BBC South Africa

The stories continue

2009-09-22T18:40:00.004-05:00

Click the pic to see the current missions blog for Brentwood Baptist Church, including more adventures in South Africa

It's a Wrap

2008-10-03T16:27:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe this is the last night in the team house. Part of the team will leave for home tomorrow, some will stay a few days longer, and the rest will be going onto a whale watching and shark diving adventure.

Today concluded all the projects we had begun earlier in the week. All the VBS teams finished their studies, and the other construction , and landscaping people finished as well. The retreat team had concluded their work yesterday.

We were able to play tourist this afternoon as we visited Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.
The ride back to the team house provided great wild life viewing. We saw a zebra, eland, camels, baboons, and ostrich . Being the tourist we are of course we made plenty of photos.

Each team had great stories tonight in our share time. Many were touched by either locals they had met or by other team members. It's always great to see how a random group of people that really don't know each other can bond as a team and even a family before the end of the trip.

Tomorrow we will say goodbye and go in many different directions, yet we will always share the love and memories from this trip.

Thank you again for reading our updates and for all your support!!!

Kitchen Duty

2008-10-02T14:11:00.003-05:00

We have had an incredible week in VBS (or Holiday Club as they call it here) at Ocean View township. The numbers in all of the VBS locations have steadily increased. Monday we had about 180 children in Ocean View and today, Thursday, an enthusiastic 215 children! The children come to us everyday--eager and ready for the day to begin. Many are waiting for our van as we arrive, some with no jacket or shoes and most in the same outfit they've worn all week. How precious are the faces that come...they love to be in close proximity with any of us. The children want to hold our hands, sit in our laps, and touch our hair constantly.
Our day begins with a Call-Out, which consists of many of us walking through the township with a bullhorn, calling the children to come to the "Multi" where VBS is held. Those sweet faces greet us on the streets or look out from windows, wondering what the commotion is all about. Several join our group on our walk through the streets. These streets may be dirty or desolate, but the children's eyes tell another story-one of joy and hope in the direst of circumstances. Some children cannot come on a rainy day simply because they will be punished if their one outfit becomes wet or dirty. Their sparse concrete buildings are laced together with clotheslines...reminding us to never complain about doing laundry again.
Is it because we have so much that we think they have so little??? Do they realize how little they have? Do they know?
The day is filled with fun activities, music, and Bible Study. The children have learned Bible memory verses, participated in biblical dramas, and we wish we had recordings of their sweet voices singing praises to our God! Our friends will find this humorous...but Debo and Ellie have been referred to as "The Dance Team". We laughed out loud, as we are sure you will as well!
Every day in VBS, our children are fed a hot meal, usually rice and chicken necks. After literally licking their styrofoam bowls clean, they neatly stack them on the table along with their plastic cups. Today, we had kitchen duty and had one of the most humbling experiences of the week. The children had been fed and had left for the day, and we asked the cooks to show us what to do to help them clean up. We began to wash the styrofoam bowls in dirty sink water and drying them with a towel that had seen better days. One staff member commented that we didn't need to wash the bowls for tomorrow since the kids would be having hot dogs--they wouldn't need a bowl. Then a kitchen staff member commented, "The thing about that is, if it can be used, we cannot throw it away". We continued to wash away, marveling at the appropriateness of her words. So many times, we discard things in our lives as "trash", not realizing they can be used. Aren't we all thankful that God has the same outlook as our sweet kitchen helper? How easy would it be for Him to give up on us because we are dirty and unclean? Instead, in His mercy, he gives us another chance, washes us clean, and helps prepare us for use. May we all be so blessed as the children we have worked with this week. It's truly amazing to come to this foreign land hoping to bless others, and instead, have these children of our mighty God bless us.

Debo Morris and Ellie Axford

Nightly Team Meetings

2008-10-01T13:45:00.002-05:00

We just finished our nightly team share time. We come together each night and share from the day's events. Various people have been asked to also share a devotion. Today the VBS teams had the opportunity to present the plan of salvation to each of their groups. Some teams reported planting seeds, others saw more immediate results from spontaneous worship through song, and comments and questions. It's encouraging to listen to how each person has been affected and seen God move that particular day. Amazing just how God can take something average or mundane and use that to create opportunities to share or discover.

Tonight Ryan and Dora shared a song with us to conclude our share time, very appropriate.
These two have wonderful talent and it's refreshing to see such talent used to glorify and share for the Lord.

The construction team and landscaping team that are assigned to Muizenberg have had the opportunity twice to join in the devotion with the homeless that show up for spiritual and nutrional food. This morning I noticed all the songs requested were all praise and worship; such as "Majesty", and "Open The Eyes of My Heart". It still baffles me that the same songs are sung all over the world. I observed that several of our team members set with homeless guys and ladies instead of our own memebers. Some seemed to accept this easy and others a little sensitive to their territory. The devotion this morning was given by a lady that used to work in the Living Grace office at Muzienberg. She spole on the parable of The Prodigal Son, she called it the parable of The Lost Son. I had never considered that term before, however that is very accurrate of his condition. She went on to say that God is waiting for us to return even if we have messed up by doignthings not appropriate , many of these people are drug users, former users, all sorts of backgrounds. She was speaking on their level, in terms they could relate to.

The main take away I realized this morning was that this is exactly how "church" looks and feels!
Think about it, someone has obvious needs, and are almost out of hope and just can't make it on their own anymore. Another person comes by and shares with them the greatest news of all time and gives them hope. They point out that God is in control and not only has the answers, but IS the answer!

I think we get so caught up in programs and routines, that we forget that the early church did not meet at the First Baptist Church of The Holy Land, instead they met in small groups throughout the community taking the message of God's love to the people. It's difficult to ever reach a lost person if we never are around any nor interact with them. Sometimes this means going on their turf, no matter how uncomfortable that may be to us. Honestly a homeless shelter is not my idea of the perfect place to hang out, yet God has used that to show me a very real example of the church in action.

I'll leave you on this note: How quickly do we judge or dismiss someone just because of how they look, act, dress, or even smell? So many times we disgard them and their contribution to society. Just like the prodigal son or a homeless person sleeping on the street .........God accepts us no matter where we've been, how we look, dress, smell, or what we've done. If God was willing to welcome us with open arms , even though we were covered in the filth of the world and smelled of sin, should we not offer the same acceptance to those we meet????

Good Morning Sunshine

2008-09-30T10:18:00.002-05:00

We awoke this morning to beautiful sunshine, no wind, and much warmer temperatures. We were thrilled!! Everyone was much more relaxed , knowing more of what to expect from our day. The best part of the morning , HOT showers!! WoooHoooooo!!!! This was the first day some of the team members had the joy of having hot water for their showers. Finally, the hot water issue seemed to be resolved.

I have no reports yet from the other teams, so I'll share about our time today at Living Grace, located at Muizenberg. We entered the shelter this morning just as Peter was preparing to begin the morning devotion for the homeless that had stopped by the shelter. After a brief opening devotional story, the men and women were able to pick out their favorite worship songs and hymns to sing. I realized that every song we sang dealt with second chances, over coming difficult times, or just being loved for who you are.

The first song we sang was "Amazing Grace" . Peter stopped us at the second verse and commented he always read this first, due to the importance of the message of the words.
"Through many dangers toils and snares , I have already come.
Twas grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home".
As we sang the final verse, I thought about how the previous verse so aptly fit the lives of the homeless we were sitting with. I thought about the dangers and fears they face each day, especially at night when they are sleeping on the streets. We have been told , that sadly, they are safer on the street than in some of the night shelters. A lady lead in a devotional about God is all about relationship and that our relationship with Him is what makes the difference in our lives each day. The main thought from the opening and closing statements was that if today was not a GREAT Tuesday, it was because we chose for it not to be great.

Two other things stood out to me as well this afternoon. As we were working on the renovations of the kitchen, the staff would stop by to look in on our progress. They would get all giddy and laugh as they looked and would comment on how great things looked. Ironically these comments were made as we were just beginning to put cabinets and pantries together. We told them we had not done anything yet, and they would laugh and say "Oh but it will be friendly when you are finished" (You must say that with a South African accent, which sounds very much like a British accent). That makes you remember just why you are working on these projects and just how much people appreciate acts of love and kindness.

The other thing that really struck me was the cold hard facts of what the homeless face. Many of these men and women stop by looking for day work. Most are there for food and shelter for the days. They are allowed to leave their belongings in a locker. I looked at a few of these and noticed how little was there. All the possessions of these individuals were in a tiny locker and yet we constantly complain about not having enough closet or storage space. Then as we were wrapping up work for the day, a gentleman came in looking for food. There was no more soup left, although he spotted a pot of something close to the stove. I looked a little closer at the scene and overheard the lady holding the pot say that was food for the dog. It was scraps and everything left over from the day. The guy indicated he didn't care and would eat it anyway. She said no she could not, that it might harm him. She did however find him some bread, so he would have something to eat.

How many times do we complain about our food? We talk about the bad taste or the fact it is not prepared just right. Here was a man willing to eat what was basically dog food, he only wanted food....no matter what it was , tasted , or smelled like.

The humbling fact is that many of us are just one paycheck, or lenghty sickness away from being in the same state as this guy. Did anyone else think of the scripture ".....for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink......" This was a true example of when Jesus said, "whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me".

Who Needs Electricity, Anyway?!?!

2008-09-29T12:41:00.003-05:00

It's been a rainy day in Cape Town. We woke up to a fierce wind and immediately wondered what our day was going to hold because of the weather changes we weren't expecting. It was also the first day of Vacation Bible School... I am leading the music in Red Hill, a small township that has about 800 families and 3 camps: upper, middle and lower. We gather the kids by walking in their unsafe communities about a half hour before VBS would start and tell them to bring their friends. In our township we were expecting about 80 by the end of the week, so we assumed, rain and all, that today we'd only have about 45. We had 70 kids at VBS Red Hill today! PRAISE THE LORD!!! However, we learned that when we got to the facility, which is basically at tin box, we had NO electricity! How were we going to hold VBS in a tin box with no electricity while it's pouring down rain and we are wondering if the building will blow away due to the wind? Guess what?!? We did and it was WONDERFUL!!!

The beauty of these people is that they don't expect much. Although it's in my nature to give them much and specifically the BEST I can offer, because I've learned to never bring anything but the best before the Lord. We played games, sang "Outrigger Island" and "God is Real" acapella, taught God's biblical truth, memorized bible verses and simply PRAISED the Almighty God!!! There is a joy and a hope in these children's eyes that amazes me. One child pointed to a seashell and asked, "what is this?" We told them it was a seashell and then they continued to ask, "where did you get it from?" "The ocean," we said. The child asked, "where is that?" Red Hill is located about 2 miles off the coast of the Atlantic ocean and this child has NEVER even seen it. These children don't have much of anything but they have faith in the knowledge that God is real and that He loves them. So I ask you... Isn't that enough? It is for Red Hill.

The rain continued to pour over Cape Town the majority of the day, but along with the rain came blessings. Blessings of hope, love, faith and strength. A hope, I fear I could never have the way these children have it. A love that is given to all of us from the Father, who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. A faith in the knowledge of the Almighty God and a strength, that I'm still learning to accept so that I face these children tomorrow and be a light to them, in their lives and communities.

If the Lord wills, tomorrow is a new day in Cape Town. This trip has been a humbling experience so far and I am incredibly eager to see what the Lord will continue to do in Red Hill and Cape Town. Lives are going to continue to be changed and mine is one of them...

Dora Pop

Dora Pop

The Work Begins

2008-09-29T10:27:00.002-05:00

Today we were able to actually get down to work. The various teams left the team house bright and early around 7:30am . Sunday's beautiful weather was replaced by a cold , windy, rainy day. We were not going to let the weather get in our way.

The Four VBS teams reported a total of just over 400 kids attending despite the weather. Many kids will not participate when it rains due to the fact they only have one set of clothes and don't want to get those clothes wet. It seems each group had a great start. There will be more stories from various locations later on.

The construction team broke up into two separate teams , both might have been better classified DE-Construction teams. Shane was a one man wrecking crew with his local helper doing some repairs. The other team gutted a kitchen at the homeless shelter in Muizenburg and worked on rewiring power supplies for computers in the offices there.

Landscaping was also working in Muizenburg, their big project is preparing to pour a 20x20 concrete patio. I think Melanie, Wayne, and Tom were actually making mud pies instead of preparing the ground ;-)

The IT team, wasa busy at several sites and finished the day with training of office staff on FTP .
Hopefully we'll have some more detailed stories after we have our team briefing tonight.

Praise in any language

2008-09-28T13:00:00.003-05:00

Today the team worshiped at King of Kings Church and the Masi church. The message at King of Kings was delivered by John Thomas. This was a message on baptism, which is part of the discipleship series that they are going through. Some interesting points and good reminders of some basics. The service at the Masi church was more music oriented . The choir was away this week, so members of the congregation would lead in a song and some would offer testimony as well.
We had a very spirit filled service and we were all very enriched from the experience.

After the service the team members in our KomBi (van) were discussing the mornings' service.
All of us were impressed that even though we understood very little of the languauge spoken or sung we were able to worship just the same. We were reminded that when the spirit leads we can all take part.

I was thinking during the service that we have no idea of what is being said, yet we are getting just as much from the service. Also, it hit me that God understands everything we were saying at the same time understanding what we were also hearing in another language.

We had lunch at the home of Avril and John Thomas. We were whale watching just prior to going inside for our meal. A very fascinating location. John and Avril updated us on some of the operations and projects of Living Hope and the other ministries.

After some shopping and dinner we have returned back to the team house. We will be meeting and then resting for tomorrow's work to begin.

Day Two

2008-09-27T16:50:00.003-05:00

Saturday went by really fast, we were very busy all day. The day was mostly spent with each sub team checking out their job sites and meeting with various people that will be helping in each area.
After lunch we spent the day playing tourist, visiting Table Mountain and WaterFront.
We discussed tonight how we have seen God move today.
The most obvious was in the beauty of Table Mountain. The view is breathtaking. After viewing the mountains and ocean from an elevation of 1078 meters you will have no doubt there has to be an intelligent designer. God spent a little extra time in creating the area around Cape Town.

Another example was with some of the people we kept seeing everywhere we went today. After a few conversations we learned they were part of another missions group, this one from Miami. They are also here to work mainly with children. Talking with two of the guys we learned they are very dedicated and committed to reaching these kids.

A running theme during this trip will be "How did you see God work today?"
Tomorrow will be a day of worship , visiting with John Thomas, and a little recreation time.
I'm sure we will be filling this blog this week with many examples of how God is working in South Africa and through team members.

The Eagle Has Landed

2008-09-26T11:47:00.005-05:00

The team arrived in Cape Town only a few minutes behind schedule. We just finished a team meeting and are going to eat dinner, unpack supplies and probably get some rest! We have a busy schedule beginning tomorrow morning. We'll get some team updates as soon as things get rolling :-)

Last Minute Pep Talk

2008-09-23T19:51:00.003-05:00

John Thomas met with our team Sunday evening as we finished packing our supplies. He gave us an update on the political changes now happening in South Africa . He also warned us that Global Warming has forgotten Cape Town as they have been experiencing the coldest winter he remembers. This week begins the season of Spring in South Africa, so as we are enjoying highs in the 80's they are enduring highs in the 50's and 60's.

Later that same evening Mr Thomas spoke during a dinner designed to address the work of Fish Hoek Baptist Church and Living Hope. He also mentioned that on his last trip to The White House he informed President George Bush of the wonderful support he has from the partnership with Brentwood Baptist Church.

Anyone that has ever listened to John Thomas speak or have heard the story behind the beginnings of Living Hope can only be amazed. This one man, along with a tiny church saw a vision and dared to believe God was capable of anything. Almost ten years later John Thomas and Living Hope have become world leaders in the global fight against HIV-AIDS.

T - Minus 2 Days

2008-09-23T19:38:00.003-05:00

As I type this entry it is only 40 hours until our departure for Cape Town South Africa. We spent Sunday evening packing supplies for the VBS portion of the trip. Along with VBS , sub-teams will also be involved in leading a retreat for wellness center workers, various construction projects at the 5 locations of Living Hope/Way/Grace properties, an IT team, and also landscaping.

We will provide updates each day of the trip, and hope to summarize each day how various teams have seen God at work. We'll try to post an entry upon our safe arrival (depending on internet connection) and then the first reports will begin Friday or Saturday Nashville time.

The team asks for your prayers as we continue to prepare and pack for departure, our safe flight to New York and Cape Town, good health, and that we will be used in the ways that God intends and that He will lead each step of our journey.

Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. Please feel free to leave comments and they will be passed along to the team.

Snapshots from South Africa

2007-10-05T10:54:00.001-05:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

A sign in Masiphumelele (Masi for short), one of the black townships

Amber reading a letter from one of her prayer partners
The first year, Scott shelled one pea, this year Lee Ann painted one wall of trim (and okay, she did some gardening today too)
Girls in the Hood- L to R, Rachel, Amber, & Amanda

A beautiful rainbow from Noordhoek beach, near the team house

Larry & Rachel praying together on the porch at Capri

Our entire team at the Cape of Good Hope

Rachel and Amy's Nighttime Experience

2007-10-05T00:38:00.000-05:00

Rachel and I jumped at the chance to work 7PM to 7AM Tuesday and Wednesday at the Hospice turned Healthcare Center. We had six female and five male patients all with HIV/AIDS and /or TB. The first night all but one woman was very resistant to us being there. The men were much more receiptive (go figure). There was one man in particular who took an interest in us and shared his story. As you can imagine, this was a humbling experience for us for a stranger to "spill his guts" so openly and without reservation. This gentleman was diagnosed with HIV three years ago is physically what we back in the states would imagine as the typical progression of AIDS. The difference is what we saw in how his diagnosis affected his heart. He insists the day he was diagnosed was the first day his life truly started. He told us the last three years have been the best in his life. The common theme he kept coming back to was "no pain, no gain". He explained that when he is without pain, he neglects his time with the Lord. When he is in pain, is the time he is closest to the Lord and remembers to be with Him. He prefers the pain over not.

Our second night proved to be more fruitful in that the women seemed to receive us as soon as we came thru the door. It is as if the first night they were watching us to discern our motivation for being there and could feel free to accept us. We decided to pamper them with hand cleansing and massages. Before we could finish with the first patient, a couple of other women were calling out "me next!". As I reflect back on the experience I remember seeing my two strong, soft white hands clasping one frail, thin, rough black hand between them and wanting to cry. I wish I could capture that moment on film to take home with me because I know my memories of this week will fade and I will forget the details. I pray the Lord will help me to remember these small details as they were so important at the time. We then proceeded to the men who even enjoyed a hand massage themselves.

Although different languages were spoken and we needed a translator for one patient, I felt the compassion in our voice outweighed any language barrier there might have been. The language of love and compassion is a universal language.

We completed our two night "assignment" tearfully and realized bonds had been formed in that short time. As Rachel and I reflect on our time together, we agreed that although we had both treated terminally ill patients in the past, walking into a ward full of people who will probably all have died by the next time we return was a different type of experience.

Retreat

2007-10-04T11:39:00.001-05:00

Tuesday and Wednesday was the retreat for the workers at the hospice. After the fun games, we finally got down to business. We had many things planned for them, including self-help sessions, worshipping, games, and just having a good ole time.

Tuesday

The first session was about self esteem (Leader- Tom Dooley). In that session, we made picture frames for the girls to put a picture (we also took their picture) in and so that we could post it up on their new bulletin board that our construction team put up at the hospice. The next session was about team building (Leader- Melanie Wilson Hammer). For that session, we had the girls decorate a canvas square with things that they cared about. Each girl got up to share their square, and then they were able to form a quilt by joining them together.

Wednesday

The session started off super early, the girls just had finished breakfast along with only 2 hours of sleep. (they must of had a good time in their bunks) The first session was on boundaries (Leader- Melanie) but we started off with Tod Sandberg leading worship (and let me tell you, these women can sing). After we sang which felt like an hour because they just love to sing, and they also blessed us with singing their own praise songs in Xhousa (pronounced as Cosa). Then we had them do an icebreaker that I (Amber) led. This activity got them to break up into groups and discuss what makes them unique and special. The next session was on stress ( Leader- Patty Taylor) and she went over the different types of hugs and how they have such a positive effect on people. Which, we also got to practice and the women seemed to really enjoy that! The last session of the day was used for a time of encouragement (Leader- Jennifer Beasley). We used that time to break into small prayer groups so that we could pray over the girls and learned what their needs and concerns are. This proved to be a wonderful bonding time for both the leaders and the women. We handed out bracelets that Jennifer had found that had both American flag and South African flag colors. We gave this to them as a reminder that whenever they look at that we are praying for them and we love them.

All in all the retreat was a blessing, to us! We ended the day with hugs and smiles and them knowing that they now have an American Family.

Construction Junction

2007-10-04T08:44:00.001-05:00

Thursday, day 4 of working, and we are all finishing up our projects. You can't imagine the span Living Hope has across Cape Town- currently they have a Christian radio station started by John Thomas' wife Avril, they have centers at Muizenberg, Capri, Masiphumelele, Ocean View, Red Hill, & Capricorn, along with having the Health Care Centre. Their focus is primarily home based health care, and education about the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Our construction team has been at the Capri center all week, adding a wall to a loft area to close in the upstairs, and repainting the whole interior of the building- no small task with concrete walls and vaulted ceilings! Living Hope used to use the Capri center as their central hub where the admin offices were. Having outgrown this building now, admin has moved next door, and Capri is more of multi-purpose building. Sewing classes are held upstairs and various support groups meet here during the week, and the Living Hope staff have their weekly Monday morning devotional time here as well, which we were blessed to be a part of on Monday. After a short devotional, each staff member went around the room and told what projects they would be working on during the week. We then spent a good amount of time in prayer and spontaneous song & worship. It was a privilege to be able to get a glimpse of what a typical day at Living Hope looks like.

After that, it was down to business, moving furniture out of the way, and prepping to paint. As you can see in the picture above, Bill Bedi, Christina, Rachel, & Tami helped to demolish the old reception desk (as Pat Ball, the Volunteer Co-ordinater for Living Hope, put it- to send the desk where all good desks go when they die!). Christina, Rachel and I tackled the top floor painting, while Leslie, Tami, and Amy started on the bottom floor. Construction seemed to be going well. I batted my eyelashes at Des, the Living Hope maintenance man and convinced him that we really did need some primer to cover the dark green paint. (Ask Bill Bedi to tell you the story if you know him- he embellishes it way more than I do!) Bill spent a lot of time supervising & talking to Des, and he did spend an entire day hanging the door. Tom Blough worked hard & quietly from atop the scaffolding, until his infectious laugh rang out through the rafters! We lost a few people to other projects during the week, and also picked up a few along the way. Christina became known as the Queen Bee. Larry, our friend from Alabama was shortened to Bama, and I was known as Kentucky.

We shared lots of laughs and did a lot of hard work- way more than my sedentary lifestyle is used to! I would say the construction team had a very different experience from most of the team because we were so secluded at Capri, having almost no interaction with any of the South Africans. God continued to remind me each day that whatever I do, to do it for God's glory- through all the menial tasks- whether that means scraping paint off the floor, trimming base boards, vacuuming, or building, that it is all for God's ultimate glory.

Our team repeatedly refer to our personality types in joking throughout the week to explain or justify certain behaviors according to the PLACE class DISC method. Well I am an I, a people person, so I was questioning why God would put me on the construction team when I have little skill in this area (although it turns out I am a pretty good painter), and away from the possibilities to form relationships with the people of Cape Town. I got my answer in some unexpected ways. I formed bonds with my fellow construction team mates, and we had a ball whatever we were doing. Secondly, we all got a surprise today when Marius, one of the health care center patients came by to give us a thank you card he had made and signed, along with other staff & patients signatures, to express their gratitude for our work at Capri. Here I was thinking all week that while I understood the importance of the work we were doing in the grand scheme of things for Living Hope, I couldn't see how it was impacting people on a personal level. Marius blessed us in this way, and as many of you know, you will go on a mission trip to try and bless others, and you end up being blessed yourself. Meeting Marius and hearing his story, and having him thank us for the work we did was just the little bit of relational bonding that I had been missing all week and God provided that for me!

I will close now by saying that almost never are your own expectations met when you go on a mission trip like this- things change and you almost never end up doing things exactly as planned. The only expectation that can be counted on is that if your hearts are prepared, then God will show up and work in you and through you, and He certainly has done that with our team.

Pre-Retreat

2007-10-03T14:48:00.001-05:00

Tuesday and Wednesday was the retreat for the hospice staff. We went to a place called Camp Faraway, not to be mistaken with Far Far Away. The retreat team consisted of Patty, Creely, Melanie, Tom D., Tod, Leigh Ann, and us (Jennifer and Amber).

We arrived to the camp a little early so that we could set up only to find that we had been beaten to the camp by the hospice staff! We got to set up for the retreat and after we finished we got to play impromtu games with the girls. Little did we know how competitive and aggressive these ladies are when it comes to playing games. Even games like Duck Duck Goose even though they don't say Duck Duck Goose.

Let's paint you a picture:

Twenty of us sitting in a circle outside on a beautiful day with the mountains in the background and our mascot, "the wild rooster" running amuck. The goal of the game is that one person has a ball and is walking in a circle behind all of us and at any point will drop the ball behind any given person. At that point, once that person has realized that they have the ball they have to get up as fast as they can and chase the other person around the circle. Here comes the South African version of Duck Duck Goose: instead of just tagging the person with the ball, you now have the option to chuck the ball at them. This proved to be quite dangerous (who knew that we needed to wear helmets). Let's give you an example of where a helmet could come in handy. As one lady was chasing another, she realized that she could not tag her before she returned to her spot. So out of desperation to win, she chucks the ball across the circle almost decapitating Amber's head. I (Jennifer) was a witness to this event and found it quite hilarious. Eventually, Amber did too.

Another game - what we will call Human Tug o' War. Here's how this game works: Two women pick between two food items for example Christmas Cake and Chocolate Cake. When you get up to them, they will ask you which one would you pick. Amber obviously picked Chocolate Cake and I picked Christmas Cake because that's the only word I understood. And this continues on with each woman until each team is built. Keep in mind these teams could be uneven if everyone picked the same kind of cake. But fortunately, it seemed to be even. Moving on to the actual physical part, the catch is you don't use a rope. You simply hang on to the person in front of you. The first person of each line tries to pull the other group across the line. Here's a picture of the end result:

We also played other games that included seeing "Auntie" Creely dancing to the baboon song. Here's a picture of that memorable moment:

We will be getting back to you with how the actual retreat turned out. Here's a sneak peek: It was a success.

Today was a fun day!

2007-10-02T13:34:00.000-05:00

Today was a very interesting day! I had the opportunity to go with Noeline and visit all of the sites where Brentwood was working. It was amazing to see how God was using everyone in such different ways! This trip has been wonderful even though it is my third time things are different. The country is as beautiful as I remember it and for the best two days it has been extremely windy but today was one of those perfect weather days. We are posting a video from a kids club some of us got to go to yesterday. It was so much fun just to go and love on kids. The key to this trip has been do not make plans because God is going to do what He wants but the cool thing is we get to be a part of it!

Enjoy the video.
Danielle Schneider

Ministering to Cape Town , far & wide

2007-10-02T12:09:00.001-05:00

Today was the second day of work for our team. We are all involved at various Living Hope locales using our specific gifts and talents for the Lord. We have a small team of IT people working in Muizenburg at Radio CCFM (the only Christian radio station in Cape Town), another group is hosting a retreat tonight and tomorrow for the health care workers of the Living Hope Health Care Centre, one group is doing construction at Capri (and are working so fast by the way, that they are conveniently finding more projects for us to do!!), some have been helping over in the craft store, some are landscaping at Capricorn and Muizenberg, and who knows what other odd jobs will pop up along the way that they'll ask us to tackle (Brentwood Baptist has a reputation for being a skilled, hardworking team whenever we come, and so they give us all the hard jobs to do!). Needless to say, we are spread out around Cape Town working hard for the Lord, but enjoy the time we have together as a team at night. We have bonded with the team members from other churches and welcomed them into the Brentwood family.

God is working in so many ways over here, and the joy is contagious. I am trying to get more pictures posted on here so you can see for yourself, but in the meantime, keep on praying for us. The theme for our devotional last night was teamwork, taken primarly from Romans chapter 12- we are all given different gifts and are all parts of the same body. Alone we can accomplish nothing, but with each other, and through the Lord we can do great things!

A Day of Worship

2007-09-30T23:40:00.001-05:00

Good morning, South Africa! We are here at the team house getting ready to start our first day of work. Yesterday was a full day though. We first went to Fish Hoek Baptist Church and worshipped with John Thomas' congregation. John preached on the meaning of true worship- how it's not just 20-30 minutes of singing songs on a Sunday morning, and we followed his sermon with an amazing time of worship that ended with the congregation singing all 4 verses of Holy, Holy, Holy a capella. It was a beautiful, and spirit-filled time. Following this service, we 30 piled back into the Combis (vans) and went to part of a church service at Masiphumelele baptist church. I say part, because they were going long before we got there and would continue to worship long after we left. At King of Kings John preached on the meaning of true worship- at Masi, we experienced it! Members of the congregation would spontaneously break out in song and everyone else would follow in strong 4-part harmony. Though we could not understand the words they spoke (their service is in Xhosa) we could not deny that the holy spirit was working in that place, we understood their praises were to the Lord Almighty.

The rest of the afternoon was spent marveling at God's creation at Cape Point (too windy for Table Mountain). Every scene out our windows was something like you'd see in a postcard. But here's yours truly with the Indian Ocean in the background:

And for posterity's sake, a few shots of us at the airport in Johannesburg! More pics and posts from other team members are coming!

Cape Invaders

2007-09-29T17:58:00.000-05:00

It is nearing 1am Capetown time, but we are all here safe and sound, minus a few suitcases that are slated to arrive sometime tomorrow evening! Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us, and prayed for our safe arrival. A special thanks also to our prayer partners- your letters and notes are so encouraging!

Everyone is here at the Team House getting settled in, and some have already found the endless supply of ice cream treats in the freezer downstairs! It is a breezy 60 degrees here and we are preparing for a long day tomorrow- a team breakfast at 8am, followed by church at King of Kings (where Pastor John Thomas of Living Hope preaches) and then over to Masiphumelele for their church service. After that we'll try to view Table Mountain, weather permitting.

With all the planes we've been on in the past 48 hours, it feels like we've been on this trip for forever even though we've just begun! Friends are being made, names are being learned by the AL & CA people, and we are all excited about what the Lord is going to do in us and through us this week as we minister to the people of Cape Town. Keep checking this site as pictures are updated, and teammates share their experiences in their own words.

As they say in Afrikaans, Goeie nag. or Good night!

Capetown Bound!

2007-09-24T13:22:00.000-05:00

This Friday morning, members of BBC and a few others will be boarding a plane (several of them, actually) bound for Capetown, South Africa. We would appreciate your prayers as team members are in their final days of preparation for this trip.

The BBC team members are:

Leigh Ann Cates
Amy Jenkins
Amy Mizell
Jennifer Beasley
Tami Bobo
Rachel Knox
Walt & Marsha Miller
Amanda Bradley
Bill Bedi
Bobby & Denise Stewart
Patty Taylor
Danielle Schneider
Christina Martin
Tod & Amber Sandberg
Leslie Todd
Creely Wilson
Melanie Wilson Hammer
Tom Dooley
Tom Blough

Non BBC members who will also be joining us this year are:

Jane Jennings- TX
Wayne & Paula Aranaz- CA
Jim & Karen Conrad-CA
Christy White-MI
Mike & Pam Talley
Jeremy Griem –AL
Larry Vann –AL
Pamela Harman – AL
Tom Boston – AL
Mark Garnett - AL

Yes, we are from many churches in various parts of the country but we go with one common goal- to share the good news of Christ with the people of Capetown South Africa! Please pray for safe travel, for our supplies to arrive (both here in TN, and throughout our travel), for the hearts of the people with whom we will be in contact to be open and ready to receive the gospel. Pray for our team's physical health, for our hearts to be ready to give and receive God's love, and pray that we are effective witnesses.

We will have Internet in the team house and will be blogging and updating as time permits. Check here daily to see what we're up to, and how you can continue to pray for us.

Grace & Peace,

Same great song, one more verse

2007-09-19T11:54:00.000-05:00

Watch this space for reports from the 2007 mission team, departing September 28. Now accepting support contributions and packing tips.

Sunday

2006-10-08T12:13:00.000-05:00

This is our last evening in Capetown, and we have had another full day. There is so much to experience and to process-it is rather overwhelming, for me, at least.

This morning we attended King of Kings Baptist Church (where John Thomas is the pastor) and also Masiphumelele Baptist. King of Kings is similar to our traditional evangelical suburban America church-a nice building, a worship team, a sound system, printed bulletins-along the same lines as BBC (just on a smaller scale). Then we went less than a mile away to Masi Baptist, which might as well be in a different world. (This is the building our construction team worked on all week.) The service is usually in Cosi (which I'm sure I am misspelling), but since we were there today, much of it was translated into English. No piano, no fancy offering plates, none of the "ordinary" things we never think twice about, but the people were so joyful. While these services were completely different from each other, the love of God and the desire to know Him know not the boundaries of race, socioeconomic status, language, anything. It was amazing. Sadly, we heard during the announcements that during the early hours of the morning this morning, a fire swept through one part of the Masi township destroying 200 homes and leaving more than 1000 people homeless. The shacks in Masi are so small and so close together that a fire can spread like, well, wildfire. We saw the site of the fire, and already people were clearing debris, salvaging anything worth keeping, and beginning to put up framing for new shacks made out of scrap lumber, tin roofing material, anything they could get their hands on. Amazingly, no injuries or deaths were reported at all.

Tomorrow morning most of us leave very early to fly back to Johannesburg. Two of our team have decided to stay here a couple more days to continue IT work at some of the Living Hope locations. The rest of us will fly to Jo-burg to spend a couple of days at one of the game parks before we depart for the States on Thursday and arrive home on Friday.

On behalf of our entire team, I covet your prayers for us as we sort through and process everything we have seen and heard and felt and experienced while we have been here. So much has happened this week that doesn't fit into any existing frame of reference in my mind, and I'm not yet sure how to deal with it all. When we return, I will go back to my same job, my same house, my same life, and yet I am not the same as I was when we left. I think God has worked in each of our hearts in incredible ways this week (and will continue to even as we leave tomorrow), and we want to take the hope and joy and love we've experienced here with us, whatever that may end up looking like. I don't know.

We have thought much about Bill and Creely Wilson over the past few days. While our hearts are so burdened by his death, we are thankful to be living out the vision and legacy he began at BBC. (For those of you who don't know him, Bill was the former senior pastor of BBC and then was the first missions minister, I believe, and he passed away this week.)

So thank you for your love and prayers and support and emails while we have been here, and, as I mentioned, please continue it--just because we are leaving here tomorrow, I think the journey for each of us is far from over---

Friday

2006-10-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

Our trip is half over here in South Africa-can't believe it.

It has been a long but rewarding couple of days for the team. The construction team has had their hands full at Masiphumelele Baptist Church, and the work is almost completed. Thanks to the team, the church has a new ceiling, new fascia boards, gutters, and downspouts outside, new flooring for storage, and a new fence (well, most of a new fence.) Also, the entire inside (walls and ceiling) has been newly painted, the windows washed inside and out, and the curtains washed and re-hung. We still lack a second coat of paint and to re-install light fixtures, but I think the construction team has earned their keep this week.

The nursing team had the opportunity yesterday to participate in support groups run by Living Hope in the Masi neighborhood. The people have so many questions about health and medical services, and Carol and Kate were warmly welcomed by people so curious for answers.

I don't think I've mentioned our IT team here with us this week. It is a very capable team of one--Bobby Stewart--who is working to install telecommunications cabling at several of the Living Hope locations around town. He has spent much of the week working out logistics at the Muizenberg location and getting cables run. Besides needing reliable Internet access, the various community centers need local networking among each other, and (to the best of my IT understanding) this is what Bobby is working on.

Tonight we had dinner with several teachers and life counselors who work with Living Hope, along with John and Avril Thomas. It is amazing to talk to these people who, in the midst of such need and pain, find ways to bring help, hope, and joy to the people they serve. I talked to John specifically about helping people who have no concept of life outside their shack or the poverty their family has lived in for generations, and he said the key is to give people hope, to let them know that they have value as a child of God, and that their life is worth so much more than even they realize. Give them something to hope for, to aspire to, a reason to try to better their situation. And it works. It happens. In one week's time, that is what I've seen Living Hope doing in so many ways and for so many people, one person at a time.

Tomorrow we are off to do some sight-seeing around Capetown and be tourists. It will be a nice respite from a week of hard, often labor-intensive work. Please continue to pray for us.

Wednesday

2006-10-04T23:49:00.000-05:00

Good morning, everyone. It's Thursday morning here, and we had another wonderful day yesterday. The longer we are here, the more need we see.

Yesterday morning, the nurses made housecalls at the Masimphumelele township, which is very different from OceanView, where we were on Tuesday. Instead of making housecalls, one of our team members, Carol, was asked to stay behind at the clinic itself and see patients, as the nurse who was supposed to be seeing patients is trying to do 3 or 4 people's jobs right now and is unbelievably overloaded. Carol said the morning was heartbreaking. Serious injuries, sick children, very few medications and supplies, not nearly enough staff, the list goes on and on. The needs are so great.

The kids club team had quite an afternoon at Capricorn. Capricorn is one of the most underserved areas in Capetown-no schools, no community center, no programming, no anything. Ashley Lovell has been working in this neighborhood for months now to establish relationships with the children, many of whom are addicted to drugs and/or involved with a gang by the time they are 12 or even earlier. Anyway, Living Hope (the organization we are involved with) held the first-ever Kids Club there yesterday, and we had no idea what to expect, so we had all hands on deck, just in case, and we're glad we did. We ended up with over 150 kids, meeting outdoors in a field to talk about how your body is a temple and how to take care of it inside and outside. The kids were amazing--they are so in need of love, physical contact, affection, anything that shows them that someone cares about them. Before we gave the kids a snack, we had them wash their hands. Because there is no water, we had gotten a big tub of water for the kids to come wash their hands in, and then one of our team memebers, Mike, was waiting with a big bath towel to dry their hands. You should have seen the looks on the faces of these kids--being served by someone else, even if it was as simple as drying their hands. Mike said it was one of the most moving experiences of his life.

We have each seen more need and more hurt in 4 days than many people will ever see in a lifetime. Please pray for us as we process what we are seeing and love these people who need it so badly.

Tuesday

2006-10-03T23:52:00.000-05:00

Hello, All-greetings from beautiful Capetown. Tuesday was again an adventure for us all, and the team got to see so many interesting things.

The nursing team was able to go with community nurses to make house-calls, which was eye-opening, to say the least. I went with 2 nurses to about 10 houses-most of the patients are elderly, home-bound, and bed-ridden. Many have diabetes, high blood pressure, pressure sores-same stuff we have, but then throw in tuberculosis and/or HIV and minimal access to healthcare resources, and the problems become even more complicated. But the people are so gracious and grateful for anything the nurses can do. Just as we were about to leave the first house, the woman asked (in very broken English) if the American would pray for her, as if somehow because I am white, my prayers are more effective or something. Very interesting--

The construction team is making great headway on the Masi Baptist Church project-more to come on that.

The kids club team spent yesterday afternoon at the Red Hill township, which is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Capetown. From what we saw, there is no running water, electricity, plumbing, etc. People live in shacks they've built out of cardboard or wood scraps or sheets of tin roofing material that are maybe 12x12' with 10 or more people living in them. We worked with about 30 kids from 3 to 11 years old, very few of whom spoke English, but there was no mistaking the love they felt towards us. As we pulled up in our mini-van, little kids came running up to us and couldn't wait to be picked up, hugged, sit on our laps, anything, any kind of contact at all. We couldn't understand much of what they said, but we had a great time making crafts, singing songs, eating snacks, and just loving on them. Our team leader, Leigh Ann Cates had brought her digital camera and a very small photo printer with her. We took pictures of each child and then printed the photographs and gave each child his picture. It was amazing to see their reactions; many had never seen a picture of themselves, so this was huge for them! Also, there are 3 of us who have long blonde hair, and the kids are so funny about it. For a while, I just sat down in a chair while kids would come up behind me and mess with my hair-it is so foreign to them. Wednesday will be kids club at the Capricorn location-we are expecting around 100 kids. Please pray for this.

If I could sum up what I've seen so far, it's this: there is such a marked disparity between those who have and those who have not. From the time I was a little kid, I have heard the verse that says to whom much is given, much is required. I thought I knew what that meant all along, but I didn't have a clue...please continue to pray for us and the people we are with.

Monday

2006-10-02T15:08:00.000-05:00

It was another great day for us here in Capetown and another lesson for our team in flexibility. Our group of 14 or 15 is subdivided into 4 smaller groups: a construction team, a medical team, a crafts team, and a team working with kids in after-school clubs.

The construction team is working at the Masiphumelele Baptist Church doing several projects: building a ceiling, painting walls and the aforementioned ceiling, tearing out and rebuilding a fence and whatever else they can get to in the time we have. No casualties so far, although one team member spent some time dangling from the rafters today when the scaffolding he was working from gave way, leaving him swinging in mid-air.

The medical team spent time this morning in the Living Hope Hospice and will be going out the next few days into the communities with local "carers" who make house-calls to the patients. HIV is so prevalent here, and resources are available to many, but the social stigma associated with having HIV keeps many from seeking out help. It is a sad situation with so many in need and no easy answers.

The crafts team will really get geared up tomorrow working with ladies who are HIV-positive and attend support groups at Living Hope Centre. The women make hand-made crafts that they then sell to make money for themselves and for Living Hope. More about that tomorrow-

The kids club group has their hands full! Today they worked with about 30 kids ranging in age from 5 to 13 in the OceanView township. We're talking to the kids this week about taking care of your body, being clean and hygienic, eating right, keeping your heart clean as Jesus commanded us, and sexual purity (with respect to preventing the spread of HIV). There is so much these kids need and need to know, and it's hard to know where to start and how to talk about it, especially with such potentially sensitive subjects and such a wide age range.

The weather continues to be beautiful and we are all having a great time. Our team is comprised of very different people with different personalities and such different backgrounds--it is great to just spend time together and hear everyone's stories. Needless to say, there has not been a silent moment since we arrived, and I've never laughed so hard in my life.

Oh, and we ate dinner last night while watching yesterday's 11 o'clock service on our laptops via the live video-streaming. (We are 7 hours ahead of Brentwood, so our dinnertime was exactly as the service was starting.) Pretty cool to be halfway around the world and still attend our very own church service. We even passed the offering plate. Somebody can tell Mike the check's in the mail.

Thanks for your love and prayers-

Sunday, October 1st

2006-10-01T10:18:00.000-05:00

Hello, Family and Friends-

We have arrived safely at Capetown (tired and rumpled, but safe) and are enjoying our first day here. After having missed our connecting flight in Johannesburg yesterday and then being delayed and split up on different planes, we finally made it to the Team House where we are staying for dinner, a quick devotion, and much-needed rest!

This morning we celebrated with over 400 people John Thomas' 50th birthday. John is the pastor of Fish Hoek Baptist Church here in Capetown and the Executive Director of the Living Hope Centre where most of us will be working over the next 9 days. While John was away preaching at Fish Hoek this morning, we set up tables and chairs for 500, prepared and set out lunch, and decorated the school where the celebration was being held. After morning services were over, people began to arrive--many from John's church, many from the Masiphumulele township, some who've worked with John in the Christian radio industry here in South Africa, his friends, and family. Many of these people spoke briefly (or not so briefly) about their relationship with John and his work and ministry in and around Capetown. It is amazing to see everyone socializing together-white, black, and colored-given the politicial/racial struggles of the not-so-distant past. Clearly many of those present today came from very different backgrounds with respect to race, financial status, education level, religion, but they were all there in support of John and his efforts. Very cool. After the party, we cleaned up, washed dishes, broke down tables, and washed more dishes. We had arrived around 8am and left shortly after 4pm, so it was quite an all-day event.

I think this week will be a lesson for each of us in flexibility. We have wonderful plans for what we hope to accomplish and what needs to be done, we'll just have to take it one day at a time, fully expecting that our plans will change as we go.

Thank you for your prayers and support while we are here.

Almost ready to go!

2006-09-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hello all who will read this blog. We are only 4 days away from leaving for Cape Town and this team is absolutely amazing! They have made so many plans for our time there and are pulling together in every way. I can't wait to see what God has planned for our time there and how he will use every individual on this team. It is an honor to be your leader.

Please visit our blog often and pray for us every day! For our friends and family giving up their time with us and for us, thank you...we love you. Happy travels my fellow team members and we'll see you EARLY Friday morning!

Leigh Ann Cates
Team Leader

Reflections

2005-10-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

Upon arrival in the United States...life, for me, picked right back up into the chaos I left. It's been hard to find a few minutes to think about the trip, let alone write about it. Although it's hard to explain everything that happened...or even know how much this trip will affect the rest of my life, let me attempt to share a little of Kruger and the rest...

At Kruger we saw "The Big 5" Those are the animals that are the most dangerous....elephant, rhino, cape buffalo, leopard and lion. We saw all 5 in one day. That's only the 2nd time in Mike Massingham's life that he's seen all 5 in one day, and only the 4th time he's seen the leopard. It was fairly exciting. I loved learning about the different animals. For example, did you know that giraffes are double jointed in their knees and because they can kick either direction, very forcibly, they don't have any natural predators? Or did you know they only sleep 20 minutes a day? Elephants have the ability to feel seismic patterns in their feet, so they knew when the Tsunami was coming and ran for the hills before any human really know what was going on. It was truly amazing to see how God created animals with the most amazing things I would NEVER think of...most of the drive I was amazed at who He is as a creator.

The trip home was fairly uneventful, which is a bonus. Flights were good, we made all the connecting flights, luggage made it. Again a HUGE blessing!

It's been a little over a week...and I miss South Africa. When Liz was teaching on Tuesday night, she made the comment that South Africa was a beautiful country. It has oceans and mountains, beautiful scenery, animals...etc. The people of Masi did NOT agree with her. They don't see the natural beauty that surrounds them on a daily basis. I'm not sure we could have convinced them to think any differently. I think we are fairly similar.

So many times God tells us that we are beautiful, that He HAS given us certain gifts and talents and He does want to use us to further His kingdom. However we deny it. We don't see what He sees and dismiss truth for a lie. Like the people of Masi, we miss the everyday beauty of being His child and nothing He has said or done will change our mind. Whether the people of Masi were able to see the beauty that IS their country...it is still true. Whether or not we believe that God has created us to be His children and to do good works that He prepared...it is still true. So the choice is ours. Do we walk in truth or the mediocrity the world offers as life?

Home, Sweet Home

2005-10-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

The five of our group who opted not to go to the game park have made it home safe and sound. It was a long but smooth trip, though Leigh Ann's suitcase zipper gave up the ghost while we were transferring bags at the airport in Atlanta. A duct tape solution was all that was needed, but I have a feeling the bag will not be making any more flights.

Our expert in all things travel, Jay, bumped our Cape Town - J'burg flight back an hour or two so our layover in Johannesburg would not be four hours long. That gave us extra time in Cape Town, which we spent in an activity that was very effective in helping ease the transition back to the States: we went to the mall. I suppose you could say that part of our ministry was helping support the economy of South Africa--in which case, blessings abounded.

After a trip like this, having seen so much need and done so many different things to try to help meet those needs in such a short time, and being reminded of how much we have, it's only natural to experience what I call the "Schindler Syndrome"—"I could have done more...." Could have built & painted more walls, installed more computer programs, taught more truths, sung more songs, hugged more children, taken more pictures (OK, that last one is a stretch—we took a LOT of pictures). Which is valid—we all could have done more, and still can, and I hope we will, as a group and as individuals. But as far as the work of the past week or so is concerned, at some point we have to "let go and let God" (if you'll excuse what may be a cliché to you) and hope that He will take the seeds we scattered so apparently haphazardly, and cause each of them to grow into something greater than we would ever expect.

In the meantime, don’t be concerned or offended if I don’t answer the phone in the next day or so—I’m probably dreaming about a breezy place by the ocean where my “extended family” is taking turns making each other laugh (sometimes on purpose), our neighbors the whales are waving hello, and ice cream is on the house.

Wrapping Up

2005-10-10T10:32:00.000-05:00

I have to echo Heather’s thoughts about the service at Masiphumelele Baptist Church; the music is like spiritual caffeine to a sleepy soul! We experienced a remarkable contrast of worship styles; the one at King of Kings, very much like our own, and the one at Masi. It is a breathtaking reminder of how big God is, to realize how many ways His people relate to him, in so many places, in so many languages, all celebrating “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

An acquaintance of mine named Steven met up with us at Masi. He and his wife have just moved to Cape Town from the U.S. to investigate and pursue opportunities to serve the people here (possibly including Living Hope), under the auspices of the organization called ServLife. I met him via the blog site of Amanda Bradley, who was on the BBC S. Africa team last year. The rest of the team was going to the waterfront for the day, some to visit Robben Island, and so we made an afternoon of it there as well. It was good to hear about how he was settling into his life and ministry, and to see if I could offer any helpful information (with all my “vast”experience here in the Cape!). He coached me on asking for “tomato sauce” instead of “ketchup” at lunch, and goaded me into trying out one of the local electric guitars made from a Castrol can (one of our team members is bringing one home) at an indoor market, so it was a good day all around. His blog site is http://twoandtwomakesfive.blogs.com/.

Had a great dinner with Bill Bedi,and was touched by his passion for finding the right place where God can use him next, on the job or otherwise. I also appreciate his straight-shooting way of talking on any subject. His construction skills are a large part of why so much has been accomplished this week, and people have shaken their heads in wonder at how much has been done in such a short time.

Today was our last day of work, so we were up and at ‘em to get things done. We finished up the painting of the office spaces that our local “boss” Bill Eames had for us, and the ladies continued to extend the wall they began last week outside.

Marsha and company wrapped up the crafts work at the shelter and at Capri. I gave Ann Eames the handful of CD’s I had brought so the HIV/AIDS support group clients could “whistle while they work” on the crafts, using their newly-purchased CD player.

The work at the shelter on the new shop area was not as complete as the crew there had hoped for, but the rest is just polishing off the detail work, so their contribution will be greatly appreciated for a long time to come.

Some of us put together some new lounge chairs with cushions, to put on the front patio of the hospice, so the patients will have comfortable seats from which they can enjoy the natural beauty all around them. Naturally, we had to “quality test” them first; they seem to work well. Then we took them over the hospice and enjoyed the smiles of those who were there, eager to put them to use.

We spent a good bit of time praying in the new office spaces and next to the new wall outside, asking God to bless the staff who will be using the spaces, though we didn’t know them by name.

Tonight we’re topping off our time here with a dinner out with some of the Living Hope staff we’ve worked with, to celebrate God’s goodness to us all, and to encourage them further to continue their work here.

Revival

2005-10-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

So my favorite event of the day was visiting Masiphumelele church and listening to their choir! It was fantastic! (I'm determined to use the words "brilliant" and "fantastic" more when I return home)

I suppose it was what I expected...But what stuck me is the difference in the spirits of the people. We sit at Brentwood every Sunday with more than we could ever need and for some of us, more than we want. When I look around it's hard to see a smile on anyone's face. Here, in Masi, I looked around and it was hard to find anything BUT a smile. These people have one towel to share with their entire families...And yet more joy resides in their pinky toe, than in most of our American churches. I wonder if we are like the churches in Revelation 2...Have we forgotten our first love? Maybe we've just forgotten the reason we need that love?

We did have the opportunity to sing for them as well. A team "theme song" would have to be "Because He Lives" so we sang that for them. Then joined in a song entitled "There's Going to be a Revival" It was a brilliant song! As I looked out over the faces of the children and the faces of those who aren't children, I knew what we were singing is true. Revival will start anywhere people are seeking God wholeheartedly....it'll start in Masi. There will be a revival from the top, to the bottom from the side to the side, because His people have humbled themselves, they pray and they seek His face. He hears from Heaven...and will answer those prayers.

Daddy....thank you for the people of Masi, the people who share joy so easily...make me more like them...

Here's to our ladies

2005-10-08T16:55:00.000-05:00

Today (Saturday) we made up for our day off yesterday, as predicted. It was a productive day, though.

Some of our ladies were eager to continue a project they started (and re-started) on Thursday at Capri. They spent a good part of the day moving dirt and laying blocks to continue the driveway around the back of the hospice. Then these industrious and versatile women shifted into full “relational mode” and accompanied a handful of Living Hope clients to Masiphumelele, visiting their humble homes and offering needed gifts of towels. Then it was back to shovels and wheelbarrows for the remainder of the day. I have had plenty of reasons to be more than impressed with my fellow team members on this trip, but this display tops them all!

Of course, Marsha, our crafts expert (you might have seen her list of requested supplies at church) has continued to help create beauty from scraps of paper and bits of ribbon…many examples of which you’ll no doubt have the opportunity to see and purchase on our return, to benefit Living Hope even further.

At the newly-created offices, also at Living Hope Capri, it was time to paint the new walls. Liz, Brian, Heather and myself were the paint crew (Brian did take a break to help Aaron chuck rocks and trash into a dumpster), working around Walt as he finished trim details, and a couple of people working on installing lights. We put a first coat on most of the area to be covered, so that project will be continued on Monday (unless our hosts have other plans).

The rest of the construction crew continued the relocation of the shop area at Muizenberg. Most of the elements are in place, but there’s more to be done on Monday there as well.

A tired but satisfied group of people made their way back to the team house for a pizza buffet, except for myself, because after a quick cleanup and change of clothes I was off to King of Kings Baptist Centre to perform a couple of songs at their missions banquet (I put a couple of slices of pizza aside for later—maybe breakfast). I found a couple of familiar faces to dine with, and enjoyed the evening. It was much like any missions awareness event in the States. The meal was served in three courses (starter, main course, and dessert), and for each course there was a missionary speaker or a media presentation. I was during the main course, and since I’ve learned to avoid singing after eating, I had to fend off attempts to take my food away and explain I was holding onto it. Judging from the mostly-elderly faces I could see from the stage I wasn’t sure if the upbeat (and/or offbeat) songs I had chosen were being received well at first (I started wishing I had something more like Sinatra or Wayne Newton) but the attendees did respond well, and even began clapping along (on the right beat!) toward the end. They were very gracious.

Tomorrow is church at King of Kings, then at Masiphumelele, then to the waterfront, where some will visit Robben Island and the rest will eat, shop, visit museums, etc.

Ocean View

2005-10-08T00:23:00.000-05:00

Today the centre at Ocean View will be dedicated and officially opened. If I fully understood how much this will impact the community I would share it here, but I don't have the words. Again, this area has 75% of their high schoolers addicted to Meth, the highest teenage pregnancy rate, and one of the highest drug abuse problems in the Eastern Cape. The Centre is already too small for all of the activities that need to be held there....but it is a start. What Nathan and Melanie would really like to have a youth center. It'll be fun to hear about how God provides that for them. The house where Ocean View Living Hope will be, used to be a drug pushers home and he had turned it into a brothel. Now it'll be a place of refuge and hope, an area where change can happen. It's so excited to be a part of it. Last year the team helped clean/build/straigten and who knows what else....now we get to see it open...next year...well..we wait eagerly for what God will do.

Yesterday, I was one of the few who went horseback riding. It was BRILLANT! We walked, trotted, cantered along the sand, with the cool breeze in our face and Shane and Shane singing in my ears about the majesty of Jesus. Amazing.

I leave you with a song...it's been in my head all week (well actually there have been more than just this one...but still...) I think it sums up my thoughts fairly well this morning.

"There is none like You. No one else can touch my heart like You do. I could search for all eternity long and find there is none like You. Your mercy flows like a river wide. Healing comes in Your name. Helpless children are safe in Your arms. There is none like You!"

Getting a higher view

2005-10-07T10:39:00.000-05:00

Our “day off” has been enjoyable, as all our days have been (though in different ways, of course). We had a slightly later breakfast than usual, and Keeli led a devotional at the table, challenging us (herself included) to think of ways to serve not only the people of South Africa but each other as well.

Then we piled into the combies (VW vans, now numbering three in use) to visit Table Mountain. The weather was perfect, and we split off into groups or pairs to hike the easy trail around the top and/or have lunch at the cafe with possibly the best view of any dining experience I’ve ever had. We were literally looking down on the few clouds, and on the city and coastline below them.

I rode back in the van taking Dave and Kerri, our California team members, to the airport, and Jay took us on a route that passed between the stark poverty of the Kayalitsha township (a shantytown with a population of about 1 million) and the astonishing beauty of the recreational beaches of False Bay.

A group of 7 or 8 is out now riding horses rented from a stable next to the team house. The riders include our team members, our house manager and some young Living Hope volunteers on a sort of work-study from a university in Finland. This is the first ride for some. I look forward to those stories!

Speaking of stories, I very much look forward to having dinner tonight at the home of Pastor John Thomas and his wife Avril (very much a ministry team in themselves).

Tomorrow and Monday will be our last two full days of work, so I expect this day of rest will not be wasted as we make that final push to finish projects and make the most of the time we have left with new friends.

Moving walls and building bridges

2005-10-07T01:54:00.000-05:00

Thursday started slowly for me, but ended with a bang. I went to the homeless shelter at Muizenberg, mostly so I could make sure things were set for my songwriting seminar that evening across the street at the radio station. I like to “case the joint” when I can before a presentation.

Kathy, a Living Hope staff member, was gracious to allow me to use her computer to type up my notes to hand out, then Susie (another staff member, personal asst. to Avril Thomas) took me over to CCFM to get copies made and check out the room. I helped out where I could with the construction guys in their task of moving a couple of wall sections to relocate the shop area where clients’ craft items are sold. It seems we are seldom able to do things here with the same efficiency that we could do, because of the culture, communication difficulties, availability of resources, etc. But often the process gives us the opportunity to interact with people we would normally bypass, and that interaction is the stuff of heart-to-heart relationship—which is the real reason we’re here.

The Children’s Club team was back at Masiphumelele Baptist Church for a meeting with the teens. Mostly boys showed up, which made the group a little harder to direct, but that was OK. Our “special guest” Aaron gave a very good lesson on the Prodigal Son, and directed some comments to the boys that might not have occurred to him otherwise. Our time there was shorter than we had originally expected, so the flexibility factor kicked in once again.

After an abbreviated dinner I was off to the radio station for the seminar. Dave Horton, one of our “part-time” (but fully integrated) team members went along for support. A group of about 30 attended the meeting, fewer than the expected 70-80. The station has been hosting this monthly “Music Makers Forum” for about a year. After a time of worship in song led by one of the forum committee named Darryl (a South African of Indian descent, who said he’s been teased with the “this is my OTHER brother Darryl” line from the TV show), I made my presentation. I had been given over an hour, but I don’t think I used all my time. I included a couple of songs of my own and used a song on CD by my friend Audrey Hatcher as illustrations of certain points (after making it clear I’m no “expert” but I was passing along the wisdom of others). I used Eph. 2:10 and some of the Psalms, as well as Gen. 1:27 to make the point that we are all created to create, and it is up to us to use our gifts as best we can for God’s glory and for our own enjoyment. Avril (wife of Pastor John Thomas) then led a short discussion with the group and gave what I half-jokingly refer to as an “altar call” to ask for commitments to put the lesson into practice…and many attendees stood to show their desire to make that commitment and to ask for prayer in following through. The response was very encouraging.

Today (Friday) is a day off and we’ll be heading up Table Mtn. in the “James Bond” cable car, and this evening we’ll have dinner with the pastor and his wife.

Tomorrow we go back to work and tomorrow evening I’ll be doing a couple of songs at a missions conference dinner at King of Kings Baptist Centre.

Thanks for the encouraging comments on this blog site!

May Your wonders never cease!

2005-10-06T12:38:00.000-05:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this photo amazes me! Here is a glimpse of one of God's creations of the sea right outside our back-door here in South Africa. Just one of the many ways He is blessing us on this journey. Enjoy!

So much to say....so little time.

2005-10-05T14:59:00.000-05:00

Isn't that how it always is? I'm just not sure where to start today. Do I start with the little girl who had AIDS lesions on her face, or her many many friends who have the scars from where their's have heald?

Do I start with the Marine School in Ocean View, where 350 4th-7th graders got to hear about how Jesus and how each of them are made special...and that they aren't a mistake. These are the children that South African society has kind of forgotton about.

They live in an area where 75% of the high schoolers are addicted to Meth-Amphetamines (called TIK here)...and the drug pushers take over people's homes and the police can't get anything on them because of the insiders on the force informing the pushers when the busts will be?

Then there is Nathan, who grew up in OceanView. He will help run the children's club in Ocean View and his desire is to see more positive role models in the lives of the children there. I asked Nathan who his positive role model was....his answer? God. His dad died when he was 5, and he accepted Christ at age 13, knowing that there had to be something better for him
outside of what he saw day in day out. (sidenote--when Nathan told me this...he was holding about 10 balloon animals in his hands. It's a great picture!)

Maybe I should start with this morning. I helped dig a trench that is now the home to computer cables that will help the hopice and the new offices that we're building be more effiecent.

Or I could start with the end of the day and talk of Matt Allison who came and played for us this evening. He's a great singer/songwriter....and his passion for relationship evangelism
is precisely evident in the music he writes. It was an incredible reminder to me that God IS everywhere. The same thing He is telling the Christ followers of my generation in the US of A, is the same He's sharing with my generation in South Africa.

All of that to say, it's been a full day. A lot of emotions/thoughts haven't quite made themselves straight in my mind. My heart aches for Ocean View this evening...and for the 100ish 4-6 year olds who may or may not have a tin roof over their heads this evening.

The wind blows loud outside the window and the extra blanket for my bed has just arrived. Extra blanket...His grace flows down and covers me.

Picking up the pace

2005-10-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days have kept us hopping. I let too much time slip by to catch up on it all, but I’ll try to hit the highlights, at least from my point of view. I’m also doing what I can to encourage others to blog—no promises!

Being on the Children’s Club team leaves the mornings and some other times free to join other projects. Yesterday morning (Tuesday) I decided to hang out with the construction team as they framed in office spaces in a former residence next to the Capri center and hospice. As a person with limited construction experience, my motto was “First do no harm.”

I managed to make myself useful by helping attach the studs to the frames, “coaxing” them into place with a hammer then using the power screwdriver/drill tool to put them in place. Steve was a good coach, and the entire crew was a joy to work with; we/they accomplished amazing things…enough to encourage Pastor John Thomas to make a few extra requests—and these guys are ready to get it done.

After lunch and a short errand to pick up a pallet of food supplies, I joined the rest of my Children’s Club buds in the van to the Masiphumelele Baptist Church building. We did basically the same program as the day before, only the craft on this day was making maracas out of decorated plastic bottles with beans in them. “Making a joyful noise” has never been less of a problem for a group of kids!

Today (Wednesday) the house being turned into offices was a zoo of construction AND computer guys, installing moldings and computer hookups.

The Children’s Club team went to a public primary school in Ocean View (made up mostly of non-white and non-black (mixed, Indian, Malay, etc.) residents, called “coloured” in this country (the term is not an offensive one in the culture). We had been invited to come and make a short presentation to the students, with no restrictions on content. About 300 (?) children assembled in a courtyard area to listen to us; not a comfortable situation given the cool weather. We were pleasantly surprised that one of the staff led them in some Christian songs before we started.

We did our skit based on Max Lucado’s “You Are Special,” read in condensed form by Danielle. It won’t win us any Tony nominations, but the message was clear. Aaron spoke for a couple of minutes, and had to wrap quickly when it started sprinkling rain. The kids were very polite and responsive.

After returning to Capri, I joined the work crew made up of Aaron, Chad and Brian in moving dirt to make a driveway around the hospice. I didn’t stay with them long, but I plan to be sore tomorrow.

Children’s Club today was a challenge. Our expected group of 70 or so young children turned into a much larger group. The games, songs and story (by their local teacher) went well, but when we started doing a handprint project on one end of the room and painting designs on their hands on the other end, it was pretty hectic. But a good time was had by all. A black teen named Colin and another named Nokolo volunteered their well-qualified help in painting. Our diehard, faithful teen named Darren has been helping with everything, and I gave him as much prominence in leading songs as I could today.

If only Mondays were always this good!

2005-10-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

Monday went very smoothly. In the morning we visited each of the of the Living Hope locations: Capri, Masiphumelele, Ocean View and Muizenberg. We met with some of the L.H. staff (much enlarged since last year) at Capri, and toured the hospice. It was exciting to see the exterior bursting with gorgeous landscaping (in those flowerbeds we helped form and the hillside plantings we did in 2004) and the interior complete with beds and furniture. The hospice has patients, though it is not full at the moment.

Also at Capri, I sat in with a meeting between the fulltime Children’s Club teachers at Masi and (starting next week) Ocean View, and our own Leigh Ann and Danielle (the latter playing “Aaron” to hoarse Leigh Ann’s “Moses”) . I was so impressed with the time and work these ladies had put into preparing lesson plans and gathering resources to present to the Cape Town teachers to use in the following months. The teachers were also impressed and appreciative.

After quick visits to Masi and Ocean View (the latter now furnished and operational), we joined the staff and “clients” of the homeless center at Muizenberg for lunch, and had a quick tour.

Avril, wife of Pastor John Thomas, has shifted her focus of responsibility to the shelter, but I know she still has a heart for the radio station outreach, especially music. She asked if I would be involved with the Music Forum this Thursday, and help lead a discussion of songwriting. This is something I had offered to do but hadn’t known for sure that I would do, so pray for my preparation for that in the next couple of days (and my slight cough, while you’re at it).

Children’s Club went very well. We led about 25 kids in games, music and a craft (I discovered a future pro “braider” in a little girl named Buhe!).

We have been given a fantastic opportunity (an answer to Danielle’s prayers) to go into a public school, in Ocean View, and share. We have 15-20 minutes with a large assembly of students on Wed. morning, with NO restrictions on content. Hmmm, what to talk about…..!

Other teams (construction, crafts, computer) were good, and dinner was as lively as ever.

After dinner Liz Clark and a few of the team went to Masi to teach a group of about 30 on stewardship. Reports were glowing, both for Sue’s skills and for the response.

What we had planned vs. what we did

2005-10-02T14:54:00.000-05:00

Today was a day of testing our “flexibility factor.” We attended King of Kings Baptist Centre (aka Fish Hoek Baptist Church), and enjoyed the worship in song and sermon with our host church. Then we were off to join the Masiphumulele Baptist Church service, in the Masiphumulele township. After we were seated, the pastor informed us that the choir was singing at another church, and since they like to make sure visitors hear this talented group of young people, he would prefer that we come next week instead.

So we proceeded toward the next part of our plan, a tour of Table Mountain (involving an eyebrow-raising ride on a rotating cable car, a la James Bond). But since the mountain was clouded over, we had lunch at the waterfront, then visited an outdoor market next to the stadium, where many bargains were made and many team members found themselves wondering how they would get their purchases home. No complaints, though, especially on my part, thanks to a brief visit to McDonald’s.

After a drive home past some eye-popping views of God’s creation, we shared dinner, then heard a presentation by the public relations officer for Living Hope, giving us an overview of the work at the hospice, the home health care visits, and the other projects going on. Tomorrow we’ll tour a couple of the Living Hope centers, and then the work begins. Children’s Club at Masi, remodeling living space into office space, computer work, etc. We’ve enjoyed our chance “get adjusted” to our surroundings and to each other, and all are eager to put some of our plans into action…. barring any unforeseen changes!

Rest?? What's that??

2005-10-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

We're ready to work. We've been here 3 days and our team is anxious. It made me realize how bad we are at relaxing/resting. I've enjoyed my time. September was a crazy month for me and God knew I needed a few down days before being thrown into a hectic schedule. I'm sure that is true of most of our team. These three days have also been a great time of getting to know each other I'm anticipating the first stressful/tired moment where one of our many extreme personalities skyrockets...at the same time praying that doesn't happen.

In devotions this evening Aaron talked about how Satan will throw things up in your face while you're on your way to the house of prayer. (Acts 16:16...) Pray for us. Pray that we see past those distractions, that we purposely seek time with Jesus and that we'll share his love from our overflow.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably and abundantly more than we ask or imagine, to Him be the glory and honor in the church now and forever. Amen." Eph 3:20-21

Little Things Matter

2005-09-30T20:35:00.000-05:00

There’s nothing like a 24-hour plane trip (from liftoff in Nashville to final touchdown in Cape Town) to help you appreciate little things you normally take for granted, and notice things you might otherwise miss.

Like sleep, for example. I was able to lie down horizontally this evening for the first time in about a day and a half, for a quick nap before dinner. It was glorious. I’ve never slept long or well on a plane, and a long trip usually turns a regular sleep pattern (if I had one) into intermittent dozing, and makes “awake” a relative term at best.

Another thing I miss on a trip like this is the sense of control over my own schedule; being a single person with no kids I have quite a lot of that, usually. But being subject to the schedule of the airlines and then the team encourages the team member to regress to early childhood: “Where do I sit? When do we leave? When do we eat? May I have a drink? I’m done with my dinner now. May I go to the restroom? How do you flush this thing? How come I can’t hear this movie? Why is that man wearing THAT? Are we there yet?” If becoming like a child is key to entering the kingdom of heaven (and we have it on good authority that it is), then travel can definitely benefit one’s spiritual life.

In reality, this trip is pretty low on the “suffering and sacrifice” scale when you look at the whole spectrum of what missionaries have gone through—and continue to go through—for the sake of the Gospel around the world. Financial hardship, isolation, threat of death (even at the hands of those being ministered to), disease…and let’s not even mention the travel conditions; it wasn’t exactly on a luxury liner that took Lottie Moon to China, and it took a lot more than 24 hours.

Yet everyone on this team has had to give something up to be here (some more than others, and most more than me); time with loved ones, time at work, opportunities to do other things that are good in themselves. Yet I seriously doubt anyone would trade what we will experience for anything in the world. A trip like this is a great “wake up call” to my soul, bringing my focus back to who I am in Christ and who He is, and what’s really important. It’s hard to do a complete “cost/benefit” analysis, because so many of both are known only to God. But I am convinced that the results, short-term and long-term, for everyone involved, directly or indirectly, are worth the cost, because He is worthy.

We Made It!

2005-09-30T13:16:00.000-05:00

Well...we're here. 24 hours after we left and all of the luggage made it as well! No hang ups @ all...God has been SO good to us already! Upon arrival we have been able to see the whales playing off the coast, some walked the beach, we've sorted crayons for the children, eaten dinner, run through the rules and regulations of the Team House. (And yes, the ice cream freezer is FULL)

This is my first time in South Africa and what is hard for my brain to handle already is the extreme beauty and the extreme poverty residing side by side. 60% of the people here don't have running water or electricity. HIV/AIDS is out of control....the list can go on. At the same time I'm encouraged to see how God has blessed King of Kings and the Living Hope center...because of their obedience to go into their community and to take care of the poor. Erwin McManus writes "God clarifies in the midst of our obedience, not before hand."

Again...hard for me to put my mind around everything, espcially on 3 hours of sleep in the last 36ish.

With that being said...I'm off for bed.

Heather

Ready to go (?)

2005-09-29T00:20:00.000-05:00

It's after midnight and I've set my alarm to allow me a "luxurious" 3 hours of sleep before I get up, get ready and catch my ride to the airport. I've obsessed over the details of what I might need according to the plan, what I might need to cover contingencies (like luggage loss), and tried to remember how heavy an ounce is when it gets together with its fellow ounces in my backpack (some sort of weird physics going on, where addition becomes multiplication over time) and pack it light. I admit I've been an easy target for the marketers of all things miniature; those shelves full of travel-size items have drawn my attention more than once these past few days.

My new large suitcase (a "sorry we dented your hardshell suitcase, in the rounded corner--the hardest part" gift from Delta last year) has surprised me with its capacity for...well, capacity. Not used to being able to close a suitcase without sitting on it.

I'm too tired to be excited at the moment; maybe it will hit me at some point tomorrow or the next day, when we're in the air.

Grace and Peace,
Mark

Team members

2005-09-26T21:53:00.000-05:00

Here is the list of our team members, according to our primary assignments. Of course, most will get to do more than one thing, and our plans are all subject to change, since what we actually end up doing may be much more, much less or very different from what we expect. This is true of life in general, if you think about it; one more benefit of the missionary life.

Team Leader (our “quarterback”):
Aaron Bryant

Team Liaison:
Jay Johnson (joining us from Atlanta)

Construction:
Bill Bedi
Chad Moore
Steve Galloway
Brian Watt
Walt Miller

Children’s Clubs:
Leigh Ann Cates
Danielle Schneider
Leslie Todd
Mark Kelly Hall
Heather Proctor
Keeli Lonas

Computer work for Living Hope offices:
Jerry Clark
Bobby Stewart

Crafts:
Marsha Miller
Sue Raley
Shannon Carter

Teaching (equipping church staff in Bible-based evening courses on stewardship, etc.):
Liz Clark
Aaron Bryant

Unassigned/part-time (our “all purpose” members joining us from California):
David Horton
Kerri Horton

Awaiting the Aroma of Life

2005-09-20T15:10:00.000-05:00

"For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?" II Corinthians 2:15-16

As we anticipate South Africa (now only 9 days away!) I can't help but think of those already ministering @ the Living Hope Center. They on a daily basis face morality of man. Every one that has come there has walked away with life more abundant. I can't imagine it's a sweet smell here on earth, but I can only imagine the fragrance in Heaven!! I'm excited to have a small part in the much larger story of God.

Heather

I'm already there...

2005-09-02T08:57:00.000-05:00

Sounds like a song you heard once doesn't it? Well, it sums up where my heart sits at this moment. For the last month or so I have been praying and preparing for this year's trip and having been there already have the advantage of knowing what amazing things we're headed to see and hopefully do. As a result, my heart and mind have been in Cape Town (when they're not changing a diaper, cooking dinner or cleaning house). My whole family is getting re-educated about Africa and Jackson has a real interest in a little girl who's Grandmother I got to know. He prays for her and her family every night and I don't doubt God hears his unselfish prayers long before He hears mine.

Please pray for us as we put the final touches on the preparations for this trip. We've done a lot already, but there is still so much to do and we're under a month away now. Pray for endurance, soundness of mind and that above all we will remember that we are going to plant seeds for Christ that Living Hope will help to harvest. Check back often as the stories will be amazing...I promise. It will be like..."you're almost there!"

Leigh Ann Cates

Looking Back...and Looking Ahead

2005-09-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

The 2004 mission trip to South Africa, undertaken by a motley but loveable crew from TN (and 1 from FL) is now a distant yet vivid memory. But the relationships that were formed and the work that was done then continue to have their impact on both sides of the world.

We have a new group of 20 or so from Brentwood Baptist getting ready to head South again, and apparently will have some other Yanks there with us at our beloved guest house (a.k.a. Heaven Down Under). A few of us had to go back for more, and much of the team are 1st-timers.

For a verbose but hopefully entertaining recap of last year's trip, see my Notes and News entry called "South Africa: There and Back Again" (I steal from the best). You can also read all about it in previous posts to this blog (see the archive section).

And tune in again to see how the partnership between Brentwood Baptist Church and Living Hope will impact us as individuals and as a team. Sign me up for some computer time as soon as we get to Cape Town! Called it.

Mark Kelly Hall

Back in the Northern Hemisphere

2004-10-19T09:33:00.000-05:00

I think I am finally over my jet lag, and back to "normal" life. It has been hard answering people's questions about the trip. Some just want to know about the animals we saw at the Game Park. Others are curious about the landscape and temperature of South Africa (much cooler than I thought it would be!), and some ask me to boil it down to my favorite memory, or the thing that impacted me the most. Those are the hard questions, because it's impossible to condense those 2 weeks into a single lasting memory that sticks out because our team was involved in so many different areas.
I went to Muizenberg every day to the homeless shelter there and worked in the kitchen. I came to care so much for the people I met there in just a short period of time. Our team was able to celebrate a birthday with one man, and mourn the loss of a baby of another woman. Our morning devotion time was special for me, as they quickly volunteered me to sing for them. While working in the kitchen, my new friend Leslie would teach me phrases in Afrikaans amidst our playful banter, and Carol, Leila, and I would sing Beatles songs. I was able to have several spiritual conversations with the people there and offer them the hope that Christ has bigger and better plans for them that are beyond what this world has to offer them. I watched as Kathy read from the Bible and had a discussion with a man named George, and I witnessed Joanne surround a young lady named Marleen with love and comfort. The above picture of Joanne praying with Marleen says more about what we did in Muizenberg than the words I type ever could.
So those are just some of the memories from South Africa that I take with me. Now back home Brentwood Baptist seems smaller, as I saw 5 or 6 team members at church on Sunday that I never would have known if it weren't for this trip. We come from all ages and backgrounds, and various places of ministry within the church, so it's exciting to see how through our different circles, we can share the message of what God is doing in South Africa, and what God is doing in our individual lives. The trip may be over, but the mission work has just begun.

South Africa Wrap Up

2004-10-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

I hope to see a few other team members offer some closing thoughts as well.

I could write about this trip for years to come, however space is limited, so i'll try to be brief.
As with many mission trips of this nature, team members spend an extremely larger amount of time together and get to know each other quite well. Sometimes too well haha
I have to say that I began some very good friendships with several of the team members. I learned so much from watching them and sharing with them, as well as listening to their stories. I had the opportunity to see christians put into practice things I sometimes just hear people speak of doing. This was a high point of my trip. The bonding that occurs is something that words can not describe. When several people are united for a single purpose and cause it cn be overwhelming to see the results at times. I can think of two team members that really has a major influence on me during our two week stay. The sharing of feelings and insights were so helpful and touching. Also to see how they are so passionate about their walks with Christ. I won't mention names, each team member was special to me in one way or another, although two really had a major impact. They know who they are, I have shared this with them both. I just want to say thank you for all they taught me and for showing me where I need to improve in my walk.

Another high point was seeing our money (BBC'S) in action. It's one thing to donate money to the mission's offering, but something entirely different to see it in action. BBC is partnered with Living Hope Centre in South Africa and to actually see how well this money has been used , and the results from our support, as well as seeing results from the SA Mission team service in just undescribable. So many times we saw volunteers and staff completely sold out to God and to doing his work. It was so amazing to see how so few people have been able to touch the lives of so many.

This was an humbling experience and one I wish each of you could personally experience. Our photos, videos, and stories can not adequately express all that we experienced. I'm convinced that God's hand was in BBC'S decision to partner with this organization. The SA Team witnessed first hand that God is alive and well.

Thank you to each one that prayed for us , and supported us in other ways too. Each one of us could feel the prayers of those back home praying for us each day. There is still much work to be done in South Africa, and I hope to have the opportunity to return on the next trip.

I pray that each of us team memberswill be able to take what we have experienced and learned and make a difference in Brentwood as well.

Roger

Opportunities are everywhere

2004-10-15T11:55:00.000-05:00

The trip to the game park was supposed to be for fun and a chance to wind down , after our work was completed in Cape Town. I think there was no one surprised when we discovered there were many opportunities to continue our work while at the Edeni Game Park.

Our accomodations were a little different from Cape Town. We stayed in very nice tent/log combinations. We were only semi-roughing it. The reserve was very beautiful . As we entered we were greeted by wildlife, such as waterbuck, impala, zebras, among others. We took a safari ride the night of our arrival that was just breathtaking. After seeing much wildlife we were treated to one of the most awesome displays of stars I have ever seen. The sky was completely clear, and with the only light being from our guides spotlight everything was well viewed. The southern cross was very prominent, as were Scorpio, and the milky way. I had never had the opportunity to really see just how "milky" the milky way is. It was so peaceful and beautiful , words can't describe the feeling of trying to process exactly what we were seeing and experiencing. As Aaron had stated so many times on the trip....."Big Bang Theory...YEAH right!" How could anyone not believe God created all this.

As the next few days came, we took a morning and evening ride thatw ere each 3-4 hours . We also took one final ride on the morning we departed. We saw 4 out of the big 5, with the leopard being the only one we couldn't find.

It was a little strange to be awaken on the first morning by the sound of baboons screaming "Raaalloooooo". This was around 4am and our wake up call was not until 5:30am. Then who could forget "something" trying to get into the tent Jason and I were in on the second morning around 1am.

As I mentioned earlier we had many opportunities to share with the staff. Tommy and Nina had a wonderful opportunity to witness to and council a lady from house keeping. The group I rode with on the safaris had interesting conversations with our driver, Jubalani, about how many christians worked at the reserve. We also learned that the owner is also a christian. A special highlight was when he asked Amanda to sing into his two way radio so his brother (driving the other land cruiser) could hear it and be blessed.

This was a wonderful way to wrap up this leg of our journey.
Hopefully as we al begin to readjust to USA time we will be able to post our wrap up comments about the trip. Please check back over the next few days for these.

Roger

Even after the trip is over, the mission continues

2004-10-09T01:16:00.000-05:00

The house is quiet this morning, since most of the team has left for Johannesburg to go to the game park. Three of us--Mark Mattson, Rhonda Price, and myself--will fly home today (through tomorrow). We are all going to miss the rest of the group, but I think I speak for all three of us when I say we're glad that, because we have a later flight, we didn't have to get up as early this morning!

Friday was a rewarding day for me personally. The original schedule had called for us to be finished working on Thursday and just be tourists ("ministering" to the local economy...???). But there were a couple of projects we didn't want to leave undone at the hospice, including preparing the flowerbeds around the building and putting up shelves. So we extended our work through lunch and took care of those things; the shelves are up and the flowerbeds are almost completed. Also a few of us went to the homeless shelter and participated in the devotional time in the morning and spent more time with the guests.

I spent the morning at the Christian radio station across the street, CCFM. The station is another result of the ministry vision of the church, and continues to grow in its outreach and community presence. In a conversation with Avril Thomas (wife of Pastor John Thomas and manager of the station) at dinner the night before, I had found out they were planning to do a songwriting workshop in a couple of weeks, as part of a continuing series to develop local Christian musicians. So I offered to compile a list of resources, such as articles, websites and books by professionals, to help inform her on the topic. She was very appreciative, and I felt I was being used to encourage her, by offering these "loaves and fishes" of information. While I waited to get on the office computer there, I sat in the studio to watch the live talk program they had going on at the time. The host was very professional, as she interviewed a woman who represented a Christian children's home in the area, introduced a song or two between segments, read recipes to her listeners, etc. I didn't feel like I was doing as much "hands-on" work Friday morning, but I felt I was there to help build a bridge of relationship for our mutual benefit. I must admit I was glad to be clean all day for a change!

Friday afternoon most of us went on a tour of Robben Island, off the Cape Town waterfront. This island had been used over the centuries as a place for social outcasts of various kinds, including lepers and the mentally ill, and in 1964 it became a depository for political prisoners including Nelson Mandela. There was a bus tour of the island and a walking tour of the prison itself, after which we were invited to take a "short walk to freedom" (a pun on Mandela's autobiography title) back to our ferry. The prison tour was led by a former prisoner. He was of Xhosa background, very articulate and pointed in his lectures; reminded me of John Houseman in "The Paper Chase." He had the unfortunate duty of asking a woman to try to keep her little girl quiet; the girl was around one and a half years old, and kept humming to herself, happily oblivious to the dark nature of the place she was in. She never did stay quiet for long; I supposed that was HER song of freedom! Our guide confessed, when pressed, that the reason he continued to work on the island, the last place you'd think he'd want to be, was that even with the changes that have taken place over the past 10 years, it was still tough for many non-whites to find jobs, so there he was. As we have found in our own country, true change takes time.

Well, it's time to eat my final breakfast on this trip; I would not be surprised if I find myself back here again someday in the near future...in fact, I look forward to the opportunity. Meanwhile, the mission continues and the work goes on.

Grace & Peace,
Mark Kelly Hall

And we're off...

2004-10-08T17:08:00.000-05:00

Goodbye Capetown. Our work is done, but really only just beginning. We've met so many wonderful people here- our host family, the Johnsons, John and Avril Thomas, Big John, and Uncle Edsil- some of my personal faves- and all the people at the homeless shelter in Musizenberg this week has made this trip so worthwhile. I realized that it wasn't about the work projects being done, or the tasks to be completed. For me, it was all about the relationships I formed, showing God to others, and seeing God in them as well. It was so much harder than I ever could have imagined leaving the shelter in Muizenberg today. There were some heartbreaking moments, some joyous ones, and some bittersweet ones.

I became fairly close to one of the men there named Leslie who worked in the kitchen. He was teaching me some Afrikaans, and he and I would engage in playful banter everyday. I really think of him as a big brother type, so it was hard to say goodbye not knowing if I would ever see him again. On one hand, when I return to South Africa I would love to come back and work in Muizenberg, but I don't want Leslie to be there. I want him back to work as a silk screen printer, which is what he used to do before the governmental change, and what his heart longs to do again. So it's bittersweet because, yes, I want to see these wonderful people again, but in a year or two when I come back, I pray that I don't see them at the homeless shelter. Hopefully through programs such as the Lifeskills classes that Living hope sponsors many of these folks will be off the streets and able to support themselves. My biggest task in helping them comes now when I begin to pray for them faithfully.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Johannesburg, or Jo-Berg or Joey, as the Captonians call it! We have another plane flight ahead of us and then a 4 hour bus ride to get to the game park where we will hopefully see some elephants, among other animals. (ps- I finally saw the penguins today and I cannot tell you how exciting that was!!!) No internet connection there though, so you'll have to be kept in suspense until next Wednesday when we will all be safely back in Brentwood and ready to share our pictures and stories with you all who have been missing us and praying for us. Thanks for the comments- you guys are great!

Mission Possible

2004-10-08T15:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems as if we have been together here for at least a month. That's a good thing, not bad. We have been able to coexist very well and are sad that this was the last day to actually work. I was at the Capri worksite today, this is where the Hospice is located. We all decided to skip some sightseeing and work an additional half day. This allowed us to finish up a few projects. We also left the next team less work to do.

It felt bitter sweet to be there working today, seeing so much accomplished, but so much more that could have been completed. It was such an awesome time the past few days.

This afternoon we went over to waterfront for lunch. Then we toured Robben Iland (yes that is spelled correctly) . This is the prison where Nelson Mandella spent most of his 27 years in prison. The ferry ride to and from the Island was much fun. Next we concluded the day by eating dinner and doing some shopping. Aaron was adventurous and tried the big game sampler and shared with everyone. I have one question for you Aaron, how fast acn a Kudu run ? LOL

Tomorrow we leave at dark thirty for the game park, so no more posts until we are back in the states. Thanks for reading , thanks for your encouragement, and your prayers!!!

Roger

no spiders here

2004-10-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that tomorrow is our last day in Capetown... we all agree that next time, and there definetly will be a next time, we want more time at the sites doing work. Two weeks seems to be the standard amount of time for teams, not including the days spent travelling. It's been pretty amazing to see how God has changed our hearts and opened our eyes to the rest of the world. Sometimes as Americans we get isolated from the rest of the planet. Yes, we hear how things are in other places, but sometimes like Thomas, we need to see them to believe them. I praise God for him showing us real life examples of what it means to fully live your lives for Christ through the team members and volunteers from Living Hope.

Luckily for me, I have not had any more run-ins with the local wildlife, although we did almost hit some guinea fowl on the road today. More humorous moments today: the use of the word "buttload" creaping into team's vocabulary- you can thank Leigh Ann for that one. JoAnn calling our host, Jay Johnson this afternoon saying, "hello Jay? This is JoAnn Rankin from the United States of America..." and us almost seeing Tom Cruise in a movie shoot tonight- ask the white Komvi about that one.

All this to say, most of us did not know each other before we came on this trip, but now we look forward to running into each other at Brentwood and beyond. It serves as a reminder at how big our church is, but how vast the opportunities are to be involved. Many of us are already involved in various ministries within the church, but now I would say we will be spread out even more. You find what God has called you to do, and you do it. And it becomes joy, not a job- the people who volunteer here absolutely love what they do- yes it's hard work, but they wouldn't rather be anywhere else. True ministry happens when the work we are doing for God isn't work anymore but becomes as much of a blessing to the servant as it is to those being served.

Some food for thought: Here's what I finally decided I miss about the States today: Iced tea!!! When I get back I am having me a big old glass of the stuff. I do love having tea time mid-day though- that's something that would be nice to catch on over in the U.S. One week from today: iced tea with lemon, here I come. Till then, "Dankie" for the prayers- I love and miss you all!

you would not believe

2004-10-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

OK so here goes today was definitely different! Some of us got the wonderful blessing of shoveling dirt and starting to make flower bed by digging and turning the dirt. Some of us were even more blessed to help get the compost (wonderful smelling stuff) and shovel it into wheelbarrows! I was fortunate enough to get to do both and I wanted to share what happen today! Jason and I were over at the compost pile talking and I was looking at a snail because they are everywhere here and they are huge well I was looking at this snail when I felt something on my shoulder and then I brushed it away and it landed on my hand and it was a SPIDER. That is correct a real live SPIDER! I was screaming because we all know how I feel about spiders! Well, Jason ended up killing it and Karen was blessed enough to see it as well. So we all though it was a tarantula but we later found out that it was a wolf spider and they like to bite! It was a little scary but God did protect us and I even went back to the pile and did not see any more spiders.
The rest of the day was good we had the teen club adn the kids sang for us and it was such a sweet blessing! They were so good. Oh and I now have a Xosha name and I hope to be able to say it by the time I get home! We are about to go out to dinner so BYE for now!

In Christ,
Danielle Schneider

It's Official !!!!

2004-10-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

I had to post , since it's now 12:10am and officially my birthday! I can't think of a better way or better group with which to celebrate :-) Although it's supposed to be cold and rainy today, I can't think of anywhere else I wold rather be . It's not everyday , one gets to celebrate his birthday in South Africa, so it should be one to remember :-)

Roger

Capri and Children's Club

2004-10-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

This morning began with construction. I along with Mark h. helped our construction guru , Alan, purchase 30 concrete slabs. We made two trips both times loading and unloading the slabs. These were to be buried in the ground aroung the Hospice , for the future patients to have something to brighten their days. Between trips I was able to drive Alan's "South African" nissan truck. It was really strange driving a manual shift with the shift on the left . I'm used to steering from the right hand side , because of my job, but not shifting gears with my left hand.

We began this project with two, then commandeered 3 others to help. These slabs were about 4 feet long and 35 lbs each. Jason C. , Mark J., and Mark M. all pitched in on this project. This was rather frustrating work , seeing as how we couldn't get the first angle or corner to set. Then everything fell into place.

After lunch a large group of us went to the children's club. We had 63 kids today, that is almost 3 times as many as yesterday. It was so touching to see the kids repond to the love and attention we were showing them. It was also heart warming to see Stacie carry two of the kids, then sitting in the floor with three or four. Jason had several attached to him. Mark had an entire herd of children trying to climb on him. I was swinging kids in a circle, and Rhonda was giving kids rides on her back. Remember all this was after working at manual labor type projects for about 4 hours. The point is, we were all smiling!! No one felt burdened by these kids. They seemed to be so starved for love or even one on one attention. I couldn't help but think that maybe the snack we fed them was the last time they would eat today. There were probaly only about 1% of the kids that spoke any language, but I think this helped us to be more aware of the children and able to connect with them even more.

Tonight in our devotion we were reminded that 1 out of 4 of these kids might not even be living in a year or two. The ones that do not become HIV positive will still lose parents or siblings to this disease. It's truly an emotional roller coaster that we have been on. Hopefully this will all make us more aware of others and realize just how much we take for granted in our own lives.

Roger

Living Hope: living by faith

2004-10-06T00:16:00.000-05:00

Last night was one of the most special times for me thus far in Cape Town. Pastor John Thomas and his wife Avril had the entire team, along with our host family, the Johnsons, over to their house for dinner. This man is an exceptional example of what it means to follow God by faith. I cannot count the number of stories I have heard since I have been here about this church stepping out on faith and punrchasing a building before they had the money to pay for it, and God providing! One time for us would be a big deal, but these people see that as simply being obdeient to God- not being out-of-the ordinary. Their church is 4 years old and has 400 members. From that church, Fish Hoek Baptist church that later changed its named to King of Kings Baptist Center, was spawned a Christian radio station (the 3rd most listened to station in the greater Cape Town area), the Masi Baptist Church, an AIDS hospice, the Muizenberg homeless shelter, the Capri cente, and the Ocean View Center! This congregation has an absolute passion for what God is doing and sharing the love of Christ with those that do not know him. It's very humbling to see what a church of 400 has done to impact its community verses our church of 4000. My prayer is that our team would come back to Brentwood and be on fire for God, fanning the flame and encouragivinng others to join our cause as well. True, we may not have the AIDS pandemic on our doorstep at home the way it is here, but that doesn't make the problem any less. We live outside the capitol city of TN- I know there are homeless and needy people there who could desperately use a helping hand, and there are lost people everywhere in a world where we almost assume that people are Christians. Just because the wealthy and the poor do not live a mile apart the way they do here doesn't make it right for us to turn our heads to the greatest problems at hand. The biggest lesson I have learned in this regard is that Living Hope pools their resources and takes care of their community, then praying with faith that God will in turn provide for them, whereas we have gotten in the habit of taking care ouf ourselves and then helping out with whatever we have leftover! Where is our trust in the Lord? God is really breaking us down this week and teaching us what it really means to live by faith, and I am excited to continue to learn more.

He really DOES have the whole world in His hands!

2004-10-05T10:27:00.000-05:00

We’ve just returned from our second Children’s Club at Masiphumelele Baptist Church. These have gone very well so far. The children are well-behaved, although like any group of energetic kids, we have to keep them occupied or they’ll be in a frenzy before we know it.

I’ve enjoyed leading the kids in singing a few songs. Fortunately, they have already learned many of them in English, so we can sing together. “He’s Got the Whole World,” “Amen,” and even “Jesus Loves Me” have gone very well. When I got them going on “Jesus Loves Me” today, they went on to sing it in Xhosa, so the rest of us just enjoyed! The keyboardist for their choir, Walter, has been adding his efforts, playing along with us and also playing while they color with crayons, etc. The participation of the local members in leadership (sometimes unasked) has required me to adjust a bit, but I’m glad to do it because locals ministering to locals is the way it’s supposed to be.

I enjoy watching the local teacher, Natalie, give the lesson; even though I don’t understand the language, the similarities to a scene in a typical Sunday School are striking. Kids are kids everywhere, even when the lesson is on why we should say “no” to sex outside of marriage; this is the kind of thing they have to teach very early to try to reduce the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

We also visited the Christian radio station CCFM started by the church today. Compared to most radio stations in the U.S., the “presenters” (announcers) at this station have an incredible amount of freedom and responsibility (depending on how you look at it) for putting together their own programming, choosing music, etc. for their time slots. They are required to include 40% local music, which is a challenge for them at this point, because obviously Christian music is not as common in South Africa as in the U.S. It does make the station much more relevant to the local community, though. CCFM has a large listenership, including many Muslims, and offers counseling and help to those who call in to the station. The pastor shared with us tonight that Nelson Mandela told him he had listened to the pastor's sermons when in Cape Town from time to time. That's the kind of feedback you dream of in broadcasting!

Grace & Peace,
Mark Kelly Hall

Construction

2004-10-04T10:50:00.000-05:00

Today, I was part of the construction team. Originally it was going to be for just the morning and then head over to help with the children's club. There was more need for workers at the construction projects, so I worked there. The first project i was involved in was helping Cathy P. , Jason C. and Stacie with removing paint and primering. The former center had substained quite a bit of water damage in the walls and we were trying to repair these. I think we inhaled a little too much dust, about 30 minutes into the project we were already creating really silly songs and making some really bad jokes. I was told that I have a "happy place" in my mind, long story behind that one :-) This may have been from my wearing a dust mask as a cool hat?? Hmmmmm...not sure.

We continued with this for a few hours, then split up the teams again. Stacie and I worked on more paint in an apartment. Jason and Cathy finished the original project. Lunch came and we again divided teams and projects. Tommy and Nina were finishing applying paint primer , as Jason , Cathy, and Stacie left to help at another location. We finished all we could on the paint projects , then Tommy, Dao, Mark M , and Walt built a retaining wall. There is a horrible erosion problem caused by high winds and very often the Hospice has sand filter in under the door. If anyone knows how to solve the sand problem, all suggestions are welcomed.

This was an all work day, although we accomplished quite a bit of work, we still have a long long way to go. It feels good though, to be able to help ready what will be a safe , nice place for people with a terrible disease to go and seek treatment , and learn there is hope.

The work has been hard and at times we question why we are doing task in the way that we are, but we understand that it all has it's purpose. I agree with the statement that Amanda made in her post. She mentioned feeling ashamed about things we take for granted, that are considered a luxury in certain parts of this area.

Hopefully someone else will fill you in on the children's club activities for today.
Everyone is exhausted at this point and we haven't even had dinner. It's difficult to explain how working hard and being tired can actually make you feel better. Knowing that we have done some small part to make someone's life a little easier or brighter after so many have told them that there is no hope, that's reward within it's self.

Muizenberg

2004-10-04T10:09:00.000-05:00

A team of 6 today went to Muizenberg to work in the homeless shelter. 3 went upstairs to teach crafts- cardmaking- to the people so they can in turn learn how to make these on their own to sell. I was with the other 2, Cathy Wilcox and Joanne, who worked downstairs in the kitchen. Our "job" for the day was to interact with the people there. We all got there in time for the morning devotional and were able to pick up some of their songs fairly quickly. After devotional we split up. I don't have time to tell you about the many people we met today, except to say this place was so filthy that it was hard to eat the lunches we had packed, and no one wanted to use the bathrooms there. When I did break down to do so, I was so ashamed. These people use these facilities every day, and that's if they're lucky. Again, I cannot imagine how blessed I am, and how often I take it for granted.
The others will probably be posting about the construction and children's club they participated in today.
One more quick story, is that Jason, Leigh Ann, Mark Hall and I got to sing the song "Somebody's Praying Me Through" last night at the King of Kings church- coincidentally, this is the same night that Brentwood was doing the musical at the church, although I think we had them beat by several hours! I know I was blessed by the experience, and judging by those congregation members that I talked to afterwards, they were blessed too.
The line has formed- several are waiting to use the computers, so fare well for now.

Table Mountain and King of Kings

2004-10-03T23:03:00.000-05:00

Continuing where Aaron left off........after the services he spoke of we headed to Table Mountain. We had lunch on the top of the mountain, with one of the most breath taking views I have ever experienced. Several of us kept talking about the diversity of this country, not only in nature, but also in the people , and the division of wealth here. We took walks along the paths and took in probably one of the most AWESOME sights of natural beauty in any part of the world. I just hope the photos and video we bring back can capture this. After seeing how this place was originally designed by God, it is so heart breaking to remember that so many here live without hope ANY hope. Seeing the children that have been orphaned and hearing the stories of how young many of the parents have died so young. No matter what is accomplished here through us or any other team that follows, it seems so little. Maybe this is why it seems with almost every devotion we hear, service we attend, or project we participate in , that some reference of the parable of the sower and the seed keeps popping up.

After an afternoon of visiting table moutain and a South African flea market, we headed back for dinner. We had to quickly eat in order for those of us that still had the energy could go to support Jason, Amanda, and Leigh Ann as they would be participating in the service tonight at King of Kings. This was a rather unique service. The trio sang one song with Mark H. and another with the three of them. This was more of a youth led service. The worship area was set up much like Kairos, with small tables to allow for more one to one time fellowship. We heard stories from some missionaries that had recently returned and then we to part in the Lord's Supper. This was done with more of a personal touch, hence the small groups at the tables.

We were once again reminded by God's hand in this world when we got back. Upon exiting the convi (actually a microbus) we were amazed at the shear splendor of a picture perfect starry night. With little or no outdoor man made light, it was breathtaking.

It is 6:20 am as I write this and we are beginning our day. Today will be our first time to work in our individual teams. We will begin with some light construction, then branch out into teams or community outreach, children's clubs, more serious construction, and various others. I can only imagine the range of emotion our community outreach team as well as the children workers will experience today. Our real effort begins in full force today . Our prayer is that even as little as it seems we accomplish , will be the seeds that others and God can use to later produce into something that man can not do along.

Continue to pray for our efforts, and God's help.

Masipumpelele, Apartheid, and AIDS

2004-10-03T13:30:00.000-05:00

This morning we started the day by worshipping at King of Kings Baptist Church (also known as Fish Hoek Baptist Church). This is a predominantly white church led by Pastor John Thomas. We were blessed by an African Children's choir, which is composed of children from all over South Africa, that sang beautiful songs about God. I was moved to tears when these young children, living amongst such poverty, loudly sang "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." We also heard Pastor Thomas preach and then we went to then we headed to Masipumpelele, which is a suburb of Cape Town. It's almost the same distance from Masipumpelele to Cape Town as Brentwood is from Nashville (minus all the winding roads through the mountains here). Masi, as the locals call it, is a black community of some 16,000 or so people who speak Xhosa (pronounced Ko-sa) as well as English. This is a settlement, or squatter camp. These people were forced into this settlement during Apartheid. Incidentally, a lot of the ministry issues that the Living Hope Centre, Fish Hoek Baptist, and Masipumpelele deal with are a result of Apartheid. Let me explain...

The blacks (that's not a derogatory or slang term here, as it is sometimes in America) were basically told during Apartheid that they would never gain a better life and that they might as well endure a life without hope for employment, fulfilling life dreams, etc. When Apartheid ended in 1994, these people in Masi were excited about the opportunity to gain employment, support their families, and live life to the fullest. Unfortunately, so were thousands of others all across South Africa. Many people traveled from all over the country to Masi (and the hundreds of other squatter camps) for these same reasons. Employment that was promised never really took shape, but the number of people in these settlements increased rapidly. You can figure out the recipe that you have when thousands of people continue to be drawn to one area without money, or a means to gain a better life. They built homes made of sheet metal, cardboard, brick and any other supplies they could find. In these shanty-towns, the HIV/AIDS pandemic began to incubate at an unfathomable rate.

First Baptist Church in Masipumpelele (through the Living Hope Centre) is in the middle of ALL of this. Brentwood Baptist's missions funding supports the early education about HIV, testing and post counseling, and then facilitates the eternal spiritual concern for the infected individual. This is a great thing, and our church is making a difference here. You see, if the government does the testing then the results remain confidential and 99% of the time the patient will not tell others that they are infected because of the stigma that revolves around this dreaded disease. Thus, it continues to spread. When Living Hope administers testing to the people of Masi, then they can do post counseling, medical care, and most importantly - care for that person on a spiritual level. This is very holistic approach. As a result, men and women who would never attend church or give Christianity a chance are now seeing the love and compassion of Jesus Christ through this program. Better yet, many of them are accepting Christ as their Savior! Our church's mission efforts are prolonging the life of HIV patients, so that infected mothers can be with their children longer, the nucleus of the family can stay in-tact longer, and people can see the Gospel in action - with a chance to respond. Praise God for his grace and faithfulness!

Another Beautiful Morning in Paradise

2004-10-02T23:26:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

It's about 6:30am as I write this and already we have a line waiting to get onto the internet. The view from the team house is so incredible, although the morning sky is a little cloudy the mountains , beach, and ocean are so beautiful to look upon. As with many things in this country , looks can be very deceptive. Each morning we see the natural beauty of this wonderful country, then we also get to see the not so pretty side of what man has created.

As some of the earlier post suggest, we have began to make that transition from being mere observers, to actual doers. It may be early in our trip, but already the bonds are beginning to form among our team members. Many wonderful friendships have begun. We have laughed hysterically and also cried with each other. That's the gamet of emotions we constantly feel. One moment we are having fun and enjoy ourselves, then suddenly we are struck by the contrast of how just a few yards makes an incredible difference in how the locals live their lives.

Today we plan to attend two local churches for worship, then possibly a third tonight. This afternoon we will see more of the area, take in a little sightseeing, and maybe even rest.

Yesterday , as we were doing our projects , each task seemed to remind us of how relevant some of the recent sermons we have heard have been. While working on the erosion problem, Amanda and I were both struck by how appropriate the Kairos message was last week. Mike has been teaching a series on the book of Mark, and last week he taught about the sowing of seeds. As we planted the "Kudzu" type of plant we wondered just what would take root. The soil was sandy, but appropriate for this type of plant. This reminded us also of the real seeds we would be planting in the next few days. The thought we had was we would never see what happens with these plants on the sandy hill, although others will benefit from them. Then we were reminded we may never know what happens to the seeds we plant with the people, but we don't have to know. Our job is to sow, God will then take over.

Then later in the afternoon, I was discussing with Tommy a converation he had with our local helper Jason. This man appears to have some simple thinking at first, almost child like, then when you begin to listen to him his thoughts are so profound. This lead Tommy and I to a discussion on how man can ruin things and many other topics.

These are just two examples of the mind set we are experiencing. So many "little" things can remind us of very important truths. Already we have seen how the people, the sights, and experiences are having an effect on us. This is shaping up to be a truly life changing experience for mnay, if not all of us.

The real "dirt" on missions work in South Africa

2004-10-02T20:09:00.000-05:00

Today (Saturday) we made the transition from being "tourists," gawking in wonder and sometimes confusion and dismay at the sights of Cape Town (or so it felt to me at times), to "workers." We jumped in with both feet AND hands, and most of us got them all thoroughly dirty in the work we did at the Living Hope Community Centre in Capri. This is the location where a former bar ("The Croaking Frog") has been turned into a place of outreach to the community, and where the hospice building is being completed. We planted cuttings of a plant (the South African equivalent to kudzu?) to reduce wind erosion in the sandy soil around the new building. This involved digging shallow holes in a bank of earth on two sides of the building and putting in the cuttings...and praying they take root. The wind is constant, and it becomes a health concern to keep soil from blowing into the building.

Another project was to clear out some space in front to make more room for parking, which involved some more digging and moving rocks and tires. Some of these rocks were very large, but a couple of our guys and a local employee of Living Hope had the skill and brute strength to get it done. In the process, we managed to avoid being attacked by a scorpion we met, and and by the snakes we heard about from our local helper but thankfully did NOT meet.

We took a break to get a tour of the hospice facility from Pastor John Thomas of Fish Hoek Baptist Church, the church that initiated and oversees the ministries of Living Hope Community Centre. The hospice will be a place where locals who are sick and dying will be able to come at no charge to be cared for in a professional and loving environment, with an emphasis on ministering to them spiritually as well as physically. Plans are underway for one of our group, a registered nurse with hospice experience, to work for a year here, thanks to the support of Brentwood Baptist Church. Along with showing us the wards and visiting rooms, Pastor Thomas showed us a glimpse of his heart and his passion for reaching out to offer a tangible, practical experience of the Gospel in action to people who are possibly at the lowest point in their lives. He shared a couple of stories of how God had provided both the bold vision of the hospice and the means to accomplish it, involving local volunteers, churches around the world, and even government resources in the task. After our sweaty work in the dirt and the wind outside, and despite the fact that the walls were still bare and the furniture had yet to be brought in, I was struck by the beauty and the peacefulness of this place. I imagine it will be a shelter in the storm for the patients, most of whom would not otherwise be able to afford any healthcare at all, and I don't doubt that many visitors and patients will come to know God in a new way. Though in some ways, it will obviously be a place of death for many...but in more important ways, it will be a place of life and hope.

By the way, if you have a hard time keeping up with the different names and locations of the ministry sites and the organizational structures involved, don't feel bad, because so do many of us! This is a result of the apparent approach to ministry by Fish Hoek Baptist Church that I wish I could see more often; instead of simply duplicating the kinds of ministries they are familiar with and stamping the church name on them, the church leaders look at the practical needs of the area and think of ways they can serve God by serving the people at their point of greatest need. They then use the opportunity they have to speak to the spiritual needs. This approach of "earning the right to be heard" works on a personal level, as well, so it's something I can do every day. This is one of the greatest things missions work has taught me over the years, so it's inspiring to see it on such a large scale in this faraway place.

Grace & Peace,
Mark Kelly Hall
www.markmusicmatters.com

work day at Capri

2004-10-02T14:13:00.000-05:00

Today was our first day working at one of the sights. It took several van trips to get us all there, but once we made it to Capri, we were put straight to work! Capri is the sight where the new hospice is almost complete, and also where the Living Hope Community Church's main business offices are. One group worked in the vegetable garden shelling peas, and pulling carrots. (In Scott's defense, he shelled one pea!) They stress the importance of healthy eating here because medicines are not readily available, and because they have seen comparable health results with those eating many vegetables to those taking medications. Another group was put in charge of planting little plants that will spread across the sandy ground outside to help prevent wind erotion. It was very cool to see how we were living out the scripture just preached to many of us last Tuesday night at Kairos where Mike talked about the parable of the seeds and the sewer. We may never be able to come back and see the fruits of our labor, but we were able to literally plant and water these tiny shrubs, and trust that God will continue to provide others to take the next steps in helping these plants grow.

Late in the morning the group met Pastor John Thomas of Living Hope Community Church who gave us the first tour of the hospice facility. It was both encouraging and heartbreaking at the same time to see this building that will soon house terminal AIDS patients. Towards the end of the tour, Pastor Thomas shared with us a few stories that helped us put into perspective what Living Hope is doing about AIDS in the community. He shared with us a story about a young mother of 14 who has HIV/AIDS, who had passed the virus along to her baby. When the child was born she named the baby "no hope," but the church rallied around them showing them love and caring for her and her baby. When the baby began to get better, the young mother went to the church and told them she had decided to change the baby's name to "she must get better" after seeing the hope brought to her and her family. This in a very real way demonstrates how they came upon the name of their church- Living Hope- because they meet the needs of the people in physical ways, but also reach out to their spiritual needs. They show people that there is hope after life, and hope during life through the person of Jesus Christ.

The other story Pastor Thomas shared with us was about a support group within their church for young mothers (ages 13-15) . The girls got together and came up with a motto for their group: It is better to live with HIV and have Christ in our life, than to not have HIV and live a life without Christ. This hit hard with us, as many of asked ourselves the same question. We as Americans are not surrounded by AIDS the way these people are, but even so, could we ask ourselves the same question and come to this conclusion? It was very challenging, and encouraging at the same time. We were able to see where all the funding from our Missions budget goes to, and the people it affects.

Tomorrow we will attend 2 different church services and I'm excited to share in those and see how different cultures worship the same great God. We appreciate your continued prayers for us, as many of us are in the early stages of culture shock. It is difficult to see the "Haves" and the "Have Nots" so close to one another and be angry at God. Our prayer is that we can see those in need and help them as best as we can, and that our hearts will continue to change and be changed once we return home. Until then however, there is much to be done in the ways of construction, repairs, outreach, crafts, and childrens' clubs. All that will be starting on Monday. Sharing the 3 computers and 6 bathrooms among 26+ of us has been interesting so far, but God is giving us the patience we need, and allowing us to be flexible in whatever situation. Almost time for bed here- all of our days are busy and we still need ample rest to get over the jet lag. Pray for us as we continue to serve our great and powerful God.

Thoughts from 35,000 feet

2004-10-01T23:41:00.000-05:00

Here is an excerpt from my journal, 9-30-04:
--
I am on the "big plane," on the way to Cape Town. We'll stop on an island off the coast of West Africa to refuel. Unfortunately for those who'd like to stretch their legs, we won't be on the ground long enough to able to get off the plane. Funny, all the money [and preparation time, etc.] it takes to get ON the plane, and the main thing that occupies most passengers' minds is "when can I get OFF?" Trips like this are a reminder of the value of living in the moment & treasuring the journey.

There's a display on the screen in front of me on the bulkhead wall that shows where the plane is on its path, with stats on how far it is to the destination & how much time it will take to get there (& how cold it is just outside the window: 50 degrees below zero F!). It's interesting for a while, but then you realize how futile it is to think about the numbers, given how big they are; back to the "treasure the journey" idea.
--
The rest of our trip went very smoothly, with no major delays in customs and only one unfortunate soul not getting her luggage on time (my sympathies!). It is now Saturday morning, and the group is starting to come alive after a much-needed night of sleep. We got a great overview of the area in a bus tour that began as soon as we left the airport. We had the pleasure of visiting the "Learn To Earn" center in one of the townships, operated by African Leadership. This is where students learn practical work skills such as sewing, woodworking and even basic graphic design. After a few weeks of formal learning, they can return to the center for further mentoring and use of the equipment. They also get instruction on life skills and spiritual principles as well, in keeping with the purpose of the center to equip the students to be good citizens, not only of South Africa, but also of God's kingdom.

Thanks for your continued prayers!
Grace & Peace,
Mark Kelly Hall
www.markmusicmatters.com

The Journey Truly Begins

2004-10-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

I can verify that we all got a hearty laugh out of Amanda's little incedent with the baboon. The flight was 16.5 hours and we were so ready to be in South Africa. Obviously we were a little fatigued when we got off the plane at 10am this morning, so taking in some sights and getting a feel for the surrounding area was just what we needed. This place is beautiful: the mountain ranges, the animals, and especially the sunset that the entire team watched, just before dinner. The Father painted a wonderful canvas today! Now it's time to get some rest. We are headed to the church in Masipumphelele tomorrow morning, to help out with several projects they are doing. It's one of the settlement camps, or slums, as some call it.

Thank you so much to all of you who prayed for safe travel. We know that the Father was with us and His Spirit is at work here in Cape Town. We are anxious to be used by God. We know that by simply loving God and loving people, we will open a door to share our story with our friends in this area. The ministry must come before the message. Only after we have shown these people that we are willing to roll up our sleeves and work in their neighborhood, will we earn the right to be heard.

Enjoying His Grace - Aaron Bryant

The Eagle has landed

2004-10-01T14:44:00.000-05:00

Well we finally made it! Sorry to those of you who were expecting an update sooner, but as soon as we got off the plane this morning, we were bussed down the road to see some of the local sights. It was hard to look out your window and see rows and rows of shacks, trash, & clothes hanging on lines- all crammed into this one little area- to see all these people who have so little when you have so much in comparison. We were told that over a million people live here in this settlement that can be seen from the main highway. Our destination though was the headquarters for a program sponsered through Living Hope Community Church called Learn to Earn. We were given a tour of the facilities where people learn skills such as crafts, computer design, sewing, & woodworking for a small fee, and then are able to take these skills out into the community and find employment.
Our touristy-event for the day included a bus trip all the way to the end of the cape of Good Hope, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Some hiked to the top of the mountain while others took a tram. We all got some great pictures. The highlight of the day for me so far was being semi-attacked by a baboon! Yes, a baboon. They're all over the place when you first park and get out at the cape. In fact, we saw one baboon inside these people's car while we were parking. You pretty much have to stay out of their way and let them leave on their own time because they can get fairly aggressive. Well, the wind was blowing extremely hard and while several from our group were inching closer to 2 baboons to take pictures of them, my pink Kentucky hat blew off my head. Well anyone who knows me, knows that I love that pink hat, and was not about to let it blow off the overlook! So I chased it several feet, snatching it up when I froze and realized a baboon was running full force at me! All I could do was brace myself and pray that he didn't decide to hurt me. Luckily I felt 2 paws smack my shirt, and then it was gone- almost like a playful, "Tag, you're it" sort of thing. Needless to say, I did not engage in the game of tag with my new baboon friend and held onto my hat very tightly for the rest of the afternoon. Later on we all got some great pictures of the scenery and the wildlife- some ostriches and Bachs ( a sort of deer-looking animal), and the sunset back at the house at Noordhoek where we are staying. Seeing the beautiful scenery today, and the glorious sunset over the ocean served as a reminder to us just how Big and Great God's world is. I am so thankful to be able to experience this part of his creation. Sleep is going to come easy tonight as our bodies adjust to the new time (we're 7 hours ahead of central time). Tomorrow begins our official day of work. More to come then. Continue to pray for us as we begin our work here in capetown.

Zero hour approaches

2004-09-29T16:56:00.000-05:00

Eleven hours from now and our little group of 26 will be at the airport awaiting to embark on a very unique adventure. There will be little or no sleep for our team as we must meet at 4am Thursday at BBC to begin our much anticipated mission. We have a general outline of our duties, however as with all mission trips we will remain flexible. I called this trip unique, we will literally be living history for the next few weeks. Hopefully, with God's help and leadership, we will help bring hope and healing to a land that has seen much turmoil and unrest . Just ten years removed from apartheid, we will be going where few mission groups, especially white Americans , have been willing to work. HIV/AIDS have devastated this part of the world and have left many adults and children with little or no hope for a future, ANY future. Please pray that we can do some small part to help change this.

I'm sure our views and hearts will be dramatically changed by this experience, as for now we are not sure what to expect. We can only be willing to be used as instruments to show love and grace to those that have basically been outcast from their lives and homes.

I personally look forward to working with the other 25 members that have sacrificed time, money, and themselves to be a part of this. We will try to keep you updated each day.

Roger Sigmon

I think I'm signed on!

2004-09-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

We are one week away and counting! Email lines are abuzz and worker bees are dancing feverishly to prepare. By the way, we are taking over 350 teddy bears with us! How exciting! Hope this Blog works like it's supposed to!

2004-09-13T08:14:00.000-05:00

This is an aerial view of the city of Cape Town. It's at the southern most tip of the country and continent of Africa. As pastor John Thomas once said, You can't get any more Southern Baptist than that!

3 weeks and counting

2004-09-13T07:20:00.000-05:00

In a little less than 3 weeks, a team of 26 members will embark on a journey from Brentwood, TN, to Cape Town, South Africa where we will be assisting the Living Hope Church with mission work. Details are still not cemented as to what each team member will be doing on a day-to-day basis, but we know we will be helping with the construction of a hospice for AIDS patients, working with children and teens in an after-school program, teaching crafts, and doing some evangelism and outreach. But not to worry! We are told that there is a great need for us, and will be put to good use the two weeks we are there. Each team member has been called by God to be on this trip for many different and specific reasons that only He knows, so we are excited to see how God can use us as a team.

Our group leaves Nashville on Thursday morning, September 30th, and will arrive in Cape Town, South Africa Friday morning (can we say jet lag?). This first day will be spent unpacking and seeing some of the sights, because the nest day we jump right into our work. No rest for the weary! More to come later...