14 people
One thing in common…
JESUS CHRIST
Mission...
- Go to South Africa
- Commit to seeing sustainable change and transformation in the township of Sweet Home through a partnership with Bridges of Hope, and through the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ
Introducing this summers team…
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| Power House Church Day (oops where's Matt??) |
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| HERE HE IS! Matt's the awesome guy in the black Tshirt - found him! |
So, what’s the story behind this picture? Each of us heard of the opportunity to serve
in South Africa through friends or during the church services at Rock
Harbor. To be considered we each were
required to complete an application and submit it to a committee of mission
leaders and others who were on the prior years trip. We were called in to interview and asked a
series of questions designed to get to know us, our heart and our commitment to
our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of us shared
our deepest feelings and experiences to our interviewers hoping they would see
our heart and choose us to go on this exciting and life changing mission.
We waited for weeks to hear the results and, finally, one
night, we each started to receive calls.
Some were disappointed they would not be part of the team, others, those
you see above, were offered the opportunity to go to South Africa and influence
the hearts and minds of people in a far off land, a nation steeped with
history, violence, hatred, and a need for faith in our Lord. The team was formed!
A few weeks later we were gathered together for our first
meeting. 14 people, who never met, placed
in a room together to start the process of learning about each other, learning about our role on this trip, and
growing together as a team focused on bringing the word of God to the township
of South Africa and continuing the mission, the partnership Rock Harbor has
worked hard to forge with Bridges of Hope.
We were asked to commit to raising $3500 to be part of this
trip and to do so through donations, not by paying for it ourselves. Why raise the money if you could pay for it
yourself, good question with an even
better answer, to raise awareness by
asking others to know why we would be doing, its importance, its impact and to invite others to participate in the mission of expanding God's kingdom.
A series of meetings were set for a variety of
purposes. The first was to introduce us
to each other and lay out the requirements of the trip from fundraising to team
roles and responsibilities. Next step,
start to learn about the power of prayer, what it means to hear God, to discern
his voice from our own. That was a
day! What a powerful experience for our
team. We really learned about each other.
Next step, start sharing our
stories, our testimony. Many of us have had some life changing
experiences that brought us to God. We shared, we cried, we became a team!
A few social gatherings later, we started to get some traction and really
become a team. We were assigned roles
within the team and were asked to work together on communications, team building activities, what to do when we felt angry with each
other. We role played, talked, prayed together, and worshiped
together growing closer each time. We
started to learn about the culture of the people we would be visiting, about
the curse of Aides and its impact on the people. As we grew together as teams and as sub
groups within the team we were next informed that we would be visiting a church
in Watts, a place called Power House Church.
Power House Church started as a mystery to us all. We were asked to provide lunch for those in
attendance, to prepare to teach Sunday
School and to present a lesson to the congregation on Luke 22. One of us was asked to share their testimony
with these people. We met that morning
after working hard to get ready and headed off to Watts. When we arrived we were allowed entry into a
barbed wire compound that surrounded the church. Once there we assisted get the service
ready, got lunch ready to be served, and
were asked to walk around the community inviting the residence to church and
lunch. If you have ever been to Watts
you might just know how we felt,
nervous, with perhaps a bit of the unknown shaking us up a bit. However, we grouped up into teams and jumped
right in.
As we walked through the neighborhood, full of our own
preconceived ideas and thoughts we started to see past our own prejudices, beyond what we saw physically and into what
life was like in this foreign place to us (30 minutes from home, haha) What we
saw was a place much like our own homes.
People in their yards, birthday
parties being cleaned from the night before,
families sitting together on their porches, kids playing in the street. This neighborhood, although very physically
different from our own in terms of cleanliness, safety and economics, wasn’t
really all that different. As we met the
people we saw kindness, family and love.
We saw people doing their best to keep their homes and families safe and
secure. We saw ownership of their
community and a mix of cultures and customs.
We also saw some of the things that made this area different, lots of Pit Bulls tied up and angry, filthy dirty dogs and cats wandering the
streets that were dirty and full of trash.
We saw poverty, we were told to
be careful and stay safe by some of the residents. As the morning progressed the young adults
started to show themselves, driving recklessly throughout the neighborhood with
beers in their laps bringing a sense of danger to this neighborhood. For the most part though our invitations were
welcomed, our smiles met with smiles, and our enthusiasm for the day growing.
Back to the church we went!
Kids were showing up and asking to play with us. People from the neighborhood started to
appear ready to worship together. Lunch
was getting ready, the seats filling in
the church and a readiness to let God enter the lives of those present. The service was different that what we
experience at Rock Harbor but not that different. Most of the early part of the service was
dedicated to praying for the sick , the wounded, and the less fortunate family
members and friends of those present.
Then came worship! Man oh man did
things light up. Tamborines, guitars,
vocalists and spirit rose from the seats and the hearts of the
congregation We do a good job worshiping
at RH but not to the level we saw here. People
raised their hands to the Lord, shouting
hallelujah and amen. Little kids were
clapping and singing, older folks filled
with spirit sane their hearts out. The
sermon itself was mainly about Luke 22.
We provided a “Spoken Word” review of Luke 22, a personal testimony of
one of our group members shared, one of
the team led some worship and we all fell into the spirit of the moment!
Lunch was served right after the service and we all got to
sit and get to know those in attendance, sharing their lives, talking about ours and finding a commonality
that we really didn’t expect. After
spending the day at Power House we all felt a little sad to leave and go home,
but we did, richer than when we arrived, stronger as a team an more aware of
what God really does in the lives of people, all types of people.
AND, SO WHAT...
We've been learning a whole lot about ourselves, prayer, customs, people, issues and the list goes on and on. Most of all, we've been learning what our role is here, on this team, how we can make a difference or at least contribute to one. Through our learnings, discussions and interactions we've suddenly become a small team, a family! Our visit to Power House Church taught us to look at life through the lens of those living it rather than our own. To discard our own prejudices and look at those living a life maybe different than ours. We've learned to pray, to listen, to attempt to discern our own voice versus that of God. What an awesome beginning. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we continue to grow and learn about ourselves and those we will interact and impact in the next few weeks!
Next step, another social!
That’s coming up soon! What will
we learn next, whats our next experience as God prepares us for South
Africa? Check back and see! Life is getting interesting!
