Last Days at AE

It is a Wednesday night, and I have a little more than 48 hours left on the African Enterprise campus in Pietermaritzburg. Saturday morning, at 6 AM all forty-eight of us will be packing up and heading off to Cape Town. We are taking a 5 day drive along the coast in order to get there, and we will be stopping at different sites and staying in hotels along the way.

Tomorrow is the last day at Gateway. So much has happened. We said goodbye to the Cele family (one of the craft groups we were able to visit multiple times), and Promise (one of the aunts who is 56 years old) shed tears of sadness and joy as we were walking out the door. On our last day with the Celes we listened to Lionel Richie, painted nails, ate cookies, and spent time relaxing. It was a beautiful day, and the hospitality and generosity this family showed to each of us far surpasses anything I've seen in my life thus far. They have so little, yet the little the do have, they give-- freely. We prayed with them before we left and we all walked, as slowly as possible mind you, back to the car for a final goodbye.

On Friday, my Gateway group will present about our service site in our Community Engagement class, so here is a little slideshow I put together showing some of the highlights over these last four weeks. I hope you enjoy!

See you in Cape Town next week! Till then, be blessed and be a blessing.

"My child, remember what I say and never forget what I tell you to do.Do what I say, and you will live. Be as careful to follow my teaching as you are to protect your eyes.Keep my teaching with you all the time; write it on your heart.Treat wisdom as your sister, and insight as your closest friend."
-Prov. 7:1-4

Hallelujah (Jabulani Africa)

The Church Tent

We like pictures with them. They like  pictures with us
It all works out quite nicely! 

Playing during communion.

I'm an honorary usher! See the name-tag?! 

Another amazing day here in South Africa. I feel bad for blogging so much, but there’s so much I just cannot NOT write about! I’d like to tell you about this Sunday morning, specifically. About twenty of us had the privilege of going with one our CLCs (Community Life Coordinators) this morning, Reagan Joseph, to a township about forty-five minutes outside of Maritzburg because he was preaching.

When we arrived there was a large white tent set up and there was music playing. That was around 10 AM, by the way. We were seated as a group in the very front row nearest the stage and closest to the large speakers that were blasting the music we had heard from outside. I had earplugs (as I always do), so I put them in immediately, but it was just too loud, and if my father has taught me anything, he has taught me to protect my ears. That being said, after one song, I headed to the back of the tent to stand near the doorway/tent opening. There were two female ushers, probably about my age, and as the music continued I started to make quick friends with them as we danced, shouted hallelujah and lifted up our hands to the Lord.

After about ten minutes of being in the back with them, one of the girls (Ntobe) pulled a nametag out of her purse and put it on my shirt. It said “Usher.” I’d been there less than twenty minutes and I had already been designated to usher and invite people in as they walked through the tent opening, one after the other (there were probably about 300 people under that tiny tent by the middle of the service). It was a BLAST and a BLESSING. Looking into people’s eyes, shaking their hands, and saying “God bless you” was something I could have done all day (or at least until my legs gave out). Anyway, the dancing and singing went on for about an hour and a half. Every time you thought it was over, you were wrong and a new song of praise, adoration, or victory broke out. The sound, as I’ve said multiple times before, is a sound like none other. The passion with which they sing and worship the Lord takes your breath away.

After worship a few of the APU students were invited up on the spot. One of them was my friend, Christa. She and the others were wonderful as they shared verses, shared parts of their lives, and shared a bit about what they’ve been learning over their short time here in South Africa. It was really amazing how each one’s comments added so much to the service as a whole. Also, the South Africans were quite excited to hear the sound of an “American accent.” After Reagan spoke, he asked me to come up and play piano as communion was taken. I sang a song he requested called, “Break Every Chain” (it’s a great one by Will Reagan and the United Pursuit, if you don’t know it), and as I sang the words, “There is power in the name of Jesus,” over and over again, the whole congregation sang along. I was reminded in this moment, once more, that the love of Jesus crosses all borders and allows people from all nations and all ethnicities to stand as one in the presence of the Lord who has united us together by His spirit. What a beautiful and supernatural thing that is. Enjoy the pictures and video :)

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one.”

 John 17:22

Pictures thanks to my good friend, Christa :)

Project Gateway and Some Fun…Upload #8

Project Gateway and Some Fun…Upload #8, a set on Flickr.

Hugs and Kisses

This week has been incredible. Thank you for all your prayers regarding Gateway and the work going on there. The past five days at our service site have been immensely rewarding. We are almost finished working on a catalogue we’ve been putting together for them in order to promote the crafts of the people they work with in the townships in and around Pietermaritzburg to a more mainstream market. We have also been able to meet, spend time with, and connect with the different crafters with whom Project Gateway works. It has been an honor to love them, hug them, kiss them, and even work with them.

We went to two groups this past week. The first group we saw was the Gogo (which means Grandma in Zulu) group in Cramond, another township about 45 minutes outside of Pietermaritzburg. This group works mostly with beads and yarn. They crochet a lot of things, so we got together with one of the Gateway fashion school graduates named Sandile (San-dee-lay) and brainstormed some items they might be able to work on making such as a crocheted coffee sleeves, or crocheted headbands. Sandile also came with us to be our translator because even though most of the children here speak English, most people from the older generation do not.

The Gogos meet twice a week in a large concrete room (dubbed the town hall) and work on their crafts. They join together 3 long plastic tables, pull up their little chairs, and sit for hours, about 20 of them, just knitting away—talking, laughing, eating, and drinking tea the whole time. We visited them on Tuesday and Friday this past week. When our group came in on Tuesday we were immediately welcomed with big smiles and long hugs. They stood at the beginning of their meeting and sang a few songs (in Zulu), closing that time with the Lord’s Prayer (in Zulu and English—I imagine the English was for our benefit, due to the fact that almost none of them spoke any at all). It was a beautiful ceremony to be a part of, to say the least.

I spent most of my time just sitting with them, smiling, and laughing (although most of the time I’m pretty sure I was being laughed at). I didn’t mind at all. At one point, I began to sing Akekho Ofana (the only song I knew in Zulu), and slowly but surely the woman across me began to sing along, and then the next woman and the next woman, and before I knew it they were standing up from the table (as they tend to do when they sing) and we had a solid five-minute sing-along going. That may have been a highlight of my life if we’re being honest, haha. The sound of their voices...there’s nothing like it. Anyway, when we left about two hours later they clapped for us, kissed our hands, and asked us when we would return.

We were able to return on Friday, but not for very long because we also went back to Sweetwaters that same day (to see the Cele craft family I told you about already) and helped them for 3 hours as they finished a beadwork order for an event that evening. We had originally planned to go and just hang out for the day, but when we arrived they were all working frantically, so we decided to join in on the fun! (I now know how to bead the stem of one of those crazy head scratcher contraptions…something I've always wanted to learn how to do….Obviously!)

Anyway, thank you again for the prayers and encouragement I’ve received from many of you. This coming week is our final one at service sites and African Enterprise. On Friday, November 18^th, we will be leaving Pietermaritzburg and heading to Cape Town (driving along the coast by bus over a period of about five days) for the final leg of this South African adventure.
Until next time, enjoy the pictures below and be blessed!

“May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

- Heb. 13:20-21

Hugs and Kisses- Pictures

In Sweetwaters township with the Cele family.
Gabbi (next to me) made the necklace I'm wearing!

Rushing to finish beading!

A bracelet they made from beads.

Another bracelet made out of shells

Look who's in the neighborhood!

<3

How could you not love them?

Natural born models.

Crafting time with the Gogos

Our first day together :)

How South Africa Saved My Life

Are you ever just so overwhelmed by what the Lord has done in your life that you can barely stand it? Well, today was one of those days. This morning began with chapel (student-led chapel), and considering it was our second to last time having chapel as a community on the African Enterprise campus here in Pietermaritzburg, we did an “affirmation circle” type thing for the main staff that’s been with us from the beginning (plus Francis, our incredible Kenyan Community Engagement teacher and mentor). The staff seated in front of the room made up a total of six people--Reg, Francis, and our 4 community life coordinators: Leizel and Reagan (they’re married), Cynthia (Reg’s assistant and a community coordinator), and Janet. This affirmation circle (or line more like it) was planned last minute by the student chapel committee. It was the opportunity for us as students to thank and affirm the team that has taken such amazing care of us from the moment we stepped off the plane in Johannesburg (and even before, planning this semester at the beginning of 2011 and covering us in prayer throughout the summer).

The affirmations began, and the tears started to flow as, one by one, student after student stood up and thanked the Azusa Pacific International staff one at a time, pointing out the strengths of each one of them and highlighting this or that memory, whether serious or playful—it was just one of those moments, ya know? The kind that sticks in your mind forever because the love in the room is so evident, and the presence of the Holy Spirit is undeniable. There were a couple of words spoken that made me completely lose it, especially when those comments had something to do with Reg, who, according to one of the girls, “spits wisdom.” I would have to agree with her on that one. Fortunately, a pile of napkins was being passed around so we might dry our eyes.

By the time Reg got up to say a few words (after over an hour of “affirming” had gone by), the napkins weren’t doing much. Mine was torn and soaked, getting more soaked by the minute, as Reg stood, with tears in his eyes, and thanked us for being a semester that had restored his hope for the Azusa Pacific South Africa Semester. He thanked us for doing as much, as a semester, for him and the staff as they had done for us. He let us into a little secret of his as well. He said, “You know how I judge how the semester is going to run?” We all waited with bated breath as he stated, “I can tell by the end of the first chapel, and I knew, after that first chapel, that this semester was going to be a special one.” At that point, I was literally bawling, like the kind of bawling that should not be seen in public (chest heaving, throat squeaking etc). Thank goodness I wasn’t the only one. I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the room, boy and girl alike. 

I was crying because I was so hit in that moment with an overwhelming sense that the Lord had literally “Pulled me out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock” by taking me from Azusa to South Africa right when I needed it. Over the summer and going into this fall semester I was going through one of the hardest seasons of my life, asking God lots of questions, wondering why I still felt a burden, an uneasiness, and a brokenness I just couldn’t seem to shake. Throughout my time in South Africa, I’ve been asking the Lord for restoration and healing (if you can’t tell, it’s been a theme in a lot of my blogs), but I had become frustrated at times because I couldn’t seem to figure out why it wasn’t happening (to the extent I had expected) already!

The Lord, over the past few days had been bringing a few verses to mind. The first is found in Ephesians 6 when Scripture talks about putting on the full armor of God and praying at all times. This is something I began to do as I woke up every morning, being aware that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12), and being even more aware that the devil “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (I Pet. 5:8), and I refused to be that “someone” any longer!

Anyway, that had been going on in my head for the past week, and other verses

…like Heb. 12:11

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

…and James 1:2-4

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”

…had become repetitive staples in my daily diet of Scripture verses. What I realized is, even if my struggles had not magically disappeared like I had wanted/expected them too, it didn’t mean that I was somehow doing something wrong or being utterly defeated. That wasn’t the point. The point was to CHOOSE LIFE and CLAIM MY VICTORY amidst the suffering—to persevere. After all, it’s in the testing, the trials, and the brokenness that HIS strength is most seen, isn’t it? It’s in the pain, the heartache, and the tears that the training takes place, so that, in the end, we might grow and bear fruit, being “mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” So I can REJOICE in the trials! I can glory in my tribulations knowing that “afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Additionally, because God is just that good, he has used me in spite of my brokenness. He has taken my tiny, pitiful offering of a broken heart and made it big in His kingdom. He has used me in the short time I’ve had here to touch others and be touched by them, whether it’s the people I live with here on campus or the community around us. Whether we are having a worship night or just lounging on the grass outside during teatime—He truly has been IMMANUEL, God with us, all the time, not letting go for one second.

Today is 11/7/11, if you haven’t noticed. 11:11 is my favorite time. I’m not exactly sure why, but it just is. When I see those numbers displayed on the clock I always remember the phrase that I wrote out a moment ago, “Immanuel—God with us.”

Seven is also my favorite number. Maybe it’s my favorite because it is a number of completion. Regardless, today is 11/7/11, so I’d like to see it like this...

God is Alpha and Omega, He is the elevens on either side of the seven. The seven is me--smack dab in the middle of his perfect plan, being strengthened, healed, restored, and brought to “completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

Project Gateway

First off, I would like to pull a Marty Goetz and say I am sorry for my two-week silence without a blog! I hope you all survived. I’m most confident that you did :)

Anyway, the last two weeks have brought with them a number of transitions and trials. First off, school is over, finals have been taken, and last night I finished my last assignment for Biology class—a 12-page paper on South African conservation. To say I enjoyed writing the paper would be a lie, but when I’m put in a position of doing school-work that I do not want to do, I just try to remind myself that it is a blessing and not a curse to be receiving an incredible education and having the opportunity to increase my knowledge, skills, and have my voice heard on certain issues and topics. School is not a curse. It is a blessing. Of this I am quite sure.

After finals two weeks ago, we began preparing for our service sites. We took a three-day crash course on Community Engagement taught by a man named Francis Ngikito. He is from Kenya and worked for World Vision for over 30 years. He is a man who is in his early 60s, although you would never know it, and he is full of joy, life, and the Holy Spirit. Currently, he does independent consulting for people and was described by our executive director, Reg, as the best community developer on the continent of Africa. Needless to say, I think we were all looking forward to the class and the opportunity to learn from such a highly revered and esteemed man.

After three days of the class, endless notes, and a lot of interactive “community development-ish” type activities, I was overjoyed because for the first time in my life, I felt like I had some direction for what I might want to do with an International Business degree—I want to be like Francis (kinda, maybe, sorta). This is all in the beginning stages, but as Francis spoke, almost everything he said resonated in my Spirit. In other words, most of the things he described regarding his job as a community developer had to do with strengths and skills such as anthropology, history, communication, building relationships, creating plans, developing a vision, and working to empower people. All of these topics spark interest in me, on both a tangible and spiritual level. I left those three days feeling like I had some direction for my life, and that is something I’d been praying for regarding my time in South Africa because, “Without vision my people perish.”- Prov. 29:18

Although those three days in class had an impact on what the future might hold, the purpose of each 8AM-4PM session was to prepare us for “engaging with the community” over the next four weeks at our service site. Mine was Project Gateway. Project Gateway is a non-profit Christian organization that exists for the sake of uplifting people and their communities by providing them with job, business and life skills. It is a little campus located in a rundown part of Pietermaritzburg. On that campus there are shops run by local craft businesses, a Christian school (K-7), a fashion school, an overnight shelter, a women’s home (that is currently closed due to lack of funding), and administrative offices where they are continually trying to figure out ways to help the poorest of the poor by empowering them to break out of the cycle of poverty.

On Thursday, I headed to my site with three others—Abby (a sophomore political science major), Mark (a sophomore business admin major), and Matt (a senior physics major). We were excited, apprehensive, and a bit nervous about what the next 14 days at Project Gateway might hold (that week we were only there for two days, and for the following three weeks we spend one day in class with Francis and the next four at our site, so 14 days total on site, spread out over a period of four weeks). Anyway, it almost felt like a first day of school. We wanted to be liked, welcomed, and needed at Project Gateway.

The first thing Sally, the volunteer coordinator there, said to us when we stepped out of the van has kind of defined our past week there thus far. She exclaimed with surprise, “I thought you were coming next week!” That statement right there defined our first couple of days at Gateway. Unfortunately, they are quite understaffed at the moment and lacking a lot of funding, which, in turn, makes them have little time to get us up and running on project “this or that.” This past week was better, but there is still a lot of progress to be made regarding communication between the staff and us.

We are currently picking up on a project that last semester’s APU group left behind. It has to do with crafts (jewelry and accessories) that the people in townships make and the fact that much of what they make is beautiful and well designed, but there is no market for it within the townships because no one has the money to purchase anything. Project Gateway partners with these “crafters” (as we call them) and takes their products out of the townships and into a market (whether that be within South Africa or on an international level). They want us to design a line of products for the crafters to make that we think would sell in the U.S. and create a catalogue that can be sent to different retailers who might want to sell a “warm product,” or something that is made with a story and character, and the profit that comes in from buying that product goes directly back to the crafters in order to sustain them and help put food on their table. Anyway, it is a large endeavor, but most definitely a worthy cause with much potential.

On Friday, we were able to go and visit a family of crafters in one of the townships. That was a highlight of the week by far. Sitting in an office and creating a catalogue on InDesign becomes tedious work after three days time, and we were anxious to get out into the community and meet the people. We met four women—Nontobeko (19), Thembile (18), Gabisile (The mother of those two girls), and Mvelo (probably mid-30s). Nontobeko had just given birth a month before to the most beautiful baby girl (who was sleeping soundly in the little two-bedroom house). When we walked in there was the most beautiful display of jewelry set up, and we browsed through it all amazed at the skill level and detail of each piece created by these women. We only spent about an hour talking with them, but we decided that we would come back the next week (with nail polish and chocolate) just to hang out.

So far that has been the most frustrating part about being at Project Gateway, specifically. There are four other sites the students are going to and ours is the most “business-oriented,” which is good for me as business major, obviously, but the Community Engagement course, that is directly linked to the service sites, is to build relationships and spend time with people. Our team of four is hoping to be able to do more of that in the weeks to come, but for now we are taking it one step at time. You can pray for our team if you think of it, that we would be united and open to whatever it is God has for us at Project Gateway, whether that involves spending time with people or working on a business plan, that all of it would be done for His glory and His purposes alone. Amen.

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."- Hebrew 4:18