Forever We are Changed...

Tonights Blog was written by Paul

We travelled half way around the world to experience God, to see his hand at work, to be his voice to these children here at Bridges Academy.  Each of us came with our own reason, our own need and our own expectations.  As you have read in this blog we have been moved beyond words and humbled more than we ever thought.  We were blessed with an experience that we know was planned by our Lord. 

While here in South Africa we have seen so much, so much poverty,  so much pain,  so many people looking for answers.  I recently read a saying that went something like this…

“I have seen so much poverty and loss in this world that it angers me.  God,  why don’t you do something about it.  God answered:  “I did, I made you.”

So here we are, our last day in South Africa.  Our day began with our last group Devotional.  Today Jared took on this responsibility.   He talked about the start of this team, how uniquely different we all were and why we were chosen.  He reminded us that all of us were led to be here by God to share our talents and the gifts He has given us.  The group is diverse to say the least, talents such as teaching, experience with the horrors of addiction, leading worship, coaching, nursing, and gifts such as a love for children, the ability to listen deeply to our Lord, and the list goes on and on.  He reminded us of our trainings, when we found it difficult to pray together, and how much we have changed over the past two weeks.  How we each were seeking something but we didn’t really know what it was.  He helped us realize that each of us has grown immensely in our relationship with God and our focus on Mission.  We've become more Kingdom focused.  As we reflected on his words each of looked deeply into our hearts, listened intently to God and understood that we have made a difference in these children and they have made a difference in us.  It truly felt like God was pleased, that he was smiling on us this morning!

As we packed our bags and readied ourselves for the inevitable, going home, we each took the time to reflect on why we came and what God has done with us.  Our original goals were to commit to seeing sustainable change and transformation in the township of Sweet Home through the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  So what did God make happen this week…

•            We brought the OVC kids (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) to Bridges of Hope where they stayed with us for a few days.  Together we talked about Jesus, loved these little children, organized games and stories focused on the gospel and witnessed the 12^th grade students here at Bridges pray like we have never witnessed before resulting in a number of these young children having what just may be their first deep experience with God.   He empowered his children, the students of Bridges,  to lead theses orphans to him and touched their hearts. 
•             God provided us with the ability to meet with the CHE’s, a group of men and women dedicated to making changes in their townships, bringing the word of God to their neighbors, conquering addiction and developing systems to support each other, relying on no one but themselves and the grace of our Lord.
•            We fell in love with the staff and students of here.  We found a group of young men and women, from diverse backgrounds where they experienced loss, physical danger and depression developing in to young men and women of God.  Through courses on Spiritual Disciplines to prayer training, basketball to soccer, sharing of our testimonies, and empowering the 12^th graders to spread God’s word to the OVC kids we saw and felt God’s presence.  He is truly at work in this place.

The afternoon here at Bridges was once again full of activity, of bonding, of hugs and goodbyes.  We held our final After School Program for our new family, the kids of Bridges.  The girls met to paint their fingernails, dance, sing and celebrate the week while the boys participated in an intense game of basketball (by the way, the Rock Harbor Team won!).  No matter where we went someone, some child of God, would stop us, individually and in groups, to give us hugs, to hold our hands or just look into our eyes letting us know how much they love us.   We gathered as group at the school, invited by the students to hear some thanks from them for the week.  They shared with us the impact we had  

on them and we did the same.

We met for our final dinner with the students of Bridges tonight where each of us enjoyed some moments with those we have grown so fond of, our new family here in South Africa.   I could see our team sitting with kids they have grown close too,  talking with them about the week,  some were crying others just hugging.  These kids have impacted our hearts, our minds and our prayers.

Soon after dinner we moved to a place known as “The Shed” for a final get-together,  a Talent Show.  We have been secretly practicing our choreographed dance for the past few months getting ready to shock and awe these kids with our talents.  After all, what could these kids bring to the stage.  Well, God had a few surprises for us tonight.  Together we witnessed these students singing with voices of angels, dancing with talents and skills we could only wish we had.  Their voices were perfect, their words amazing.  Tempered by the rhythms from Africa we watched them dance and sing not just to us but directly to God as well.  And then it was our turn, boy did we turn it on.  Together this Rock Harbor Team presented a dance to  a song from “High School Musical” called “We’re All in This Together.”  Although not so smooth the kids loved watching us try to dance.  They laughed, they pointed and they cheered for us as we finished with grace and relief!  A spontaneous line dance started and all the kids joined us on the dance floor to have one last celebration together, one of love, of family all focused on a common interest, the love of our Lord! 

Were back at our temporary home now, laughing and remembering the night, the week the experiences and the love we all found here with the kids of Sweet Home, the CHE’s,  and the students here at Bridges Academy.  Through the guidance of our Lord and our shared love for him WE are FOREVER CHANGED! 

“From what I’ve seen, heard, and experienced, faith is trusting God enough to obey what He has said, and hope is having the confidence that the mission/opportunity He has set upon me will advance His kingdom and bring Him glory.”  - Matt Williams

“It was amazing to see the same students again, picking up right where we left off last year. I loved seeing how God transformed them over the last year and how He transformed the hearts of this team over the last two weeks.” – Chalane Records

“The Spiritual Discipline classes I led and participated in allowed me to have more confidence in ministering God’s word to the kids back at home, at Rock Harbor.” – Lizzie Cisneros

“I went into this not really knowing what to expect.  I came out knowing the love of God, the compassion he has for his children and that the changes he can orchestrate in our hearts are amazing!  I have been moved beyond words and found a new family here in South Africa.” – Paul Morrow

“It was an incredible adventure, to have a small taste of the depth of God’s love for all His children.” – Meredith Joy

“The most incredible people with the purest form of joy, love, and laughter that illuminates the depth and width of the Father’s love.” – Molly Cody

“In our time with the people of South Africa, we have tasted and seen more of God’s love, power, beauty, and wisdom. What a Wonderful Maker!” – Danielle Peterson

“I really felt at home here,  I thought I’d enjoy them but it far exceeded my expectations.  God was good!  And I completely agree with my travel buddy Molly “Mushroom” Cody! – Kathleen Doyle

“The joy of the students here at bridges is astounding, their willingness to learn more about God, to listen and to worship has shown me how amazing the love of God truly is and it is safe to say they have changed my life” – Ray Quinones

So, from the Rock Harbor Team here in South Africa, goodnight and La La Gum Non (sweet dreams in Xhosa).  See you soon!

Receiving more than we can Give...

Hey Everyone it’s Lindsay…

With our time in ZA coming to an end too quickly, God is using every moment we have to move in great ways.  Lizzie began our day with a morning devotional about the mercy of God.  This verse caught my attention and as usual, it completely applied to the rest of the day.

1 Timothy 1:14

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Jesus Christ.”

His word, along with a reminder that this same grace extends to the people who have touched our hearts while we’ve been here,  helps to make our impending departure a little more sweet than bitter.

After breakfast and devotion part of the team (Danielle, Jared, Kathleen, Kira, Morgan, Allie, Molly, Ray, Dana, April and I) went to the informal school where Bridges’ CHE’s teach young children who are not able to attend official school.  We got to see a couple of the kids who came to camp at the retreat centre last week, which was a great surprise.  Unfortunately, the state of the single room shed the school is housed in was a sobering, somewhat shocking experience.  The sparse resources the CHE’s have to teach these little kids is heartbreaking.

The mood was definitely happier by the time we left though!  Kathleen continued her counseling training with CHE’s, teaching about how to help people through traumatic experiences with love and compassion.  I continued walking the CHE’s through the beginning of their very own Al- Anon recovery group.  Yesterday, I taught them how Al- Anon is a support group for relatives and friends of problem drinkers.  The desperation for help on the faces of these men and women was obvious.  Addiction is a family disease and it is a problem in almost every home in the townships, but there are zero resources to help these families.  I did what I could to teach them about the 12 Step Program and how to run a successful meeting in the short time we had together.  I wanted to do so much more, but I know that God will help these amazing people once we have gone home.  Having their own Al- Anon meeting in their community is a huge positive step forward, but they will definitely need all the prayers they can get from us, and you!

While we were in Cape Flats (the area of Cape Town where all the townships are) the rest of our team was working with the Academy students to clean up the grounds around the school and the retreat centre.  Thank you to Chalane, Meredith, Paul and the Academy Boys who did the dirty work today!

The Cape Flats team got back just in time for after school programs with the Academy students.  As usual, both the kids and the Rock Harbor team had a blast!  Just before dinner, the team prayed over another senior student to bless his send  off to the next chapter in his life.  After dinner, we blessed another senior with prayer.  These prayer sessions have proven to be amazing experiences for not just the students, but our team as well.

After the students had their study hour, we joined them in evening devotionals.  Ray started us off with some amazing worship songs and then Kathleen shared her amazing story of healing and building faith in God that many of the students could strongly relate to.   We finished with one more worship song, and then Jared spoke a blessing over all of us.  He offered private prayer to any student who needed it, and a few of us had some amazing experiences meeting with the kids in their need for prayer.  Over the last couple of weeks, many of them have really opened their hearts and are learning that prayer is an accessible and real tool to help them work through pain from the past and in the present. 

We ended this blessed and beautiful day in South Africa with the realization that as much as we are giving to the amazing people here, we all will be returning home with so much more…

Cheers!

Lindsay

"Passionate Clarity"

Allie Here…

We’ve hit the 3-day mark, so bittersweet!  I want to thank you all for keeping up with the blog and continually praying for our team, who is such a family.  This entire trip we have been discussing as a team about short-term mission.  We’ve been sharing about how we don’t always get to see the harvest and sometimes all we can do is plant seeds.  These past two days have been rough for me.  The other day a student came up to me and shared her story with me.  I am not kidding when I say it was heart breaking.  To hear how much these kids go through in their 15 years of life is overwhelming.  I prayed over the student and I felt the Lord in my prayers.  When these students become vulnerable with people and their walls come down, they can become closed off and disconnected.  These past two days my heart has just been breaking for this girl.  Tonight as I told my team/family about my brokenness for this student, Jared prayed a verse over me that really hit my heart.  “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.  They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest”-Psalms 126:6.  I was reminded of a time Bill Dogtruem spoke at Rock Harbor,  he said “God doesn’t leave you in your brokenness, he sits with you and helps you up out of the dirt."  I was reminded of this tonight and just how evident God is in brokenness.  I ask that you all would pray for this student and her beautiful heart, pray that she knows that nothing can separate her from the love of God.

Hey all, it’s Kira!

While sitting and reflecting on the miraculous two weeks that we have spent here at Bridges, a verse came to mind that seemed extremely fitting of the place in which the team is currently sitting: 1 Peter 4:7-10.

 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” Today during our morning devotional, Matt spoke to us about staying focused and pushing through any sort of temptation to stray from our focus on God and his work. To quote Matt, he encouraged us to complete our time here with “passionate clarity”.  This was wonderful guidance because through out this trip, I have seen God move through each of us through the power of prayer and God’s clarifying light. Prior to coming on this trip I was often uncomfortable praying, and if I am being honest, rarely felt that I had seen any sort of response from God. Being here however, I have seen prayer after prayer answered, and God’s love heal.  Prayer throughout our trip has been so key to all of our successes.

"Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins."

 The love that has been experienced here from God, my teammates, and the kids has been an indescribable gift. There is such a feeling of camaraderie and devotion to each other that has cultivated the community necessary to allow God to truly work. Today for example, was my birthday, and from the moment I woke up I have been serenaded with love and affection. Tonight when we went down to the school for devotions, I was surprised by a beautiful version of Happy Birthday sung by all of my team and all of the students. And, as if it could get any better, my teammates surprised me with popcorn (because I was craving salt, naturally) and an amazing ZA style birthday cake (props to Molly and Morgan for its’ deliciousness!).  And a special thanks to Ray who sang me his very own version of my favorite Jason Aldean song (since I’ve been missing my country music!)  I could not have asked for a better Birthday away from home!

 "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."  

Today those of us who stayed back at Bridges (Matt, Molly, Morgan, Ray, Ali, Dana, Jared, Danielle, Chalane, and I) decided to clean up the retreat center and do some beautification (weed picking) for the school. It was so encouraging to see how willing and eager everyone was to help in anyway they could!

 "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms."  

The team here is full of such a diverse group of people, and it has been so awesome seeing all of them use what God has equipped them with to help the people we have come into contact with.   Today, Lindsey, Kathleen, Paul, Meredith, and Lizzie went back into Beautiful Gate to further work with the CHE’s on addiction and possible venues for support. When everyone returned, ASPs were in full swing with Ali leading a Bible verse rap off with Morgan, Ray and myself; Meredith and Lizzie leading a spiritual discipline class on meditation and isolation; Lindsey, Dana, Kathleen and April teaching the kids to bake; and Molly and Matt showing the kid’s what’s up in a few rounds of UNO! We prayed for the seniors Vuyiseka and Sive today as we wish them well in their journey after graduation.  And then to conclude the night, we listned to April move the kids to tears as she shared the story of her walk with God, and the importance in community and faith.

All in all it was a good day down here in ZA! God Bless!

Empower.

Hi all! Chalane here.

What a powerful day of God moving and empowering! The day started with a team trip to Beautiful Gate, a non-profit organization, just outside Cape Town where we held a CHE (Community Health Evangelist) training.  Kathleen was able to offer training in dealing with addiction and alcoholism. Lindsay bravely shared her testimony that offered hope to the CHE’s. Since many of the CHE women daily interact with an alcoholic, the teaching was invaluable. It was apparent that the CHE’s were thirsty for more information and incredibly grateful for what Kathleen and Lindsay had to offer. Unfortunately, South Africa doesn’t have the same resources and support groups for addicts and their families as in the States. Lindsay now has a vision of helping the CHE’s start an Alynon support group – meetings for families and friends of addicts. Stay tuned for how that kick-start unfolds this week! Two miracles happened by this point already: Kathleen, who had lost her voice and couldn’t speak even up until moments before the training, regained her voice just long enough to share her lesson before returning to her voiceless state. We’re praying her voice will again return tomorrow at least for the duration of her lesson. Second miracle: low on supplies, we used all our remaining bread to make as many PB&J sandwiches as possible to share with the CHE’s but didn’t know if we’d have enough; we had the exact number of sandwiches for the CHE’s, including a half sandwich for one of their young daughters. Amen to God coincidences!

            After returning, we geared up for another day of ASP (After-School Programing) with the Academy students. Meredith, Morgan and Kira ran the line dancing class again. Paul and Dana headed up a spiritual discipline class on prayer. April and Lizzie taught the kids how to crochet. And finally, Allie, Matt, Ray and Molly helped with a Bible verse rap-off. Toward the end of the rap-off, Ray and I had a cool moment with two of the grade 9 boys: the boys were teaching me how to play the African drum and somehow it turned into a mini worship session. The kids are so musically talented. Moments like that are ones I take home with me.

            After ASP we prayed for another grade 12 (our goal is to pray over each of the grade 12 students individually). This was just one of the many times we witnessed the power of prayer; we watched the student moved to tears by how God ministered to her as we prayed. Blessed to be a blessing.

            We had our usual dinner with the students down at the Academy. Instead of the playful discussion that usually happens around dinner, I took a walk with a student. She wanted to share with me some things that had been on her heart that she was trying to work through. She prefaced our conversation by letting me know she had never told anyone else what she was about to tell me. She explained to me how she was trying to forgive the men who sexually abused her when she was younger. I was able to, by God’s grace alone, speak truth over her and pray for her without becoming a complete sobbing mess. My heart just broke for her. I left the conversation with a heavy heart, reminded that while these students seem like normal high school kids, they’ve been exposed to so much hurt and destruction.

Scheduled to share my testimony and lead a devotion with the school later that night, I had a hard time feeling like I had much to offer these kids who have been through so much. Later on, to my delight, we walked back into the school and were greeted by a roar of Xhosa praise songs. After hearing that heavy story it was incredible to see all the students, including the one I had spoken with earlier, rejoicing and praising God. I felt so blessed by God in that moment. The power had actually gone out at the school so oil lanterns around the room romantically set the atmosphere. Ray led another awesome worship session, ending with a Xhosa song that he learned moments earlier! Using light from the oil lanterns, I read some verses from Matthew 3 & 4 and explained how God’s identity was challenged in the wilderness. I had those verses on my heart for the kids, I think, because they’ve been through so much trauma. How could their identity not be shaken? I explained how the enemy loves to attack our identity. I used my testimony as an example, which was really empowering. Taking into account my earlier heavy conversation, I was eager to speak truth over the kids about how they are all beautiful, forgiven, made new, and valuable. I feel like God allowed that conversation to happen right before I spoke to the students so that I’d have an extra dose of compassion and love to pour out to them. Between my earlier conversation and the way students thanked me later for sharing my story, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Feeling like I’m right in the middle of God’s will for me is an amazing feeling.

Please pray for our health! Sinus and chest colds are rampant on our team. We could definitely use more prayer for healing and strong immune systems. Thank you to all my donors and supporters. This trip has already been incredible and God has more in store. Can’t wait to share stories with you all!

To all, we love you comments! We look forward to reading them together each night!

Blessings,

Chalane :)