13,000 miles, 3 flights, a 12-hour bus ride, and we have finally made it to month one, South Africa. Flying internationally and even within other countries is fantastic. Airplanes are designed for the passengers’ experience. If you have never flown outside the U.S., you should. It’s one of my favorite traveling experiences this year. On all the flights we had actual meals prepared and unlimited drinks, a huge selection of movies, television shows, and music to enjoy.
Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa seemed more of a vacation destination than a ministry location but that is where our team, Wildfire, and a fellow team, Wimbi, were stationed for the month. Our hosts were a wonderful couple, Lynden and Anthea, and we lived with them in their home. They cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all 13 racers and it was delicious. Jeffrey’s Bay is a small surfing town that is a prevalent tourist destination. Although we arrived in South Africa’s winter it was absolutely beautiful there and the beach was only 100 yards away. It was an awesome place to spend Katie and my 4-year anniversary. It was something people usually lived out through movies, but for one month it was actually our lives.
Our ministry was split between our two teams and it included three different tasks, one task a week. My team started on a horse farm week one working with the owner Hilmary. We helped with repairing and painting fences, feeding and watering the horses, walking the horses with clients, shoveling more manure than I thought could be possible, and last but not least helped with “covering.” That’s kind of a silly word but it was the term Hilmary used. I’m sure many of you can guess what this term means but incase your having trouble I’ll walk you through it. It was one of our funnier team memories, mainly because it was so uncomfortable. It started with Katie holding one horse by the reigns and two guys, Jace and I, standing beside the first horse. Then Hilmary brings the male horse, yup I’m sure you have guessed it by now, which then “covers” the female and the two guys, Jace and I, holding the first horses hips so she does not move around too much, awkward to say the least.
Week two was a high energy kids camp that we help put together kind of last minute. We drove 40 high school boys and girls up into the mountains to an old campground. These kids were high risks for gang and drugs activities and with the camp we tried to speak life into them. The days were packed and by the time I hit the pillow I never remembered falling asleep and it always felt like 4 hours of complete rest. The kids kept us up all through the night and it started to become miserable, but God knew a reason we were there. By the end of the week many talks and testimonies were shared, as were tons of embarrassing activities. Twenty-three kids accepted Christ into their hearts, and from then on out, the kids were completely different. They were full of joy from the inside out. It was amazing to see. Our last week we worked at a ministry construction site that team Wimbi started the month with, an eco-friendly Christian school. It is the first Christian school in the area, which is very exciting. We helped build a cabin home that will house teachers and students that have unsafe homes. It was a lot of fun. Many broke their fears of heights. It was a blessing to be a part of that project.
Okay before I get to my last point I wanted to write a little bit about living on the race as a married couple for any future racers that read this. There are challenges not having your own space but let me start out with, everyone’s race is different. The people in your squad are going to have completely different experiences than you are going to have with your team. Start out with telling your team about your marriage and what areas they can speak into it. Allow them to speak into your marriage, I have learned so much from people younger and less knowledgeable of marriage than I have from anyone else. Share your testimony because it is a wonderful icebreaker for new teams and helps them get to know you on a deeper level. You wont regret this. Our first team was our favorite because we opened up in this way. Don’t forget to pray over each other after you share. Lastly on this topic don’t forget to take your marriage days and let your team know what day that will be on that month. We set ours for Friday and changed it when needed. Don’t let these days go by because even though you may feel you don’t need them or don’t want to take them because you love your ministry, you will need them. By the time you realize you need them it will be far too late and there may be tension.
There were many amazing things we did in South Africa; we watched the JBay Open surf competition, went to Cape Town, climbed Table Mountain (a must if you can), and got to reach out to many struggling people. But one of my favorite memories was when my team, Wildfire, was asked to do a one-day prison ministry. At first I was like yes, but as it approached I became more and more nervous. Our contact for the ministry was Felix, who was a giant of a man. Two other large men that worked with Felix came with us. Felix comes to the prison many times to talk to inmates and minister to them about Christ’s love and grace, but the day we went we were going to a brand new unit that Felix had never been. So we were a little tense. When we arrived we prayed in the parking lot before carry the equipment into the prison, then went through metal detectors, and signed a risk waiver incase anything happened to us. We walked through the locked doors until we arrived at the gym and saw 40 inmates singing worship. Felix lead us to the front of the room and started to tell his testimony, how he was a corrupt cop that turned drug dealer, and became gang member but was almost killed and soon after found Christ. Many of the inmates seemed to connect with what Felix was saying. Men were crying and at the end Felix invited anyone who wanted to accept Christ to stand up. 17 guys stood and even the guys who didn’t stand were clapping for them. Felix asked if we would circle them and pray with them salvation prayers. Jace, Katie, and I were with a couple guys; a former drug dealer, gang members, and a guy Felix knew from another prison unit that he cast a demon out of months ago. We all prayed and it was amazing, God’s presence filled the room and broken men were saved.
Felix is continuing to go to the prison to help and disciple those men. The thing really spoke to me in that experience was that I judge people everyday. I judged those men before we even spoke, when I should have loved them. As broken people we often look past those who are even more broken and lost than ourselves. What would it look like to love others the way Jesus loved, to serve others more than ourselves? How would our communities be changed? The Message version of The Bible interprets Paul’s words on how to love so beautifully I want to share it as a conclusion.
“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love,
I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, ‘Jump,’ and it jumps, but I don’t have love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love,
I’ve gotten nowhere.
So, not matter what I say, no matter what I believe, and no matter what I do,
I’m bankrupt without love.”
1 Corinthians 13
