Jump first. Fear later?

Hope & I are reading/studying a wonderful book called Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli. It's quite apt for this time in our lives -- taking "the adventure of childlike faith". I think it's easy to become 'too comfortable' in America. I'm thankful that I've been given this opportunity to be astonished & amazed by traveling in an unpredictable world and learning to trust in a "not so tame" Jesus. In his book, Mike Yaconelli reminded me of C.S. Lewis' analogous relationship between Christ and Aslan, the Lion of Narnia. After rising from death, Aslan played with the children, but they weren't sure "whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten." Mike Yaconelli asks:

What happened to radical Christianity, the un-nice brand of Christianity that turned the world upside-down? What happened to the category-smashing, life-threatening, anti-institutional gospel that spread through the first century like wildfire and was considered (by those in power) dangerous? What happened to the kind of Christians whose hearts were on fire, who had no fear, who spoke the truth no matter what the consequence, who make the world uncomfortable, who were willing to follow Jesus wherever he went? What happened to the kind of Christians who were filled with passion and gratitude, and who every day were unable to get over the grace of God? (p. 25-26)

I've met many of these "radical" Christians all over the world and will continue to meet them, I'm sure, even in America (although they seem to much more rare). The most exciting part is that God is molding me into a radical follower of Christ. I'm learning that "the Christian life is more than finding Jesus -- it is following Jesus... a daily act of fearlessness that takes us through the most frightening and rugged terrain to a place of peace, joy, and abandon." (p. 62) So I'm sorry for taking 2 long weeks to post... Although, I'm not really sure who reads this besides my family who we've talked to regularly, thanks to skype. I'm feeling a lot better these days thanks to prayer, some nurturing and a bit of down time. We actually got a chance to get away from the crowds of India... which I didn't know was possible! I left off the last post mentioning Manoj "strong man" Chopra. He's actually considered the strongest man in India! So, even though Indians are generally not very big or tall, Manoj is. He's actually about to take the last phase of WWF training to become the first Indian pro-wrestler. He travels all over the world sharing his testimony through 'amazing feats' like tearing a phone book in half and bending crow bars... a good person to have on your side. However, Manoj's greatest strength is his family: his obedient children--his gorgeous, 16-year-old daughter Pooja, his strong, 13-year-old son Ashok and his faithful, prayer-filled wife Ragini, who is a self-less, humble disciple and servant leader. Most of our time in Bangalore we spent encouraging, learning from, and praying with our new sisters of faith. We also visited the beautiful Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, relaxed at the Century Club, and even spent a day visiting historic city of Mysore. One afternoon (my favorite) while staying with the Chopras, we spent with some of Ragini's prayer fellowship group hearing the incredible testimonies of Jean, Poornima and Jayanthi. These women are all incredible prayer warriors. During our last morning in south of India, we visited with Robin & Linda Paul at Break Through and then a short time with Dr. Ken Gnanakan learning about ACTS. I really wish we had spent a lot more time with these 2 innovative ministries -- both exactly my "cup of chai". You can look at the links to learn more, but hearing Robin & Linda's story really inspired me. Americans are pretty familiar with the idea of using of ropes courses and non-traditional games to facilitate teaching values and team-play, but it's quite a novel idea here in India... a much-needed novel idea. This culture emphasizes individual success, ambition and drive -- not team-play & innovation. Similarly, we learned that ACTS is also non-traditional in that, "rather than mere theoretical knowledge, ACTS aims at imparting practical skills and life changing attitudes for personal and community transformation." Dr. Gnanakan aims to "prepare people to face contemporary challenges" of health, environment, technology, business and commerce... with a very holistic approach. Now, we have spent the last 10 days in north India, specifically New Delhi, Mussoorie & Dehradun, and once again God has blessed us with incredible hosts: David, Sue & Mary Hudson and Scott & Tim Smith (unfortunately Melanie & Hillary Smith were on a school trip so we didn't get to meet them this time). The Hudson's are new to India having moved to Delhi at the end of June, but, hailing from Southern Pines, they opened their home in true NC-style -- with open arms. Come to find out they know our close family-friend, Jim Morgan, from Sue's time at Wake Forest, Brad & Laura Long from missionary orientation back in 1980, and the Somerville's from their time in Korea... the world continues to grow smaller and smaller. Highlights of our time in north India include spending time with the youth fellowship of Free Church, attending the second annual "A Cross Reverb" at Free Church (a Gospel musical, youth concert with 4 bands: Blessed Horizon, Fountain Floor, Delhi Bible Fellowship, and Kingdom International), traveling to Mussoorie (the foothills of the Himalayas), hiking up to Flag Hill in Mussoorie, relaxing on the Smith's back porch in Mussoorie, fellowshipping with Margaret Thomas & some British missionaries in Dehradun, leading a recreation ministry workshop for 20 youth workers in Dehradun (set up by Scott Smith & hosted by Sam Thomas at Bethel Christian Fellowship), visiting the Qutb Minar complex in Delhi with Sue & Mary, and worshipping with & learning from Koko, Heather & Peter (part of an outreach ministry to the collegiate community of University of Delhi) and John, Matt, Anne & Craig (a visiting mission team from Faith Bible Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA). We got connected with this outreach through Paul Moses, because Koko is part of the the sports ministry team of India and attended ISLS in South Africa last year (2006). I'm thankful that we were able to sit in on one of their programs, especially the one called "Focal Point": a series of discussion about various topics hosted by this outreach ministry. This week's discussion was very interesting to hear from an Indian point of view -- "masculinity & femininity" from a Biblical perspective versus a societal one. So, obviously, our cup continues to be filled and to overflow here in north India. We fly to Calcutta on Wednesday to spend time with another sports ministry colleagues of Paul Moses' in Calcutta and with the sister diocese to one of our supporting churches (Cathedral of All Souls from the WNC Episcopal Diocese) in Durgapur (NW of Calcutta). Then we're off to SE Asia! I can't believe our time in India is coming to a close. I hope it's God's will for me to re-visit India some day... a beautiful and very unique part of God's creation!

next phase of India

I find I’m getting used to India… the crowds, crazy driving, unique customs, and inquisitive culture. (Check Hope's blog for more details.) This country is growing on me. I say ‘country’ but it seems like many countries. Each state has a unique culture, a different language, many specific customs, and special foods. Someone told us that there are 1026 languages/dialects in India. We’re saturated with so many cultures, and we still haven’t even been to the North yet -- a whole different subculture of India. We spent 6 days in the state of Kerala on the SW coast of India, thanks to an old family friend, Rev. Julie Walkup Bird. She served as an associate pastor at the CSI (Church of South India) Immanuel Church in Kochi a few years ago… quite a feat to lead a church as a woman in this culture. Immanuel Church embraced us during our short stay by inviting us to join their weekly feeding of the poor and their Saturday night prayer fellowship, and by inviting me to speak at their women’s fellowship, Sunday school, a youth gathering, and the Sunday evening worship. Several members of the congregation opened their homes to us including the Mathews, Dr. & Mrs. Jacob, Molly & her daughter Karin, and the families of Rev. Jacob & Rev. James. Another highlight was our visit to Karunalayam, a CSI boarding school for the mentally handicapped where Julie & Adriane volunteered regularly. The youth performed several songs for us and even roped us into singing for them (quite entertaining). We actually had a chance to see some sights thanks to Thomas Mathew and Mary Mohan James… the Dutch Palace, the Chinese fishing nets, St. Francis Church (Vasco de Gama's original resting place), and even a peaceful boat trip into the Backwaters, Kerala’s most well-known sight-seeing attraction. We took an adventure into rural Kerala to visit Pastor Jose’s (from Mumbai) brother -- Francis & his family. They live in the "pineapple capital" of India, Vazhakulum. Our adventure involved taking a wild, packed bus ride 50 km (1 ½ hours) out of the city where God provided a friendly, Catholic, guardian angel, Rose, to show us the way. The next day, Francis’ son (Joseph), daughter (Krupa), & niece (Rani) led us on a hike up to Chakki Para. We were so thankful to get out of the city to see such a magnificent view, especially in such good company. This rural visit also included a meeting of pastors (Pentecostal, Assembly of God, & Baptist Brethren) on Friday night. I learned so much about the Catholic Church in India as well as the division between Protestant Churches. These pastors are seeking unity, but it seems like coming together as the Body of Christ can be quite a challenge here in India. I know the Church all over the world has this challenge but the judgments seem pretty extreme in India. These pastors weren’t even sure how to begin to facilitate fellowship (time to just be together), let alone a dialogue between church leaders. They pointed out that this issue is one of the biggest challenges to spreading the Gospel in India. I would love to go into more detail about this meeting because it gave me so much perspective on Christianity in India, but I could probably write a whole paper on it. We just left Chennai where we were visiting with Paul & Grace Moses. It was such a blessing to reconnect with these friends, and we are grateful for all the provisions they have made to facilitate a ‘program’ for us... they kept us very busy. As the Director of the International Sports Coalition for India, Paul is invited to speak all over the place -- nationally and internationally. In fact, we joined Paul soon after our arrival for one of his leadership classes at Maranatha Bible College where I facilitated a short introduction to recreation ministry to 1st year students. They took us out to their newly-gifted, 11-acre property outside of Chennai where they plan to build an unique campus to facilitate sports ministry & to relocate their orphanage (from another village nearby). They have already built a pavilion on the land where they minister to widows once a month. Widows have a great plight in India as they are seen as a burden to families, so Paul & Grace’s organization (the Sangita Charitable Trust) provides food bags for the widows to give to their families. They had 185 widows attend the program on Wednesday where they shared the Gospel, and we helped to hand out food bags. Afterwards, they took us to the Sangita Home in the village of Padapai where they house 65 orphans ages 2-5. I’m amazed by the servant hearts of the staff there whom live & work with these children… 24/7. (These women’s dedication put a shame to the 40-hour-a-week work ethic of Americans!) We stayed the night at Sangita home, played with the kids, taught the children a couple songs, led a fellowship time with the staff, and helped prepare the 5-year-olds for their first day of preschool, which was especially unique because it marked the opening of the Krupa Preshchool. We participated in a opening ceremony and met some incredible people. Some other highlights of our time in Chennai include: leading talks at a soccer outreach as well as a prayer fellowship group for sports minitry, visiting the India Fellowship for the Visually Handicapped, learning what the International Justice Mission is doing in Chennai, worshipping with the Sports Ministry Fellowship, riding around the city on motorcycles with Reejan, Thomas, Sennai, & David, sharing dinner & hearing the testimony of our new sister Hepzibah, and fellowshipping & being encouraged by Anand & John. We met so many amazing people who are a part Paul Moses' community of sports ministry. Chennai was a full week, and now we're in Bangalore visiting with Manoj "Strong Man" Chopra & his family... That will be in the next post. In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers as we work through the "storming period" of our mission year abroad -- the constant traveling, adjusting & adapting; the profound patience & gratitude we must always maintain; and the need for physical healing & strength. (I am still fighting some stomach pain and now a bit of a sinus cold.)

Working through the culture shock...

Someone recently described Indian culture as being the most opposite to American culture therefore creating culture shock more intensely. I knew in my mind that this was probably true but experience has now proved it. Some of you may remember our dear friend, Paul Moses who we will visit in Chennai in a couple weeks. He taught “cultural studies” at ISLS in South Africa. During his training he spoke about the inevitability of culture shock and that one goes through 4 stages: romance, reaction, recognition, & resolution. I think that our experience of traveling the past 3 months has broken us into culture shock pushing us through the romance stage rather quickly. In the first week of this new segment of our mission adventure we spent in Kalyan, a suburb of Mumbai (Bombay). We experienced several of the components to the second stage of culture shock, the “reaction” stage, according to Paul Moses: growing sensitivity, daily activities seeming to be huge obstacles, and even a bit of a desire to cling to our own cultural comforts. It has made me even more thankful to be sharing this experience with Hope. Instead of harboring irritation or avoiding the obstacles, we encourage and support each other to stay positive. Once again we seem to balance each other. The food, on the other hand, hasn’t been a shock but a welcomed change with it’s abundance of spices. We’re especially the home cooking of our host mother Gracey and our new friends Margaret Auntie and Gracey Auntie, Manju’s aunts. We had an 18 hour lay over in Jo’burg on Sunday (23rd) which we spent with Hope’s Rotary exchange friend Tammy & her family. Tammy insisted on throwing us a traditional braai in celebration of our leaving and of Heritage Day – a South African public holiday. The next day Tammy joined us for a quick visit with Cecile, Andries, Anelia, Marisje and Cecile’s mom. It was a truly wonderful way to end our time in Africa. We flew into Mumbai just after 1:00am early Tuesday morning, and thankfully we were greeted by Pastor Jose, his wife Gracey, and his 24-year-old daughter, Anitha. We only received confirmation about this on Saturday night, about 48 hours before. God’s lessons of trust continue. Since Mumbai is India’s second most congested city with 120 million, it took us almost 1 ½ hours to drive to Kalyan. Even at night time on fairly desolate roads, our hired driver had to dodge the occasional truck, motorized rickshaw taxi, cow or dog (the later 2 considered deities and freely roaming everywhere). Needless to say, exhaustion overwhelmed us. Over the next 6 days, the Jose family graciously hosted us. Some of the highlights of the week, beyond Gracey’s incredible cooking, included visiting Pastor Joy & his family in Geetanagar (one of Mumbai’s slums), taking the local public transportation (trains, buses, & rickshaws), picking out salvar cummis (traditional outfits) in order to blend even just slightly, traveling to Pimpri (outside Pune) with a variety of new youth-worker friends for evangelism and fellowship, stopping by St. Mary’s (a type of mountain retreat) at the Lonavala “hill station” and Tiger Valley at the Khandala “hill station” on the way back from Pune, worshiping with Pastor Jose’s “prayer fellowship” church (which meets in a very small apartment where he preaches in the doorway between 2 rooms), leading recreational ministry with their youth group, and sharing 3 very special fellowship meals with our newly adopted family and sisters & brothers of faith (Manju’s family). After a 28-hour train ride in the second class sleeper “bogie” (coach), we arrived in Kochi (Cochin) on Tuesday, October 2nd, Gandhi’s birthday—a public holiday. We are exhausted but relieved to be safe, sound, and hosted by new friends and members of God’s family. Once again we’ve been pleasantly amazed at how God has prepared the way for us… this time by designing our first, independent train ride in India. We began with our hosts (Pastor Jose & nephew Josh) personally escorting us to our train’s platform. Then “God-incidently” we shared a compartment with 3 wonderful ladies, 1 of which just happened to be traveling to our same destination. After keeping us and our stuff safe through the night, God set up a divine appointment for us to be welcomed by a second-degree colleague of our old friend, Julie Walkup Bird — Rev. Sunder Jacob, Associate Pastor of Church of South India Immanuel. I wonder how long it will take me to learn to trust that He will provide as we continue to seek His will.

Madagascar… not the movie

We’ve seen six different species of very cute lemurs, but none of them have spoken, sung or broken into a jig. The only fosa (lemur predator) we saw was sleeping so it didn’t seem quite as vicious as in the movie. I did see a Yankees’ hat but we didn’t run in to any New York Giants. It’s not surprising, but the movie isn’t a very realistic depiction of Madagascar. The only possible similarity to the movie is the radiant beauty of the rain forest which left us in awe. Other than that our experience in Madagascar took us back into a 3rd world culture with no traffic lights, dodgy “taxi-brousses” (or “taxibes”) for public transportation, intermittent & undependable public services, and masses of people staring at us (the “vazaha” or foreigners) walking through the crowded markets filled with persistent sales people. Some differences to our other 3rd-world experiences in African are the extended mid-day lunch break for many shop keepers, the lack of any lines on the road (except for a few lines put in for the India Ocean Games a month ago), and the multitude of smokers… maybe a because of the French influence. We flew into Antananarivo (or “Tana”) a week and a half ago and were greeted by an affectionate, unique couple Nelly & Solo, both alumni of the International Sports Leadership School (ISLS) in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Nelly is Bulgarian and Solo is Malagasy; an interesting mix and a gracious duo facilitating amazing work with Kids Games. Their three kids (Gabby, Mickael, & Sonja) showered us with affection, and we adopted their 17-year-old neighbor Vero for an adventure down to Andasibe. Solo & Nelly are gearing up for a huge Kids Games event at the end of October where they expect over 100,000 children and 5,000 youth workers to participate! We joined them for a “counselors” training in which 2,000 of the leaders showed up. It’s incredible how God is opening so many doors for them. We also squeezed in a short yet very meaningful visit with the family of our new friend, Hanitra Raharinosy, who we met at the Cultural Studies workshop that we attended at ISLS in collaboration with the community development program ALICT. Her sister, Vololoniaina, and brother set up an insightful meeting with Fafah, the Deacon overseeing youth for their FJKM Ziona Fanantenana Ambatobe Church. Then we rushed to catch a beautiful choir competition. Along the way, we randomly witnessed a “famadihana” ceremony in passing (a strange ceremonial exhumation and reburial to revere Malagasy ancestors). The Ziona choir, led by Hanitra’s husband, won the competition, and we went out for a celebration dinner with him and their two beautiful daughters. Next, we took a mini-“vacation” to the lusciously green Andasibe (between Tana and the east coast) — our first ‘touristy’ experience in 2 ½ months since we’ve been so blessed to be graciously hosted and richly surrounded by the family of faith. As our first hotel & sight-seeing endeavor, it was beautifully serene, but being amidst so many other tourists made us want to minimize these sorts of ‘touristy’ things because it diluted our cultural experience. Our time hiking through the rainforests was amazing yet a bit wet and soggy. We finished our extremely short visit to Madagascar by joining the Turks—a PC-USA missionary family that has been here more than 14 years and that has given us a wonderful perspective of this unique culture. Dan shared his expertise on Malagasy agriculture and environment while Elizabeth shared her outlook on the country’s health issues. As a couple, their partnership lends an incredible amount of expertise to the relationship between the Malagasy FJKM and the PC-USA. They graciously welcomed us into their family (son-Robert & daughter-Francis) and community (Betsy-former Nieu Communities-Pretoria participant & Noro-“older sister”). They took us to visit both the Topaza and the Akany Avoko orphanages. And they helped me facilitate a recreational evangelism workshop for 35 youth workers. It’s been a very fruitful yet busy end to our stay in Madagascar. We wish we had more time here, just like everywhere we go. It’s a struggle to travel in and out of communities and cultures so quickly. We always wish we could stay for longer in each place, but we’re just getting a taste of everywhere we go—just grazing the surface. We realize that connecting with ministry communities and missionaries is vital to our gaining perspective more efficiently. Please pray that God will continue to bless us with these connections. We’re flying back to South Africa tomorrow for a less than 24 hour layover before we fly on the India Monday. We’re a bit nervous about our time (and especially our arrival) in India. As usual God hasn’t revealed His plan to us, but I know it will all work out… it always does… His sovereignty is more real to me than it ever has been.

don't be nominal... break out of the box

Cassie Carstens shared with us his ideas of a more "practical implication to ministry," and he said something that resonated with me... "Kick people out of the church and into the streets." I think many of us can relate to this frustration -- whether it be toward our local church, our denomination or even political leaders using a "Christian" platform to push their own agendas. However, instead of turning his back on the church or writing off the spiritual/political struggle, Cassie pursued ordination. What a proactive approach to facilitating and engaging the Body of Christ in social justice.

I've been inspired by so many Christians throughout our trip who live out their faith rather than letting their faith become nominal. It's not a Sunday ritual for them; it's everyday life. Last week, Hope and I attended part of the "Cultural Studies" training at ISLS (International Sports Leadership School), and we had the opportunity to meet and share ideas with nearly 60 people from 30 countries all around the world. A couple times during the training, we divided into small groups according to our national/regional origin to discuss the barriers & possible solutions to sharing our faith. One common barrier shared among these groups was this problem of "nominal Christianity." Basically, the church is a body of believers, not a building to visit once in a while. It's like Bruce Taylor from Walk in the Light pointed out: if you take the "ch" off either side of "church" you're left with U-R... you are the church. Similarly, a former ISLS participant pointed out to us the tendency of many Christians to live on "an island" -- only leaving now and again to go recruit someone to come join the island... No wonder so many Christians come across as legalistic isolationists. A solution to this "nominal Christianity" is found in the way we live out our faith in the world, not in isolation. It's like what Paul Moses shared with us last week: one of the best ways anyone can be a witness of the Gospel is through "lifestyle evangelism." ________________ The last week and a half, we spent in one of the most beautiful places in South Africa: the Western Cape (Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Paarl). The beauty of God's creation surrounded us with a majestic landscapes and a Spirit-filled communities. We began our week in Cape Town with Arrie Hougaardt and his family (wife-Erika and daughters-Jana & Sune). We toured some of the city, and we worshiped at Lighthouse Ministries, a racially & culturally diverse church which formed in the late 70's as a call against Apartheid. Monday afternoon, we interviewed Cassie Carstens and Paul & Grace Moses (who we will visit next month in Chennai, India). Then Tuesday afternoon we served with Kuyasa, a community center in the Kayamandi Township, which is led by Cassie's wife Jenny and directed by an American named Cindy. Wednesday, Thursday and then Friday morning, we attended ISLS, and we were warmly embraced by some brothers and sisters of faith from all over the world. Once again, God's timing amazed us. You see, in the 3 months of training each year (August-October), the school invites various teachers from around the world to give insight to a specific subject they specialize in. Just last week Paul Moses taught "Cultural Studies," which aligns with a huge part of my call... gaining perspective. Not only did the subject fit in perfectly to our trip, so did the classroom diversity as it immediately provided practical application for us. To top it all off, the Cultural Night event on Thursday captivated and mesmerized us! Each participant (including us) had to present something from our respective cultures. The one other American in the group (ironically also named Heather) brainstormed with us... It was nearly impossible to think of something "American" that we were equipped to do, but we finally came up with sharing S'mores and doing the Hokey-Pokey -- in the good old-fashion silly American way. The only challenge was finding similar ingredients to Graham Crackers and Hershey Bars, but the substitues we found were yummy! (picture: Paul Moses' first S'more.) Then, we spent the weekend with Greg & Jebs (or JT) Oefinger and the Monte Christo Ministries (MCM) in Paarl. Even after recent events (in Pietermartzburg & Durban), our introduction to their ministry shook us a bit. As soon as we arrived, Jebs asked if we would be okay with joining her & a new minitry staff, Laura, at a memorial service for a young girl who had been raped and murdered in the Mbekweni Township where they serve. As we arrived in the midst of rain, the familiar sounds of African harmony filled our ears. We had a chance to pray with some people there and to hear from the girl's father. It was a profound memorial. After only planning to stay with them one night, we ended up staying for 3 nights. We felt His love poured out through the open-arms and nurture of our amazing new friends, even after they had just been through one of the most difficult weeks in their 3 1/2 years ministering there. Monday afternoon, we returned to Cape Town with just enough time to tour a bit of the Cape's extraordinarily beautiful peninsula with our new friend Juanita and then to visit with Craig Stewart and the incredible staff at The Warehouse. In just a few years, the staff of the Warehouse have developed an effective urban ministry -- one which focuses on equipping the church around Cape Town, encouraging empowerment as a Body, and building relational ministries. I'm amazed at how effective they have become in such a short period. I believe the reason for this is that they are committed to spending the first hour of each and every work day in prayer together. What would happen in ministries and churches world-wide if they were that committed to prayer? Craig shared that when they see a need in the community they begin to address that need by praying for workers who are called to that need and who are driven to lead. He pointed out that we as Believers don't usually allow room for God to be God. Craig has a healthy approach to serving in the Kingdom: focus on prayer, community, and celebration, and know that sustainability can't always be quantified. We're now back in Johannesburg, the so-called Los Angeles of South Africa. While here, we're catching up with our friends Mutodi & Leslee and the whole Neshehe family, and we're trying to work on administrative things, like emailing and posting a blog (way over-due, sorry). We also got to meet Cecile & Andries Louw's newborn daughter, Marisje. We leave for our 11-day visit to Madagascar on Wednesday and, just now (within the last week), our time there is beginning to "jell." 'Tis the nature of our adventure. I'm really learning to not fret and to really trust that God will direct our path.

If I can’t relate, am I really effective?

Hope and I have seen some challenging things in this trip. We discuss eternal issues daily. Yet I didn’t expect to encounter something this past week that would cause such a massive jolt of reflection that would ripple through all the compartments of my life. While serving with Walk in the Light ministries outside of Pietermaritzburg, we met, served, and prayed with a woman very sick with AIDS. I’ve never interacted so closely with anyone truly suffering from one of the most dreaded diseases of this generation. She sat in a simple, worn-out den chair outside her mother’s shack in Haniville Township. Her family called an ambulance around six that morning because she was in so much pain but by the time we arrived at around ten they hadn’t seen any help. A new staff from the UK, Dave, explained that many AIDS victims’ legs swell due to their failing lymphoids, and they’re unable to walk — that’s the state she was in. Before we began the process of moving her, Dave led us in prayer. Then we carefully lifted her from the chair and laid her in a stretcher as gently as we possibly could. As I helped to carry her to the Land Rover, I reflected on how light she was while praying that I wouldn’t slip on the gravel. Getting her into the Land Rover smoothly & gently was a challenge but we did our best (picture shows us contemplating the task). Her sister, who is HIV-positive yet still fairly healthy, joined us as we transported her to the nearby hospital. As we drove, I attempted to comfort her with my arm around her… praying the whole time for her to sense Christ’s presence and peace. Once at the hospital, we lifted her gently into a wheelchair. Afterwards she insisted by motioning her hands that we not leave her there to spend the night so we told her sister to phone us when they were ready to go home again. This experience began the ripple-effect, but it wasn’t until the next day that I felt the jolt. Phindile, the “secretary” of Walk in the Light, invited us to join her for medical “rounds” in Haniville in which she visits clients daily to “make sure” they take their medication for AIDS and TB. (She explained that if she doesn’t check daily they will neglect to take it.) As we began our walk with her, I asked her about the woman we helped the day before. Without hesitation or any noticeable remorse, she responded, “She died.” Deaths from AIDS are so common that Bruce, the Director of Walk in the Light (family picture), facilitated 73 funerals last year, just in his part of that one community… However, our encounter with this woman hit us in two profound new ways: she was the first, visibly suffering, AIDS victim that we’ve interacted closely with, and she was the first person we know directly to die from AIDS. I began reflecting on this as I walked down the steep hill that cuts through the township. While wrapped in my thoughts, I saw a young boy about 10 years old with torn shirt, dirty, mis-matched pants and sweater, and no shoes walking up the hill. As we passed him, Phindile greeted him as she had to all those we passed along the way. He looked familiar and Phindile shared with us that he was this same woman’s son. I looked back at him and as he turned toward me I saw her in his eyes, his broad cheek bones and his full lips. He had a distant look of shock, loss and aimless disbelief. I wanted to go hug him but he probably wouldn’t have known what to think of this white female stranger hugging on him. Tears filled my eyes as the ripples of reflection invaded my thoughts, memories and heart. Another experience that rippled through my heart, mind and soul was this last week while rather spontaneously serving a small inner city program for the homeless of Durban called Isinkwa Setheku. (We didn’t even know the name of the program as we drove with our new friend George, Karien’s brother, into the dark, prostitute-filled, inner-city streets of Durban. All we knew was that the program began at 7 pm.) George left us in the care of Paul, the current coordinator of the ministry, who put us into a group with Phil & Gus. Paul led everyone in a prayer and then sent us out to shelters around the Durban city centre. As we drove with Phil & Gus, we received a very quick orientation on Durban’s homeless shelter “business” and what the Isinkwa Setheku was all about. Being the warmest city in South Africa, many homeless flock to Durban; unfortunately, though, “shelters” began to spring up, charging about 20 rand (US$3) a night for a bed & shower. This inner city ministry Isinkwa Setheku is trying to raise support & find accommodation for a shelter ministry, but they have met challenges and not been successful yet. Neither Hope nor I had directly ministered to the homeless so we didn’t know what to expect that night. After observing Phil minister to a woman he obviously knew from other times ministering on the streets, my attention turned to Lynda, a 30-year old male who had been on the streets for only about 3 months and felt that his past was unforgivable. Our time was blessed with honest conversation and prayer focused on God’s unconditional love for him. It seemed his situation reflected the prodigal son. I don’t know if he took my advice to return home but that is what God put on my heart to tell him. While encouraging my trust in an all-knowing God, these ripples of reflection permeated through my conscious thought, but they have also made me question my effectiveness in these brief visits with ministries around the world. This trip is all about trusting God’s design in that we don’t know where we will stay day to day but I'm learning to let go of my will and let God guide us in His sovereignty. I am learning to really trust my heavenly Father with my own steps so I must translate this trust to His meta-narrative design of all of life. I cannot yet fully grasp the reasoning of His call to this unique adventure but I can trust in His love and design. I must close with thanks to Hank Keating, a colleague of my father’s, who connected us to two incredible men of faith — Dave Peters (picture at the Valley of a Thousand Hills) and Bruce Taylor. From our introduction last Monday night, Hope & I were both blessed by their display of faith, their trust in God’s provision, their words of wisdom & encouragement, and their nurturing spirits of brotherly & fatherly love. African Enterprise and Walk in the Light are both holistic Christ-centered ministries bearing amazing fruit for God’s glory. Also a thanks to our generous, new friends, George & Minette Murray, who shared their limited space with us in Durban and opened their hearts to us like family.

six degrees of separation?

One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned over the last week is how wonderfully small and interconnected the world is. It’s so amazing to discover God’s kingdom this way. The moment we walked into Pangani Nieu Communities in Pretoria, we immediately met Alycia, a beautiful, gregarious woman from the States. After less than 5 minutes of conversation, we found out that she works with 13th Floor, a performing arts ministry based here in Pretoria that we’re already connected with through Karien Murray. Similarly, our old friend Amy Wilson connected us with her friend Kevin Thomas about trying to meet while he traveled through South Africa, but we had no idea that we’d cross paths so soon. We met here at Nieu Communities the night we arrived (Tuesday), but we didn’t make put it all together until on Wednesday morning. Then, Saturday morning, we went with our new friend Dayna to the bus station to pick up her old friend, Bell, who came to Pretoria for a vacation from her job at a Bible College in Jeffery's Bay. It didn’t take us long to make a connection with her, too. She graduated from Gordon College with Natalie Burns—an old friend from First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, who also shared an art class with Hope in high school. It really is a small world after all… And, believe it or not, we’ve had more experiences of the same nature! Kevin Thomas spent a week with Greg Oefinger in Paarl (near Cape Town) that we’re already planning to connect with thanks to our friend Brittany, who we met at Ministry of Hope in Malawi. Our new friend/ministry colleague Hein Reyneke got married at the house of Cois, who we already connected with through Rodney Seals a month ago in Johannesburg and hope to meet with while in the Cape Town area. A former participant of the Pretoria Nieu Communities, named Betsy, serves with the Turks in Madagascar, and the Turks are PC-USA missionaries that we are hoping to visit thanks to our previous connection through the Dimmocks (missionaries from Montreat Presbyterian, now serving in Lesotho after 15 years in Malawi). These names may not mean anything to you, but my point is that it's more like 3 degrees of separation within the ministry world. __________________________ Now we're back in South Africa, a 1st-world country with frequently seen McDonalds & KFCs, more consistent electricity, and Sudafed for my head cold. Cecile, Andries and Anelia Louw graciously opened their home to us again. In our brief visit, we connected with SAAWE, met new people, reconnected with Mutodi, Leslee, & Mutodi's family, ran much needed errands, made dinner for the Louw's, and Hope even fit in sanding & painting a rocking chair and shelf for their new baby's room. (Marisje is due at the end of August and could come any day. We hope to meet her before we leave the continent.) Saakie Fourie, with SAAWE, not only gave us a ride to Pretoria but he also made possible a meeting with Hein Reyneke, the coordinator of the southern Africa region for Kids Games, SCAS, and "Ubabalo 2010"… After our meeting over brunch on Tuesday, we spent Thursday afternoon with Hein and got a short orientation on these ministries and to get some guidance on our upcoming visit to Cape Town. Hein reminds me of Shawn Stewart in that he has so much energy and gift of vision for kingdom work with youth. Kids Games is my type of ministry, using games to share the Gospel with youth. I won’t give you a full overview but you can check out the website through the link. I highly recommend anyone who uses recreation in youth work to register with them and use the invaluable, free resources they provide! I can’t express how thankful I am for the connection to Nieu Communities through Amy & Johnny Wilson! Definitely check out their website. Anyone who wants to get a taste of missions in the context of an intentional, Christian community would benefit from spending a year at one of the 3 Nieu Communities sights (Pretoria, Vancouver, or Glasgow). We have been blessed to participate in 2 women’s gatherings (dinner & birthday celebration), an incredible fellowship meal, and many wonderful conversations with progressive Christians seeking a different perspective. On Wednesday we learned about Tshwane Leadership Foundation, which is the umbrella over the Pretoria Community Ministries who are doing incredible, holistic, urban work. TLF strives to “strengthen the unfolding movement of churches, communities and programmes with capacity, resource development, advocacy and policy work, communication and marketing, and spiritual nurture.” We met with Kathrin --- for over an hour to try to grasp an understanding of this movement and it’s history. We were very thankful for her taking time to meet with us considering the huge, annual project unfolding this next week called “Festival of the Clowns.” We wish we could stay here to check out all the events and participate in the social justice workshops but alas we are catching a bus down to Pietermaritzburg tomorrow. She arranged a tour of the ministry sites for us with a humorous, outgoing, Malawian staff member, Eric. It was moving to visit the AIDS hospice house, the boarding house for young women trying to get out of prostitution, and free day care and homework club for urban youth who would otherwise be on the streets or alone at home throughout the day. On Friday we ate lunch with Colin Honiball from 13th Floor and his colleague Ritich. We learned about the unique ministry of 13th Floor, the history, their current work here in South Africa and in the US, and the vision for the UK and Mozambique. 13th Floor has a distinctive way to minister to the youth culture through arts and performance by thinking outside the box, an issue most churches are challenged by. After lunch we joined Dayna Curtis in a trip to Soshanguve, a township of over 3 million. She introduced us to GoGo’s (grandmother’s) family who Dayna had ministered with during her year participating in Nieu Communities in 2005. Dayna recently facilitated a mission trip with a group of non-Christian’s from Los Angeles… quite a unique adventure. Our time in the north part of South Africa comes to an end for now. We ended this segment of travel by meeting up with Mark Walkup, an old family friend who has been working in Harare, Zimbabwe but visits Pretoria for a work conference. He has a refreshing perspective and some incredible stories as Zimbabwe is in a state of chaos which is something few can relate to.

Tionana

"See you" -a common farewell in Chichewa We left Malawi yesterday with mixed feelings: sad to say goodbye once again yet gratitude for our friends there and the sense of fruitfulness in our work through the Ministry of Hope (MoH). These last 10 days have been full. I appreciated returning to Matapila, the village I stayed in last year with the Montreat Pres. summer mission project. This visit differed from last years in that we were hosted by Gift (the MoH Feeding Center Director for the nearby village Katonda and interim Director for the Matapila Feeding Center) and his beautiful wife-Esnart, daughter-Tawina, and son-Takodwa. Unfortunately we didn’t get out to Matapila until mid-afternoon... once again leaving after lunch when we thought we would be leaving first thing in the morning. African time. We did get to catch the Matapila market day in full throttle, the busiest day of the week. It’s a bit uncomfortable to be starred at constantly by hundreds of people but after a while you get used to it. They rarely see azungus (white people) out in their villages. The highlights flourished throughout our time in Matapila. One blessing entailed spending evenings with Tawina and Takodwa. It took a short while for them to check us out but it didn’t take long for them to melt our hearts. Another blessing involved visiting Selengo, a village about a 30 minute walk away, where we spent 3 days in ministry last year. The changes amazed me: finished goat pin with 2 male goats & 8 females, finished maze mill in action, and the mini-market formed next to the mill bringing support to the local economy. With the help of Mavuto & Wiseman (African Bible College students/MoH interns), we played Red Rover with the kids and led a devotion. Unfortunately the last child to make a run got “clothes-lined” when he chose to try to break through 2 bigger kids’ arms. He fell back on the ground hitting his head on a rock. It reminded why we never played Red Rover at the Boys & Girls Club. But it all worked out… Jimmy (the Director) told me Monday that he healed alright. Another highlight consisted of a very successful workshop on recreational evangelism: using games as an experiential way to share Scripture lessons. The morning filled with smiles and laughter from a diverse age-group of youth and youth workers (more than 40 all together). After lunch (of nsema & soy- common protein source here, not just for vegetarians) we met with just the youth workers. I wanted to make sure that they grasped the concept. They did! We ended the session brainstorming scripture lessons for a Malawian hide-and-seek game. I was so excited! Then the youth leaders decided, of their own initiative, that they should meet once a month to share ideas and encourage each other. Dean Borgman (of GCTS & Center for Youth Studies) said this might happen and I’m so thankful it did. This week we were blessed to go out to Mponela, a village in the north. Actually, it’s much bigger than what you would think of as a village, something like 11,000 in the surrounding area. Our new, good friend William directs the Feeding Center and goes beyond the normal programing with hundreds of orphans by doing some amazing things in the community. He developed a support program for widows and he’s now beginning a job skills training program. As we walked into the city center we observed his connection with the community by all the kids running up and people calling out "uncle". He’s doing great work while giving God all the glory. Tuesday evening we were called to spend some time with an encouraging, generous woman, Enala, who has supported William like a mother. She treated us to coffee, tea, croissants, and mandasi (Malawian doughnuts) while she prepared a dinner for us to take back to Williams. We invited Violet & Felocia (2 young ladies MoH is supporting through textile school) and the 3 guards for the Center to join us for dinner and we still didn’t manage to finish all the food! I must admit that I’m glad we didn’t eat with Enala otherwise I would have felt obligated to eat the goats’ intestines that were one part of the meal. (Hope tried some anyway.) When we got up the next morning we found Enala sitting in William’s living room waiting to visit with us and she brought a breakfast which ended up feeding 7 people! In addition, Enala sent over some medicine and leamons to help Hope fight the infection which had set in. And before we left she sent over 4 nsomba (fish) and 2 big bags of teza (peanuts) to take with us. Enala radiated generousity. A huge highlight to our time in Mponela involved the workshop we facilitated with almost 50 youth workers. William recruited at a number of churches in the Mponela area and various ministries. Unfortunately we experienced the coldest day yet but that didn’t hurt the turn out too much. I took the workshop further by teaching 5 games and connecting them to scripture lessons, then teaching a couple more games but having the youth workers brainstorm scripture for them, and finishing out by inviting them to share Malawian games to link to lessons. It intrigued me to find that not many people could remember games youth played. I observed that in Malawian culture there lies a distinct division between youth and adulthood. Youth ends in marriage which most often happens fairly young, especially in the villages. It seems like a lot of adults forget how to play. I engage them in play and it reminded them of childlikeness of faith. Christ encouraged this quality in Matthew 18 & 19. I’m so thankful He is calling me to facilitate childlikeness in His people. We ended our visit to Mponela by listening to the beautiful harmonies of well over a hundred youth. As I stood there I made a conscious effort to hold on to this memory as it would probably be a long time before I hear such sweet sounds from African youth again. Although our new friend Felocia and her brother gifted us with a demo of their families' new album which they will produce as soon as they raise enough money. Unfortunately Hope’s infection didn’t get better so we visited the African Bible College clinic where she received the diagnosis of a sinus infection. She tried to take it easy for the rest of our stay only venturing out to the pharmacy, to pick up our new, beautifully-tailored African outfits from the talented and fair tailor, Ishmael, and to walk down to the neighborhood market one last time. Our final evening in Malawi entailed hours of no power, wonderful company (Daniel & William), and the simple delicacies of sandwiches instead of the italian meal we planned for. God designed this so we would bask in the fellowship of our brothers in Christ, which I thanked God for as I drifted off to sleep very late in the night. We safely rested our heads at the home of Cecile, Andries, and Anelia again here in Johannesburg. As will be the case throughout the next almost 11 months, the direction of our next steps aren't confirmed yet. We might make our way up to Pretoria next to visit ministries there. Keep us in your prayers as we pursue connections throughout South Africa. We'll keep you posted as the events unfold.

Mulungu akhale nanu

"God be with you"... as He has with us. I'm amazed every day by how blessed we are. The Ministry of Hope (MoH) has been so good to us... specifically Daniel Moyo, Charles Gwengwe, Rollins Mtambo, Mr. Kamanga, Agnes Guta (who is leaving), Rowana (who is replacing Agnes), Kalvin Kalonga, & Mpho Lungu. Daniel, the Director of Education, Spiritual Development, and Volunteer Coordination (quite a mouthful), has been an incredible host and friend. We had met last year just after he graduated from African Bible College (ABC) and right before they brought him on full-time... a great move on their part. A lot has happened since my last post including saying goodbye to our fellow North Carolinians as well as our new friend Brittany, a retreat at Lake Malawi of 120 youth (8-15 year olds) from the six MoH feeding centers, lots of walking around the chaotic streets of Lilongwe, haggling with the women in the fabric area of the Old Market, a formal service at the neighborhood CCAP lasting 2 1/2 hours, a late therefore shortened recreational ministry workshop at ABC, feeding precious babies at the Crisis Nursery, leading a Bible Study about the Dangerous Wonder of childlike faith, and a blessed afternoon with Youth Care Ministries filled with good people and games with urban youth of Lilongwe. Many, many blessings. The youth retreat was an incredible experience filled with lots of dancing, playing, swimming at the beach, praying, inspiring talks with some translation, small group activities Malawian food, wonderful youth workers and ABC student/interns, and did I say dancing? Daniel had arranged for a Afro-reggae-gospel band from Scripture Union in Lilongwe to come out for the week. They kept us dancing until we headed to our tents and then woke us up to dance some more. That's where the video clip comes from (below). We had a different experience than the Lutheran High School group from CA (who helped facilitate the retreat) because we chose to camp with the kids at the "House of Joel Bible, Missionary, & Training Center" where the retreat was held. We could have taken the more comfortable route by checking into a room at the Chipoka Lodge. They would take off to the lodge around 8pm while Hope & I would continue on dancing with the kids. We were woken each morning around 5am to little voices speaking Chichewa all around us but we wouldn't straggle out of our tent until we heard the Afro-reggae-gospel vibes floating through the camp around 7am. Although the retreat was a bit exhausting, it was a huge blessing! Saturday we spent with Daniel and my friend Yohane walking all around the city center of Lilongwe visiting markets, tailors, a community center, taking a minibus packed with 23 people (quite normal, actually), ending the day at the Area 47 (neighborhood) market to get fresh vegetables. It was an educational experience, perspective shifting. We chose to get up early Sunday morning (6:15am) to join Daniel for the CCA Presbyterian church service. I was amazed at how formal the service was, not what I expected. We literally sat for 2 or the 2 1/2 hours... my butt was going numb! It's interesting how ceremonial the Malawian culture seems yet at the same time they are always late (hours) sometimes never even showing up. Seems to contradict itself. Early Sunday evening we went down the street to the MoH Crisis Nursery to help with feeding time. I know we're there to help but I think we're the ones blessed. Mom, you would love it... 18 beautiful babies. They are there because they are either orphans or they have health issues that their parents need help with (including malnurishment and HIV/AIDS). Some will go back to their families (sometimes extended family), some will be adopted, and some will end up in orphanages. Hope & I both would love to adopt one but the Malawian government doesn't make the process easy. You must live in Malawi for 18 months before you can even start the application process, which takes another 18 months. Somehow Madonna bypassed this process last year. So Monday we experienced Malawian culture quite vividly which ruffled our American perspectives. We showed up at the ABC gym (which we had rented) to find the leftover mess from a wedding from Saturday strewn all over the floor. Then over half the workshop participants showed up 2 hours late. It all worked out fine and it was still a blessed time but it was a gentle reminder of how clock-oriented our time perspective is in America... as opposed to event-oriented as is the perspective here in Malawi. Tuesday we began our day reconnecting with the ABC student/interns and William, the MoH feeding center director for the village of Mponela. He is an amazing "man after God's own heart." At the youth retreat he had shared with me his experience doing missions in Rwanda during the height of violence and turmoil. He has traveled all over central & southern Africa working with youth. He expressed his frustration with the church lacking any focus on youth. It seems like a common theme so far in my African experience: for youth to have no voice. It's frustrating. Jesus said, "when you did it to one the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me" (Matt 25:40). In Malawi (& Mozambique) you're considered a youth until you have your own family. Paul (writer of much of the New Testament) would have been treated as a youth... interesting. Then we ate lunch with Lessie, a former MoH staff who I connected with last year. She's had a challenging year including losing her job at MoH, catching gastoral-malaria, and therefore losing a 7-week old baby she was carrying. She's an amazing woman, still showing kindness and contentment. After helping with feeding time again, I drove Hope & I over to a Bible study with a "youth group" of 17-20 somethings. God placed Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli on my heart. I encouraged these "youth" to hold onto "the childlike attribute of our faith called dangerous wonder", "- a place landscaped by risky curiosity, wild abandon, daring playfulness, quiet listening, irresponsible passion, happy terror, and naive grace." If you haven't read it, you should. Today we thoroughly enjoyed our visit with William Nyasulu and Youth Care Ministries. I met William last year, briefly, and caught a glimpse of his vision for urban youth in Lilongwe. Youth Care has two after-school programs and a "safe haven" housing 8 homeless youth. William gained perspective on effective, urban youth programming by taking part in "Urban Promise" in Camden, New Jersey, a ministry supported and promoted by Tony Campolo and EAPE . He now has a vision to build a 'campus' with a primary & secondary school, 8 'group homes' for homeless youth, resource center, technology center, library, guest house for missionary groups... and it goes on. They have acquired land and he hopes to make it to the States to raise support and research more urban programs. We spent the afternoon with one of the After-school programs which they call "camp". I encouraged Mavuto (an ABC student/intern) to facilitate 2 games devotions he had learned with me on Monday (Red Light, Green Light and Elbow Tag). We met many volunteers including 4 ABC graduates who are heading to New Jersey in September to work with "Urban Promise". One, Robert, wanted to hear my perspective on American youth and how they differed from Malawian youth. One big difference is respect. In America, adults don't get respect, they have to earn it relationally. But here in Malawi, respecting your elders is a part of the culture. I've observed this in many ways, even in the handshake. I hope that the western culture doesn't dilute the Malawi traditions too much. Tomorrow we go out to Matapila, a village to the south where MoH started. We will be staying with Gift and his family, helping with the feeding center programs, and facilitating a recreation workshop for youth workers. It should be another unique, perspective-shifting experience.

dancing to afro-reggae gospel