Make the Most of Every Opportunity

One of the verses that I clung to for this trip was, “…make the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 4:5). Simple words full of possibility. Just like last year, I learned that sharing my faith and love with others comes through simple acts. In this verse, I realized that I have a choice to make about the opportunities I have been given. Those moments in time may seem inconsequential, but what I have come to discover is that they may actually be life giving or life changing to someone else. It can happen through a listening ear or an encouraging smile. Simple ways of sharing the love of God with others. I feel like that’s why I was called to again for a third time to South Africa; to give love and Jesus away in every day ways.

The Story of Moses, Aaron, and Hur

This was my third time working with my church, ROCKHARBOR, in South Africa. Every time I go, I learn something new, and every time, I walk away thankful for the opportunity to go and serve there again. This time, especially, I feel like the trip was refreshing. That's the word I find myself using when people ask me about it. I think it was refreshing because I had the opportunity to gain some new perspective on what it means to participate in a short-term mission trip.

While we were there, our small team of 4 leaders had the opportunity to spend time conversing with Chris and Maxie who recently joined the Bridges of Hope staff. (Bridges of Hope is the organization that we partner with in South Africa). They both played an important role in helping our team figure out next steps with the ministry both in and out of country and in gaining this new perspective that I mentioned earlier. This new perspective is found in the story of Moses, Aaron, and Hur, and it goes like this...

^{8-9 "}Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: “Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding God’s staff.”

^10-13 Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle." Exodus 17:8-13, MSG

As with any job, there are going to be good days, and there are going to be days where we feel exhausted and don't know how much longer we can hold the "staff" up. That's where the role of short-terms missions comes into play. Short-term mission trips create an opportunity to support the long term missionaries and volunteers in their day to day efforts. We can be there to provide these people with a chance to sit down and rest while they're holding up that "staff" even if it's for a brief period of time. We're there to help them hold up that staff by encouraging them in their faith and the work they are doing with the people of South Africa.

(Attending a monthly Community Health Evangelist (CHE) meeting in the Sweet Home township to learn more about their role in the community and how ROCKHARBOR teams can support them when we come)

Although I think we've been able to come in the past and provide this support, our team really felt like this time we finally understood the true value behind why we come and do what we do on these trips. We desire to come and serve as Aaron and Hur did, by providing support in simple, every day ways. It often comes in the form of running after-school activities with the Bridges Academy students, so the staff can have a meeting or prep time (something they are rarely afforded because of the high needs of their student population). There is so much more to serving others than we realized. With a humble heart and eyes open, we came to see the value of becoming more like Aaron and Hur as the opportunities to serve presented themselves.

(Some of the students playing a game of elbow tag during after-school activity time) 

(Bridges Academy Staff Appreciation Luncheon)

Praying in the Spirit

Bridges Academy is a Christian boarding school for orphans and vulnerable children (aged 12-19) who have come from the local townships. As with most Christian schools, there are some children who have a personal relationship with God and some who do not. Thus, one of the ways ROCKHARBOR teams support this school is through the spiritual development of these students.

Every year I’ve gone, spiritual development has looked a little bit different. In 2010, each team member picked a spiritual discipline and taught each grade level about it. In 2011, two to three team members were assigned to do nightly devotions with about 8 students. This year, our team of four did devotions every night with the entire school. This consisted of 51 students and 3 house parents. What was unique about this year is that I had the opportunity to lead most of the nightly devotions and give the message during the church service one Sunday. The topic that I kept feeling called to speak about was prayer. There were two moments in particular on the trip that stand out to me because they were so grounded in our team’s desire to being open and vulnerable to the Spirit as we prayed with and for the students.

 (Leading devotions for the first time on the trip)

The first one happened at the end of one of our devotions. Everyone was asked to turn toward the people closest to them and form a group of three. As it always happens when I’m there, I just happened to be sitting that night right next to my sponsor child, Sive, and Thandie who is unofficially my other child at that school. We were asked to spend time praying for each other. Not to ask questions, but to be sensitive to the Spirit and to the needs we knew the other people might have. In doing this, it created a very vulnerable time of prayer where the Spirit moved in each of us and ended with tears of joy. It’s something I won’t ever forget.

(This picture of the three of us was taken on the one warm day of winter that we experienced there.)

The second moment came on the last night of our trip. Everyone on the team had a chance to stand up and share some things that the students could specifically pray for them for. After we did this, we went and stood at various spots around the room while the students came and took turns laying hands on us and praying for each of us. I just remember feeling a constant stream of new hands coming and going as silence and prayers in IsiXhosa swirled around me. The one moment in the midst of all of this that I will remember most is feeling someone come behind me, rest their arm across my back and lay their head down on it and pray for me. It was such an intimate gesture that I believe can only come from a place of feeling safe and loved. It made me so incredibly grateful for all of the moments and opportunities I have had over the past three years to build relationships with these kids and to give the love of God away to them through conversations and other every day ways while I’ve been there.

Please continue to pray for the students at Bridges Academy. Pray for them to continue to grow in their faith and knowledge of who God is. Please pray for their studies and for their continued health and safety.

CHE Retreat

Here’s a little bit of information before you start to read about my story and experiences from the CHE retreat. First, who or what is a CHE? CHE stands for a Community Health Evangelist. It is a man or woman (typically a woman) from a township who volunteers to go on home visits and participate in community development where they live. Every week, the CHE’s receive training on one health and one spiritual lesson to assist them with the issues they may encounter in their community and to, hopefully, build a skill set for future employment opportunities as well. CHE’s do not have to be a Christian to participate in the program.

(Our team with the CHE's and some of their children at the retreat)

So, with all of that being said, we, as a team, decided to take the opportunity this summer to provide a retreat for the CHE’s and some of their children. We recognized that they are out in the community working with people on a voluntary basis. They are dealing with heavy issues such as domestic violence, alcoholism, and AIDS. We decided to support them by providing them with a couple of days of rest and encouragement at the Bridges Retreat Center. The workshops we planned for them were focused on spiritual development. We talked about how to have faith and what it is, the importance of prayer, and who the Holy Spirit is. (For more information and in-depth stories about this, please see my blog entry about the CHE Retreat on our team’s blog: rockharborsouthafrica.blogspot.com).

(Leading a workshop about prayer)

One of my favorite moments from the retreat took place during the talk about who the Holy Spirit is. The CHE’s were asked to spend an hour in silence engaging with the Holy Spirit. During this time, I was asked by Chris, who was leading this talk, to sit in silence and pray. As I prayed, I wrote in my journal about the things that I was experiencing. About 30 minutes into this experience, I heard the CHE women chattering away outside, and I got really frustrated. So, I talked to God about it. In my journal, this is what I wrote down as the response that I received, “It’s just about one.” Maybe the experience is just for one of them and that’s okay. It’s their choice to engage or not; to make the most of that opportunity.

In that moment, I realized that my frustration and expectations were clouding my view of this experience. After I received that response, I started to see everything with a fresh set of eyes. I saw three men sitting in the back of the room, in silence and deep in thought. The amazing piece about seeing them earnestly seeking to hear from the Holy Spirit is that they were new believers. They came to the retreat because of the men’s conference the ROCKHARBOR pastors had held in the Sweet Home township two months prior. They became believers at this event and had started to attend a weekly Bible study in Sweet Home. Their desire to connect with God and hear from Him was evident as they engaged with the Spirit during that hour.

As I called everyone back together, it seemed like everyone (even the women who were talking through it) had something to share about their experience. God was at work in that hour. He was planting seeds for the future.

We recently received an update about how the CHE’s and the men are doing. The three men who attended the retreat are continuing to attend the weekly Bible study. They are continuing to grow in their faith and the group has even gained a few new members. As for the CHE women, they definitely bonded during their time together at the retreat. We heard that they have created a support system amongst themselves and continue to discuss what they learned during their time with us.

Please continue to pray for the CHE’s and the men’s Bible study in Sweet Home. Please pray for each of them to grow in their faith, for protection for their families, and a renewed strength as provide support to those in their community.  

Thanks

Again, I tried to capture just a few of the highlights from my trip to South Africa during the summer of 2012. For more information about the day to day activities and work that was done on the trip, please be sure to read our team’s blog at rockharborsouthafrica.blogspot.com. Overall, I would say that my experience was refreshing and incredibly life giving. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to go and serve in South Africa for a third time. So, thank you, thank you reading this and for your support!

(Our team with the Bridges Academy house parents)

Gifts

The relationships I've formed from being a part of the South Africa ministry have been an amazing gift. My relationship with my sponsor child, Sive, is one of those gifts. It was such a blessing to be able to go back and spend time with her again this past summer. I'm so grateful that our communication doesn't end when I leave South Africa. We're able to write letters to each other now, so we can continue to encourage each other and learn about what's going in each other's lives.

My relationships with my teammates are another blessing that have come out of these trips. Whether it be a listening ear, a hug, an encouraging text, or just laughing together, I know that I've made some true friends. The encouragement and love that they still bring to my life makes me incredibly thankful that we were called to serve in this ministry together.

My relationship with the South Africa ministry continues to grow as I serve on the leadership team at ROCKHARBOR. The responsibilities I hold on that team allow me to continue to serve the children in Sweet Home. Currently, this involves developing curriculum for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) camp that the new team will use when they go in January.

If you want to learn more about this ministry, I would invite you to look at two websites. The first is the ROCKHARBOR team blog: rockharborinsouthafrica.blogspot.com. On there, you'll be able to find information about what's happening with our current team that we're sending out, stories from past trips, and information about our community events. ROCKHARBOR isn't in this ministry alone. We partner with Bridges of Hope. Their website is: http://www.bridgesworldwide.org/. It is through them that we are able to go and serve at Bridges Academy and in the Sweet Home township. Their staff are the ones who continue to bless these communities in South Africa throughout the year. I really encourage you to check these websites out.

Finally, I would love to ask you to continue to pray for the people of South Africa. Pray for the teachers in Sweet Home. Pray for the children living in Sweet Home to find hope and light and love. Pray that the students at Bridges Academy would continue to grow not only in their studies, but also, in their faith. Pray that they would make wise decisions regarding their health and their friendships. Pray for the teachers and administrators at Bridges Academy as they prepare to add more students to the school in January and as they love and minister to all of these students. Most of all, please pray that healing would continue to take place throughout South Africa and that lives would be changed through the joy, hope, and love found in Christ alone.

Hope, Light, and Love

In the townships of South Africa, many children are having their education neglected for various reasons. For some, they're unable to get a copy of their birth certificate, which prevents them from enrolling in a township school. Another reason may be that they live with a parent or caregiver who is suffering from AIDS or alcoholism. Therefore, taking a child to school isn't seen as a high priority.

The Community Health Evangelist's (CHE's) in Sweet Home wanted to change all of this, so they started a school in 2010 for children aged 6-13. They started this school in a room without furniture, very few materials, and teachers who did not have any sort of formal education about how to teach. In addition, they started a creche (preschool) for infants through about the age of 5.

Last year, when I heard about these schools, I knew God was calling me to go and serve in South Africa. During the time I was there, I was blessed to provide trainings for the teachers and learn more about their heart to serve and bless their students. So, of course, I was excited to go back this summer and see what kind of growth had occurred over the past year at these schools.

Indeed, there was a lot of growth. Through the support of my church, ROCKHARBOR, there is a new building in Sweet Home for the creche. One of the teachers there, Lindiwe, whom I met last year, is now the principal of the school. Lindiwe shared with me that she is currently enrolled and taking classes at one of the university's for child development. It was great to hear about how God was continuing to bless these women as they endeavor to bring hope, light, and love to the children of Sweet Home.


The inside of the creche where the books I made last year were posted on the wall.



The creche principal, Lindiwe, with some of the students outside of the new school building.

Last year, I trained the teachers on the basics of child development and lesson planning. This year, with the help of my friends, Lailanie and Brent, we provided them with specific trainings about how to teach language and literacy as well as math skills from infancy to grade 6. The teachers were receptive to everything we had to say, and they were good sports when it came to participating in activities such as writing letters in shaving cream and playing "addition war" on the chalkboards. You can check out some of the pictures from our 2 trainings with the teachers below.

Just like last year, the CHE's energy and desire to teach these kids in a building where there isn't furniture and has very few materials encourages me and calls me into a deeper understanding of what it means to truly serve and bless children no matter where God has called you in life.