UKUKHANYA

UKUKHANYA is a Zulu word meaning “Light in the Darkness.”  It is also the name of a ministry started by an American woman from Kansas, named Penny Dugan, that we met here in Durban and a South African guy named Prince.  The name comes from 1 John 1:5: “God is the light; in Him there is no darkness.”  UKUKHANYA will serve as a hospice for people in their final days as they succumb to the unavoidable demise which AIDS brings about.  After losing her ex-husband to the disease which he contracted after being unfaithful in homosexual affairs, Penny felt the Lord really calling her to reach out to people with the disease.  In the early 90’s, she and her three children started a ministry known as New Jerusalem Missions.  The Mission served the same purpose as what she is doing now in the township of Ntuzuma where we have been working.  She created a hospice for AIDS patients in their final days.  The connection with South Africa?  Prince has a story all his own.  After finding out that his fiance had been unfaithful and being temporarily disabled by a terrible car wreck, Prince (a young man in his mid-twenties) was ready to throw out everything that the Lord had done for him and end his life.  However, God began really working in his heart.  Prince described the experiences he had in which God spoke to him in an audible voice telling him the plans to open a ministry care center for people living with AIDS.  Soon after recovering from the injuries sustained during the wreck, Prince answered God’s call.  He found a building in the township of Ntuzuma which God had already showed him in his visions.  He gathered staff and started the mission.  One day, not too long after starting the mission, Prince was volunteering at a local homeless shelter.  He found a pamphlet in the bottom of a clothes bin and shoved it into his back pocket out of habit.  When he got home that night, he found the paper he put in his pocket earlier that day.  He opened it and inside read the story of a lady who was doing the same work that he was doing–it was Penny’s story!  Prince called her that night and shared with her how he was doing the same work and felt that God wanted her to come and partner with him in it.  Penny told me that after several visits, she really felt God calling her to move to Durban and do His work through this ministry.  It has been exciting to be a part of that work over the past few weeks.  Along with setting up the hospice, Prince and Penny believe it to be important to express the Good Deeds and Good News of the Gospel through helping people in the community.  Yesterday, we did just that.    

We visited the home of two sisters who lived together with their three children.  Petunia (25) had a seven year old daughter and a 3 year old son.  Her sister (23) had a three year old son and was pregnant with a baby that is due in August.  Their younger brother also lives with them.  Their mother died 5 years ago and there was no talk of a father.  The girls and their children have been living in the one-bedroom house with their three children.  The room that they live in is no more than 8′ x 12′.  Their brother lived in a lean-to on one side of the house.  However, he has become involved in a gang and one night, after apparently falling into ill-favor with the other members, a group of guys showed up and set the lean-to on fire.  Fortunately, the brother was not at home.  However, it scared Petunia and her sister greatly.  Penny and Prince decided to rebuild the lean-to but to build it as another permanent room, making the house twice as large.  This would be especially beneficial with another child on the way.  The walls and roof had been built.  Yesterday, we were able to install the window and the door.  As with any projects in South Africa, they took about three times as long as it should have taken.  However, after three runs to the supply store, coping with malfunctioning tools, and a smashed finger or two–we were able to all but complete the new addition.  The only thing that we lack is to pour a new cement floor in the house and install the linoleum.  Each day on project has been immensely rewarding, but yesterday I felt like the Lord used me most.  I enjoy providing for people’s physical needs and getting to work in such a way was rewarding for me.  One really fun thing that happened yesterday, occurred on our second run to the supply store.  It was about lunch time and Penny suggested that we stop by one of the roadside stands and get some grilled chicken affectionately known as “chicken dust.”  Sounds appetizing I thought…but it really was.  We stopped at a little shack of a stand and placed our order.  I noticed something that looked like chicken-on-a-stick.  Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to try so a great native dish, I picked up a stick, paid for it, and took a bit.  It tasted really good I thought.  Penny informed me that what I had just eaten was actually CHICKEN LIVERS!!!  I’ve never tried them in my life; who would have thought that a roadside stand in an African township would be my inaugural experience?!?!  They seriously weren’t bad but I’m sure I would’ve been a lot more reluctant to indulge had I know what it was.  As one of the local guys working with us, Pilani, told me this was Ntuzuma’s version of fast food!  As we waited, I talked with a group of young guys about my age that were sitting out front.  I noticed that one of them was wearing a pretty cool soccer jersey.  After talking with them for a few minutes, I convinced the guy to sell me the jersey he was wearing.  I bought it for R100 (a hundred rand)–that’s about $14.00 for those of you in the States!  He was really excited to sell it to me and Pilani assured me that he would probably tell everyone he talked to for the next three days of how a white guy in his township in South Africa stopped at a roadside stand and bought the jersey off his back for R100.  Soon after that, our food was ready.  With chicken and jersey in hand, I waved good-bye to my new friends and jumped in the car.  I’ll never forget the cultural experience I had at the roadside stand in the poorest part of the country, nor the guys that I met there!

1 Timothy 4:12

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.  -1 Timothy 4:12

As we have found the case to be since our arrival, yesterday’s sermon did not manifest itself without a few minor “speedbumps.”  It is almost universally true that if you have specific plans in South Africa, you better make sure that both parties are extremely clear on the details of the arrangement.  In meeting with people on campus, we have realized that it is much harder to keep appointments with South African students.  Even with adults, it seems that people are more prone to tell you that they will do something so as to appease your request than they do out of a sense of really desiring to honor this notion. 

So how did this play out yesterday?  After a few minutes into the service, I realized that there were no youth conducting the service.  I thought this strange seeing as how it was supposed to be “Youth Sunday.”  And then came the all-too-common realization that some sort of miscommunication had occurred.  “Youth Sunday is actually NEXT Sunday” my friend Londiwe informed me.  I spent the next 15 minutes of the service trying to hold back my laughter.  You really have to learn to “roll with the punches” when it comes to pre-planning things in this country.  However, one young lady in the congregation apparently remembered that we had been asked to deliver the message and she spoke with the pastor.  He was very gracious in that he just scrapped what he had prepared and invited us to still bring the message this week.

Hace opened up the sermon with a passage from 1 Samuel 16 in which Samuel annoints David to become the next king of Israel.  As he talked throught the text, he explained that David was not the person whom people would have chosen as their next leader.  By all the standards that men viewed–height, birth order, family status, etc.–David was not the man for the job.  However, Hace explained that God chooses people based on His own sovereign standard.  God can see what man cannot.  He sees the heart and it is based on one’s heart that He makes His selection.  Hace explained that, likewise, God looks at our hearts and disregards the outward things that the world holds to be important and of value. 

The text from which I based my part of the sermon on was the one which you find above, 1 Timothy 4:12.  I talked about how Paul wrote these instructions to Timothy so as to encourage Timothy in his faith and his work as pastor of the Church at Ephesus at a young age.  Through the sermon, I explained the ways in which God tells us we are to honor Him and set an example for others through our speech, life, love, faith, and purity.  As Hace explained, I used several of the promises God has made to assure the people that God does not choose the people through whom He will work based on worldly standards.  It is all about the condition of our hearts.  The two parts of the sermon, Old Testament and New, complimented each other very well. 

It was an experience that I will never forget.  Working with a translator was somewhat of a challenge, but the Lord used it to ensure that the message was clear and thorough.  To be a part of a multi-cultural, multi-national worship service, was an incredible reminder that ours truly is the God of ALL nations.  The experience served to only grow me in appreciation of His sovereign and holy nature.  We are headed back to Ntuzuma this morning to do more work in the community.  One thing that I will ask you to be praying for is this weekend.  We are hosting a retreat as I mentioned before, for the students that we have met on campus at the University of KwaZulu Natal-Westville.  It will be a weekend in which the students will be encouraged spiritually and through which we will seek to equip them with the proper tools for ministry on their campus.  Our goal is that the Lord would “raise up a movement of students on campus who are seeking Him.”  The students that will be coming this weekend will be the leaders of that movement.   Pray that students will commit to come and will be excited about it.  Pray also that as we continue to plan the weekend, that it would be productive and that God’s would work to change students’ lives through it.  God Bless!

AMAZING GRACE, HOW SWEET THE SOUND!

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see!”

Mark it down: one life goal completed.  Never have these worlds been so meaningful as this past Sunday.  As you may remember, there are a group of 6 of the team members and 1 staff that has been attending church at kwaDabeka, one of the townships just outside of Durban.  Well, this past week, we were asked to be a part of the choir that sings in church on Sunday–hilarious right!?!  Me, singing in a gospel choir, in a Zulu-speaking church, in South Africa!  When asked what we’d like to sing–I suggested “Amazing Grace.”  We also thought about another classic, “O, Happy Day” but that one will have to wait until we have more time to get the swaying and clapping down.  On Sunday, just after the offering was taken, the 7 of us and about 10 of the youth members of the church made our way up front.  I must admit, I felt controlled by my nerves.  However, we did make it through the song and much to the applause and cheering of the church members.  So Michael, you definitely got the singing genes of the two of us, but you have some ground to cover (though, I haven’t sang in countless weddings as you have!)  Glenn, Mrs. Linda, Mrs. Melba, and others…thank you for all the time that you’ve poured into trying to help me to “make a joyful noise!”  I know that Mrs. Angeline was looking down with one of those huge smiles she had anytime the youth would sing!!

This week, we are working in another of the townships: Ntuzuma.  It has about 500,000 residents.  We have had the opportunity to work on people’s houses and play with kids as well as visit the schools in the area.  Yesterday, I helped finish putting a roof on a lady’s house.  A few months back, the original crew that was building her roof had almost finished.  On the day that she was going to go get the last of the supplies, she had a stroke.  This left her paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.  The top peak of the house, where the two pitches meet in the middle, was left unfinished.  Anytime that it would rain, water flooded her house.  Well, we were able to go get the rest of the materials and finish the project!  Mom, don’t read this, but there was no ladder to get up on the roof.  Rather, I had one of our team members and a guy that works in construction hoist me up onto the roof.  I then helped to pull the other guy, Pilani, up onto the roof with me.  What were the roofing pieces made of you ask??  Asbestos!  I explained to Pilani that asbestos had been mostly eradicated in the U.S. and the reasons surrounding it.  Another job that we helped with was diverting water that was seeping through the cement blocks of another lady’s home and into her bedroom.  Well actually the house belonged to a young girl of only 23 who was the head of her household.  After losing her parents to HIV/AIDS, the girl, Laura, took responsibility for raising her 5 brothers and sisters.  After a crew of about 6 guys worked to dig a 2 foot deep ditch all the way around the house the better part of yesterday, the water continued to run.  When we went back today, it seemed that we had only exposed the problem–we haven’t fixed it.  In talking to Pilani, the governement was not supposed to build a house on the site because they knew that it was really wet.  Tomorrow, the chancellor of the region is coming out to have a look at the house and the work.  We are hopeful that they will be able to move Laura and her family into a new, dry home.  Please be praying specifically for her in this matter.  Even if we were not able to fix the problem, we would count it a success to have had a part in securing her a new home.  We will continue to work in Ntuzuma with several other projects this week.  Please pray for our continued safety as we travel to an area that in not common for whites to be in.  It certainly can serve to make us targets of theft and other crime.

Another note on kwaDabeka; I was approached by one of the youth leaders, Mona, after church on Sunday.    She relayed to me the fact that this upcoming Sunday will be youth Sunday.  It will work much like a youth Sunday back in the States in which the youth of the church are responsible for conducting the service.  She asked if I would be interested in sharing an “inspirational word” with the students.  I gladly accepted!  However, as I continued to talk to her about the particulars of sharing a word or two, she revealed to me that mine would actually be the main message.  “So by main message, do you mean that there won’t be any other sermon?”  I asked.  “Yeah, basically–you’ll be the one doing the sermon!”  Wow…things just got a lot crazier.  She informed me that I would have anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to speak!!  So one week in the choir, next week in the pulpit!!  I asked her if I might have some help and she said certainly.  Hace, my roommate and a Crusader from UGA, will be sharing the duty with me.  All we know is that we are probably going to focus on 1 Timothy 4:12: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”  We will also look at David’s life as a young man and how he can serve as an example of what it means to grow up pursuing God in all that we do.  Please be praying for us.  This is a challenge unlike any that I’ve faced.  We will also be having someone interpret the message from English into Zulu so that everyone can understand.  I really appreciate your continued prayers and especially will be comforted by them as we share the Good News in church on Sunday.  I love you all very much!

Zkahle: A Place of Safety

Yesterday, we went to a orphanage in the township (similar to a squatter’s camp) of KwaDabeka–the same village where I have been attending church the past couple of weeks.  The name of the orphanage, as evident from the title of the post, is Zkahle: A Place of Safety.  We split our team into two groups and the other group scouted out a site on which we are going to help establish a hospice shelter for patients with HIV/AIDS.  For the whole of the team, yesterday was the most trying.  It was the first time that we have all been really exposed to the extreme poverty of the people here in South Africa.  The children at Zkahle are mostly under the age of four.  Zkahle serves as a short-term refuge for children until they are restored to their families, adopted, or placed into foster care.  As we played with the children, it was evident that theirs’ was a story of despair and hopelessness.  The sadness in their eyes, even in the midst of frequently laughter and smiles, depicted the brokenness of the lives which they had experienced.  My prayer as we played and held these children was that maybe, if only for a little while, the Lord would be able to reveal His face of incomprehensible Love and Hope to them through us.  The reality is that the Lord’s promise He has made to us through the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ could possible serve as the only means of hope that these children ever experience.  I write this certainly not to offend anyone; rather, I write it as being an overflow of what I really believe to be true.  Tim Keller once said:

“The Gospel is not only the only was to have eternal life, but it is also the only way to solve every problem, the only way to face every challenge, and the only way to grow into maturity in Christ.”

The various thoughts and emotions that riddled my mind yesterday certainly deserved a time of reflection and contemplation last night.  I wrestled with feelings of sadness and despair at a desire for a better life for each of these children, as well as the millions of disadvantaged children in the US and around the world.  In that, the Lord pointed me to a scripture that I have read many times.  However, in light of the realization that there is nothing that I can do to provide for each of them, this verse took on an even greater meaning.

” ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ “  -Jeremiah 29:11

God does have a greater plan.  His desire is one of hope, love, and prosperity for me, for you, and for all of His children.  Please be in prayer for our team as we go into these townships, the breeding ground of much of the poverty and despair which faces this country today.  You e-mails, comments, prayers, and encouragement have served to spur me on in doing the great things that the Lord has in store for me here in Durban.  My gratitude cannot be expressed in any colorful arrangement of words.  Quite simply, I am extremely thankful for each of you.

An excerpt from my journal…

Along with my blog, I have journaled daily (usually more than once a day) to record my experiences, thoughts, prayers, quiet times with the Lord, etc.  I have yet to include any of this in my blog so that is what I offer now:

 

“For I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea, so that its waves roar–the Lord Almighty is His name.  I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand–I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the Earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ “   -Isaiah 51:15-16

What a beautiful proclamation of the Almighty nature and being of God.  Indeed, it is HE that created the vast heavens and beautiful Earth.  He set things in motion and continues to govern them with His righteous and sovereign hand.  He alone can know the number of stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the ground.  This morning at about 6:30, Hace, Troy, and I headed down to the beach in hopes of seeing the sunrise.  As we waited in eager anticipation, we snapped a few “trial-run” shots of things around the beach.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, at 6:39, the sun crept over the break of the horizon.  A beautiful reddish-orange at first, it appeared hazy and distorted from the atmosphere.  As it rose with relative rapidity, it changed to a brilliant golden-yellow.  It shined with a radiance which can only be attributed as being the reflection of the radiance of its Creator.  The waves were crashing and the sea roaring.  We scurried about on the beach and the pier in hopes of getting the perfect shot.  Although I was duly distracted as I feverishly snapped a shot here and there, the serenity of the morning created a calming peace in the air.  My thoughts wandered from place to place, but my heart truly lept with joy in awe and reverence for God–the One, who in His infinite Glory, had the foresight to create something so beautiful….

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”  -Romans 1:20

The start of another new week…

We have just started our third week here and Durban and it promises to hold much excitement and new opportunities.  We are wrapping up our ministry work on campus for the most part as the students have a “study week” in which they will be getting ready for exams.  Campus was mostly quiet today with a visible decrease in the number of students around.  However, we did have the privilege of seeing a student make a commitment to Christ today–making the time spent well worth it.  After leaving campus, we headed to Westville Baptist Church, the church that has served mostly as our host church.  There we attended a seminar on a subject that surprisingly has been rarely mentioned since we arrived–HIV/AIDS.  The reality is startling.  7.2 of the world’s 40 million people in the world with HIV/AIDS are living in South Africa.  In 2007, nearly 3 million people with AIDS died.  South Africa contributed over 1/3 to this total.  This week we will have the opportunity to serve in the community through working in orphanages, Old People Homes (they aren’t called Nursing Homes), and HIV/AIDS clinics.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time  on campus thus far but I am very excited about the opportunities to serve a hurting community in such a concrete way this week.  Please pray for our continued safety and pray that the Lord’s light would shine through us as we seek to address people’s physical and spiritual needs.  Again, thank you for your love and support.  Your prayers are felt daily.  If you have questions about life over here or you are wondering about specific things…post a question and I will do my best to address it!  In Christ, WBG.

John 1:3-5

As the sun readies itself to set at the end of our second week here in Durban, it becomes increasingly obvious that the Lord is doing incredible things here in South Africa!  In just seven days on campus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, we have been privileged to see 24 students pray to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior-the only source of salvation.  The Lord has overcome many obstacles in softening their hearts to the truth of His Gospel.  Some students must forsake long-held beliefs of ancestor worship that are as central to their culture as any sense of identity can be.  They must submit to the Lord and His truths knowing that they will be ostracized to those whom they love the most.  Other students, must go against what they have been taught all their lives–doctrines of reincarnation and the value of human deeds.  As certainly as the Lord works, Satan also seeks to destroy lives.  Just as scripture reminds us in 1 Peter 5:8: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  The main obstacle that we have run into with, I’d say, more than 90% of non-believers is the doctrine of “works-based salvation.”  However, the Lord has revealed very effective ways in which we can lovingly challenge the idea that we, as humans, can do anything of our own power to restore our sinful persons to His perfect being without so defiling His righteousness.  Thank-you for the way that all of you have been praying for me and our team.  We really have felt your prayers in many facets of project life.

   Right now, South Africa is not a very safe place to be.  Many students have stressed to us the need to be cautious so as to avoid crime.  The unemployment rate here is 45%.  Because of this, poverty is rampant throughout the country.  However, the Lord has protected us from crime thus far.  In the past several days, many people have been immigrating from Zimbabwe and Mozambique due to the immense poverty there.  In Zimbabwe alone, the inflation rate is an unbelievable 165,000%.  Immigrants that move here are attacked in the most atrocious ways because they are seen as threatening to the already limited number of jobs.  Please continue to pray for our safety as well as the well-being of the destitute peoples of South Africa.  Again, your support and prayers have been invaluable. 

The water really does go backwards down the drain…

   The title of this post confirms a claim of which I have long been told but only recently accepted as fact.  Surely you remember being told in school that water goes down the drain counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere whereas it goes clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.  Not that investigating this claim was a major objective for my trip, but I am happy to now have seen it with my own eyes.

   This past weekend was quite the adventure!  Friday night all of the students went to a big mall here in Durban known as “The Pavilion.”  Being that we are not allowed to drive the project cars, the staff dropped us off and planned for a time to pick us up making us feel very much like middle-schoolersbeing dropped off on a big date at the local movie theater.  The mall was very similar to malls in the U.S. with a variety of stores, places to eat, and entertainment.  We all ate at a place called Sam Brown’s that has food very similar to that which we eat back home.  Afterwards, the group split up-half went to play putt-putt and the other half went bowling.  I decided on the latter of the two and it certainly was an enjoyable time. 

   Saturday morning the whole group, students and staff alike, made a trip to the beach.  It was only about 1 km (less than a mile) from where we are staying at the Concord Christian Guest House.  The beach is similar to those on the Gulf of Mexico with soft sand and clear water.  I rushed down to the water to be the first one in the Indian Ocean–typical of me.  After getting our towels laid out and our sunscreen on, we played a game of ultimate frisbee.  The deep sand provided physical challenges uncommonto when the game is played on a regular field.  The sweat we worked up during the game provided an excellent excuse to make a dash for the water.  We dove headlong into the waves which we gratefully embraced as an alternative to the heat and sand.  The waves here are much larger than those that are found on the Eastern Coast of the U.S.  In fact, on the other side of the boardwalk from where we were swimming, Durban was hosting an international surfing competition.  It was a neat experience as well.  However, the highlight of our time on the beach was when 5 little local Zulu boys asked if they could play soccer with us after having spotted our ball.  We gladly agreed and set-out to establish some sort of goals.  Little did we know, but there were not just 5 boys who wanted to play.  Before long, the beach around our towels was crowded with nearly 20 little boys gathered around eagerly in anticipation of playing.  “What have we gotten ourselves into?”  I thought.  Through broken English they communicated with us and we set the parameters of the game–basically, there were none!  And then with a shout from one of the youngest, “It’s on!!”  They ran about feverishly passing the ball and dribbling (as much as one can in the soft sand) with incredible skill.  They certainly played us in a hard and challenging game as I fully expected they would.  However, I am proud to be able to tell you that we gallantly defended the honor of the U.S. and secured a victory for the Homeland!  Yours truly even managed to poke in a goal or two….

   After leaving the beach, we went back to the CCGH and washed up.  I took a hearty nap which served me well for the rest of the day.  Saturday night held an adventure all its own.  We landed tickets to the Durban Sharks Rugby Team game at their home stadium!!  It was a dream come true!  My three secular goals for the trip were: 1) Play a pick-up soccer game with the locals, 2) Attend a rugby match here in S. Africa, and 3) Purchase a S. African flag.  I managed to buy a flag in the souvenir shop right before the game!  How crazy that I would accomplish all of these in one day! 

   Rugby is HUGE here in S. Africa–you could compare it to college football or Major League Baseball.  But the game we went to see had implications all of its own.  The Durban Sharks are part of a league known as the “Super 14″ consisting of 5 teams from S. Africa, 5 teams from New Zealand, and 4 teams from Australia.  The sharks were sitting in 6th place as they entered Saturday night’s game–the LAST game of the season.  In order to make it to the semi-final round (top 4 teams), a win was a necessity.  However, a win would have only moved them up to 5th place, not enough to get them into the tournament.  Now this is where I will briefly need to explain the game.  Basically, the game is a mixture of football and soccer (although it is played with no protective pads or helmets.)  Ok, so it’s more like “Kill the Man with the Ball!”  In order to score, a team must either run the ball the length of the field and actually place it on the ground over the endline without turning it over (known as a “touch”) or they must kick it through the uprights during the course of play (known as a “try”).  A touch is worth 5 pts with the opportunity to kick a try worth 2 pts after the touch–much like kicking an extra point after the touchdown in football.  However, when the try is kicked during the course of progression down the field, it is worth 3 pts–similar to a team kicking a field goal.  In order for the Sharks to make it to the semi-final round, they had to win AND score 4 touches–propelling them into 4th place.  The Sharks pulled off the victory and managed to score 6 touches during the game!!  The energy of the 40,000+ screaming fans was electric!  Shouts of OLE! OLE! OLE! OLE! rang out among the crowd.  However, with all the intensity of the game, it also contained its fair share of humor.  I thought it quite funny that the Durban Sharks ran out of the locker room at the beginning of the game to the tune of ”Danger Zone”–the theme song to the movie TOP GUN.  Among the other songs played were “The YMCA,” “Celebration!,” “Thunderstruck” (by AC/DC), and ” Whoop, There It Is!!”  However, by far, my favorite was “Sweet Home Alabama.”  REALLY?!?!?  How much crazier can this get?  Well, we got to go on the field after the game along with several hundred other fans; it was more reminiscent of a high school football post-game than a professional sporting event!  It really was a great night!

   Yesterday was also an experience all its own.  Our team split up into 4 groups and attended different churches in the Durban area.  The group that I was with went to Kwadabeka Church–a traditional Zulu Christian Church.  By traditional I mean that every part of the worship experience was in Zulu.  We certainly were not hard to spot in the midst of a congregation of Zulus.  However, we were duly welcomed during the service.  We actually were asked to come to the front of the church and introduce ourselves–somewhat of a nerve-racking experience.  But it was such a testimony of the heart of the Zulu people in the way that they were warm and receptive to us.  All of the songs were traditional Zulu songs.  The only words that I understood were “Alleluia!”, “Amen!”, and “Jesus.”  But the language barrier was not a distraction.  The music reminded me of Psalm 100:1-2.  “Shout for joy to the Lord, ALL the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before HIm with joyful songs.”  The Zulu people were truly joyful.  The sermon was based on Mark 12:28-31 and Romans 12 in which we are called to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to conduct ourselves as living sacrifices unto Him.  A young girl graciously translated the sermon into English so that we could hear the words of truth as well.  I was so encouraged to be filled with the truth offered through God’s Word in that service.  It is one service that I will never forget.  After the service, everyone in attendence shook hands with everyone else.  People were so receptive to each other–even in the midst of their differences.  Praise be to God for His children in South Africa!  The following is a verse in Zulu that was inscribed on the church wall:

     ”Khuthalela ukuba uziveze uthembekile Ku Nkulunkulu sisbenzi esingenamahloni.”  - II Tim. 2:15

Sawubona!

Sawubona!  Greetings from Durban, South Africa!  Sawubona is a Zulu greeting meaning “hello!”  Wow…South Africa offers a world with an untold number of adventures and excitement.  Our trip from GA to Durban, from the time we left the hotel in Atlanta until the time we arrived in Durban, took approximately 36 hours!  I slept for about 4.  We have had several great experiences so far and I am excited to learn so much more about the things that the city and culture have to offer!  I feel so fortunate for the opportunities that have presented themselves thus far.  The most noticeable difference that I have encountered in my two days on campus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal is how receptive students are to our team.  They are extremely curious as to why we have come to S.A. from the U.S.  They are also very eager to learn our culture and what my college experience is like.  The Lord has provided several opportunities to share the Gospel with students which has likewise been such an encouragement.    It is apparent that God desires for a movement of students to rise up on campus and spread the truth of His Gospel to each student.  I feel so fortunate and am humbled to be a part of that.

Life in Durban is unlike that in the States.  On the one hand, we drive on the left hand-side of the road and few traffic laws are obeyed.  It definitely makes for a thrilling experience as we commute to and from campus daily.  Also, due to the apartheid system that existed for so many years, much of the city remains very segregated.  However, great strides have been made in changing the social scene and the hierarchy of society. 

We are living in a place called the Concord Christian Guest House.  It really is a nice place and it has all the essentials that we need.  It definitely took some getting used to as we began to notice common conveniences that we take for granted in the US.  A group of us have been getting up about 6:45 every morning (12:45 A.M. EST) and  going running—there is a 6 hour time difference so many of you are sound asleep when we are beginning our day!  I am so excited about how we have become more familiar with the culture and how our acceptance of locals has led us to opportunities to cultivate lasting friendships. 

I will leave you with a few words/phrases that are different from those you might experience in the US:

-ZULU: 

Igama lami uBarrett.–My name is Barrett.

Usale kahle.–Go well my friend.

-South African slang:

What kind, exe how’s it vying?–What’s up man, how’s it going?

I have a span of graf to do.–I have a lot of work to do.

Lukker meet up.–Very well, I shall see you soon!

 

P.S.  Thank-you to those who have e-mailed me.  It is such a treat to hear how things are going back home.  Please bear with me as I have limited access to the internet but will certainly respond as I have the opportunity.  Know that you are each in my prayers and I am excited to hear how things are going with you!

Barrett

Firsts….

Firsts are always a little intimidating….surely you remember that first time you spent the night away from home, or the first time you held the hand of someone you liked, or how about the first time you got behind the wheel of a car? Firsts can be scary; however, they carry with them a sense of excitement and adventure. They lend themselves to taking risks and exploring the unknown. There is a certain unrestrainable fervor at the thought of entering into something new. One of my favorite movie characters, Forrest Gump, reflects on the importance of firsts:

“Ya know, it’s funny what a young man recollects, cuz I don’t remember bein’ born. I don’t recall what I got for my first Christmas, and I don’t know when I went on my first outdoor picnic, but I do remember the first time I heard the sweetest voice in the wide world. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. She was like an angel.”

As I ready myself for my 6-week trip to Durban, South Africa this summer, I too am experiencing that excitement. I know that there will be certain adventures that I’ll never forget. Likewise, there will be challenges that confront me that I’ve never dreamed possible. The thought of entering into and becoming a part of a new culture is exciting. And yet, as exciting as it will be, there will certainly be situations I will not be able to handle on my own accord. It will take faith in God to carry me through these times. As the anonymous author of the Book of Hebrews wrote in chapter 11, verse 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” Faith first, I head to Africa….