this day forward and if you were sure to stand up.  The whole room stood up.  He lead them through a prayer which they repeated back through Thobella as he interpreted.  What solidified that this was a true understanding was when a number of men came forward and asked Thobella what this meant for their ancestral worship.  They really did understand that this was a big deal and I'm still just trying to wrap my head around how big this really was. Huge doesn't even begin to describe the event that happened in Sweet Home yesterday.  Over 20 men signed up for CHE training and gave their cell phone numbers to Thobella.  If our CHE leaders wanted more involvement with men in the community I think we are off to a good start.

We walked a long way through Sweet Home for a home visit with McCloud and his family.  In their home were two framed pictures of our first OVC camp back in January 2011. It had a picture of the team that I actually took. We took two pictures, one with Jared in it and one with me in it. This one had Jared.  I asked who went to camp and they said he wasn't there.  They have 10 children and only about 4 were in the house during the visit.

If you look the team picture from yesterday you will see who was hanging out with me. Edward. We also saw Sosa who is getting so big.

The rain is brutal in Sweet Home. I had never noticed that there was a sewer. I didn't think there was anything like proper plumbing in Sweet Home, but this time we all noticed the sewer manhole cover that had water flowing up out of it and into the street.  While I can now see that there is proper plumbing I now know that it doesn't work very well.  I'm looking forward to the day when the rain is just a regular day in Sweet Home. Based on what we saw, that day is definitely coming.

One of the other top needs is to create partnerships with local church. Todd has been instrumental in getting us connected with Common Ground Church here in Cape Town. There was a big meeting here and we also met with Chris Veenan who is visiting here from Brea and has a strong connection to RockHarbor and the churches here.  We met with the leadership of Common Ground last night and it looked like we planted some great seeds for a future partnership.

It rained all night and is windy and raining now.  The team is recording a video message for this weekend's service.  If you go to church this weekend the message will be of us sharing from our trip. Pray for the weather to lighten up at least a little.

Pictures from the men's event in Sweet Home

The Sweet Home men's event was amazing. There were at least 50 men waiting for us. It was incredible.

 

My new social networking coach Darin McWatters speaking at the men's event.

 

Team photo after the event. We were actually able to use the
only community building. Not sure what the Arabic graffiti says?

 The next few photos are our walk on two home visits.

Arrived in South Africa

We arrived in South Africa this afternoon after leaving Kampala at 7am.  Matt, Kristy, Dennis, Chris and Maxie Kamalskie all picked us up.  It was so good to see everyone and catch up. We stowed our stuff at the retreat center and went and met the kids during their study time.  The sang two incredible songs lead by Azile and everyone was in awe. The grounds here are incredible and it felt like a huge burden being lifted for all the team members who have been going non-stop for a week now.  We had dinner in town and got to bed early.  We are starting devotions with the kids at 7:45 in the morning and headed into Sweet Home at 9.

Tomorrow is the men's event and we have the material from the Pastor's conference last Saturday, but don't really know the format yet. Everyone is pretty excited to visit Sweet Home tomorrow.  It rained all day today. It's cold and cloudy right now and says cloudy and sunny tomorrow with rain again on Thursday.  Pray for good weather and less rain.  Pray for safety for our team tomorrow in Sweet Home.  Pray for good rest, everyone is exhausted, but this place has been very restful in just one evening.

Jobs projects and Kampala

The Internet stopped working at the hotel in Gulu two days ago and it still isn't fast enough in Kampala for me to make a blog entry. We spent the day making our way back to Kampala.  We first went back to Kroche Kids and Sean let us pick some hats to buy. Pray for him as he makes a decision to move back to the states or renew his contract. The women were just arriving for the morning work.  We were told there was a big worship at 10am, but we headed out at 930. We at least got to great a bunch of the ladies as they arrived for work.

Then we went to 31 bits and saw the operation there.  There were at least 50 women we met there making beads and necklaces.  They were super nice and I was artistically inspired by beads on of the ladies was making and spent some time talking with her.

Then we walked about a quarter mile to Remnant, another jobs outreach, this one to Congolese women. It is a screen printing operation. We spent some time watching them do some Remnant screen printing. They also do screen printing for local businesses.  They cleaned up and we walked to a hut that was just outside the house.  The women sang us a praise song using a home depot and a stick for a drum. It even had a handle on it that made a nice symbol sound every time they struck it.  New uses for a home depot bucket that sounds better than an $500 drum kit. It was an amazing song. Typically African worship that we just don't see at home (depot). Then they began to tell their stories. It was traumatic just listening to them tell about being brought back to Uganda by husbands who abandoned them in a place that they couldn't even return to their home and were basically forced into prostitution. Most have children here and in the Congo and haven't seen their children in the Congo for 10 years. They are all believers and still struggling as Remnant is still in it's infancy. We prayed over them and it was a tough tough thing to listen to how much suffering some people have to endure. Please pray for these Congolese women, buy something from Remnant and tell a friend all of which will help them create a sustainable income.

We then started the 6 hour drive back to Kampala where we had dinner with Pastor Peter the leader of Africa Renewal Ministry.  This is the organization that with RockHarbor planted Gulu Bible Community Church.  We arrived at our Hotel at 11 and were back on the bus at 5am to make our flight to South Africa.

Church Day

We had three church services today.  After the first service a small girl was brought to Pete who had been having convulsions.  He asked me to help pray for her.  Almost immediately into the prayer she went into a convulsion/seizure and we were just keeping her from hurting herself. Just spinning in our arms like a writhing snake.  She slowed after about 5 minutes and seemed to be sleeping. We continued to pray.  After a few more minutes she started to convulse again and we carefully carried her into one of the rooms trying not to drop her as she squirmed.  We sat on the floor and we laid her on Pete's lap where she finally fell asleep again. We continued to pray for her when Pete started to sing a worship song. I can't even remember the song, but i knew the words and sang too.  We had just gotten started singing when she finally work up and was asking what happened.  She was disoriented and we told her what happened and she got up and continued. We finally found her step father in church and talked with him for a time.  He said it has only happened to her a few times.  We kept asking if there were parents while the episode was going on, but no one could find them.  Pray for Sandy as Pete found her later in the day having another episode and he said she was another person.

The Sunday church services were good.  The first was in English and not too crowded.  The second was in Acholi and packed. I tried to upload a video of the worship music, but bandwidth has been too low here and in fact as I write this we have lost our Internet connection. The kids did a play at the beginning of service on David and Goliath. Something I will always remember.

We visited a prison here and I and another person on our team were asked to share testimony.  I only learned this as we sat in a room with over 100 inmates and I was nervous.  What could I possibly share with these men that they could relate to?  I was just hoping that the other person would share.  Then the Acholi sermon started. They were translating in English.  As soon as they mentioned the verse I knew I would be sharing.  Exodus 15 which is about Moses and the Israelites being in the wilderness. It was somewhat comforting, but still I was nervous.  As I started and slowly told my very abbreviated testimony through a translator it seemed to all come together.  They clapped at points and I felt like there was at least some small way that they related to the story.  Andrew Schey got up after me and did a powerful sermon from Philippians.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death and so somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 3:7-14.

It was an amazing point in the trip.

Today we are headed slowly back to Kampala where we will stay the night and head for South Africa early tomorrow morning.

Pastors Conference

We spent all day leading a pastor's conference at Gulu Bible Community Bible Church. In some way I felt like God brought me all the way to Uganda to attend a pastor's conference. I learned a ton and had a lot of good reminders about Humility in leadership, Marriage and Family, Spiritual Leadership and church governance. Even the worship time was a ton of fun and I took what I hope turned out to be a really great video of Pete Shambrook leading worship. Everyone was throughly involved and having a great time.

I was sitting next to an 18 year old boy from a nearby village for most of the morning.  A small boy around 2 was milling around and came up to me and I let him draw in my little note book. He was loving to scribble on many pages.  The 18 year old next to me asked for the note book at one point and I thought he was going to draw a picture for the boy which is what I was doing once in a while.  He ended up writing a letter started out reading like a thank you letter to ROCKHarbor for all the support and ended up asking for prayer for school fees. It mentioned that he wanted to take his exit exam so he could move onto the next grade and continue his schooling. It started a conversation and I learned that his father had died two years ago of HIV/AIDS and he was trying to take care of his 13 year old brother, but there just wasn't any money and all he wanted was to go to school. I put my arm around him while he was talking about losing his father.  I've heard this same story many times on these trips, but it still hasn't lost it's potency with me.  I asked him if he had mentioned this to his Pastor (Pastor Richards) and he said no.  I said that he should, but I also prayed for him and we talked alot about his options, but it didn't sound like there was much hope.  I spoke with Pastor Richard afterwards just to make surehe knew what was going on and it looks like his school fees will be covered.

At the end of the conference all the ROCKHarbor pastors were asked to pray for anyone that wanted prayer.  We all move to the from of the church and a mass of people gathered.  It was one of my highlights of the day praying over everyone.  Prayer requests were for church growth, personal and church finance, church partnerships, a couple of people wanted prayer for sickness and a prayer for a job.  It took a really long time for us to get through everyone, but eventually the ranks thined and everyone was prayed for. Over all I learned a ton and felt like the pastors appreciated the learning.

I got to talk with Hibu (Pastor Steven) who was riding his bicycle for a year to Guru Guru which was a really long ride in the bus yesterday.  When RH Mission Viejo did fundraising last year for an administrative position, the first fruits went to pay for some pastors and then had some extra that went to buy him a motor cycle. He was doing amazing things and the fact that he wasn't spending 8 hours a week on a bicycle any longer was a huge blessing to his family and the people of Guru Guru.  I got this picture of him on his motorcycle which after a year has 25,000km which is just a little less than what he would have had to ride on his bicycle.  What a heart!

Tomorrow we have church all morning where Darin and Todd are speaking (prayer please) then we will be visiting a prison in the afternoon.

Youth Conference

We just finished an amazing youth conference and Gulu Bible Community Church.  Everyone dancing and singing as it started.   Steve, Darin and Andrew Schey spoke and Todd and Pete led some worship during the teaching.  We ended with the church choir and Andrew Richards was on the drums.  Got a great video of him playing drums.

First day in Uganda

Got into Gulu last night and arrived to the biggest welcome you could imagine.  Seemed like the whole town had gathered at the Gulu Bible Community Church to welcome us and feed us dinner.

 We just finished a half day of ministry.  We drove to Guru Guru and did a medical clinic. I got to do some wound cleaning on a couple kids.  Then the whole crew got to climb the mountain over looking the village.  We are back in Gulu now and getting ready to leave for the youth conference this evening.  All is well.

Leaving Soon for Uganda and South Africa

All the campus pastors are leaving soon (less than a week) for Uganda and South Africa. There are 8 lead pastors, one of the ministry leaders for Uganda and myself (Wood) one of the ministry leaders for South Africa..

We will be leaving on May 28th for a week in Uganda. Then we will travel to South Africa and spend a week there returning on June 10th. In Uganda we will be leading a pastors conference, working at a middle school, visiting a prison ministry and working with three or four micro business that have been started in the past 5 years. This is in Northern Uganda, an area ravaged by decades of civil war and the likes of Joseph Kony. In South Africa we will be leading a men's event in Sweet Home, we will be working to connect some larger churches to the community leaders in Sweet Home, helping the CHE leaders be more effective in their community and the biggest of all, trying to finally help this community meet their number ONE felt need over the past five years, to have an alcohol and drug abuse recovery program in the township. We as Americans only see the side-effect needs (orphans, unemployment, gangs, disease, poverty, housing) while the locals see the real needs (alcohol and drugs fueling extreme poverty and suffering).  They've tried (us too) to get one started on several occasions and it hasn't stuck yet and hopefully this time we can help make it stick. If not, we'll keep trying. Pray for a drug and alcohol recovery program in Sweet Home.

In general the CHE (Community Health Evangelist) model has been gaining a lot of attention in our church given the powerful changes occurring when you create sustainable community development powered by the people in their own community. The work being done by our partner Bridges Of Hope in Urban CHE has created some miraculous changes in the cape flats area over the last 10 years. The relief model is good for short term solutions, but detrimental over longer terms. CHE brings sustainable transformation to a community as a long term solution to an impoverished community. Our team will be working in the community of Sweet Home to come to a better understanding of our last 5 years and how this model of sustainable community development can be used in other ministries. I'm very excited to be able to share the details of our ministry in Sweet Home without our church leadership.

I will try to give blog updates, but given the typically long days and rural aspect of the Uganda week, I might be forced to create the blog posts after I return.

Please pray for our travel, team safety, team unity, and for God to speak through each and every one of us as he shows us His ministry. You could also pray for our families as we are gone for two weeks. I'm leaving my new twin girls and 22 month old boy and will miss them dearly.

This verse has been on my heart for almost two years now and my connection to it has been heightened as we have been training and the trip approaches.

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”  Exodus 14:13-14

repeated for effect

 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

I just love the faith that Moses showed leading up to the parting of the red sea.  I will be leaning heavily on the Lord during this trip and know He can do all things. I'm blessed to know that serving Him is our life's purpose.

God Bless,
Wood