Global Challenge - South Africa
Global Challenge is an initiative by OM where Christians can join a short outreach to communities around the world. In South Africa we host an outreach every year in the July school holidays. This year we will reach out to communities living around Gauteng.
So far we have heard of the drive-thru doctor but now we have another edition. The Pick and Pray! As teams are doing street evangelism they have many opportunities to pray with people. Heather was one such person. While her team was ministering near a shopping centre she met a woman that needed prayer. When she finished praying for her, two more people stood behind her to also receive prayer. When she finished with that next person she opened her eyes again to see two more people join the line! Most of these people were from a Hindu background. We have experienced that both Hindu's and Muslims are very open for prayer and are quite thankful to receive it. Heather's team also had opportunities to visit a Hindu temple and a Mosque and pray with either the priest or the caretakers there.
Please pray for more opportunities to pray together with those who do not know Jesus and that through these encounters they would get to meet Him.
Take it to the Streets
Many teams have been busy sharing the love of Christ through their hands, by being involved in practical work such as building, caring for children and gardening. However, there is also a very important place for sharing Christ's message of hope with WORDS. This can be a little bit scary, but some teams are combating their fears by heading out into the streets and explaining the gospel to the people of Durban.
Member's of team Chile reported that they were not quite sure at first how to approach the task of street evangelism. What should they day, and who should they approach? They committed their concerns to God in prayer. Imagine their surprise to reach their starting destination and be greeted with cries of "Are you here to tell us about Jesus? Come and chat!". Jesus opened up many opportunities to talk, and they didn't have to approach a single person to talk - the Lord sent the people straight to the team.
Another team was sent out to do door-to-door in a largely Muslim and Hindu area. "Wouldn't you rather be visiting the Christian homes?" they were asked. It took some explaining by the team to convince their companions that just as a physician tends to the sick, Jesus was sent to reach the lost. Whilst some people didn't quite understand their point, one eight-year old boy at the church caught their vision. He became their unofficial escort, giving the rallying cry,"Here's another Muslim home! Here's where some more Hindu's live!" and leading the team to those her realised needed to hear the truth as well.
Other teams have faced opposition as well. For some, this has meant doors slammed in faces, spiteful words, verbal abuse, or simply disdainful looks. One team became intensely aware of the spiritual battle going on when, upon finishing praying with man, they turned around to realise they were literally right in the middle of a mugging (all team members were safe). Despite the setbacks, the teams can be encouraged by Christ's own words:
""Remember what I told you:'servants are not greater than their master'. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also..."John 15:20
We thankfully accept the rejection, struggles and hardships that come with preaching the gospel, because we know that the Lord Jesus Christ understands completely.
The Jesus film has always been a very effective tool to bring the Gospel to people and it has been used extensively in Africa. This year we are very excited to be using the Jesus film for kids, especially since we have it in all the official languages of South Africa. On Sunday evening a team in the valley of a thousand hills showed the film to their community. The film touched peoples hearts and the woman was weeping when they showed the scenes of Jesus on the cross. But the best news is that afterwards ten kids came up out and gave their their lives to Jesus!
We have been constantly amazed by the many people God has put in place to be a part of this outreach, even if not as participants in teams. People have donated food, given transport, lended sound equipment and other areas of expertise, not for praise or recognition, but simply and humbly as an offering to God. One such example yesterday was by a lady we would now like to call "The drive-through doctor".
Jackie, on the team leaders from Barbados, has been feeling a bit ill for a few days, but it finally reached the point where she needed to see a doctor. Now the quandry: in a town that none of us are all that familiar with, and with limited budgets for things like Doctors' visits, where do we take the sick people?
One doctor who had heard about the Global Challenge agreed immediately (during her sleeping time - she was on night shift) to help out. She heard the symptoms over the phone, and directed Jackie and her overseers to the hospital car park. Here, amongst the cars, she consulted with Jackie, right in front of the hospital! Imagine the look on the car guards face when she pulled out her stethoscope! She provided her services free of charge, and had even already purchased the antibiotics Jackie needed before the green overseer "ambulance" pulled up in the Doctor drive through.
People like our drive-through Doctor are the unsung heroes of the Global Challenge. We have been blessed by their contribution, and know that so much of the Challenge could not be pulled-off without their help. Something so simple as a Doctor's consultation in a car-park has been a huge gift for the kingdom.
- Please continue to pray for health. Although some of the participants that has been sick is much better, others have fallen sick. Cold evening temperatures in especially the rural areas is not helping.
- Pray for the participants as many of them is faces with death. Two participants has each lost their dad during the outreach and another team sees it eevry day as they work with people infected with HIV/AIDS.
- Pray for perseverance as the team have full schedules and they are getting tired.
One of the beautiful things of the global challenge is the cross-cultural situations that team members experience. Yesterday a few told us about their experience with 'the bucket thing'. In a time where most of us are used to showers and baths not everyone has the same luxury. These team mebers that we talked with were all in a situation where there was no such bathroom. Only a bucket, some cold water and a wash cloth! Especially one young girl was shocked when they just have her a pan and she did not know what to do with it. But she just prayed 'Jesus help me' and she continued on bravely. Many others are struggling through different types of cross-cultural situations such as the places they sleep, the food they eat (there is a lot of curry out there), but they are determined to push on to be a witness for Christ.
Although Esther's team has a lot of ministry opportunities she confided with us that a lot of her ministry might be at home. The team stays with various host families from the church that they are working with. The family that Esther is staying with has a Hindu friend who came to visit the first morning she was there. Showing a lot of interest in what she was doing the Hindu lady started asking a lot of questions about Jesus and Esther had the chance to spend a larrge part of the morning with her and answering her questions. She was even able to give the lady a bible which she eagerly accepted.
Please pray for this Hindu lady as she reads her bible and that she would get to know Jesus.
The extreme makeover team has not even a chance against team UAE!
For the first two days of the outreach,the team was given the opportunity to display love in action through a building project. A widow and her ill daughter were living in poor conditions, in a home that desperately needed upkeep.With the permission of the family, the 9 member team, as well as people from their hosting church, arrived to replace kitchen benches, fix roofs and paint walls. It was not only the family themselves who were affected by the team's generous actions.
One neighbour visited the "makeover team" with tears in her eyes. "I have been praying for this family," she said."I didn't know how they were going to survive. God is good!"
A contrasting reaction was received from a neighbour on the other side of the house. "Why are you only helping them?"he asked. "We are all poor on this street.What makes them any different?" The team did their best to explain the situation to the man. In the end, whilst maybe still not quite undesrtanding their motivations, of his own volition he erected lighting equipment around the house so that the team could see to paint in the evening.
The highlight of the excercise, the team agreed, was explaining to the many spectators why they would give up so much, travel from countries all around the world, spend money on equipment and work so hard, just for one little family."Did a church send you?"
"No."
"Are you doing this for some special organisation?"
"No"
"Then who sent you?"
God. God sent them. The same God who numbers the hairs on our heads, and knows when a single sparrow falls from the sky, decided he wanted to paint the living room of a lady from Durban. May we all learn to recognise the personal, all-encompassing love of the creator God in the same way that one family in Durban learned it this week.
- Please pray for one of our participants who heard this morning that her father suddenly passed away. She is currently on her way home to be with her family.
- Please pray for health. At least two of the teams have a few sick people and they find it discouraging. Pray that God will heal them, revive their spirits and use them wherever they are.
- Pray for good opportunities to share the Gospel. Some teams are working in very difficult communities. Team 'Afghanistan' is helping to restore one of the communities primary schools as a way to show love and care and hoping it might attract people that normally would be antagonistic.
First I have to apologise for not posting news in the last few days. Our orientation time was just far too busy for me to be able to write stories. But in the following days I hope to recap on what happened and on what is currently happening on the teams.
The main news now is that all the teams have gone out to their areas they will be working in and have settled down for their first night. Some has already even started ministry today! We are so excited about the different churches we will be working with. They differ greatly in the areas they are based and the ministry they will be doing, but we know they all will have a great impact on the city of Durban.
One of the most familiar stories about missionaries is that of Nate Saint and his four friends that served and died in Ecuador as they reached out to Waodoni tribe, one of the most aggressive and unreached tribes of their time. Last year the film 'End of the spear' was released based on the story of Steve Saint, Nate Saint's son, that later returned to be a missionary to the same tribe.
The Ecuadorian missionaries' story remains a challenge to us as Christians, as we contemplate if we really are willing to sacrifice our lives for God and to bring His message. As we watched this film last night many participants were processing these same thoughts. Outreaches like the Durban Challenge has no guarantees that everything will go smoothly and safely. As we share the Gospel there will always be opposition and we need to get to a place where we decide if we really are willing to risk it all for God.
On Monday afternoon we were shocked to hear that one of our team leaders was taken to the hospital with the fear that she might have contracted Meningitis. The reports we received were a bit sketchy in details but as we understood the doctors were really concerned for her life. As a group we all prayed together for her as part of the main programme at 8:30 PM. Yesterday we received the news that at the exact time we prayed there were a radical turn around in her condition. Further we received the news that all her bloodwork is now clear and she is currently recuperating at such an extent that she might be able to rejoin her team tomorrow as they go into the outreach part of the programme. We serve a great God!
Have you ever seen the show on TV called the Amazing Race? I have always secretly hoped to one day be able to do it. Yesterday the participants got their very own opportunity to be part of the Amazing Race. Set up as an opportunity to do some team building, the smaller teams were all given a set of clues that they had to figure out. These clues would lead them to a certain location on campus where they would have to an activity of some kind. For example they have to find the tallest tower on the campus and when they reach it they have to build a high tower from spaghetti. So the contest needed some brains and some speed.
It was 'amazing' to see the level of excitement the teams took to their tasks and the first team to arrive did so in a record time. Which was easy enough as we have never done this activity before =) For us it is always wonderful to see how the team start to 'gel' together. Every year the task of putting teams together is a big project that needs a lot of prayer. And we thank God again for the way He has put together this years teams. Please continue to pray for the teams and their unity.
Its 7PM. The hall is filled to the brim (more than 500 people) and everyone waits in anticipation for the Durban Challenge to officially start. Suddenly the music starts and the hall is filled with waving flags and people dressed in the costumes of the world. Walking up and down and finally coming to a stop where upon we all joined together in worship before the Lord. What a beautiful picture it was to stand together, friends from across all the cultures.
Mike Hack, a long-term OMer, shared with us on how we can live out the message that we want to bring to Durban: "You are loved". The best way to do that, Mike shared, is to love one another. Not an easy thing to do, especially in outreach teams made up from different cultures and people who has never met before! But if we make the decision to refuse to be offended, then we truly can live out love for one another and ultimately show Durban the love of Jesus.
The crazy day! That is what I would call the first day of the Durban Challenge. As participants arrived from across the world (some even traveled for three days), organisers were running around packing up people form airports and bus stops, while others were sorting out the accommodation and main programme venues.
But in all our running around we have to praise God for the way He has come through for us. We have faced every conceivable thing that could go wrong: electricity problems, no sound equipment, broken printers,but God came through and helped to put everything in place.
Personally God has taught me (Herman) how dependent we are on Him. Praise Him for He is good!
With only a few days left to go to the launch of the Durban Challenge, preparations are moving into high gear. Although the preparation team has been working very hard up to now, the last few days are always a time of tons to do and not enough time to do it in! Most people will start to travel to Durban on Sunday or Monday but some people already started today.
From Monday onwards, just like last year, I will keep you up to date with whats happening on the challenge and bring you the fresh stories as it is happening. I hope this will keep you inspired and praying for us the whole time.
Here is some facts and prayer requests for now:
- We will have slightly over 360 participants this year (hard to know exactly until they show up)
- These participants will be working together with 39 churches and organisations that we are partnering with.
- Most of the teams will be Durban, Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas.
- In these areas there are many Muslims, Hindus and Animists.
Prayer Requests
- For safe traveling of all the participants
- For the preparation team and their mad dash to get everything right
- For the Holy Spirit to start working in the hearts of the people that our participants will be meeting
- Praise God for the churches and organisations that we are able to partner with!
