Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I can't believe it... I'm in Cape Town, South Africa! We left
Dulles airport at 6 p.m., stopped over in Dakar @ 5 a.m., arrived
at Johannesburg @ 5 p.m., arrived in Cape Town @ 9 p.m. We
travelled approximately 22 hours! Wow! That's the longest travel I
have ever had in my life... and that's not including our trip from
L.A. to D.C. After months of talking and waiting, we're finally
here. There are 10 of us on the team: Hana, Grace, Jennifer, and
myself from IC, LaReau from International Bible Society, Karen and
Susan from Maryland, Brittany (college student) from Texas, and
Catherine and Susan from Ottawa, Canada. We're a very diverse team,
but I look forward to getting to know everyone here! I'm so blessed
to be in the company of people with heart and passion to reach
children with the gospel as well as those that have compassion for
those that live in poverty. I started reading Hope Lives before the
trip, and my heart resonates so much with what Amber says in the
book. The book gave me a lot to think about... and how I want to
live my life.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wow, what a day!!! I realized that providing Gospel Outreach
(GO) balls through Operation Kid-2-Kid (OK2K) is just a tiny little
piece of the BIG work that is going on around the world... I also
realized that my perspective is so little, my world is so little!
Talking with John and Wan Yi (his wife) and seeing the BIGGER
GLOBAL perspective of this Ubabalo Ministry was absolutely
breathtaking!
John and Wan Yi are missionaries from Malaysia, and they oversee
Ubabalo eAfrica (God's grace in Africa) ministry throughout the
continent of Africa. They have a beautiful daughter named Emma who
will be 1 year old in two weeks. He (John) has been traveling all
over to launch Ubabalo and even beyond Africa... He has launched
this program in Asia (he will be traveling to India to train
100,000 coaches -- yup, 100,000!!!) as well as in former Russian
countries. I am amazed by how he thinks so BIG, so GLOBAL! I would
just love to shadow him for a month to get a glimpse of the big
picture. He talked about how important it is to deconstruct
people's perceptions; how can I deconstruct my perceptions?
We also met with Kosi (COO of Ubabalo eAfrica) and Joseph (COO
of The Ultimate Goal), who work under the banner of South African
Sports Coalition. We went to the Ubabalo office in Stellenbosch
(where we're staying), and they did a presentation of what Ubabalo is all about. What an impressive
presentation it was. I had looked at the Ubabalo website (ubabalo2010.com) before coming, but to see and
hear testimonies and how this ministry works, it blew my mind! They
use sports, mainly soccer in African countries, as a door opener.
The kids come to play soccer, but through whole life coaching, their goal is to help
these kids shift their paradigm and bring about transformation.
What's most impressive is how they have developed the whole
curriculum so that soccer drills relate to biblical principles.
They also told us that they don't just hand out soccer balls to
every child that comes, but as they graduate from the program,
that's when they receive their own soccer balls. Kosi and Joseph
have amazing passion for what they do. I'm blown away by how much
they know and understand experiential learning. In many ways, I
feel like they get how to make Bible relevant so much more than we
do in the States. I feel like they have so much to teach me!
In the afternoon, we went to a farmland -- very rural -- and we
were able to get a glimpse of a soccer coaching team just before
dusk. The young and teenage boys were so fixed and focused on
playing the game. Many kids in the neighborhood came out to see the
Americans and Canadians. Eight kids that were standing around
turned into about sixty... they wanted goodies, and they wanted
their photos taken. It felt very different from my experience in
Bolivia. It was a bit crazy and uncontrollable at times. A couple
kids asked me if I had any goodies in my backpack. I hated to
disappoint them, but I told them that I didn't. I was fixed on the
game -- the discipline and the intensity these boys had on their
faces as they were playing was impressive. They would turn to look
over at what we were handing out, but their game came first. The
soccer ball that they were playing with was an OK2K GO Ball. All
the pictures and colors had faded, but the notes and signatures of
the children from North America were still there. As the sun went
down, the boys regrouped with their coach. They told us that
they've been meeting for Life Coaching for three years now. One of
the boys that spoke English told us that his dream is to become a
professional soccer player. He went on to tell us that this program
has taught him a lot about how to live his life. As I was listening
to him talk, it hit me like a ton of bricks that these kids see
soccer as their hope; they aspire to improve their soccer skills
and dream of becoming professional soccer players. That's why this
ministry draws so many kids! Ubabalo found a gold mine -- teach
them soccer skills but ultimately give them the Message that will
transform their lives forever!
Friday, June 19, 2009
We went to Kuyasa (Kuyasa means daybreak in Xhosa language) Horizon Empowerment in Kayamandi. Kayamandi is
a black township, one of the poorest townships in the area. There
are approximately 40,000 people living within one square mile. It
took us a while to find the place, but once we arrived, we were met
by Heather, a missionary from San Diego. She was an amazing gal
who's been there to work on policy, administrative needs, etc. When
she gave us a tour, her eyes lit up, as she was so proud of what
they had been able to accomplish. The place was old and rundown by
our standards, but what they have been able to do there was
absolutely remarkable!!! They just finished painting a new learning
center in what looks like an attic. The rooms looked beautiful, one
with the jungle theme and the other with an underwater theme. The
rooms were bright and fun, and this is where the kids can come and
study as well as learn and get a more holistic education. They also
have a performing arts room, a visual arts room, and a computer
lab. I am amazed by what they have been able to establish and
accomplish here. They are opening up a new SAFE home for teen girls
who have nowhere to go. Many of these girls turn to prostitution
just so they can have roof over their heads or to have someone take
care of them. That (the SAFE home) is opening up on July 11. They
also have a Kuyasa Dance Group and a Hats & Glasses Group that
meets to write scripts, poetry, etc. Heather told us that the kids
here quickly turn to theft, gangs, drugs, prostitution, etc., to
escape and in hopes of making it rich quick. It's hard to hold back
emotions as Heather describes the culture of Kayamandi.
Just a little background on townships: The township was formed
during the time of apartheid. For some, the government came in and
physically removed all blacks and moved them into "townships" where
they were put together in small space. Oftentimes they were removed
in the middle of the night, and they didn't even have time to
collect their belongings. And now the government is slowly trying
to renovate and allow the people in the township to buy homes in
the area so they can move out of their shacks, but it's not
necessarily affordable to everyone, as it costs around R5000-8000
($650-1000), which is not little money to them. There is a lot of
violence in the midst of some of these townships, and it's a cycle
that is going to take a long time to break, although there has been
more integration from the segregation of the apartheid era.
After we got a full tour of the place, we waited for the feeding
scheme to happen. This is where about 300 children come to the
center for food. Apparently more children came on this day because
they had heard that we were there, and they thought that we'd be
giving out goodies. We had decided that we weren't going to give
out any goodies to the kids directly but to leave it with the
center. Hana and Grace helped out in the kitchen, Karen and
Jennifer helped out in passing out the plates of food, Susan and
Brittany helped out by doing the dishes, and the rest of us got to
interact with the children as they ate. This was an absolutely
amazing day! We got to experience firsthand what the staff at
Kuyasa do every day. We got to hug these children and to be hugged
by them. Many kids were really unclean and smelly, but they were
beautiful kids. One girl came up to me, just held my hand, and
wanted to be held. Once I held her, she kept touching my face and
breathing into my face. I have to admit that she smelled really
bad, but she was precious... she wanted LaReau to take photos of
her. After I put her down, after about 5 minutes she brought
another boy, and she wanted me to hold him... and once I held him,
she wanted LaReau to take photos of him also. The whole episode was
precious... funny and precious!
We had lunch, and afterwards, we went down to see Siphe
(19-year-old Sports Coordinator at Kuyasa) lead soccer coaching
(Ubabalo). We got to see 10 young boys play soccer, and then they
came back together for a session of Ubabalo. They talked about
passing, and the correlating Bible principle is staying connected
to others. It was great to see the boys all participate. It was
very cool to see Siphe in action. Then Jennifer, Susan and
Catherine from Canada, and I attempted to play soccer with the
boys. We were awful, but it was really cool nonetheless because the
boys were trying to play with us and kept passing the ball to us!
Wow, that was amazing! While four of us were playing soccer, the
rest of the team sat and interacted with the children. I turned and
saw that Hana and Grace each had three girls braiding their hair.
"Is that your real hair?" The little girls were perplexed by black
straight hair where braids won't stay put. They seemed to be so
amazed by Asian black silk straight hair... what a sight! =)
Before we left, we bought some art from the art students -- 40%
of what we pay goes to the students and their families, and 60%
goes to Kuyasa's program. This was an amazing day. I love the
philosophy of how they try to help these centers become
independent. The board and most of the volunteers are from within
the community, not from outside. I'm amazed that people in this
community just help and tend to whatever needs there are -- THAT is
ORGANIC!!! There is no calculation of cost or whose responsibility
it is... people just help and love on one another. Of course there
are tons of crime (we've been told not to go out of the compound as
they will take everything that they see, cut off cameras, etc.),
but at the same time, the kids that we had the privilege of seeing
here have learned a GREAT lesson today about staying connected to
others and helping one another! I fell in love with what they're
doing in this place. Once again, they GET ministry, and they get
the true meaning of community!!!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
We went to Robben Island... political imprisonment during the
time of apartheid. I remember the time of apartheid in high school.
The whole idea of segregation by human race and color is ridiculous
to me... even colored/Indians had a better diet in prison than the
blacks. In what world is this okay??? How could any human being be
so cruel? I just don't understand. The tour of the island was
amazing. The prison tours are led by ex-prisoners. Domasani
(meaning praise the Lord) was our tour guide, and he had served for
5 out of 30 years. He was released when apartheid was disbanded in
1995. He was such a smiley and kind man, while I'm sure he had to
go through a lot of healing to be back where he was imprisoned. He
talked about how they were able to smuggle much stuff in and out
and the mistreatment they received in different sections. We also
got to see Nelson Mandela's tiny single prison cell. How inspiring
it is to know that these men sacrificed so much of themselves for
what they truly believed in. They were heavily convicted, and they
fought for what they believed in. Would we be able to stand strong
and firm for the gospel even in the midst of persecution?
In the afternoon, we went up to Table Mountain. What beauty!
What display of God's awesome creation and wonder! He truly is God
of WONDERS!!! BEYOND OUR GALAXY!!! It was absolutely
breath-taking... and beyond what words can describe. It's to hard
to believe that in such beautiful place lies remnants of such
ugliness of humanity... sinful nature of men at its worst!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Today we went to worship at Kosi's church in Khayelitsha. When
we got out of the van, we saw little boys playing soccer. They had
put two blocks as the goal, and their "soccer ball" was made out of
plastic bags. Everywhere you turn, somebody is playing soccer. We
were escorted inside for worship service. Wow, what an experience.
Khayelitsha is the second largest township in S.A., the largest
being in Jo-burg. Wow! What an amazing worship service that was!!!
The praise was absolutely rockin'!!! The songs, the fervor, the
joy, the conviction!!! It was 2 and one-half hours long, and there
was tons of dancing, singing, rejoicing, and praising. The pastors
even got into a line and danced -- amazing dancers, all of them.
And because it was Father's Day, it was an extra big celebration!!!
The whole praise team consisted of men (apparently most of them
were singing onstage for the first time), and they all wore pink
tops. I realized that the idea of Father's Day takes on a whole new
meaning in S.A. Since so many don't have fathers that care for them
and take care of them, today's service was especially about
challenging the fathers to be the spiritual heads of the household
and to leave a legacy for their future generation. How powerful!
They were especially grateful and thankful for the fathers that
were at the church. They were commended many times over! The
children came out and sang a song to the fathers: "We pray for you,
you pray for us, we love you, we need you to survive." "We need you
to survive" are not the words I would have expected to hear in a
song for Father's Day, but here in South Africa, they need their
fathers to survive -- in a land where unemployment, abandonment,
HIV/AIDS, and poverty is so rampant, these kid really need their
fathers to survive! It was such a treat to be there. The warmth and
hospitality was wonderful. I absolutely fell in love with people at
this church! I loved every moment of worshipping with my fellow
brothers and sisters in Khayelitsha.
Monday, June 22, 2009
We woke up at 5 a.m. to head out to the safari today! Wow! We
saw elephants, lions, giraffes, rhinoceros, zebras, springboks,
ostriches, crocodile, and other antelope family animals... wow,
such a reminder of God's awesome creation. God made each one of
these animals with such uniqueness and personality... and each one
is also designed uniquely to its own kind. God is so big, and I'm
so small in comparison to all that's in this world. It was
amazement!
Tonight's menu: ostrich, springbok, antelope, bobotie -- we went
to Mayo Mayo for authentic South African cuisine. Tonight's dinner
was joined by a local pastor named Eric Hofmeyer. He shared his
testimony with us during dinner. He was an apartheid baby, born the
year the segregation system went into effect. He was abused and
abandoned by his father at a very young age and forced into
township since he was a baby. He turned to gangs, and he came to be
known as the "Nicky Cruz" of South Africa. He was violent and
filled with anger and hatred towards whites. One night, he talked
to God, and he heard the voice of God... God of white men is also
God of black men. Wow, what a revelation. That's what had kept him
away from God all these years -- he wanted assurance that God of
white men is also his God. Wow -- once again, I see how much of an
effect segregation has had in this country. Since then, he turned
his life around, went back to school to finish the last two years
of high school in his 20's so that he could enter seminary. He is
now a Baptist pastor and has done tons of ministry to prison
inmates, teens that are involved in gangs, as well as opening up a
house for teen girls. Wow... what a man. He has chosen to live in a
smaller house so that he could use that money to do work for God's
kingdom. What an inspiration and encouragement to hear his
testimony.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
We flew to Johannesburg today from Cape Town. It rained HARD in
Cape Town when we left, and we got off to a slow start in
Johannesburg. We stayed in Pretoria. We drove to a Dutch Reformed
Church, where The Ultimate Goal Conference was being held. You can
see the church from a mile away... standing big and tall with a
giant cross on top. As we got closer, we commented on how nice this
church was -- I could only compare it to Willow Creek or
Saddleback. It was beautiful. We turned the corner to get to the
gate... and what we saw next was shocking. Just outside the
entrance of the church was a shanty town, where people were burning
tires/rubber to keep warm. It was such an odd sight -- a beautiful
mega-church sitting right next to a shanty town, only separated by
a gate. Something about this didn't sit well with me. We went into
the church, and we finally met Cassie Carsten, the man behind
Ubabalo.
Tonight's conversation was the most amazing and eye-opening. We
met with Hein from Sports for Christ Action, S.A., and also got to
meet Kate and Ben, and we got to see Kosi, Joseph, and John. I sat
with John, Hein, and Kate, along with Hana, Karen, and Catherine.
My mind is SOOOO blown away right now. I can't even begin to wrap
my head around what is happening with sports ministry here in South
Africa. This is bigger than life.
Through Ubabalo program, kids are learning life skills through
life coaches -- I got that in Cape Town, but tonight I realized
that it's much bigger than I had thought! It's about helping people
gain a different perspective of themselves, of life, of the
society, and most importantly, realizing that they are significant
in the eyes of God because they are wonderfully and fearfully made!
This is what is needed to break the cycle of poverty. I can't even
put everything down in words. It sounds simple as I reread what I
just wrote, but this is really BIG. These guys are out there
training hundreds and thousands of potential coaches all over the
world to reach the youth! The youth simply come to play soccer --
but many leave the fields completely changed. The testimonies of
changed lives are astonishing! Not only am I overwhelmed with what
I've been hearing but I'm overwhelmed with how to process all this
information and what to do with this information. I see that God is
moving this ministry in amazing ways, and I want to not only be
part of it but also help it as much as I can. I know that God
brought me here for a reason... I feel convicted to respond to what
I've heard and seen.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Today we spent the whole day with Collin Bishop and IBS team in
Johannesburg. I am rarely lost for words, but that's how I feel
now. We got to meet Tondeke, Linette from India, and Simphewei (ph
is pronounced "p") who are three trainers to the trainers in nine
countries to teach Reach 4 Life. What an amazing ministry this is.
This is all done to teach youths about living a life that is in
line with biblical principles. They recognized that what is a
physical/medical/immoral problem has an answer -- and that's the
Bible. It's not about safe sex, it's not about just teaching
abstinence, but it's about teaching these kids with the gospel and
helping them understand that God has created each and every one of
them to be individuals that are loved and cared about by God so
much that He sent Jesus Christ to be their Savior! What a powerful
message that will not only give them ETERNAL LIFE but will also
gain prolonged physical life on earth so that they can have
productive future with hope! Collin said a lot of things that just
made me -- WOW!
I wish I could remember them all, but my brain is so
overwhelmed, and I can only process so much at a time. In fact, I
can't remember the last time I had such a tough time processing all
that I have heard and seen. We went to a church in Soweto
(SouthWest Township) where we met with trainers that are using
Reach 4 Life in primary and high schools as well as in prison by
ex-prisoners. These guys are the front-runners of this ministry. We
got to visit a high school. (Unfortunately we weren't able to see
the class in action, as they are just about to go on winter break.)
We did meet the headmaster and the student leaders. We then went to
visit a primary school where a 7th grade class sang songs for us.
Boy, were they good.
"Simon," a future leader, led the class in singing. These kids
talked about why they were thankful for their leader, who has been
leading them in Reach 4 Life for two years now. "Simon" talked
about keeping his body as a temple and not having sex 'til he gets
married. To hear that come from a 12 year old... WOW!!!
The most overwhelming moment came when we went to visit a
cemetery in Tondeke's township. In ninety-five percent of the
cemetery lie those that died due to HIV/AIDS-related sickness. We
saw many (graves) where infants that were a day old to a few years
old were buried... and an even more overwhelming sight was seeing
pre-dug holes for the infants/children that will die this week, for
this weekend's funeral. Due to this pandemic, the government passed
a law saying that funerals can only happen on Saturdays and
Sundays. How can they see this and not recognize that HIV/AIDS is a
disease that's killing people at a rapid rate in this country? The
government refuses to recognize HIV as a virus that causes AIDS or
the way that it's spread. The government gives out condoms to
preteens, telling them to have safe sex. How is this sensible? Next
to the cemetery is a gold mine. "They dig up what they consider
precious while they are burying what's even more precious right
next to them." These people are literally sitting on a gold mine...
what an irony.
Tonight, we went back to the Dutch Reformed Church. We were
excited because we heard that the teenage boys from the shanty town
right outside the church were invited to watch the FIFA
Confederation Cup Game between USA and Spain. Outreach to these
kids -- how exciting! We went in, and a few of us joined in playing
some games with the approximately 250 young men that came. After
awhile, we went off to get to know Cassie better. He shared how he
came to be called by God to launch this ministry to transform the
youth of Africa. He is truly a man of passion and conviction!
Cassie also went on to tell us that this is the first time that a
church like this has invited people from townships or shanty towns.
He said that just doesn't happen. He was elated to see all these
young men that had come to watch the soccer game. We had a brief
visit but an incredible one. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay to
watch the game with these teenagers.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Last day in South Africa... time went by so fast. We've been
talking here and there trying to debrief and process what we had
experienced. For me, it's overwhelming, perhaps because I thought I
was just coming to pass out soccer balls to kids, but it was so
much more. We went to the Dutch Reformed Church before going to
lunch. We saw Cassie, and he told us that 90% of the teenagers came
to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior after watching the
soccer game. I repeated, "Did you say 90%?" Praise God!!! Cassie
also told us that they were invited to come back to church on
Sunday, but the Board members of the church were a bit panicked and
started calling all-day meetings to talk about security and such.
Wow -- I wonder how many people in the church truly have the
kingdom perspective? Cassie said, "If these people would just learn
to love them and be Christ to them, there wouldn't be a need for
security." Nevertheless, I see that there is so much need, hunger
and thirst for truth that gives hope. There's a lot to digest.
Thankfully, the rest of the day was spent on a lighter note --
had our last meal with Kosi, Joseph, Hein, and John, just talking
about life and joking around.
The people we met and got to know in South Africa were some of
the MOST amazing people I have ever come across. I'm just in awe of
this ministry, and I am moved to respond somehow.
This was, by far, the most impactful trip I have ever taken...
and I absolutely loved our team! I already long to go back.