Having a community here, in South Africa, that is filled with seasoned missionaries has been a huge blessing. Before coming on the Race, I had no clue what the mission field was like, or any ministry for that matter. Being at Impact Africa, there is a staff packed full of long-term missionaries who have dedicated themselves to pouring into us and teaching us the basics of ministry in the communities. When we first arrived, my team and I were involved in an emersion process, which helped us to assimilate to the culture and gain a fair knowledge of how to minister to the locals. The biggest point that I remember, and have used this entire time, is the steps that the staff taught us on how to share the gospel. When going into the informal settlements, the long-term missionaries have found that there are three basics steps in evangelizing the people. They all start with the letter A, as to make it easy to remember. The first A is the approach. This is basically your introductory stage filled with small talk and icebreakers. I have found that lots of funny interactions and jokes can flow through this stage and it is always awesome to see the local laugh. The second A is the assist. Assisting someone can look like doing their dishes, laundry, chores, or just helping out wherever help is needed. Most of the time, to be polite, people won’t let you help so you then move onto the third A: advance. This is where we get dow to the meat of the conversation. Hard questions are asked as we dig into getting to know the person and really loving on them where they’re at. During this stage, the message of hope in Jesus is brought into play and we offer them a chance to become a follower of Christ if they aren’t already. These three steps have been a great guideline to use while preaching in the communities. The staff has developed them over their years here, and they are amazing, loving, and wise people. I will never forget what the outreach coordinator, Bailey, preached to us one day before we went out. He read Romans 1.16, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes,” and then went on to encourage us to stand firm in the power of God. In the end, it’s all about Him.
