Our
journey in South Africa this month has been somewhat… unique
… by World Race standards. It’s
definitely normal… but not normal for the World Race. Originally we were supposed to be working
with Campus Outreach doing college ministry this month, however it turns out
that college students are currently on winter break, and there isn’t really a
ministry there for us. So, our contact,
Stephan, had another plan for our stay in Johannesburg this month. We are partnering with an online organization
called, “For Good” (www.Forgood.co.za). Pretty much our entire job this month is to
represent the organization and contact its participants, help them “vamp up”
their page, and call other organizations and churches in the area and introduce
them to the site and help sign them up. I
have spent the majority of my month thus far in the office making phone calls,
sending emails and posting pictures.
The picture on the left is the pool house the girls are living in this month (the boys and girls are in separate houses). And the picture to the right is me in the office doing some work on the website.
The idea behind this organization is brilliant. Their vision is to connect the country of
South Africa, and eventually all of Africa by providing an avenue for people to
come together and serve along side each other and unite. It’s a great way to unify Christ’s church as
well. I absolutely support Forgood and
am thrilled to have the opportunity to come along side them and serve. However, it is absolutely not what I wanted to
be doing this month. If you have been
following my blog for the past few months, then you know that my entire stay in
Africa has been in major capitol cities with incredible living conditions. Absolutely not what I was expecting… AT ALL.
This is not Africa, is it? I was
so excited to have an “African bush” experience much like one the World Race
alumni talk about. Don’t get me wrong,
I’m absolutely thankful for this opportunity and am blessed in more ways than I
could possibly know, but part of me is still disappointed that I didn’t get to
experience the “real Africa”.
Fortunately for me, the Lord quickly and painfully brought
me to my knees this past week, and has taught me so much about his grace and
his plan. He reminded me that it isn’t
about me, or what I want. It’s about
Christ. Everything is about Christ, and
if it isn’t, then it’s not in line with his plan. He
showed me that if I stop focusing on the things I want out of life and start
focusing on the things he wants then
maybe I would find myself in a place of pure joy and satisfaction. I have come to realize that living in comfort
is actually harder for me than it would be living in the bush with no Internet,
electricity or running water. That may
sound odd to you, but when you have little distraction, it is actually much
easier to connect with God. I believe
that is why we have such a hard time in America. We are constantly bombarded with information,
television, Facebook, and Iphones. How
can God speak to us when we can’t even sit in his presence in complete silence
for more than five minutes without some kind of interruption? I’ve watched other teams go into the bush and
have incredible encounters with God, then come out of it and have no idea what
to do with the things they learned amongst these comforts. So, in actuality, the Lord is probably doing
me a favor by placing me here, because it is teaching me a spiritual discipline
that I hadn’t really known before the Race.
So, once I got over myself, I quickly realized how much work
there was to be done here in Johannesburg.
No, we aren’t comforting widows and holding baby orphans in the bush,
but we are making an impact on this city for a greater good. Today I actually had an appointment with a
Methodist church to tell them more about the website, and once I sat down with
the pastor and told him what the organization was all about, he lit up with
excitement. Apparently, their church
does a lot of outreach and needs volunteers, but they don’t actually have a
website or anything to connect with people outside their community. Today, I signed this church up on the site
and helped them make an activity for their yearly fundraiser. Who knows, maybe by getting this church on
the site, someone will find it, attend, and accept Christ. Maybe we have a greater impact on this world
than we think we do.
Every act of service
and kindness, no matter how big or small, matters to God.
