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.
While doing family visits in Oudsthoorn two participants, Shannon (South Africa) and Lyndsey (Ireland), discovered how hard day-to-day life could be for some people. In one of the houses that they were visiting they met an elderly lady that was living in very basic circumstances. This lady was suffering from Tuberculosis with no-one to take care of her. Furthermore the monthly pension stipend that she receives is not sufficient for her to be able to buy medicine to take care of her sickness.
Shannon and Lyndsey was able to spend some time with her and also pray together with her. The next day they also returned to bring her some warm clothing. But it seems so little if you look at the big picture.
There are many people suffering like this and it sometimes feels like we can do so little. Please continue to pray for the many people that are suffering, that God will meet them in their need and that His hope will be established in their lives
"How long have you been working together" was one of the first questions faced by a team working with the Life Community Center in George. People were amazed to hear that this particular team has only known each other for three days. The team has been experiencing a wonderful time with each other but most of all they have connected with the children that they are working with.
Working with children from poor and disadvantaged areas, the team has been able to make a difference in their lives through small but meaningful experiences. Even just smiling at the children really affects their lives. Part of their work is also to help feed about 200 children but instead of making them stand in line to receive their food, they let the children sit down and then serve them the food in an attempt to improve their self-worth and dignity.
The team will also be visiting some other shelters during the rest of the week. Continue to pray for their health as they have been struggling with sickness and also for their contact with the children they are reaching out to.
"Every time I sit down, 6 or 7 kids immediately come sit on my lap or start climbing over me" said Jaco. Jaco's team is working in Stilbaai, a quiet beach town, and the surrounding community especially with kids. The team noticed that even though the kids with whom they are working were quite unruly they were constantly looking for attention and they soon established a bond with them.
They spent a big amount of time just playing with the kids and showing them love. Most of their parents are fisherman and many of the kids live in rough circumstances. Nigel, the team leader, is especially concerned about when the team leaves at the end of the week, realising that the children will need continued input into their lives.
We are glad to report though that one of the outreach organisers will be moving into their area in the next two weeks with a new ministry that will be focusing on helping children and parents with the moral upliftment of their community.
George is a beautiful city situated close to the sea and the mountains. Therefore this beautiful setting attracts a lot of elderly people to come and retire in George, spending a lot of their time playing golf, fishing or taking walks.
However when people like Annette (Australia, 60) and Regina (KwaZulu Natal, 66) come to participate in the Outeniqua Challenge, it really amazes many of the churches that these elderly ladies are so active and involved.
Annette has been working really hard and ministering with all her energy and this has been a huge testimony to her church. Regina has been described by fellow team members as a "legend". Her love just radiates and people from the community is constantly attracted to her affection.
This shows that age certainly is no limit when you allow God to use you. We have seen that the wisdom and love that more elderly people bring to teams are worth their weight in gold!
What would you do if you were attending an outreach in an unknown area and then arriving to discover that no program schedule has been set-up. This certainly did not discourage one of our teams that are working in Pacaltsdorp that ended up in exactly this situation.
Team leaders Chris and Manuela immediately sat down with the local church elders and discussed with them what the greatest need was in their community. Soon it came out that the church was struggling a lot with nominalism, and so a program was arranged for the week that will help the church to refocus on God and get involved with their own community.
On Sunday morning God already started working in the church. Naphtali, a Nigerian pastor in the team, was conducting the preaching and challenged the church to make a strong commitment to Christ. 28 members came forward afterwards and amidst their weeping and confession before God the team was able to pray together with them to recommit their lives to Christ.
In the afternoon they met together with the elders and deacons in a special meeting and worked together through the book of 1 Timothy. Once again God worked in hearts as the church leadership rediscovered their role in the church and committed themselves quite seriously to His work and their own responsibilities.
We believe that God is working powerfully in this church and we would like to ask for your prayers as church members get serious with God again. The church is in a position to have a powerful impact on their community. Even though the team that is ministering to them consist out of normal people, God has certainly put them together for a special mission of reawakening the church.
Last friday morning Jessica and Derecia, together with fellow team members, set out to visit families in the local farming community that they were working in. Already feeling quite unprepared for what was awaiting them, they also learned that they would have to do these visits in Afrikaans. Since none of them were comfortable in Afrikaans they confessed to "being freaked out".
However God was with them and gave them the ability to converse in Afrikaans. In one of the houses they visited, two ladies opened up to them and shared about their struggles with sickness and also in their family. The team was able to pray together with them and also shared on a personal level about their relationship with Jesus. At the end of the visit they asked the ladies if they wanted to commit their life to Christ and they did want to do so. Derecia then did the sinner's prayer with them. Afterwards Derecia was quite surprised to find out that she did the whole prayer in Afrikaans, a fact she never realised at the time.
In the next week the team will still be visiting a lot of families. Please continue to pray for opportunities to share Christ and that the team will be able to do so in the language that the families understand!
God certainly uses many ways to change a person's life. One of the particpants in the Challenge has grown up in church most of her life, but coming to the Challenge gave her a new perspective on her own faith. Realising that she does not have a personal relationship with God herself she requested to take leave of the team.
Two of our leaders were willing to take her home but along the way they felt compelled to stop and share with this girl what a real relationship with Jesus was about. Finally realising what Jesus did for her, the girl wanted to accept Him in her life and now we praise God together for another person who has found her hope in Christ!
During the afternoons a lot of workshops were presented for the participants to attend. This ranged from door-to-door ministry, how to prepare a sermon and many more.
Suzanne was also attending the workshops but the ones she wanted to do was already full. Eventually she sneaked into the creative minisitries session that was teaching evangelistic drama's. She admitted herself that she is quite self-conscious about appearing silly before other people, so this session was initially very difficult for her. But the more she saw the others around her participating with all their heart, the more she got involved herself and eventually she admitted to enjoying the session. Even some others who were hesitant at first finally came around and excitedly told us that they want to take this back to their churches and teach them the dramas.
Dramas, rope illustrations and so many other things are innovative ways to reach out to people with Christ. Remeber Paul's words: "I will become all things to all men, in order to save some". Even if this means we have to be fools for Christ!
Last night we took some time out to look at a big issue in South Africa namely HIV and AIDS. Belinda Smith who works with AIDSHope, a ministry of OM South Africa, shared with the participants about the challenges but also the hope that comes with this epidemic. Especially one line she said struck my heart: "We cannot call this situation hopeless because that means we take Jesus out of the equation." She continued with the evening helping the participants understand not to be afraid of this disease and also how to help people that are infected and affected by AIDS.
Afterwards the movie "Beat the Drum" was shown. This is a South African film about a little boy that lost his parents to AIDS and his story as he goes to the city to find income to support the rest of his family.
This might have been a very tough evening listening to this huge need. But I believe it was very meaningful as people are exposed not only to what HIV/AIDS is about but also that Jesus wants to bring hope to lives and He wants us to do it.
"I was hoping to use my skills as a nurse to help children suffering from AIDS" we were told by Christina Chin. Christina certainly got her wish and a lot more as she attended last years challenge in Mpumulanga. Although she only took out time for two weeks to attend the outreach, her encounter with God was so strong that she joined missions work full-time this year! Now she is attending the Outeniqua challenge again as a team leader and will impact even more people in South Africa. What is her wish for this year? "That I can deepen my relationship with God even more".
Christina is one of many people that has been inpacted by the global challenges. Please pray that many participants will hear God's voice and to implement it in their life.
