Hundreds of little faces peer up at you shyly. Standing in nice rows the children shuffle past you to follow their teachers into their assembly formation. You smile and wave, joy bubbling up in your heart as you hold back the urge to run and hug the kids that are bold enough to meet your gaze and wave back. Everyone is finally assembled and your team lines up in front of the entire school of staff and students. The sun is warm already at 8am and Pastor Fundili spends a few minutes thanking everyone and introducing every member of the team. A feeling of nervousness and excitement invades your stomach as you grab the microphone, say your name and age, and move to your position in the assembly line to perform the skit you’ve prepared for the kids. When everyone is finished with the introductions a breeze picks up and flows through the lines of kids, offering a brief reprieve to the intensifying heat. With one last swig of coffee, the music starts and your skit begins. As each member of your team goes through the motions of the skit the crowd watches enthralled, giggling and poking at one another as my team members exaggerate their facial expressions and movements. The music crescendos, the beautiful child of God races back to be with Jesus, fighting against all of her pressures and sins that continue to beat down on her. Jesus runs to her aide, creating a barrier between the hail storm of spiritual warfare raining down on her and throws his daughter’s sins to the ground. You fall back, hitting the ground and smile as the cheers and clapping of the students begins to swell above the sound of the music playing. Brushing dirt off you rise from the ground and watch as testimonies and messages of life, truth, and hope are spoken to the students. When the alter call is made, over a hundred hands go up, claiming that they want to commit their lives to Jesus. The sun seems to shine brighter as you pray with them and as you close out the assembly, love fills the atmosphere and wraps everyone up in hugs between racers and students. When it’s finally time to leave you drag your feet regrettably to the bus, wishing for more time to invest in the students but knowing that there are four other assemblies to perform today. Looking at all the students one last time, a teacher instructs them in zulu and hundreds of little voices rise to the sky, motioned higher with frantic waving, “Shine, World Racers, Shine!”
This past week the Lord moved in undeniable and unforgettable ways. Every day looked a little different with African revivals, high school and elementary school assemblies, volunteering at nursing homes, manual labor & house church prayer meetings. Through every piece of this week, even though we slept in an old prison, I have never felt more free. God worked through student ministry this week in Pietermaritzburg and I am so grateful to have been apart of it! Students who were orphaned, impoverished, and living in broken home settings heard the word of God and found love this week. Healings, revival, and laughter abounded in ministry and our team. The prayer meetings we attended were filled with experiences straight out of the book of Acts. There was power, love, and genuine faith expressed in meetings of believers. It was a collision of two different cultures that were bound in acceptance and the overwhelming love of Christ. Coming back to Johannesburg this week I feel spiritually refreshed and excited to re-enter student ministries in the city, baby home ministry, and door to door evangelism. We have one month left in South Africa and I have absolutely no doubt that the Lord is going to use every minute of it for his glory! As I embrace this last month of ministry in Africa I hope that you’ll join me in my prayers, to shine brightly with the love of Christ in a world of darkness.
