NOTE (1/12/18): We’re all learning and growing.  Some of the stuff I’ve written in these old posts may no longer be exactly what I believe or think, or at least may not be articulated the way I’d do it nowadays.  I preserve them in an attempt it to be transparent about my journey, and in the hopes that readers may still glean some insight from the core ideas found here.  Thanks for journeying with me!

Most of my South Africa team has already written great reports on our month-long excursion.  I, being a little late hopping on the bandwagon, will refer you to some of their writings throughout this article, and fill in the gaps with my own perspectives on what I experienced and learned on the other side of the world.

Quick rundown of purpose of trip: Matthew 28:19-20 – Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”  Simple, straightforward, and pretty open-ended.  Dennis, our fearless leader, established connections in SA when he first came 6 months ago.  That’s about all I knew going into the trip, along with the fact that Jesus lives in us and wants to get out…

Yahweh Jireh Strikes Again

I have to share quickly how the Lord enabled me to go on this trip, because it still amazes me.  I came home  to Pennsylvania in mid-December, so broke I couldn’t even buy a vowel.  I spent two weeks with the Lord asking Him how money was going to come about for my trip, which was only three months away.  I felt Him say I didn’t even need to get a job, but to do what will help spread the Kingdom.  I picked two minimum wage jobs up, and that covered half my expenses.  But I received the airfare bill in mid-March, which came out to $1483 – a sum I didn’t even have in the rest of my savings.

I declared that I would have the money in three days.  That evening we went to visit some friends of ours who we had ministered to and who had also been a blessing to us.  After a wonderful visit they handed me an envelope – inside, a cheque for $1500 towards my trip.  I hadn’t told them anything about my financial situation, but God had!  That is good news.

Meeting with MCC South Africa

After spending two weeks in Kenya, I flew down to Johannesburg and spent a day there before my final destination on the South Coast.  I spent my time in Joburg with the Mennonite Central Committee Coordinators for Southern Africa, Bruno & Lois Baerg.  They were wonderful hosts, especially considering how busy they were.

Bruno also shared with me  from his years of experience in Africa regarding mission trips.  He said something that I found a little unsettling at first.  He told me, “Don’t come and force people to change.  Realize you may not have all the answers because you don’t yet know all the questions.  To make a lasting impact can take years.  Come to learn.” My charismatic-tuned ears were not used to this kind of thinking, but in retrospect I realize this was sage advice for us in the days to come.

Introduction to South Coast

I had a joyful reunion with my team/friends that evening in Durban (Travis can introduce you to the crew here).  Driving in the back of a truck with no seatbelts was fun…the first few times…(but thanks to Brandon’s workout scheme developed a few weeks later, enthusiasm was revamped).  About the time I arrived, our team was given a free villa in Ramsgate for the rest of our stay.  This came in handy in so many ways – yet definitely not the Africa many of us imagined!

One of Dennis’ main contacts was a 60-person church called Mighty River Ministries.  Connected with them was a group of teenagers, easily recognized by their T-shirts dubbing them the “God Squad”.  By the end of the trip they had become the focal point of most of our discipleship.  Preparing them for success took on many forms – taking them to Port Shepstone hospital and praying for everyone there (some testimonies here), having them over for a brie (SA BBQ), having some Jehovah’s Witnesses over to discuss eternity and frankincense, and spending one-on-one time with them.

En Masse in Massenengah

However, the biggest project we undertook with them was ministry in local squatter camp called Massenengah.  This was the Africa many of us imagine – shacks made out of tin and stolen signboards, kids and chickens running around and playing in the dirt, trash and sewage everywhere.  As far as we knew, no other ministries had been working there, so we began going door to door and looking for people to heal and share Jesus with.

We had heard this was the place murderers and rapists went to hide from the law, but we were actually welcomed by virtually everyone we met.  We saw many people get healed – a paralyzed baby started kicking, a stroke victim started walking again, many pains and sores healed up.  Travis shares a lot of these testimonies here.  As we talked to people the idea came to start having church meetings in the camp.  So we cleared out an area and brought in forty chairs, and planned a service.

The first meeting we had every seat was filled.  Okay, it was by 4-year-old kids mainly…but hey, it’s a start.  We had the God Squad lead worship in their own language, and Brandon preached.  The second time we met, one of the God Squad got to preach.  It was good, but there were even less adults there the second time, and I think we might have been a little over the kid’s heads.

Lessons Learned

Unfortunately, our team ran out of time to help with more meetings.  By the time we had gotten things running we had to fly home.  On top of this, we found out that there apparently was actually another ministry in Massenengah, and there could have potentially been damage done to local relationships.  We also had to sit down and talk with local leadership to address misconceptions about our “church” and its intentions; no harm was done as it was mostly due to miscommunication.  Yet I couldn’t help but think of what I had heard in Joburg: “Don’t come and force change.  Come to learn.”

Yesterday I was thinking, you know how easy it is to do kick flips on a skateboard if you don’t have to land them?  (Not that I’d know or anything…)  It looks cool – if you don’t watch how it ends.  In the same way, I was thinking about how when we minister we must be sure that we are aimed towards “fruit that will last” (John 15:16) – not just to do miracles and stuff that looks cool.

It was also troubling as to why none of our newfound friends showed up at the church meetings.  I know this was partially due to lack of communication, and not understanding the culture as well.  But a friend named Luvo that we met in East London had another perspective: “Everyone in Africa knows there’s a supernatural, it’s not a theory or list of ideas.  Ancestral worship involves tangible experiences.  You can’t just heal people, you must be the answer to their questions.”  Sound familiar?

Many of those we met in Massenegah did not have jobs, many struggled with drugs and alcohol.  We’ve been realizing it can take a long time of walking with people to help them break free from old mindsets.  This is what will bring them to the Lord.  Bill Johnson said it like this: “The church has a habit of answering questions that the world isn’t asking.  That’s why God told Saul where to find his donkeys – so that it would create an opportunity for God to show him all that was on his heart (1 Samuel 9:19-20)”.  I’ve realized that in a country across the world, it takes time and a lot of understanding of the other person’s needs to show them the Lord, and it can look quite a bit different than it does in America.  I wrote in my journal before the trip: “Maybe we won’t get credit in America for what we do, cuz our best work might not be glamorous.  But God will know.”

Certainly we made an impact in Massenengah – we left it in the hands of some young people who can change the world, and we know how even a single encounter can change someone’s life.  But as Brandon points out in his article, probably the most lasting fruit from Massenengah was that it created a great discipleship opportunity for the God Squad and others we brought with us to learn.  In fact we ended up taking two “unchurched”  friends we met in downtown Margate to the camp with us, and by the end they were excited to pray for people too!

Personal Highlights

We had many other wonderful times in South Africa.  Personal highlights for me included doing prison ministry, where they would stick us in a cell with 20 high-risk juveniles or sick middle-aged men, and we preached the gospel and healed the sick.  I would say they were some of the most hungry people for Jesus of all those we met in SA!  Being able to host people at our villa was also amazing, especially our good friends who came 8 hours on a bus from Joburg!

One last note was an interesting encounter that Travis and I had while playing pool in downtown Margate one evening.  We went with no intention to do ministry, and yet ended up discipling a guy named Gerard for two hours – a guy who had a passion for God but no support and no direction.  This experience I think confirmed for me something that we have been thinking all along – it’s not about street ministry, it’s about making real relationships with people and walking with them.

(This was some fun we had in Hemingways Mall in East London)

Wrapping Up

Aside from the links I mentioned earlier, check out Dennis and Sue’s experiences and thoughts from the trip.  I only hit on basically one aspect; I could talk about much more, but I presume that if it is truth it will be coming out sooner or later anyways – this article is long enough!

We saw many good things in Africa.  Mighty River Ministries has asked us to adopt their church and use it whenever to further the Kingdom.  Sue is heading back in 2012 and the rest of us will likely be following soon.  So things move ahead, and as they do let’s always remember to put God first, be the answer to the questions that others are asking, and always come to learn.  Live it real.