Total Update Blog.
Hey whats up guys! I sorry for the delayed post, time slipped away from me for a little bit lately and I haven’t been posting blogs as much. My team and I currently just arrived in South Africa, Im going to try my best to catch you guys up on how things went our last couple of weeks in Haiti and Botswana as a whole.
Haiti overall completely changed my life. There was a need for the Lord in struggles like I had never seen or been exposed to before, but with that need, the Lord was very present in his people there. Just like he always is. There was a happiness in the spirit of the people there unlike any other, especially the kids. Kids running around barefoot with broken glass all throughout the village, kids that cant get an education simply because they’re clothes aren’t nice enough, kids that would run a mile just to see you smile back at them and give them a fist bump. They glowed.
Monday through Friday we had breakfast at 7, and got on a bus to head into a village at 8. Our days were spent doing what they call “SVT” (strategic village time). Which was going into a village, and moving from home to home getting to know the family, and preaching the gospel. As the first week went by, I started to feel more confident in the role God placed me in. I was crazy nervous at first, but I got over it. We did this almost everyday for a month and by far it was the most fulfilling month of my life so far. Hearing people’s stories that you would have never even known, sharing the story of Jesus that was heard for the first time to some. Just incredible.
With a huge Voodoo population there, the team and I spoke to a man who was very active in the Voodoo community. Believing in the evil spirits. We spent about an hour and a half with this man, sharing the truth with him. This moment is one I will never forget, as he confessed an evil spirit controlled his life, we fought hard for Jesus. We shared stories, preached, and he told stories from his life also. As the mighty name Jesus was said, a look on his face arose like I had never seen before. The demon inside couldn’t stand to hear his name. The Truth. As he looked up at me with the darkest eyes I had ever seen before, literally black. That man and I had a moment of eye contact that would shake you to the bones, I was face to face with a demon. Preaching the name of Jesus to that man, I can honestly say I wasn’t afraid, I thought I would have been, but weirdly I felt stronger than ever. As a kid I was terrified of things like that, but when the Lord says he will prepare you and equip you for battle, its the truth, and In that moment I felt the Holy Spirt building up inside like I was going to war, and the crazy thing is, we were.
Sadly that man eventually got tired of hearing the truth God was speaking through us, and he asked us to leave. We fought hard, but not everyone who hears the truth is going to accept it. Sometimes that is hard for us to understand and it is always something that puts a weird feeling deep in your gut, but God has a plan for all of us, and that is something we have to Trust.
After leaving Haiti, our squad had a 9 hour flight to NYC, then a 12 hour flight to Quatar in the Middle East. There we had a 9 hour layover, then another 9 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. We spent 3 days there, then took a 6 hours into Gaborone, Botswana. Ministry started.
ANNDDDDDD FINALLY AN UPDATE!!!
Ok so I’m 2 months late with this, I am truly so sorry. No excuse, just laziness.
So our time in Botswana is coming to a close in a short week, WHAT! So crazy that we’re almost halfway done with this whole race thing that’s completely changed my life.
Our first month here in Gaborone, Botswana was spent at an organization called “Pula Sports”. We coached kids in soccer, basketball, shared gospel with them, and played on the nearby playground all day. Playing basketball with these kids and showing them things, was such a huge moment for me. The way they looked up at me and tried out what I had learned before, blew my mind that they actually wanted to hear what I had to say. Moments I will never forget. Hearing “hey joe!” From across the playground, is a sound that will sit in my heart forever.
About 2 weeks in, our place of living got broken into and quite a bit of our things got stolen. Alyssa’s laptop, Kyla’s phone, Kelly’s wallet, Zane’s laptop, hunters passport and IPad, my laptop. This was kind of a tough moment for us as a team, we were by ourselves living in a community we’d never experienced before, and this happened. With how tough it was, I think it was a sign from God, that these things weren’t valuable to his children. That our true values and treasure comes from him, and is Him. It taught me that possessions, should never be the focus in life. Christ is, and bringing salvation to his earth. It was also kind of a sign that we just have to much, when everyone around us has so little. Overall it was rough, but I think it was a huge learning experience.
Right after that, Adventures in Missions decided that it wasn’t safe for us in the city by ourselves at that moment, so we moved out into the Botswana Desert, in a small village called Kumakwane. About 45 minutes outside of the city, with another team on our squad called Kiros. Which happens to be the team my best friend Dakota Chance is on. So overall, it wasn’t too bad of a move. It was tough leaving Pula behind, but we made a decision as a team to go into town and do ministry at Pula and the surrounding community.
The ministry in Kumakwane has been incredible to me. Our host are super involved, and honestly amazing people. Jeff (the husband) worked in the restaurant business and so did his wife April back in the states, before moving to Kumakwane 9 years ago. CRAZY. They operate and own an American cuisine cafe that is also a Christin book store, where they minister to customers and invite them to come in to read bibles and other Christin guidance books. Super cool. So one of our ministry jobs here as been working at the cafe with Jeff, making coffee, and some American foods. I’m actually pumped that I got some experience in food, kind of back in the customer service role. Which was so awesome.
So every Wednesday, Friday , and Saturday we held events for the whole community on the patio of the Cafe. Wednesday is worship night, where either Kate or Andrew sing and lead worship. Friday is bible study, where someone leads us in a sermon/study. And Saturday is movie night, kind of a lighter setting with more kids, but in the middle we relate the movie to something Christ is teaching us at the time.
I gave my first sermon!! In front of an African Church, through a translator. God trusted me with sharing his Gospel. I would have never thought to have that kind of courage and confidence in the spirit, but Christ will equip you. I promise. I am not a public speaker AT ALL.
The title of my message was “O you of little faith” and I spoke on moments throughout the Bible and my life, where faith is sometimes put in the back seat, but Christ is always with us through the struggle. A moment forever monumental in my walk with Christ, and something I will never forget.
Team abundance every Thursday and Friday morning, would go back into the city and do ministry. Catching a public bus for an hour into the city, We would play games at Pula Sports, and visit homes around the park. One day we visited this group of men outside of their home, that had a bottle of liquor in rotation between them. It was very early, and it was the first drink of the day for them. Myself, Kelly, and Andrew sat with these four men and got to know them. Soon the Holy Spirit entered the conversation, and took hold of our tongues. We began to speak the gospel over these men, and they were immediately intrigued, asking question after question. One thing I’ll never forget is the way this man kept saying “he said bring your baggage to Christ, don’t try and clean it before coming to Christ.” And with huge smiles on our face we explained to him that this is the gospel, that is what we live for. They didn’t have a real understanding of who Jesus was, but Christ through us very well explained to these men.
After hearing all of the good news, all four of these men accepted Christ into their lives. I can tell you best feeling in the world is seeing someone come home to the father, to have gone through so much struggle, and give it all to him. No feeling on earth like it.
After explaining to the men that even after we leave, Christ is forever with him from now on. That they themselves carry the Holy Spirit now.
We went on down the street, and started speaking to this other group of people talking in the street. It was wild. People were laughing loudly, and not being serious at all. Something told me to ask this man if he would like to go elsewhere and talk for a bit, he very kindly accepted the offer. I started asking him questions about his life, and he shared some stories of depression that I very much related to. We spoke for about an hour or so, and towards the end he looked up at me and said “I want to declare my life for Jesus”.
One thing I’ve learned that embracing your past struggles, and pains, to share with others in showing where Christ has changed you and brought you freedom. Is the Gospel. Jesus creates is the ultimate and only redeemer.
Later that week we did bus rink ministry, we went into the bus station and split up to talk individually to strangers. Getting to know them, and allowing the Holy Spirit to move through our conversations. The man I spoke to I immediately connected with, we shared stories of brokenness, and had a lot of good laughs. I began sharing my testimony, and the freedoms Christ has given to me. We talked about salvation, and he asked me questions about the Old Testament that I had no clue I knew the answers to (I didn’t but the Holy Spirit gave me the knowledge at the moment) he became so interested in the Gospel, getting deeper and deeper with his questions. “Is healing beIng a false prophet?” A question he asked, I explained who Jesus calls us to be. The highness he calls us, and the authority he gives us in his name. Which is healing, casting out demons, etc. In his name.
As I looked over my other shoulder, there was about 5 to 6 people leaning over with full attention on our conversation, staring at us. The Holy Spirit was truly moving. This older man named Allen, began asking questions also. Told me that he lost faith over his life, and he wanted to know who Christ is to me. Sharing my story, some things I once was embarrassed about, Christ truly made into a weapon for the Kingdom. INSANE.
After speaking to these men for about an hour 1/2, I asked if they wanted to make Christ the Lord of their life, and allow him into their hearts. They very excitedly said YES. It’s crazy to me, how God can use me to share the Kingdom and the truth with someone so much older than me, someone with so much more life. CHRIST HAS NO AGE LIMIT, he truly works in all of us, and he truly uses all of us to advance his Kingdom. TO TOTALLY BLOWS MY MIND. These men have never seen me before, never knew who I was in my past, yet see, and feel the spirit enough to have the faith. Christ, will always come through. Just look for him.
We celebrated Christmas in Botswana, with how hard it was dealing with homesickness, I grew a lot. Experienced that it’s really about being with your siblings in Christ. Zane got me a coffee mug, and that was really awesome! (Considering I’m a coffee freak) One thing I learned on the race, is that it’s truly the little things, with a big heart behind them that really matters.
For New Years we traveled 13 hours over night on a bus into Zambia. On the race I’ve taken a lot of long distance public transportation, but this was by far the hardest. Some teammates got blisters from beetles in the seats, windows wide open, African music on full volume all hours of the night, literally you name it. What’s weird is that during all that, it was cool to think wow, I prepared for things like this, bring it on.
We arrived in Zambia, toured Victoria Falls, went White water Rafting (incredible). Stayed in these mud huts there for 3 nights, mosquitos that are you alive lol but that God for bug nets and that nobody got malaria. So we caught the same bus ride over night back to Botswana, and spent our last few days there.
It was hard saying Goodbyes in Botswana, especially to our ministry host Jeff and April. They did so much for us, and impacted my life like crazy. We had a 10 hour bus ride to debrief in South Africa, got to catch up with my squad mates and spend a few days unwinding a little bit.
Today we caught a 6 hour bus ride into our ministry site for South Africa, in Johannesburg. First day here, so not much updates other than it’s absolutely amazing. Hopefully I’ll have an update before it’s over.
By the way……. IM FULLY FUNDED!!!!!!! Thank you guys from the deepest depths of me, words will never hold enough weight to how truly thankful I am for the prayers, donations, and support.
Thank you for having patience with me with my blogs, hope to have another one out soon talking about something huge God has been revealing in my life.
Love you guys and talk soon,
Joe
