in the midst: This is Africa

Sunday - 5 August 2012

Sunday was a bittersweet day, my sister and I would be heading over to Baptist camp to stay with a group that was coming in from Texas. Sunday morning we went to church at GodFirstCity, it was amazing! That perticular day they had a guest worship leader, she was from Cape Town and was also the captain of the womens Springbucks Team for South Africa.

I would honestly compare her to Kari Jobe! The church was awesome, people of different languages, cultures, countries, backgrounds. I felt like this is what a church should be. God1stCity meets in a nightclub/restaurant every week. As we were singing I was filled with emotion, I knew we were at the middle point of our time in Africa and only had a week left. At that point I had no desire to go home.

View from where we stayed.

My sister and I were dropped off by Rich Franzen and Micah, they helped us bring things in, showed us around and left us to organize some stuff while they went to retrieve the team who was to arrive that night.

Joanna and I got our room set up, organized the Impact Africa merch, got the kitchen in order, washed our jeans in the sink and hung them to dry outside, got dinner ready and waited for the team.

At least our pants had a view while they dried. It took a long time for them to dry because it wasn't very warm

and the wind was cold.

While we waited Richs wife and three kids came by and we chatted with them for awhile.

I just loved getting to know them, I had read about them and heard about them from my sister. But to talk to Michelle and the kids was great because I saw the passion they have and heard what God had done to get them where they are today.

City view from where we stayed.

Bokeh lighting from the view.

The team arrived, brought in all of their luggage and we all ate. It was a little awkward, new people not sure what to say...by evening we had gotten more and more comfortable with the team
It's because of the game "Mafia" (seriously this group LOVES this game)
I had played before at church and with the interns the week before, but the TX team plays it slightly different and it was great!
We honestly played this game almost every night, several times!
It was like this game was our life outside of ministry. When we weren't talking about ministry we were talking about Mafia, but it was so much fun!

Monday - 6 August 2012

Our ministry started with two days in Diepsloot, Monday morning we started with training which I was so grateful for.

This new way of doing ministry felt so vast. I was so familiar with one certain way of doing ministry that I felt really overqualified in one area but completely underqualified to do what was being explained.

As we set out for ministry I was a "leader" of a group, I was totally unsure about what to do.

My team was fantastic and just jumped right in.

They looked to me for a bit of guidance and direction and I helped where I could,

but I also made sure to tell them this was all new to me too and I was learning right along with them

"River" in Diepsloot, the smell was so pungent and awful.
Garbage is just left and the "water" running through the sqautter camps is not clear nor is is cloudy,
it is gray and smells awful and filled with bacteria and disease.
Thankfully there are water pumps through out the camps so those who live in the squatter
camps can have access to clean water.

After our afternoon in Diepsloot we headed back to Impact Kids to head back to Baptist Camp for dinner. After eating dinner we sorted through supplies the team brought for the womens conference.

We put together 300+ welcome bags and 300+ gift bags and 50ish door prizes with a lot of times going back to take something out or put something in or recheck.
However after about 3 hours our team of 18 had it completely finished.
So what did we do?
Play Mafia of course!

On Monday as I prepared to go to bed I was journaling and talking with my sister. I shared how I felt so flatline. My emotions weren't what I thought they would be. I didn't feel like I had a story to share nor did I feel wise enough to share. I know the Bible but I don't KNOW the Bible...
I've memorized verses and have a lot of head knowledge, the translators we worked with KNOW the Bible so well, verses & references and I was feeling so illequipped.

Tuesday - 7 August 2012

2nd day ministry group.
Me, Bethany, LaNell and Michelle Franzen with two women we ministered to and a translator.
The two women (the ones wrapped in blankets) both made a decision to make Jesus King of their life.

As we were talking to the two ladies above there were several others that joined in. Michelle was awesome at conversing, I was still feeling way out of my element but with every conversation God was giving me more and more confidence.
This type of ministry is all about building relationships and I struggle so much with being relational.

This little girl found me my very first day in Diepsloot (and first day in Africa). She stayed with my group again the two days we were in Diepsloot. She loved being held and singing songs.

Impact Kids school in Diepsloot.
oh also while were in Diepsloot on this day, there was snow coming from the sky! I kid you not, winter in South Africa = cold.
However they haven't had snow for 20 years.
The kids were so excited!
As was Micah, he had been praying for it.

After ministry in Diepsloot back to Baptist camp we went for dinner and... MAFIA.

Wednesday - 8 August 2012

Impact Kids school in Kya Sands

To Kya Sands we go!

Wednesday was our first day in Kya Sands. Our ministry destination for that day was the other side of the river of Kya.
So cross it we must, I was a little nervouse about this because we are warned to not go into the water, you could grow a limb.
Also last summer as my sister was crossing she fell in.
However our whole group was successful and no one fell in; the guys were awesome in helping us females across.
Our ministry group this day was great, we started talking to one guy about the gospel and stayed there for quit awhile.

Karen (in the Arkansas sweatshirt) was so funny, you could hear her saying "mmmmhmmm" or "ok" all over.
She was getting in on what these two ladies were doing.
Seriously Karen could be in a Madea movie she is that kind of funny!

As Timmy (in blue) and Zach (in green and red) talking to some guys.
In the morning my group was in this spot talking to some guys,
we had intern Sarah with us but the whole time we were talking to them I felt as though they were mocking us.
Mostly everyone we talked to was open and wanting us to talk to them but we did find some people who were uninterested.

Zach using our Bibles to explain how there is a gap between us and God.

Timmy, Karen, Timba (translator) and Carrie warming themselves by the fire.
Behind them are the port-a- potties, behind those we saw big rats.
Timba says the rats are so big they chase the cats. He says the cats don't even try to eat the rats, they just lean up againts a wall and watch and eat cornflakes. (I'm sure some of the story is made up lol )

Kids at Impact Kids eating snack.

As we were walking through the alleys of Kya sands we came across this little girl.
I think she was scared stiff, she stood in that same spot for about 20 minutes. I watched her and tried to play with her,
she cried a bit then stopped but started up again later.
We wondered if maybe she hadn't ever seen a white person before.

Thursday - 9 August 2012

On the way to discipleship groups we found these kids at a daycare in the squatter camp.
We had to drop some things off for them and we stopped to play for a few minutes.

Crossing the bridge, it was made of wood and tin and a bit scary to cross.

Thursday we had a short morning of ministry before lunch and disicpleship groups.

Denis (translator) reading from his Bible in discipleship group.

Discipleship groups are so cool because through ministry in Kya Sands there are people who have believed on Jesus.

So the interns and translators go in and do discipleship groups. When we were there they were going through the book of Acts. This particular day whatever was said was translated in three different languages.

This was such a neat experience to see the interest and passion for Gods word.

The discipleship groups meet outside or in a shack or an open space.

The space we were here was an open shack "porch"we used buckets or cement blocks to sit on, really whatever we could find.

As I think about this now these discipleship groups remind of what the church is suppose to be.

I am currently reading the book "Radical" by David Platt and in the book it talks about churches, how we "have" so many things that we "need" for church.

Here, in these groups they only need the Bible, I am sure even if there were no translators God would make a way for everyone to understand.