Namibia Photos!
We are now posting photos online at this website:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/disposablechristian/Check 'em out!
Here is a link to the most recent pictures as a slideshow on the same site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/disposablechristian/show/
Namibia Journal - December 10th
December 10th 2005
Today was a wonderful day. God worked miracles today. We began our day late, recovering from the sun and travel back from Swakopmund. While no one else was here, still half being stranded in Swakop with the broken down Bakkie, we went anyway to Victory Camp by ourselves. I was only really motivated to go because of the guy Theophilus that Vincent and I talked to last week. We did promise to bring him a Bible, and I thought I might as well actually show up even though I didn't want to bother Vincent or anyone else about going out there.
Erin and I walked there for the first time and it was a nice walk. I wore my off-the-street-vendor Okahandja yellow plastic sandals. They're comfortable but a little prone to letting sharp thorns stick all the way through them into my feet. I didn't like that but it didn't slow us down too much. We didn't take any water or fruit or anything which is the usual course on Victory Camp Saturdays. We just had a Bible for Theophilus and our own Bibles, of course, to do some reading and praying there if we felt like it.
Well, Theophilus wasn't there. We were greeted instead by one of the usuals who Hein has been building a relationship with named “Christiaan.” (This is a different Christiaan than the one Mike and Josh and I are meeting with on Wednesday nights.) This Christiaan lives in the dump, Victory Camp, and seems to be a nice guy. He is easy to talk to when he hasn't been drinking, even though his English is very broken. Christiaan was talking with us kind of randomly when another guy we hadn't seen before, in a blue tshirt and a hardhat started waving us over to where he was sitting.
Not thinking we should be interested in random conversations that day, I wasn't very quick to move over to where he was. He got excited. He came over to us and introduced himself, “Heinrich.” He is a tall Herero Namibian. His English was not great, but much better than Christiaan's. He said he was there to buy planks of wood to make his house better. He said he would pay the residents $3 for the wood so they would have some money; because they were 'suffering.' We did not yet fully understand the extent of Heinrich's living conditions but knew immediately that we should be impressed (by God). He invited us over to the group he was with. He was very excited that we came with the Bible. He introduced us to “Nowa”(?) who supposedly is the 'chief' of Victory Camp. (Hein doesn't know him so who knows.) And there was another guy who stays there sitting down and a another guy who was just visiting from Nau-Aib sitting there.
Heinrich and the group asked us questions about what we were doing there, the 'big yellow building' (the Multi-Purpose Ministry Center) and if we'd be starting a church. They said they would come. I was sorry to disappoint them and tell them that we wouldn't be starting a church there, but that we did want to start churches. “These churches,” I said, “would not be about money. They wouldn't take your money from you. They wouldn't need to build big buildings. They would meet anywhere at any time, and we wouldn't worry about getting lots of people to come.” I told them we just wanted to start little churches that met for the purposes of worshiping God, reading and learning the Bible, helping one another to live better lives, and to love one another. The sound of this simple idea seemed to excite them, especially Heinrich.
And even though I talked about the 'church', the words they keyed in on were “Bible study.” I think the word “church” did not compute with what I was saying about it. Meet anywhere? Any day of the week? No money collections? Sure... how about that Bible study? They seemed interested in us and that we had come from America to teach them and love them, because we loved God and because He sent us here with love in our hearts for them. Heinrich, translating, got them to give us a time when we could come back for our first Bible study. “Tomorrow,” Christiaan said, “8:00.” “Okay,” I replied, even though that sounded way early. Even for missionaries. I mean, at Apex, Erin and I were 11 o'clock'ers who would have gone even later if it was available. It's not that we're lazy. We just like to get up and to read and to spend time with the Lord and each other before doing other things. We don't like to necessarily get up and get going out of the house at that time. No matter. We're missionaries! We would be there at 8am or shortly thereafter. The best part, I think, is what happened next.
After getting their time nailed down for them, Heinrich turned to us and said, “And now, at my house, you will come and have Bible study.” Surprised, what else could we say but yes? In fact, with less than a few seconds to process, our hearts were beating with excitement. Yes, it was exciting to have something arranged for the Victory Camp also, but something was different with the look in Heinrich's eyes, the reason he was out there, and his insistence that we come to his house 'now'. I do not think he would have taken no for an answer without being very disappointed. I carried some of the wood he had bought even though he could have carried it all on his own with his strong arms and headed in the direction toward Sam Stand.
We talked along the way and found out more about the area we'll be living in, Nau-Aib. The part of Nau-Aib he lives in is one of two “chateaus.” I know this is not the correct spelling but it sounds like they are called “Chateau number 1” and “Chateau number 2”. What I'm saying sounds like “chateau” is actually 1 or 2 Herero words that mean “stand together” just like “Sam Stand” except that “Sam Stand” is Oshiwambo for “stand together.” Like Sam Stand, the chateaus are made up entirely of shacks and shantys made out of tin and spare wood. No running water. No electricity. No refrigerator. No bath. No toilet.
Heinrich kept talking about his wife and by asking questions we found out that she has 5 kids; 14, 11, 8, 5, and 2. Heinrich is 31 now and she is 32. He said, very clearly, that they wanted to know the way of Jesus, that they believed it was the best way, and it was the only way they wanted to live their lives. We asked if they were “born again.” Heinrich said, “No,” but Erin and I know that depending on who has taught them what they have learned so far, and how the people around them are defining the terms, they might not know what it truly means. “Even though we have no jobs, we have food to eat every day that we know comes from God,” he said.
Eventually we reached the house of Heinrich in Chateau number 2. It was a very small metal house painted olive green. Even calling to his wife from the front of the yard, they were very excited. “The Americans who have been walking around our streets have come to teach us the Bible.” They pulled inside two of their best seats from the backyard. The one I sat on was a little nylon stretched over a tripod, like a camping stool. Erin's was a metal frame of a chair from a school with no seat but another piece of plastic secured in the middle to sit on. They covered it with a thin sheet of fabric before she sat down. The floor was partly covered with a plastic sheet that had a mezzanine-tile design on it and the rest was dirt. Most of the room was taken up by a large bed (two mattresses stacked on top of each other), and the rest were some simple cabinets where they kept a store of simple household items, snacks, and sweets to sell. That's how they made their money we found out, by selling little things to other people in the neighborhood for a small profit.
I don't even know where to begin with what happened next. The physical details about the surroundings and how we got there are easy to explain. What the Lord did in the hour or so that followed was incredible, and harder to explain. Heinrich's wife's name is Mouna and her English is superb. Also with them was a friend named Lucia who they call Kuna. One of Kuna's children was over playing with Heinrich's 5 year old and she was very pregnant with her second child. Mouna explained that Kuna didn't have a family, and so she was often at their home and did everything with them.
How can I take enough time and words to explain the joy and awe and wonder they had. Erin was saying it like this, “They were looking at us and thinking we were miracles from God. All the while we were looking at them and thinking they are the miracle.” We said we would like to have a Bible study with them and to even teach them the entire Bible verse by verse. We started off our time in reverent prayer.
Mouna deeply wanted to know about tithing, and the differences between the Old Testament and the New. “Are the Old and New Testaments the same?” she asked. “Well, no,” what else could I say, “they are not the same. They have different words and talk about different things.” “Well,” she said, “the Old Testament says we should give so much of our money to the church, and they tell us that at the church, but shouldn't it be different now?” Ah, then I understood what she was asking. I cannot repeat the entire conversation in dialogue form but what followed Erin described was like shackles of condemnation falling off of them and scales coming off of their eyes. I was just focusing on the Lord's leading as I walked through several passages as slowly and as clearly as I could.
On some tougher words, Mouna would stop and translate for Heinrich. Otherwise it seemed to be totally clear just the way the Lord was helping me rephrase the words I was reading. I took them to parts of Hebrews 8, 9, and 10. I explained to them basically as well as I could what Pastor Rob taught at Apex in late 2003 about giving. It was sad to hear about the guilt and condemnation Mouna felt not being able to give to the church where they were teaching her and Heinrich about the God they loved. In their words, they just wanted to know the way of Jesus, and never go back to the way they were before.
They said they had been attending the church they were at now for about 9 months. She said they would be happy to give, for the sake of the upkeep of the building, and for instruments, or whatever, but she couldn't understand why they were basically forcing people to give, and telling them it was a law from God that they give. Should she be taking ten cents out of every dollar she made at her shop? The locals, she told us, called her shop the “One Dollar Shop” but her name for it was “The Alpha and Omega shop” because it only began and only ended with Jesus. He was the reason behind it and for it. We were blown away. Amazed at what God had done in preparing these two. Automatically both of our minds were accelerating into thoughts of house churches, marriage groups, and long-term 2on2 discipleship.
Heinrich, we found out, was gathering wood not to improve the house per se but to build a roof for a kindergarten in the back. In Namibia, kindergarten is not required by the government and not provided by any of the schools. Like preschools in America, there are many independent kindergartens in Namibia where parents who can afford it like to send their children. Apparently Mouna has already been to a lot of training and has a Bible-based curriculum to teach. I'm not sure why, maybe it's the municipality, but she said they need a floor area and a roof overhead in order to start the Kindergarten in January. She is going to a final training in January, the 4th-6th and will then be eligible for donations to start the school by buying books and materials. I immediately thought of my mom who, in the same situation, would be living her dream by starting a school like that. She already does run a preschool in America and has a great time at it, as it is her ministry from God, but there are a lot of bothersome regulations and hoops to jump through (for good reasons some of the time) in America that make it difficult. I told Heinrich, with a smile, that I would like to help him build the preschool, and told Mouna that we would pray for that. But that was not her prayer request.
When we ended our time, we took prayer requests from each of them. Kuna asked for prayer that she would understand God's Word and live His way. Heinrich and Mouna both asked for prayer that they would keep going Jesus' way and not fall back. We could tell that the past was a painful memory to both of them. They did not want to live the way they were before. What was this but the working of God powerfully in their lives?
We also talked with Heinrich and Mouna about marriage. The fact of the matter is, they are not married. They are, rather, as married as they can be given their situation as far as we understand it. They cannot afford to have a wedding. They said they are ready to get married and have been for a long time but are still saving up the money. This is where it is kind of tricky, especially when writing about it. We did not compromise, but it was our heart from God to be as encouraging as possible. The legalism of some of the churches here says that even if you are just dating someone, having a boyfriend or a girlfriend, then you are not welcome in the church, that it is not acceptable to them. Many people they know said they want to seek God and know His Word but have been kept out of the church by this legalism. Heinrich and Mouna keep going anyway they said, bearing the shame and the guilt.
To encourage and exhort them, I had them open up their Bibles--an Afrikaans translation they owned and the English one we were bringing to Theophilus--to Genesis 2:24, the foundational scripture for marriage in the Bible. It says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” With conviction and seriousness, I spoke about what it meant to “hold fast” to each other, to be stuck together—to be two people joined together and with no one else but God. The two people are supposed to be stuck together so much I said that to be taken apart would be to be destroyed. Then with tenderness and passion, I spoke about what it meant to “become one flesh,” that Erin and I share all of our thoughts (to be of one mind), we share our feelings and emotions (to be of one heart), and that we work together, coming alongside one another (to be one body), etc. We talked about the significance of declaring your marriage vows publicly, that by no means were Erin and I considered married in America before we had our big wedding. They had already mentioned rings being something they needed and we told them how it was indeed significant to have a way to tell the world of your commitment. We also talked about the importance of the wife changing her name. That is one other obvious thing they lack. We talked about it ands found out that culturally the name changing is the same for them as it is for us in America. Erin and I both hurt for them in a personal way. With the priesthood of all believers in effect I could have married them right there. But we know it is a significant and important thing that they pursue the wedding according to their tradition and make a statement for all to see. I haven't written about it yet but it's a sad fact that weddings are largely considered too inconvenient and too irrelevant for a lot of the population here, especially the very poor. At the same time while we were laying that out, we very positively encouraged them in their faithfulness to each other and commitment to Jesus' way.
I say this with as much confidence as I can right now. We will be spending a lot more time with Heinrich and Mouna. This is what happened after that. They want us to come back tomorrow. They suggested 2pm. I said how about 4? Either time was fine they said, and they were going to invite all of their neighbors, friends, and family, telling them that the Americans they have seen were in their house teaching them about the Bible. I told them I was scared! Nervous and intimidated. It was true, but only in a brief human sense. I wanted to reinforce the fact that we aren't going after big crowds. Erin wasn't scared at all. And we developed a plan for what to tell them as soon as it gets too big (probably tomorrow). We will tell them that we will have to meet again in another person's house on another day and they will have to split up. Our long-term plan is to stay with these new house churches (we hope) just as long as it takes for them to function without us and leave. It might take a year or more, but we will do what it takes. And whether we start with just this one, or God gives us more before then, He will be king, and to Him will go all of the glory. Hallelujah to the Lord our God. He has worked around us a miracle today that we could not imagine. It was absolutely nothing at all that we did. We do not even want to take 'walking to Victory Camp in the middle of the day' or anything else and turn it into a formula. God alone is the one. He alone does these things.
We left and walked toward Josh & Mike's house, thinking we'd refill our water bottle there after sharing it at Heinrich's house. (Heinrich and Mouna have to prepay for their water which comes out of a machine in the street outside their house. Their bathroom is a 5 minute walk to the bushes down the block and around the corner.) Josh wasn't there but the friendly neighbor lady with the green grass gave us cool water to drink. We walked back to the Center and crashed for the next four hours. We had been out walking and having the Bible study for about 4 hours and the tiredness from the week before was taking its final toll on us.
But that wasn't the end of the day.
Marcus, the CHI employee from Angola, is still here and still struggling. If he gets the money he has been promised by some, he will be able to leave for Angola on a bus on Monday. He is struggling with purpose, fulfillment, and even his faith. He has little to no assurance that He is truly believing in God for salvation. When I talked with him a couple weeks ago, he was struggling with whether or not he was believing properly, or enough, or willing hard enough, having enough faith, to be saved. What else is there to talk about in response to that but grace? “Praise God,” I said, “that we are not saved by faith.” “No?” he replied. I know it's a puzzling statement to many, especially someone trained in seminary that faith is the pinnacle of the Christian life. “No,” I said, “we are saved by grace.” “But what about what we do?” he said, “Isn't there some reward, or isn't there a requirement for the reward.” This was before the part I quoted in the other entry about when we talked last (on November 29th).
He said, “Think about this. I know it's simple, but imagine parents with two children. The parents give the children many rules to live by. Won't the parents wait and see which one obeys before giving the reward? Isn't God like that?”
“Marcus,” I said, “that story is already in the Bible.”
If it wasn't already out at that point, I think it was, I took out my Bible and turned to Romans chapter 9. It says, “And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad--in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call-- she was told, "The older will serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Rom. 9:10-13)
I didn't know it at the time but Marcus had actually just led the CHI devotion this morning on Romans chapter 9, the same chapter I just turned to in order to speak with him about God's grace. They are going through Romans, one chapter per day, and basically just read it and talk about anything that sounds good to them. Marcus was more than stunned by what the Word of God said. It was probably then that he said what I quoted before, “There must be some prerequisite to grace.” “No,” I said, “or grace would not be grace,” and the verses I showed him were Romans 9:16-17, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”
The truth did hit him and he was changed. But he is still struggling. Big time. Maybe even more. The beautiful God-glorifying thing is this: It is far better for him to struggle with whether or not he is saved when he knows it depends on God and His free grace, rather than it is for him to struggle with his salvation when he thinks it depends on him and his will.
“It is very good to know where we stand with God,” I said, “and you should want that. We can know that we have true faith from God all the time. But, more importantly, we should know that if our faith should fail us, and when it does, that God keeps us in His grip of grace.”
In John 10:29, Jesus says, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch [us] out of His hand.” Amen.
Namibia Journal - December 4th-9th part 3
December 4th-9th 2005 part 3
The “Ascent” camp notes and prayer Friday night, December 4th-9th, 2005:
I thought I would be remiss to not do some journaling on some more of the practical details from the trip. The official name of the camp was “Ascent,” which comes from imagery in the scripture, “from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psa. 61:2) One of my favorite guys at camp was named Given. Given is around 15 years old and lives at the Ark. Given drew a little stick figure representing himself at the base of the Ascent mountain on the front of his camp notebook, getting ready to climb up to where God was. Laying aside any theological problems with the drawing, I liked the heart it showed.
It was a 3 hour drive from Okahandja to the campsite. I rode in a van with Josh driving and eight of the campers. I have to admit my first impressions of the eight guys we rode to camp with were not great. But when it came time for Mike's first talk, and I saw they all had their own Bibles out and their new highlighters ready to take notes, I almost cried.
I loved praying every night and every day with the guys at camp. They all pray. I don't know if they're all saved, but the things they say about God and the thanks they give are no less deserved by Him or true. It was a great thing to hear and be involved in every day. I mention praying. It was also wonderful to sing with them. I have less to say about that, but here is a video you can see and hear:
http://www.disposablechristian.org/photosnamibia/swakopvideo1.mov The bandana I'm wearing was for my group, the “Soldiers.” Every small group and leader had their own different colored bandanas. Hein's guys with the American flags were the “Eagles” and Josh had the “Chocolate Boys.” I can't remember all the girls' group names but Erin's wore pretty red bandanas and were named “God's Golden Girls.”
Swakopmund is one of the few coastal towns established in Namibia. It is a favorite vacation spot for Namibians and foreign tourists alike. Most people haven't heard of it most likely because the weather isn't really that great. If the water temperature wasn't cold to very cold year round, I'm sure it would be one of the world's hotspots. The wild life is great. There are jellyfish, seals, and supposedly it's a great spot to see dolphins and whales. The air is nice and dry and the sun is warm; the dunes are beautiful. But the current that dominates the coastal waters is the Benguela current from Antarctica. If the wind is blowing from the east (inland), it is nice and warm or hot, but if it's blowing from the west (out at sea), it's cold. It's summer here now and some of the campers who had been there before said you don't even want to come during Namibia's cooler months.
For our trip, Sunday to Tuesday were hot. Most of us got minor sunburns. But then Wednesday through Friday were cold. It was kind of cold all day and then got very chilly in the evenings. It was a taste of what most of our friends and family are getting right now in America. In Okahandja, it never changed from being quite hot every day, but only 3 hours away we were cold.
Everyday we had 1 or 2 activities going on at the beach or in town. Our day trips included going dune-boarding, visiting a snake park, seeing the national aquarium, going to town, and a day of team competition with many events and a volleyball tournament.
My favorite was definitely the dune-boarding. Dune-boarding involves waxing the smooth side of a piece of fiberboard, like from cheap furniture, and laying down on the rough side to shoot down the slopes of massive sand dunes. It's actually a lot like snow sledding, my favorite winter sport. Something to do with my different body dynamic sent me flying down faster and farther than most everyone. The only problem with dune-boarding is the climb back up. It's exhausting to walk up a hill of nothing but sinking sand. Eventually I learned that if you walk just right on the right type of sand and take small steps you can walk on the sand without breaking through it but it's mostly unavoidable.
Watching the campers encounter snakes at the snake park was hilarious. They were scared to death. And the best part about that is they almost all of them overcame their fears and held a big python named “Piggy.” One of the older and tougher guys, Pollo, was literally shaking as he held the snake on his shoulders. I thought Mike had paid him to do it but he didn't have to.
The aquarium was very nice. The fact that it is on the coast, filled with seawater, and contains nothing but species found in local waters, resulted in a very liberal touching and petting policy, which I like. I picked up a big crab and almost got a lobster. I was inches from touching a huge loggerhead turtle's nose when it came up for air. They had the biggest plain bass-like fish I've ever seen. It was the most fun to just watch all of the students who mostly had never been to any place like that.
Another thing we did with the campers was go into town with a little bit of spending money. The spending money was donated just for that and Mike & Bona G brought a lot of little wooden cross necklaces for the campers to hand out. They really enjoyed doing that which was so encouraging to see. Almost everyone found people to talk to and give their crosses to.
The group of guys that followed with me and Josh found the “Solid Rock Cafe.” It's a Christian coffee bar for youth! Myself and a couple of the guys ended up staying there the whole time. I had no idea before but one of their favorite games is pool and the cafe had 4 pool tables. The manager is a guy named Wimpie. The coolest thing was that he said they have a vision for seeing them all over Namibia and would love to train anyone to get it started. That is something that would be most excellent in Okahandja. His website if anyone is interested is
http://www.youngbloodnam.com/. He even publishes a youth newsletter that goes out all around the country.
One of the days when we just stopped in town for lunch, I walked out to some jetty rocks with a couple of guys and Josh where we found some live wild seals. They were very friendly! Almost everyone got to touch one and I petted one pretty good. They liked us but didn't really like each other. If they got in each other's way or woke each other up they'd bark like dogs.
The last thing I have to mention is a funny/scary story and a warning to any future visitors. Apparently it is a well established tradition in Namibia to rub wet watermelon rinds on your friends for fun. The first time we had watermelon at camp, several of the campers and some of the leaders were doing this to each other on the beach. Well, the second time we had watermelon, when those of us who were still new to the rubbing idea, and when it was actually quite cold, the campers developed a plan. Mike was pretty late in getting to his piece and the campers were waiting. They were mostly finished with theirs but were all still standing around, setting up an ambush. I had just finished a thought, wondering why the slices of watermelon were so big and huge when I found out it was for one very unfortunate reason. Mike said something to the effect that he felt something was going on. But, like I said, us Americans were still pretty new to the rubbing game and it wasn't something we'd expect. As soon as Mike picked up his piece, Hein grabbed him from behind and all of the campers nailed him. I mean it was horrific. I don't imagine that he was breathing during that time or watermelon pieces and seeds would have ran down his throat. He was pink from watermelon juice. The pieces and seeds covered him. I don't know if he could open his eyes until several seconds after it was over. His fleece was covered. It was like a swarm of wild terror. There was no way I could help. Believe me I wanted to, but there were too many, and they had too many rinds. My only consolation, I thought, was that they were so frenzied against Mike, surely they wouldn't come after anyone else. I was wrong. They got Josh next. He ran the wrong way, toward the tents, and they caught him under the volleyball net. I had to get away quick. I started running far down away from the tents and the entrance of the camp. I ran back behind the other campgrounds and to some trailer homes far away from camp. Unfortunately, a couple of guys took a short cut and caught up to me not long after that. I put up a good fight I think. With a big piece of watermelon of my own still, I made sure the rubbing was pretty mutual. Two of the bigger guys, Pollo and Ben, were the ones that got me. The smaller ones who caught up after them were too few in number to get me. Without the rest of the frenzied mob, the little guys were actually screaming in fear when I came after them. They're quick though. The worst part about it was being so cold afterwards. Luckily for Erin, she was in the shower the whole time, but I don't know if they would have gone after her. They were pretty easy on Kendall and the other female leaders. I don't know if I've done a good enough job fully describing the trauma that Mike had to go through, being the first and most important target . He is probably still having bad dreams about it to this day. Glory to God, somehow, for the watermelon fight. Be careful when you're around Namibians and watermelons.
Prayer Friday night:
After the events of camping and returning were all said and done, I took the evening to sit and pray in the dark of our room and talk with God. It was the most desperate time of prayer I have had since coming to Namibia. I have tried to manufacture that type of desperation a couple of times since being here. But it doesn't work that way. You can't make it happen. You can do what you think you can do to humble yourself, open yourself up, 'feel' as much as you can feel, but all you can really do is wait on God. As I sat in the room I thought about what we were here to do and how utterly dependent we are on God to do anything. Looking back, I know I could have made a list of things to do, but at that moment I had nothing. The list was blank. All I could think was tomorrow is another day. And I have no leading or direction for what to do, where to go--I need and want God more than anything to do something. In these moments, I didn't want to use the computer; I didn't want to go downstairs; I didn't want to do anything. I didn't even want to see. I sat in the dark. Seeking God here, I didn't feel like there was any answer. There was no tangible relief. It just went on and on as long as it would go. But I knew God was here. His presence was all that kept me going.
[Get ready for the beginning of a new story from the same place starting soon. On Saturday would come a miracle, two miracles, and life here wouldn't be the same.]
Namibia Journal - December 4th-9th part 2
December 4th-9th part 2
Erin's and my heart from the week of camp, December 4th-9th 2005:
One of our favorite things was teaching a devotion each morning in conjunction with Mike's talk. The Lord led us to take the students through 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, verses 16-21.
On Monday, we looked at verse 16, Tuesday 17, Wednesday 18 & 19, Thursday 20, and Friday 21. The way we picked those is whenever I began thinking about what to teach them, the words “we regard no one according to the flesh” kept coming into my mind. I didn't even know where those words were at first but every day it just worked perfectly to start there and work through to the end of the chapter.
Mike was speaking in the mornings about loving their schools, wanting to reach out to more students, bring them to camp if we do it again, and get them involved in the after school studies and other things.
Verse 16 started us out talking about the huge difference between seeing and evaluating people the way Jesus does versus the way the world does. I think it spoke to their hearts when I looked at them and said, “A lot of you are very used to only being looked at for how you can be used by others. But when we look at you the way God does, we see so much more.” We talked about the way some saw Jesus when He came in the flesh, and maybe how a lot of people still see Him now, and the huge difference it makes to see Him for who He really is, the Christ of God.
Matthew 16:15-17 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
1 Corinthians 12:3b “...no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.”
Erin and I both spoke on verse 17, making it personal, relating it to our own stories, how God has made us new and even tying it in to the way God brought us together. What does it mean to be a 'new creation'? Erin really made them think about what God does when He saves someone by talking about this just before they had their first devotions alone. She talked them about the new desires they would have if they were new creations, new thoughts, and feelings that they never had before. Then they had a great opportunity to spend some time alone with God, out by themselves on and around the beach.
Wednesday with verses 18 & 19 was a shorter day. Both verses say the same thing actually. Verse 18 says a lot with little words and verse 19 says it again with more words for clarity. I emphasized just two big things from the verses. 1) God is the one who reconciles us, not the other way around. (I rephrased 'reconciles' as 'makes us right with Him' or 'gives us a good relationship with Him'.) 2.) He gives us the ministry, the privilege, of spreading the message of reconciliation. With that I explained that each night's session with Mike talking was altogether one big important message, the most important message there is, how God is reconciling people to Himself, and that they needed to pay attention for themselves and for those who they could be telling next.
Thursday was awesome. Verse 20 is just a bread & butter verse with a great analogy / word picture from Paul to understand. Christians are ambassadors for Christ. We're from another place. Our home is not really here. We belong with the Lord. But while we're here, He has a message for us to deliver. It's His message, not ours. Like an ambassador who tells what his home country tells him to do, we do what Jesus tells us. The God-ordained complement to this scripture was that Mike was speaking on John 15:18-19 to encourage them at their schools. It says, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” We're not from here. We're ambassadors from another kingdom!
It was a perfect matchup. One of the questions the students think about often is why do non-believers prosper so much in the world while believers, God's children, seem to have so much trouble? (Read James 1.)
Friday, the last day, we got to talk about the cross. Verse 21 of 2 Corinthians 5 is one of our most favorite verses. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” That, in one sentence, is basically what we had been talking about all week. He who knew no sin, the holy and righteous one, the most valuable one, was made to be sin. For us? That's incredible. It can't be. Yes... for us, that we would become the righteousness of God. We used the opportunity to extol Christ and to reinforce the teaching about Christ during the week. We also knew we needed to attempt to correct one very common misconception. It is a common mistake that people will make to think that Jesus somehow does something just to get us started in Christianity, to get us on the right path and then just lets us go, to walk by ourselves. This is common all over the world. For many people, it's always about earning their own way, with their own righteousness, rather than trusting in Jesus for everything. We told them that by God's power we have the righteousness of God, not our own, and that it's only ever His righteousness that gets us into Heaven. Not only that but it's only ever His righteousness that eliminates sin from our lives, causes us to reach our schools with the message, to love Him, or love anyone rightly. Glory.
The best part of Erin and I's day each day was when we met with our small groups after Mike's talk each evening. We loved fielding the children's questions, re-emphasizing the main points, and praying with them. I also experimented with things like having my guys encourage each other. They were so nervous and giggling at first but it turned out to be one of the best things we did. They were just beaming with big smiles after they had all gone around the circle and encouraged one another.
Erin and her girls really bonded. None of them knew each other when the week began but by Thursday they didn't want to be around anyone else. Erin's group struggled with the basic purpose and meaning of most of the teaching. Sometimes it just wasn't clear to them and sometimes it was all too clear, and they were already moving ahead and asking questions in their minds. She continually challenged them to go deeper into their own hearts and made it personal for them. “These are not just facts,” she kept telling them. “If it's just in your head, it counts for nothing; it must hit your heart. And you'll know when it hits your heart because you'll truly hate your sin and you will begin to have holy affections for God.” They hung on her every word and followed her almost everywhere she went, being so drawn to Christ in her.
It's true. What comes into the mind must first be minimally comprehendable to the brain and then it must sink into fertile open soil of the heart. God uses us in all kinds of different roles to prepare and scatter seeds, to guide them, to prepare soil, to water, and to see grow. (1 Cor. 3:7) The success of any step in the process and the growing are ultimately and definitely up to Him.
Namibia Journal - December 4th-9th part 1
Thank you for bearing with us... we do not have separate entries for each day of camp so it is taking us a little longer than usual to post about it. Here is part 1, "How God got glory the week of December 4th-9th."
December 4th-9th part 1
How God got glory the week of camp, December 4th-9th 2005:
God showed up thousands of years before we did. He made the ocean, its currents, its waves, and the breeze. He made billions of grains of sand. He grew trees out of the ground and brought men to cultivate the land. He piled up dunes and gave them life to sustain by their presence. He made jackals and seals and lizards. He piled rocks on rocks and made campsites using men and made birds to visit their trashcans. He made smells and He made dogs for people to bring to smell the things He made that we can't smell. He made it all for Himself, for His own pleasure. Then, also for His glory's sake, we showed up.
God brought 29 students, excited out of their minds, ready to do and say and rejoice in everything. He brought some students who couldn't even imagine anything like this or anything like Him and blew their minds away. He took a team of 'leaders' from America and Germany and stretched them to new limits. He broke and repaired some people, giving some new life, starting new things though some are small and hidden down deep for now. He offered no manipulative invitations. He simply worked through prayer and completely on His own.
He gave some new visions for their lives with Him, in prayer and devotions, doing good things together, giving encouragement, not teasing. He taught people to dance new dances and sing new songs. He showed them what it was like to pray and mean it. He showed them just how sick their sin really is, to the degree they could stand it alive, by His grace. He showed them how beautiful He is, to the degree that they could stand it, also by His grace. In the end He showed them the cross. The cross they often don't see because it's blotted out by visions of sex on TV, false dollar signs, broken promises, religion, and abuse.
God put together groups of minds and hearts that are going to go on thinking and beating together for a long time. He made friends out of enemies and brought back lost lovers to Himself. What can you say when someone looks you in the face and says, “I came hundreds of miles and crossed an ocean to be with you, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I care about you, and I want you to know God made you. Most of all I care about Jesus and Him getting the glory He deserves out of your life. He made you for a reason, and it's to give Him glory in everything.”
He gave them some of the best days of their lives and paid for it all, with Jesus' blood on the cross, and with proceeds from His cattle on a thousand hills. When God was done with most of the students and leaders for the week, He said, “Nuh uh,” to several others. He broke down the bakkie and made them stay an extra night. You'd have to ask them directly why they think He might have done that, but maybe it was to give them another opportunity in another place, more discipleship, and prayers. God brought the rest back safely, and for that we are thankful, despite very dangerous roads and drivers with too much to drink or not enough sense to think.
Namibia Journal - December 3rd
December 3rd
Erin and I got to be the ones who filled up the water bottles for the trip to Victory Camp this morning. Usually Kendall does it but she is having some good family time so we took it up. Aside from (illegally) taking water from the Multi-Purpose Ministry Center or somewhere else, the people at Victory Camp have no way of meeting that need for themselves. The people at the Center save all of their plastic bottles and then we fill them up with water and take them. I think then also the people can collect them for their recyclables which is a way they make a little money.
When we got there today we had a lot of interaction with Zelda(sp?) and her children. Zelda is the mother of baby Simone who was the newborn living in a box on the first Apex trip. Simone (it's a boy's name) is a pretty big little guy now. He has five brothers and sisters, all living there as far as we know, but we don't see them every time.
Here is a photo of Zelda with the four youngest children. Two girls on the left. Two boys on the right.
I like the little guy (bottom middle) with one of our water bottles in his hand. He's got a big head like me when I was little.
Vincent, the “COO” of the CHI Namibia (National) Office from Holland, and I spent a while today talking to a Namibian brother(???) named Theophilus. He was talking a lot about God and had a big red cross penned onto his blue jeans. Well, even though he had the big cross on one leg, he had something like “Jimmy don't play” written on the other leg so who knows what to make of that. I think we were both encouraged to talk with him and give him hope even though, overall, we were kind of lost, though maybe I should just speak for myself. Theophilus' English was okay but he seemed pretty scatter-brained. Erin and I learned about how bad/random nutrition can affect the brain and how that is normal in poverty situations during our “Urban Immersion” experience with Jeff Cook back in Ohio. [sidenote: I can't speak highly enough of that experience. If you are willing to be a part of it, “Urban Immersion” can be life-changing. It will also foster the creation of community with whoever you are with. Go with friends or with a team you want to bond with or just anyone.) Praise God that Vincent was able to take him through some verses in Romans (the Romans Road) which fed him and/or helped him understand more of what our situation is with God. He said he would like to believe and believes he does know God but is not sure God knows him. I don't think Theophilus had any idea about the deep theological truths he was expressing from his experience. With confidence in God's grace, Vincent and I prayed with Theophilus. We prayed over what he had read, his search for God, and that most importantly God would know him. For Galatians 4:9 says,
“But now that you have come to know God,
or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?”
We also agreed to bring him a Bible the next time we came on a Saturday. He said that he didn't live there but he would be there. He said he was there to visit his girlfriend, but she didn't really want to see him, as odd as that sounds.
I took some time to read more of 2nd Chronicles and talk with the various different people around here at the Center right now.
Tonight was a big unplanned event here. We had 20 or 30 young people at the Center for a big “Bring & Braai”. How bring & braai works is everyone brings enough meat for themselves to grill (and maybe a little extra) and it gets thrown into one community pot. Well, not many of the children brought anything but it all worked out. The middle-school and high-school aged children were part of Jenny's youth clubs that have ended for the holiday. (It's their summer break here.) They came over for one last meeting for dancing and singing and having a good time. Erin and I got to learn some of the dances they do, mostly choreographed moves to different Christian songs. Erin and I couldn't do all of them but they had fun watching us try from the back row. My favorite song goes “Jump jump jump” and involves jumping up and down (with joy for Jesus).
Tomorrow we leave for camp.
Namibia Journal - December 2nd
December 2nd
This Friday was a big study day for us. Maybe it was the Spirit's preparation for us going into camp in a couple days.
Erin is reading in Ezekiel and liking it very much. She is also getting into the Firm Foundations intro material.
I read more of “Organic Church” by Neil Cole, 2nd Chronicles, and several entries of the Godward Life (book 1) by John Piper. That last book does exactly what it says it does. God regulary uses a dose of a book like this (or preaching) to make life
Godward. It's incredible. There are huge differences in the way we see things from glance to glance. Are our eyes really open to where, and how big, God is? Do we think Godwardly when we pray, when we walk, when we talk with everyone?
Second Chronicles is awesome. It is going to become one of my favorite books of the Bible when I am finished reading it this time. I think it is so cool how what when we read books of the Bible multiple times it works so radically different in us from reading to reading. I mean, I know it's not true every time, but take Isaiah for instance. I read it two summers ago and it was awesome. I read it this summer and it was even better! And it was in a completely different way. Jeremiah- I read Jeremiah two summers ago also and honestly did not get into it that much. [sidenote: I don't have a big problem with myself or other people talking about what they 'got out of' a book of the Bible, but I think our focus is better placed on how much we get IN to a book of the Bible. God's grace is over all of our reading but/and we are responsible. When we talk about what we 'got out of' something, there is an assumption that we are somehow capable of getting whatever is in there 'out'. That's not true at all. I'm completely incapable of doing it. Talking about how we got into the book puts the 'blame', if there is any, on us where it belongs. And as we get more IN to the Word, glory to God, more and more comes out.] This summer, I got into it even more and it was better to me even than Isaiah. What I saw this time in Jeremiah is an amazing story of God's work amongst political scandal, intrigue, maneuverings, invading armies, kings, captains of the guard (go Nebuzaradan), and of course the prophet Jeremiah. The thing about Jeremiah is that it's not just prophecy. It's a significant amount of prophecy very clearly cast in the context of war & politics, kingdoms & armies. What I'm looking forward to now is hitting 2 Kings again in a couple of books and seeing even more of the history written out.
I don't want to talk about this too much so I'll just briefly mention it. I worked on our email lists and photos today and just want to say bear with us! Again, if you are getting the emails great. If not and you think you should be, email us!
Kendall's mom & dad came in today from America! It was cool to have our first 'visitors' even though we have only been here a day over two weeks ourselves. They were very nice to have brought us some things we'll would need for our home and would be expensive to buy here. Thank you, Mike & Bona.
Erin and I walked to the “J. G. Van Der Wath School” (J.G.) today for two reasons-- to find out where it was, and to pray for the work we'll probably be doing there in the new year. We didn't know if it would be a long walk or a short walk as we had never been there by foot before. We were assuming it was far because we had only been driven there on our short-term trip in June '04. It turns out that J.G. is even closer to the Center than Okahandja Secondary School (OSS). Also, from a different direction, it is very close to the new Multi-Purpose Ministry Center. Very cool.
J.G. is where Erin and I, Rhonda (Erin's mom), Josh, Kenny, Shelly, and Stephanie spent the days of the short-term trip last year. In June of this year, our good friends Jeff & Brigid Kharoufeh spent the days of their short-term trip there as well.
Since coming back in late June to the end of this recent school-term, Josh & Hein have been teaching six classes of students there consistently long-term. They have been doing a great job from everything we know and have heard. The J.G. students represent more of the 'middle-class' of Okahandja which creates a different dynamic for God to reveal Himself in. And the knowledge of His glory is increasing there for sure.
We can't know yet how ministry is going to look once we get into the school ourselves. We know that we'll be sharing 12 total classes with Hein, Nadine, and Josh, probably half and half. We would like to do something as solid and beneficial as going through the Bible with a guide like Firm Foundations, but we're not sure if that will work or not. We will really have to seek the Lord, wanting to redeem all of the time from evil. (Eph. 5:16) We might do different things for different classes, depending on the ages and makeup of the groups. Whatever it is, it will be true to our convictions, thoroughly Biblical, God-centered, and hopefully something that will draw them in to know about God, whether they like what they find out or not.
I kind of felt sick today in the evening after returning from J.G. That is very odd for me whether it be in Namibia or America, summer or winter. My loving precious wife and a sprite really helped me feel better, all in the presence of the Lord our God. Jesus is more valuable than trailers full of platinum and many bars of gold. He is life and He is truth. What other way would we wish to go than His?
Namibia Journal - December 1st
December 1st
I started off today by joining Mike and Mupunya(sp?) in some crazy manual labor, helping Christ's Hope Namibia by moving tonnage of Choose To Wait books out of a shipping container that had to be moved today. We unloaded the boxes one by one with our hands and by sixes and sevens in a wheelbarrow. They were heavy. I'm going to be stronger tomorrow.
After we got most of them moved out, a heavy piece of machinery was brought in to lift the container up onto the bed of a flatbed truck. The crane operator was blessed by God and highly skilled. He lifted the container up out of a mighty tough spot with minimal damage to the Center.
It was not the most spiritual of activities that we have engaged in so far being here. But, it doesn't take long thinking about the value and potential of the Gospel-centered, God-glorifying, Truth-saturated Choose To Wait books to get excited about moving and protecting them, doing your part to ensure their safe delivery into the hands of young people all over Africa.
A bunch of girls came to the Center after that for a youth club that wasn't scheduled today, but there's always a good amount of work to do. The ladies had them cut up a bunch of kudu meat that we had thawing out for camp. I'm not sure what they're going to do with the chunks there, but that's for the cooks to decide. The kudu meat was a gift from a farmer who had to kill them because they were eating his crops and no one wanted to come out and round up the huge beasts. The chopping area and the girls were a bloody mess by the time they were done.
House church was sweet tonight. Mike made some rice soup so we had a meal for the first time at house church here. It made for a good time of checking in with one another, getting to know some people better, and all around preparation time. The cry for prayer that went out tonight was for boldness in the believers in our gathering and everywhere. It reminded me of the book of Acts in chapter 4 where the first church prayed for boldness.
“Act 4:29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
Act 4:30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Act 4:32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
Act 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
Act 4:34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold...”
We sang a lot of songs tonight and it was strange but the wind made it become very cold outside where we were sitting. The meeting came to a natural end about the time it was getting unbearably cold (for shorts and t-shirts) when a lot of young guys and girls who live at the Ark came over to the house.
John 3:8a, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.” The wind that is the Spirit reveals the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Namibia Journal - November 30th
November 30th
I woke up today getting ready for one of the first actual appointments I kind of set up myself. Actually it was Josh and I who talked with Josef when he came by the other day to talk about the money he was supposed to raise to go to camp. Each student was required to get fifty Namibian dollars (about $7.50 US) for camp, to help to slightly defray the costs, and so that they have some personal stake in it. But even $7.50 was too much for some of the students and the team has had to come up with creative ways for them to work to get their portion instead. So, on Monday Josef came to see what he could do and we arranged that he could come back on Wednesday around 10 to see if we could go help at the Multi-Purpose Ministry Center (MPMC). Josef came early and also brought another guy, Pollo. These are two of the five guys in my small group for camp so I have been told a little about them. They are good guys, and ones that are less fortunate than some of the others. They live in 5 Rand and come from an Oshiwambo background. Anyway, I bought a bag of apples so they would have something to eat before working and we headed out to the MPMC. We had a good talk, getting to know each other a little bit as we walked and ate apples and drank warm water. At the MPMC, we got to work sanding the painted concrete walls to smooth out the excess chunks of paint and concrete.
The Lord is our boss and we are his workmen, but, after the Lord, at the MPMC our boss is Gert from Holland. He had Pollo doing most of the wall sanding while I moved a paint bucket around to stand on it and sand the ceiling. Josef did a great job helping with that also and then Gert had him paint the trim around the ceiling. The electrician was in the building today and we are supposed to have electricity soon. It took us a good half day to take care of all the jobs Gert gave us, painting, sanding, and scraping. We walked back when we were finished and were able to get lunch together because Erin made food for us. It's hard for me to imagine right now (still) how little the guys actually get to eat, especially when it involves sitting down at a table, having conversation, spending time like most families take for granted every night. I still haven't been to 5 Rand where they live but they told me neither of them have running water inside their houses. Unlike most others, they do have electricity.
Williams came by while we were working at the MPMC. He came to tell me goodbye for the summer break. He's going to go stay with his father at a farm somewhere far from here. Williams' parents are divorced and he stays with his mom in Okahandja during the school year. We didn't talk about all that while he visited. Erin told me later about the conversation she had with him when he stopped by the center. He went their first, looking for us, to say goodbye, and because he needed money to make some phone calls. Erin doesn't usually have any money so she told him where I was at. I was happy to give him what he needed. Someone he didn't know too well was giving him a ride to where he was going and he needed to call one of his brothers before he left and when he got there. I pray he has a good time this summer and that the Lord keeps working on his heart. Joel Ogden reminded me recently of one of the posts from a short-term trip that mentioned Williams. Apparently he was in a fight while an Apex team was here and almost got expelled from school. I thank the Lord that he didn't and that we have this time now to continue watering what has been planted and planting some more. Pray that God gives growth in Williams' life. He was teary-eyed when talking about being at the farm with his father, and very restrainedly excited when he heard we would be here for so long.
After Josef and Pollo took off from the Center, Erin and I headed out on a walk to tour another house we are interested in. We found it on a short walking tour Mike took us on of his street one day. It looks like the MPMC had a baby. It's the mini-MPMC. It's the same colors—yellow with green trim, and it looks similar because it's also new. Even though we already secured the other house to rent, we called on this one and found out what it would cost us. They only wanted to sell at first but after some time they said they would rent it. The price they named would be 2.5 times what we have in the other house but we knew they were just starting high and we would need to negotiate. There are also some reasons why we actually might want to buy it or see if Apex will buy it and we can rent from them. Our main attraction to the house is the large living room area which would be excellent for hospitality. I might have mentioned it before but it's worth saying again. Overall, hospitality is lacking in Okahandja. We would love to have a place where we can invite over a lot of people. The price in US dollars is a little less than $30,000. Having no experience buying a house in either America or Namibia, I have no idea what a monthly payment would be. In any case, there are some significant reasons why buying property in Okahandja right now is a good idea. Hein and Nadine came over to look at it as well. They were very impressed that there was a new place like that in the location where it's at. It's not any nicer than the average home but it is new and in a great location. The only drawback is the yard has nothing in it but dirt and rocks—scorched earth. The first thing we'd have to do is plant some shrubs or trees or something. I'm not a gardener (yet) but I would love to get some projects going for some local guys who are.
After touring the house, I saw one of the coolest things I've seen here yet. We walked over to Mike & Josh's house and accidentally interrupted one of Josh's weekly Bible studies. He was sitting in the living room with a group of Namibian guys studying their Bibles. I was praising the Lord, being very impressed by God. We went back into their office and spent some time with Mike on the camp teaching and plans. He's put together some good stuff, with teaching influenced by John Piper, gospel illustrations from Firm Foundations, and a strategy for giving the youth a passion for their schools that Mike says is influenced by Campus Crusade and Young Life.
A little bit later, I was back at Mike & Josh's for the Wednesday night discipleship with Christiaan. If you have any opportunity or ability at all, you need to watch the second message Louie Giglio gives on the Matt Redman “Facedown” DVD. You won't go wrong by watching any of them and I highly recommend them all, even though I haven't seen the third one yet. The second one should, as Christiaan put it, cut you to pieces. We prayed for a very long time. We prayed silently for even longer. I walked away that night seeing more stars in the sky than I think my eyes had ever observed before. I want to insert a special message to my friend James Scoville in Ohio right here—you need to see this DVD and then you need to come see us in Namibia, if nothing else than to admire God for His work in the stars.
Erin had a fantastic time with a big group of women this week. She was blessed, and blessed to be a blessing. (P.S. I am trying to encourage her to write some things from her perspective and about the women's things. Pray and see what happens!)
Namibia Journal - November 29th
November 29th
Today started real early. Erin and I woke up after about an hour nap at 1:30am so that she could dial-in and join the Monday night women's group from all the way in Okahandja, Namibia. I did some more journaling, read, and talked with Aaron Shafovaloff online while she sat with headphones on and a microphone feeling like she was right there in the room with her sisters in the Lord in Ohio. The webcam was working intermittently until they gave up on it. I'm not sure if it was an overall bandwidth problem or if it was the wireless connection over there. Either way, it did work well while it was up and we're confident it will work again. It was past 4:30am when we went back to bed.
Tuesday has been dubbed our 'date day' for now. Until something changes, like when our school schedule gets going in January, we are going to have weekly lunch dates every Tuesday afternoon. Dating your wife has to be different in Okahandja, Namibia. First of all, eating options are very limited. But you have to be creative, no matter where you are, and the most important thing for the date is to connect with your spouse in a time of devotion and oneness. Especially as missionaries, when you're living and breathing your passion and your passion is 'work' / ministry, you have to learn to stop talking about it and get away from it for a short time so you can really glorify God in your marriage. Tuesday is a good day because the only officially scheduled team thing for Tuesdays is a dusk-time trip out to Victory Camp and Erin and I have no personally scheduled things on that day yet.
Erin and I were graced on our date to take our minds off of ministry (our passion) for a while and focus on each other personally. Thankfully the Lord is good to us and is our number one passion (one soul) that is always talked about whether it be while connecting on a deep personal level (one heart), or planning the expansion of the Kingdom of God in Okahandja. He has been so good to us so far and we know we need to always keep up with each other, constantly (one mind), and intentionally to keep praising Him together and to know that we are pursuing Him (one strength) because we both feel right and good about the ways He is leading us. Sometimes it will be hard. It is so important for us to help each other through all the times we have. He gave us to each other for a reason. It is pure joy. It is really pure joy.
After our date, we came back to the center and I got some good Bible study time with 2nd Chronicles. I would love to lead a devotional Bible Study or house church through 2nd Chronicles. I'm through the end of chapter 21 now and it's all great. I think there is something unique we can learn by how each king from Solomon on down behaved and interacted with God. Basically, they all messed up in different ways. Even the good ones had significant flaws that we can learn from. Their major flaws represent the common temptations we face nearly everyday in our Christian lives—temptation to forget about God when times are good (Rehoboam), temptation to keep your faith private and let the lost remain comfortably lost in their false religions (Abijah), temptation to forget about God when times are bad, relying on your own strength and not glorify God by relying on His strong support (Asa), temptation to partner with evil nonbelievers for profit (Jehoshaphat), and then there is an example like Jehoram, the 5th king of Judah from Solomon, who takes the throne and kills all six of his brothers which I liken nowadays to wanting to kill everyone in your personal accountability group.
Jehoram's brothers, it says, were better than him. (2 Chron. 21:13) And apparently he didn't like it very much. It could have been a great thing, and a positive lesson, but now it is just a negative lesson, with a bad ending. We should learn from the lesson that we should appreciate the people around us who are doing things better than we are and to learn from them. We should learn from Jehoram's example not to take pride in our positions, or our titles, even as 'king', and eliminate or suppress those who look better than us or would be better at our jobs than we are. God gave Jehoram the position, and we know that He is sovereign over all things, including the murder of his brothers, and we still must say that he should have learned from and partnered with his better brothers, who had their portion from God as well, and were only better because God made them that way.
Today was the second most awesome storm we have seen yet in Namibia. I actually don't think I have mentioned any of the storms yet but it has been raining once almost everyday and often the rain is preceded by great wind, lightning, dark clouds, and a great display all around. Today's big storm started early and kind of ruined our walking plans. The sky is big here. You can see the cloud action and storms going on a long ways away. Texas's sky is more like it than Ohio's but neither really compare on a day-to-day comparison. Texas is big, and the storms are big, but it's not like this. And in Ohio the sky seems somehow smaller, because I think it is lower, so you never really see the big picture of what's going on. In Namibia you see it all. We can see the lightning show and big clouds at a great distance. Where it's raining is obvious by the streaks that drag colors of the sky with them. And then you watch it move.
On Monday night, last night, which I didn't write about for some reason, was the most awesome storm. It delayed our guy's meeting because we were all watching it as it was coming. The flashes got closer and the quiet thunder got louder. Anyway, tonight the rain came a lot earlier. We stayed at the Center until it was almost dark already and then took off on our walk toward Mike & Josh's house. It was a brisk walk this time. We wanted to brainstorm some activity and teaching ideas with Mike as the day we leave for camp is fast approaching. Mike and the team have done a great job preparing and we're only here as the last details are being laid out. It's going to be an awesome time for everyone involved.
If the description of the “second best” storm earlier in this entry didn't sound worthy of being mentioned as a good storm, that's because we had to wait until our walk home in the dark for it to be awesome. See, the storm moved over the center early but it stayed within sight for the next several hours. Over a broad stretch of sky we could see amazing lightning flashes, some which even seemed like they were right on top of us. They seriously lit up everything that you could see if you weren't also temporarily blinded by the illumination. On the horizon out toward Federstahl, the lightning was coming down in fours and fives, not just one bolt at a time. It was incredible. Nothing like it. This is the handiwork of God.
“Job 37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.”
That wasn't the end of our evening.
Our good brother Marcus is thinking of returning home. He is the Christ's Hope volunteer in charge of the International facility. He takes care of temporary living quarters for people like Erin and me. He also cleans up a lot around here and has other jobs I know I don't know about. He's forty years old and from Angola and it's been eight years since he's seen his family. He left to pursue the Lord, leading him to South Africa and Namibia. But basically he's been 'stuck' here for a while now, spiritually a little bit lost and unfulfilled, by his own admission. I felt like I needed to talk theology with him and see where he was at. He has to work a lot here and, aside from the morning devotions he leads, I don't think he gets a lot of interaction with people talking about the things of God. I like where he's at right now with God; struggling. But/And honestly there were a lot of things weren't good about where he's at. Like a lot of people here, he struggles understanding true grace. “There must be some prerequisite to grace,” he said. “No!” I said, “Or grace would not be grace.” After our conversation, he was definitely challenged, and I hope he'll be changed, by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Namibia Journal - November 28th
November 28th
Our first event of the day today was our second team meeting with all of the Apexers in Okahandja—Hein, Nadine, Mike, Kendall, and Josh. It was Hein's birthday today! He turned only 37. How does he feel being 37? He says, “Stronger.”
Our team meetings are already becoming more than meetings. They are almost house church meetings in and of themselves. That's our goal for how it should be. As a team, our goal should be to be the church all the time—that means ministering to one another, worshiping, being a family, and, of course, being on mission.
We talked about camp, making our final plans to get completely ready to leave for the coast Sunday morning. And we covered everything else that is going on, what God is doing with the work in Okahandja, and what He's doing in our lives.
One of the things left to do before camp is get together some devotionals that will be part of the notebooks given to each student. We are pulling the devotions from the handouts Erin's mom has been making from several months based on the book “Because We Love Him” by Clyde Cranford. They cover a wide range of very important topics, all of which God has blessed already in the lives of all who have been following through them. Here's an excerpt of one I really like:
“When you think of the person of Christ, what comes to mind? Is it the baby in the manger? The carpenter? The teacher on the hillside? The gentle healer? The humble and obedient crucified one? The Christ appearing with nail prints in his hands?
In the following passage in Revelation you will read of Christ as He is today, in his glorified state.
Read revelation 1:12-18
Based on this passage, how do you now describe Christ? His voice? His physical appearance? His eyes? His countenance? His response to John in verse 17?
Take a moment to think on what you have written above- the object of your thoughts is the Person of Christ. What is the response of your heart to God when you think on Christ this way?”
After our meeting, I got Erin's computer ready to get online and join the gathering of women back on River Bluff Drive all the way back in Ohio. If all goes well, she'll be able to see them and they'll be able to see her via webcam and they'll be able to talk back and forth via skype. Aside from the all the technology involved and web traffic from Africa to America, the only hiccup might be staying awake from 2 til 4 in the morning...
We took a short walk today past the Multi-Purpose Ministry Center (MPMC) and took some pictures. We also walked around one of the streets closest to the MPMC. The houses there are pretty poor. Almost all of them have the bathroom outhouse style. These Okahandja 'outhouses' are not entirely like the 'old west' outhouses. The municipality, to save money, only ran the sewer lines to the front of the properties, so they have flush toilets and everything, they are just out in the yard. The outhouses are usually painted the same colors as the houses they belong to, and usually two colors split down the middle because it's even cheaper to run one line to one spot and have two toilets there for two houses.
When we came back it was about time to get started with a good meeting time of getting in the word and accountability, sharing struggles, and ministering to one another with the guys here. This time Marcus joined us and again it was Gert, Vincent, Josh, Mike, and I. We got a little further, moving along in Ephesians 4, verses 7-10. We also talked about our levels of satisfaction in our time with God. The guys who basically set their own schedules and have 'lots of time' were in quite a different place than those who have a lot of working responsibilities and expectations on them. Having nothing really to do with the passage in Ephesians, we also discussed the topic of healings, miracles, signs and wonders in the church today. I think Vincent was a little surprised that we don't have miraculous healings such as lame people walking and blind men seeing in our services back at Apex in Ohio and we talked about that.
When we talked about the body of Christ tonight, I mused about being the part of His body that is going to be tattooed when He comes back:
Rev 19:16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
And wondered if the ones riding with Him in white robes were angels or if they could be guys like us.
I think everyone was invigoratively blessed with feelings of passion, awe, and desire. It's going to be awesome.
Namibia - Email List
Hello everyone. Glory to God.
[We just sent out our first big email since coming to Namibia. If you did not get a copy, first check your spam/junk mailbox and then send us an email. Thanks!]
We haven't been emailing very much since we've been here but we have been posting a lot on our blog (website), here: http://www.disposableChristian.org/blog/
There are journal entries for every day we've been here so far going online approximately 5 days after they happen.
Please visit it if you would like to get caught up on everything God has been doing with us since the 16th of November.
This is the first big email that we've sent out. The list still isn't like we would like it to be, but it is a necessary start.
We won't be posting on the blog for a few days because tomorrow morning we are leaving for 'summer' camp. It is summer here in the southern hemisphere and all of the schools have just let out for break that goes through mid-January.
We are taking 30 young people who have been involved in the small groups, Choose-To-Wait groups, and Bible studies to the coast of Namibia for a camp. They have all been involved in some of the things God is doing here and have had to raise a portion of their own funds to be able to come. Many thanks go out in advance to our Lord Jesus Christ for the lives that will be changed, saved.
We also must express our appreciation for the many people on three continents who donated funds, from the United States (Apex), Germany, and here in Namibia to pay for the camp. Apart from the small amount we asked each camper to provide or work for, everything was taken care of for them by generous supporters. Our (the team) trips also, of course, are the fruit of God's work in the hearts of many generous and loving people, friends and family, that without God's work in their lives, none of us would be here now.
I'm not sure on what day we'll pick back up with the website/journal after returning, but please pray for us to continue recording the process of the things God is doing with us here. It has been a bedrock for us so far, to know what we are doing and where we are going, to record daily what the Lord has done. We thank Him for His Holy Spirit, and the strong support He always offers us through the prayers of our brothers and sisters, all the saints. God bless you and your prayers.
Yes, there will be pictures soon also :)
Yours truly, in Christ,
Todd & Erin
Let us know if you are interested in receiving journal entries via email (as frequently as daily). We might start emailing out the journal entries if there is enough interest. Otherwise we will just keep posting on the blog!
Namibia Journal - November 27th
November 27th, 2005
Today we went back to the English-speaking church we went to last week. We walked there and arrived a little bit late as the pastor was already giving his message out of Malachi 3. The core of the message was the picture of Jesus as the refiner and purifier in Malachi 3:3, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver...” The pastor drew a short historical picture of the prophecy, the 400 years of silence, the coming of John the Baptist and then Jesus who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matt. 3:11, Luke 3:16)
Another focus of the message was the effect Jesus' baptism by the Holy Spirit should have on our lives. Biblically, it was a good topic that any people of God should be rapt to hear preached on, but practically there were many things said that gave us cause to worry. There were a couple of times when I thought about interrupting the message to discuss something, and I know Erin wanted me to (because she was nudging me), but I didn't, waiting for the right time.
The understanding the pastor expressed was that we needed to pray to receive this special baptism and it would be beneficial if we were prayed over. I agree that without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to fight against sin, but going further than that, I also believe it is impossible for anyone to come to Christ at all. The pastor was sounding as if he believed there might be some Christians who didn't have the Holy Spirit yet. (see Romans 8:9b, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.”) Obviously, if that was true, it would be a very important thing to pray and be baptized in the Holy Spirit. The pastor did say he believed Jesus was always the only one who could perform this baptism, and anyone who was baptized in the Holy Spirit now would be baptized spiritually by Him and not by man. And he said he definitely did not agree with those who say that this baptism is evidenced by speaking in tongues. He asserted that the gift of tongues was a gift like any other and not a fruit.
After all of that it was still unclear to me exactly what the pastor meant by “baptism of the Holy Spirit,” so that complicated things when he started asking us each personally if we had received that baptism. He sincerely wished for us all to have this baptism because, he said, it would bring the Holy Spirit into our lives to empower us to fight against sin. He felt the liberty to ask us personally about this because, until we got there, there were only two people in the congregation—the pastor's wife, and a visiting Youth For Christ worker named Bonkie(sp?).
Understanding this baptism (1 Cor. 12:13, Tit. 3:5) as the spiritual baptism of regeneration (being born again), Erin and I both said yes, that we had been, no problem. Bonkie clearly wasn't sure by what the pastor said if he had been or not so he said no. The pastor asked Bonkie to stand and then suggested that we all gather around to pray for him. That's when I had to speak up.
I said, “I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. Is this different than salvation?”
The pastor said yes, that people who labor are heavy laden are invited to come to Jesus to be saved, and then they must still receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit separately.
Still needing to clarify, I asked, “Do you think anyone can come to Christ apart from the Holy Spirit?”
He said, “Yes.”
Now it was clear. I said, “Whoa, oh no, we don't believe that at all.”
He stopped, but he wasn't offended. He started saying that we could come to a Bible study on a Thursday night so we could see what the Bible says and learn about it. I said, yes, of course, we could talk about it later and that two of our reasons for coming were to talk about the ministries the Lord was calling us to in Okahandja and some theological/ministry things like this, and that we could talk any time.
So, they went ahead and prayed for Bonkie and Erin and I prayed by ourselves. The pastor prayed that Bonkie would have a new power to come against sin in his life and the pastor's wife prayed that she believed every Christian had their own personal day of Pentecost, thanking Him that she believed Bonkie was experiencing his.
Immediately after their prayers, we began talking about what it would mean for someone to come to Christ apart from the Holy Spirit. He agreed with everything I said.
From the pastor's own testimony, he knew that it was a total impossibility for a person to come to Christ on his own. He said that he gave up on God on the very day of his confirmation when he was sixteen. He was angry because God didn't cause a young lady he thought was cute to sit next to him. Twenty-Four years later, he had an hour to kill and walked into a tent thinking they were selling shoes. He said it was actually a revival or something going on so he sat and listened to the message. The preacher, he said, 'didn't even preach the gospel' and he got saved. He was speaking about marriage. --about being a good husband! He said he became so convicted that he fell on his face and repented for his whole life. He walked out of the tent and saw the blue sky for the first time in his life. Before that, he said, it was always gray. Now everything had color and life and he never turned back to his old ways. Outstanding, eh? After he shared that, I felt the liberty to say, “That's not your testimony...That's God's testimony of His work in your life.” It was the same for me, I said. I wasn't seeking God when I went to the youth group in Germany where they put the message in my hands that God would use to open my eyes, to give me eyes of faith I needed to see He was real, that I was a sinner, that my sin wasn't just awful, but that it separated me from Him. I needed God to overcome and thwart my will, to make continuing in unbelief impossible. I needed that grace. And when it came to me I knew, not by chance, that Jesus was the only way. Glory to God, in Christ the founder and perfecter of my faith. (Heb. 12:2)
The truth is that the Spirit blows where He wills. I don't think I was being too generous in the way I was saying everything. (It's possible for anyone to agree with almost any theological statement if you say it in the right way.) We all knew that he was agreeing with everything I said so I began to talk about how it contradicted what he had said earlier. One statement he made, and where I was the closest to interrupting earlier in the sermon, was when he said, “The Holy Spirit is a gentleman.” This is a very common misconception. It is also frequently stated as, “Jesus is a gentleman,” and the scripture used in support of it is Revelation 3:20, which is taken out of context--it's to the church, not to non-believers, and wouldn't mean what some people think it means even if that was the correct context.
Using both of our own testimonies, and the powerful and only authoritative testimony of scripture, I spoke about how if the Holy Spirit only ever waited on us, He'd still be waiting. We're a fallen and rebellious people that do not seek God. Our discussion carried on for about an hour or so. We learned about each other's backgrounds and where we're coming from. It was a great exchange and I'm looking forward to the next time we get to talk with them. They said they tried to contact us during the week but couldn't get ahold of us. They wanted to spend some time in fellowship. That would be cool. The whole time throughout our discussion, everyone was nothing but humble and open (which is rare). I truly believe that this couple really are radical missionaries who gave up everything in South Africa to come here and have been very blessed by God so far with a great place to meet and place to stay. I have to admit that I'm still skeptical that God is going to raise up an English-speaking western style church here but I would love to see it and fully support them. After talking with them, I think they really get it that God Himself is the greatest good of the Gospel, and that there is nothing that satisfies more than Jesus, and that they are fully committed to the truth and value of scripture. Hallelujah to that. Praise God.
Speaking of fellowship... we had a wonderful time with Hein & Nadine today. We walked with them about all kinds of things, everything that is going on, everything on each other's hearts. We spent quite a while there until the evening.
We took a short, uneventful walk, partially in the rain, and spent the rest of the day with the team and volunteers at the Center.
We love you Jesus. Thank you for saving our souls.
Namibia Journal - November 26th
November 26th
We found Nicodemus' house! But Nicodemus wasn't there today... We took our longest walk yet, more than 3 hours long, from the Center to Sam Stand to Mike & Josh's house. It also happened to be all through the hottest part of the day :). We passed one guy standing in front of his hot pink house in the shade of a tall bush with nothing but his boxer shorts on. He seemed a little bit embarrassed and tried to play it off, saying, “Whooooo it's hot.” Haha, no kidding. I don't know, maybe he had another reason for being out there.
So, on our long walk we learned a lot more about the layout and makeup of our new hometown. We confirmed our walking path shortcut to the Multi-Purpose Ministry Center. We weren't sure how to get to Sam Stand so we got some help but we were on the right path all along. The help we got was from from some nice women who said they worked for the ministry of defense as soldiers. They sent two of their daughters to help us the final ¼ mile before we reached the part of Nau-Aib where Sam Stand begins.
Sam Stand means “Stand Together.” It's a name that invigorates unity among the people. The place itself consists of many columns and rows of a couple hundred small houses (shacks) made out of sheet metal, sticks, odd & end bricks, and planks of wood. All we knew about Sam Stand before was that Nicodemus' house was #58. I would say about 1 out of 15 houses actually have the numbers on them but there were enough to put us in the right general area. Eventually we had to ask a guy for directions who looked very out of place with American-looking clothes and a cell phone. Of course he didn't look even remotely as out of place as we did. He didn't know where Nicodemus lived but an albino woman in the house he was at knew exactly where it was. It was a couple houses down across the street! We walked up to the house and couldn't help but appear very suspicious. Eventually the two women we were talking to figured out we were just some inexplicable Americans and their skeptical looks turned into smiles. Nicodemus wasn't there but he wasn't kidding when he said other people did live at his house. There were at least the two ladies, two children, and a young guy we could see inside. The house was one of the bigger ones in Sam Stand. It was really more like a big and short shed. I can't wait to hang out with Nicodemus some time soon. We asked the people there to let him know we came by.
Next to Sam Stand is a little area called “Ehafo Tuiste”. It stands out as its own area because it's surrounded by a tall fence with barbed-wire. All the houses are the same and look like they're made out of plastic. The gate is gone but even now the wide-open entrance looks very uninviting. We were walking by the outside when some loud guys called out to us. They invited us to come relax with them and enjoy some traditional drink. We didn't accept the offer but did stand outside the fence for a while conversing with them. We learned from them that Ehafo Tuiste used to be where people with disabilities were housed. Sometime recently they were moved to a new location and the houses were opened up to new residents. One of the guys figured out that we were Christian missionaries before we could say anything about it. He said he had studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation but was far from God. Another guy came over and said they are Christians but they are not born again. He understood being born again as meaning that you go back to church and repent. Repentance is very important and essential in the life of a believer (a born again person) but inasmuch time as I had with them, I tried to help them understand that to be born again was to have eternal life, that it was an eternal condition, imperishable. And if they believed they had gone from death to life to death again, they better check those birth certificates. The simple fact is that there aren't any Christians that are not also born again. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3) There were many distractions as we were talking, such as the guy carrying in a crate full of fresh beers, and who knows how much the 'traditional drink' they offered us was affecting them at that moment. I asked what it was made out of and they said it was a 'long process'. They went on to explain that process in a few sentences and said it was made out of “Tombo.” We already knew Tombo as the local homebrew of choice. Actually, we have found out since coming here that a lot of people also drink something called “Maizemeal” which is made from a readily available cornmeal foodstuff. Pray for these guys. They were the first ones who readily came out and started talking about theology as we've just been walking around. I'd love a good opportunity to spend some quality time with them.
Tonight was a long-awaited big event for Jenny and a lot of her youth club students going to camp. They have been practicing for weeks to be able to perform a lot of singing and choreographed dances to Christian songs. There was also an Oshiwambo traditional dance and a traditional Namibian fashion show. The event was held at the Multi-Purpose Ministry Center using generated electricity. They advertised around town and a good number of people showed up. There was an intermission and they sold plates of food, drinks, and candy. Erin and I bought four plates of food to give away to some guys and some children who didn't seem to have any parents or anything. They must have been siblings of some of the students in the performance. All of them did a great job. It was a blessing for us just to see the results of their hard work and also because of the spiritual depth of the messages.
