the humblest man i have ever met.

Yesterday I met with Ben, Alison, and Doug for coffee at a small but popular coffee shop known as Global Village. We drank fancy drinks and sat in a wonderful building that was kept at a particularly comfortable 72 degrees. We talked about everything from our adventures overseas to what our future plans are and just what God might have in store for us. This was a wonderful time and yet it reminded me so much of where we had been and the people that we met and new ways that I can be supporting them, with prayer and any other means I have been blessed.

When googling humility it says the following: adjective. "having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's own importance." Google is wrong. After meeting the man above and seeing what true humility is I would have to define it as: "knowing the importance of following a savior's example and taking the place below others out of love."

Here's the story. While staying in Kampala, Uganda Ben and I were graciously given the opportunity to stay under the roof of a children's home. We were welcomed with open arms and big smiles by the 'uncles' who helped care for the family style environment that the boys were adopted into. During our stay I saw the most amazing acts of service. The room we were staying in was extremely small and we had been putting our bags under the bed for about a week when he persistently offered to put them on his bed because he felt that they were going to get ruined. A few weeks later we noticed that he wasn't sleeping in the room and thinking nothing of it thought he was staying somewhere else in the home. He was. He had be sleeping on a disintegrated mattress on the floor! And all for our silly bags. At this point I realized what it meant to be a servant, sometimes its not only putting yourself below others but also the things they "care" about. This was also an amazing lesson on materialism. Needless to say we never let our bags take another human's place. This is only one of the many ways that I was blessed by someone caring for me in ways that I couldn't even imagine.

This is Alex and he is the most humble person I have ever met.
Thanks for reading!
_av

ps. if you want to give (letters, or support) to alex just email me at av@loveforthesakeoflove.com.

Pictures from Port Edward

The Final Stretch

We've spent the past couple of weeks staying with the Stotler's- a family of missionaries in Port Edward, which is a small town on the east coast of South Africa.  When I came to South Africa two years ago I became great friends with a girl named Emily.  She is now working with a ministry called YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Durban, South Africa and it is her parents and two younger siblings that we're now with.
Each day we go out into the town they serve in to their ministry site which is composed of a nursery and community center building.  We've been painting murals inside of the preschool and just finished painting the roof of the new community center.  Most of my mission trip experience has had a construction work focus, so its been a lot of fun getting back to this type of work.  There is also a water pump on the site, which is one of the main social spots of the community.  Its crazy to watch even young kids walking to the pump by themselves to bring back water for their family every day or even multiple times a day.  Though its simply part of their lives, it often prevents children from going to school here and women from working outside of the home.  A majority of their time is instead spent just surviving.  It has also been interesting interacting with these people as they walk by and seeing their expressions trying to figure out what the crazy white people are doing trying to paint a roof.
Our free time not spent painting has been great as well.  Being here has allowed us to truly see how another missionary family lives.  Each portion of our trip has given us a new perspective on what the life of a missionary is like and we're really starting to understand what this actually looks like.  One thing we've all realized is that so much of it is not preaching the Gospel, but living it out.  Its all about being an example to the people they interact with each day and building long term relationships.  Its easy to have an American mentality and think that I can come in and start making changes to improve everyone's life, but its so much deeper than that.  It takes time.  Lots and lots of time.
Christine leaves on Friday to head back home and Doug and I leave next Monday so we're all trying to make the most of our last few days here.  We'll try to post some new pictures on the blog soon.
-Alison

The Life of a Missionary

Hey everyone. Thank you all so much for the prayers that you all have said for me. The allergies in Cape Town were not good to me. That was part of my problem, as well as mold in the home I was staying in. I’m allergic to mold, and turns out that the house we were in had mold in it. But I’m still alive and serving the Lord so everything is okay now!! Phew

Last week was amazing. We had an extremely amazing time with the people of Cape Town. The week was packed with some last minute projects that we needed to finish up. We spent a lot of time video taping some of the kids of the Ubuntu Sports Academy in order to create a video for Sarah and Casey to show at home. It was awesome hearing some of the stories from these kids. One of the kids who we interviewed is named “Sim”. We were given a chance to ask Sim some questions about his life and see where he lives and what his daily life is like. Amazing story. For those who don’t know, the colored and black communities here are separated, mostly because of the separation that was required/forced from Apartheid and still exists to this day because no action has been taken to combine the communities together. Therefore, still to this day Ocean View is a colored community (where we had stayed for the month while we were in Cape Town), and Massiphumelele, where Sim lives, is a black community. We were given a chance to videotape his shack and hear his family speak about how they live as well. Sim’s character is incredible. Though he is one of two black boys in the entire Ubuntu Academy, he doesn’t let his situation in the shacks keep him from excelling in the academy/soccer field and in school.

Last Friday night, Alison, Christine and I sat down at the dinner table (eating our last home cooked meal from our host family before we were to leave on Sunday) discussing what to talk about and how to lead youth group that night. We all felt that these kids did not know what it truly meant to be a Christian. So we decided that instead of a youth group of games and activities, we decided to make it a youth group filled with Q&A and Hope. We sat down with the 12 youth kids and asked them some series questions about Christianity. What does it mean to be a Christian? What does a Christian look like? What kind of things do Christians do? Why do Christians do that? What does it take for a Christian to get into heaven? You would be surprised by some of the answers we had gotten from them when we asked these questions. It’s not the church’s fault for not speaking to these kids about these basic doctrine principles of Christianity, nor the fault of the leaders of that youth group, but these kids are between 8^th and 9^th grade high schoolers who most just aren’t ready to decide for themselves whether this is the path of life they want to take just yet. So Alison and I asked these questions to them and answered them to the best of our abilities. I later was able to share with them most of my testimony, which I think most of these kids could relate to. In Ocean View, the community lacks hope and perseverance to succeed from the Apartheid er. Therefore as a result, most kids aren’t parented correctly, most get involved into sex, drugs, and alcohol, and most just aren’t given a chance to succeed in life, or if they are given a chance, most don’t grasp on to that opportunity and fly with it. Sharing my testimony with them was hopefully something they relate to in some ways in the Ocean View community. Alison and I challenged the youth group kids to be different than their community, and to be leaders and not followers. Near the end of our time, the leaders got up and had a chance to share, and later that night the youth started opening up…for the FIRST TIME! It was amazing. The leaders said they had never had the kids open up like they had that night. Three of the 11 girls told their stories about how they had been beaten by family members or taken advantage of at a young age. By the end of the night, about 6 girls had come forth to talk to one or more leaders about their past within their household. It is sad to hear the stories that were told, but we were glad to have shared and held a conversation that gave the youth a chance to open up, share a bond with one another by their past, trust each other in confidence, and be given hope through Jesus’s Word. I’ll be honest with the blog readers right now. I’m not sure if anyone was saved that night. To be even more honest, I’m not sure that I care if they were saved that night. We didn’t come to Africa to count the number of souls the Holy Spirit could save through us. But we left Cape Town in a hype of special bonding with one another and brought the youth closer together to one another in community. I say our work for the month has been completed. One of the most amazing nights within my time in Ministry. Bam!

We left Cape Town on Sunday and joined up with the Stotler family who live here in Port Edward, South Africa. They are from Atlanta, GA so we get along great with one another because we’re all from the south and say “y’all” together. Funny how one word can bring us all closer together. When you’re here in Africa for this long, whenever you hear any word spoken like a true southerner, an immediate bond is formed. The Stotler family partners with a ministry based out of Atlanta who ministers to the people about 15 minutes south of Port Edward on the Eastern Cape. The community is a black community that was formed by the separation from the Apartheid. The Stotler family represents this ministry in the area by running a preschool in the community. They also teach the community life skills and witness to them on a daily level. Our work immediately begun by helping the family repaint the preschool that they operate. The kids are out on holiday, therefore this has given them a perfect opportunity to repaint and clean the building, and we have gladly volunteered our time to assist them in painting. Mr. Stotler is a business grad from UNC-CH who, after several years of experience of running his own businesses in the States, brought his skills here to teach the community computer skills and business skills. The people in the area are extremely poor. There is no market or economy in the community. None what so ever. The only businesses in the community are little soda and snack shops or local bars. Everyone one else finds their own way to survive, mostly by sending their kids to Johannesburg or another city to work and send back money to them. With no market or economy in the area, its difficult for anyone to leave and make a living here. The Stotler family decided to be missionaries in this area last year in order to help change that. This week, Mr. Stotler began a computer class for anyone in the area to learn about computers. The first week’s class starts off with basic anatomy of the computer and learning about what it can do and what it does. Simple things like what the monitor is and teaching them how to use the mouse, etc. It’s crazy because these people are so smart! I mean everyone knows atleast two languages in this area, if not three, but they lack an educational system to teach them these things. So missionaries like the Stotlers come in to provide this education to them, which is amazing. As well as teaching them these skills in his first lesson today, near the end he spoke to the class about perseverance and the Apostle Paul, sharing with them the gospel and reading to them Hebrews 12 about perseverance and striving for the goal layed ahead, which in this case is finishing the 5 week course that he is providing for now. Amazing work is being done in Africa everyone.

What am I learning so far? Well, I’m learning that being a missionary isn’t just preaching the gospel in an unreached area. Being a missionary isn’t just simply preaching the gospel everywhere you go as well. Sometimes, words aren't even necessary to tell others about the gospel. Living out the gospel is what these people really look at. It’s seeing people live it out and loving the people in the community. In Qua Qua we saw June and Jill share the gospel by ministering to local pastors in the area and teaching them, as well as teaching kids life skills within the schools about alcohol, drugs, and sex, hoping to see kids make better decisions in life that will benefit themselves and their families. In Cape Town, we saw the Prince family share the gospel through being care givers in their community, loving others in their daily lives, witnessing at their local church, and teach kids soccer and life skills, so these kids could have something to do after school instead of giving them time to get into trouble. Here in Port Edward, we are seeing the Stotler family share the gospel through loving the poor community in the area, taking care of kids during the day, and teaching the community business skills, hoping that some day these men and women can use these business skills to provide for their family and start a new life.  I hope that God will use what I’m learning here to prepare me for what he has next in my life, whether that is being a missionary somewhere in the world or at home in America. 

God you are so good. I thank you for who you are.

Doug

P.S. So sorry for any messages that have been unanswered and for the inconsistency of blog posts. Internet is limited in Africa, and this is my first time on the computer in 4 days. We will keep posting when we can!

Counting down the days

We have 3 days left in Cape Town.  What??  Three. short. days.
It's really surreal to me that my time here is coming to an end.  I can't wait to move onto Durban and Port Edward to continue doing ministry there, but Cape Town is a special place for me.  I've wanted to come serve here for over two years and have just been waiting for God to tell me when.  I'm very close to Casey and Sarah and have supported and followed their work here since they started.  Getting the opportunity to experience it first hand has been amazing.  Between Casey, Sarah, their daughter Kieren, and us four interns (Doug, Christine, Jordan, and I) we've formed a fun little family that jokes around way too much, talks about God and bringing Him glory throughout this city, and simply lives life together.  Its been great.
We're spending the last few days finishing up some video projects for Casey and Sarah, leading women's bible study tonight, and hosting a fun event for the youth group tomorrow night.  I'm glad that we've gotten to help out, but really these projects have just been a tool for us to truly experience life here and connect to those we meet.  Sarah has been mentoring us to live missionally through a process of looking at our surroundings, listening to the stories of the people in the community, and learning to meet them where they are and to love them like Jesus loves them.  I feel like we've just scratched the surface of doing this, but the experience has been invaluable.
My heart is growing for the people of Ocean View everyday and I can't wait to be back here.  I'm still praying about when that will be, but I'm excited about the time God will give me to prepare to come back.  Honestly, I would love to live here.  I've joked about moving to Cape Town way before I even came here, knowing in the back of my head that it might be more real than I let on.  God has given me a heart for the people of South Africa that I can't even describe or rationalize.  He has also given me and the L4L team a heart for helping college students pursue their passions as they enter the mission field so I'm excited to see how God combines the two for me.  What I do know is that I can't wait to bring back the skills Sarah has given me and my experiences here to help other students as they prepare to go on trips with us in the future.

Also, please be praying for Doug.  He has been suffering from pretty bad allergies the whole time we have been in Cape Town, although we just recently figured out what was causing it.  He's also coming down with some kind of virus.  He's been great about pushing through it and continuing to serve here, but its taking a toll on his body.

-Alison

More Pictures!!

From Harrismith and Qwa Qwa:

(I blame Doug and his allegiances to NC State for the last two)

From Cape Town:

I'm not a mind reader...but I can read your mind

Life is Africa is. so. slow.. It's funny to see and experience what living life is like here because when people plan two or three errands in a day, it's a pretty big deal because that is a lot to them. It's kind of funny actually. Ali and I have gotten use to this slow paced life style, and we've found we enjoy it so much more than our hustle and bustle of America. When we plan on attending a 2 hour soccer game in the morning, lunch, and hour or two of computer work, and then running an errand to the mall or a quick trip to the grocery store, people think we are so productive. Ali and I will tell you thats not always the case, but it's just funny to see how people react to such a "busy" day.

Last Friday night was a great time of hang out and relationship building with the youth here in Ocean View. Two Fridays ago at youth group at Sarah and Casey's house, the girls agreed to a sleep over this past Friday at the house. Everyone was looking forward to it, and it was great to see the girls friendships that they have together in the group. During youth group, a young couple that are friends with Sarah and Casey came over to lead youth and give a lesson. The lesson wasn't a normal "lets go around the circle and share how great God was this week to us" kind of deal. They used a method called "storying" to memorize the passage of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Basically, all the girls got together in a circle and one by one would act out a sentence of that story. For example, one sentence may be "Jesus took the 5 loaves of bread, gave thanks, and broke the bread." One girl would make a sign/action for Jesus, act out taking the loaves of bread, maybe put her hands together to symbolize giving thanks, then act out breaking a piece of bread. They went around the circle acting out and repeating the entire story. It's such an amazing method of teaching because 1. it was so much fun seeing everyones funny creativity for things. 2. it brought the girls closer together because of humor. 3. it's something that they might joke around with later one, but it's not something that they'll forget because they repeated the story at least 30 times and acted it out with it, therefore it's stuck in their brain. I personally saw this activity as a great strategy for teaching the gospel. Another great part of that evening was seeing all the girls responses to the question of "What are you thankful for?". Out of the 9 or so girls that were there, at least 2, maybe 3 of them said that they were thankful for Casey and Sarah and were glad to have them in their lives. It's amazing to hear that. That's the reason why Casey and Sarah are here, as missionaries...to impact people's lives, to be an example to others, to share Christ with these people in Ocean View, to be a support for those in need, to be a home for those kids in abusive families who need a place to hang out at during the day....Ahh it's great to see that they are making an impact here and that people are thankful for them living in Ocean View. It's also great to see how people are accepting them in their community as well. For those who are unaware of the "apartheid" (i think i spelled that right...), google it and read up on the separation of the Blacks and Colors and the Whites. The area of Ocean View is a colored community, and there are no white people living in the community with them. The colored community here has really grabbed on to Casey and Sarah staying here long term, and doesn't see them as "while people" who are here to give them money or share Jesus then leave like everyone else has done. They see them as legitimate members of the community who can be trusted. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

One thing that Ali and I have discussed a lot since we've been here is the lack of extracurricular activities for children and youth in Ocean View. Every day after school, thousands of kids flock to the streets to hang out with other people because there is nothing else to do after school for these kids. It's so sad. When we ask some of the people who are older here what they did today, 99% of the time the response is "Absolutely nothing..". Throughout the day we will spot our hosts walking up and down the street multiple times just trying to get rid of the time. Kids are the same way. Not one day goes by that we don't smell Marijuana being burnt outside of the house or hear a group of kids crowding around one another in a group listening to rap music. The only constructive thing that we've seen the youth do around here is play soccer. It seems like that is the only activity that many of the kids do to keep themselves out of trouble. Thats one of the reasons why we are so supportive of the Prince family is because they saw how they could reach out to many of the youth here and they began a ministry through soccer to reach out to them. Ali and I are always having the conversations "What if...". What if we, or anyone really, came here to give these kids something to do. What if kids here had more extracurricular activities to be a part of. Really, at this point, anything that would get the kids off the streets after school and get them to do something constructive with their time would be a ministry opportunity. Imagine the endless possibilities that people could do here when the only extracurricular activity that there is is soccer.

This area is great and we love it. The people here are so kind and generous. They seek for lasting friendships and love, but for some its hard to find. Really, to make a change in this area, the change needs to start with the adults that are here now who are dedicated to leading up and raising the younger generation in beneficial ways.

Signing out from Cape Town, South Africa. More updates on the way.

Doug

Living the Life

We’ve had the chance to truly experience Cape Town this past week.  Its funny, because the pace of life is much slower here, yet we always seem to be busy.  We’ve been cramming an unusually high amount of stuff into our days recently.  Between Friday and Monday we:

Went to a winery

Volunteered at a kid’s club with over 400 students

Helped out at Ocean View’s youth group

Went to the Cape Town airport...TWICE

Ate at Nando’s, one of my favorite South African restaurants 

Did some serious rock climbing down the face of a mountain overlooking the city

Went to a cookout and ate way too much food with the leaders of Hillsong Church as we watched a rugby match

Met all of the Living Hope Volunteers

Woke up in time for Ocean View Methodist’s 8:00 a.m. service 

Went to Hillsong Church

Got lunch in downtown Cape Town

Jumpstarted the dead battery in our car for the third time

Babysat Kieren, Casey and Sarah’s adorable 2 year old daughter

Hung out with some of the Ocean View youth

Went SKY DIVING

Visited Long Street, Cape Town’s main street downtown

Shopped at a traditional African market

Walked around the beautiful waterfront

Almost touched some seals

Went on a harbor side boat ride with Jordan, one of Casey and Sarah’s other interns, as our captain

Climbed Lion’s Head Mountain at sunset

Needless to say, we’ve been having a lot of fun.  On Thursday night I got to be part of the Women’s bible study group that Sarah leads.  It was amazing.  These women were all so supportive of each other and really hungry to read the Bible and learn more about God.  It was really encouraging to see that God is really working through Sarah to reach the lives of these women.  They are each struggling with some hard issues, but have so much comfort in knowing that God is there with them.  Sarah has mentioned wanting to start a young adult bible study here eventually, which I’m also really excited about.  I’m very passionate about young adult ministries and I think that Ocean View would benefit greatly from having one.

We experienced pure chaos on Friday when we went to a kid’s club with over 400 children.  I wish I had some pictures, because it was crazy.  They were running around and screaming and to make it even more interesting, we were doing arts and crafts with glitter.  I have so much respect for the leaders that organize it every week.  I know its not an easy task, but I loved getting to be part of it.

On Saturday, our team grew from two to four.  First, we picked up my sister Christine from the airport.  She was supposed to be doing mission work in Zambia all summer, but was having problems with migraines from the malaria medicine she was taking and had to leave.  We were able to make it work where she’ll stay with Doug and I for the rest of our time in Africa.  There is also a new intern named Jordan that will be working with Ubuntu for the next month.  He’s a really good soccer player and will be helping with the coaching.  It’s been a lot of fun having some new people around.

-Alison

Here are some pictures from our last few days here:

Some of the Ocean View girls and I.

Christine blowing bubbles with Kieren.

 These are all pictures from our hike up Lion's Head Mountain.

Don't leave the lights on...again.

So this past week has been pretty busy. Let me let you in to the life of Ali and Doug at Cape Town

Last Friday night we had youth group over at Casey and Sarah’s house. At seven oclock, about 6 or 7 youth from Ocean View Methodist church came over to their house, where an introduction of the new adult volunteers to the youth group were being introduced, as well as Ali and I. Sarah had asked us earlier in the week to share our testimonies to the youth on Friday, so we prepared them earlier in the day to present to them. We were told that the kids could really relate to our testimonies and that a lot of life lessons could come from what we shared. I’m so thankful that those youth could hear my testimony and Ali’s testimony. God has done some pretty powerful things to bring us to where we are today, and I hope that God uses our testimonies to speak to some of the youth so they can grow as we have grown. Can’t wait for this Friday night’s youth. The girls are having a sleep over at the house, and the guys….well, we still have to figure out what we’re going to do. We’ll figure it out that night. No worries.  haha

Lesson #3: Do not leave the lights on in the car… again. Drained the battery again, and actually had to have a mechanic come out and exchange the battery in the car because it was completely dead. Not the best impression I’ve made in Ocean View haha. I think I’m remembering now.

Sunday was such a long day. For some reason, every church in the area loves to have 8 am services. Why do you wake up so early!?!? Anywho, had 8 am service at Ocean View, then drove to the 11:30 service at Hillsong Church in Cape Town. Both are good churches and have something special about them, but worship at Hillsong is just so good. Anyone want to start a Hillsong church in Raleigh? Any takers?!

Just to give you some background information on this idea that Sarah has and had us work on earlier this week: Sarah has decided to make a website called “Look Listen Love”. Basically, the goal of this website is to provide information to anyone who would like teaching tools, articles, resources, videos, etc. on how to live. She wants to use this website and these teaching tools to inspire people missionly and inspirationally. Brilliant idea if you ask me. But there is a lot of planning and details that will have to go into this to make it work. So what she had asked us to do this past week is to walk around Ocean View and “Look”. Basically, take notes of what we see. Here is what Ali and I saw in Ocean View this week:

Alison

This past week we were given the task to look around at our surroundings and really try to absorb as much about Ocean View as possible.  There were a couple of patterns that really stuck out to me about this place.  The first thing is that the polychromatic stereotype about Africa is definitely true here.  Time is a very vague concept and relationships are a much higher priority than getting everything on the to-do list done in the day or making it to a meeting on time.  Going along with this concept, many people seem to lack motivation or work ethic.  A lot of this seems to come from the mentality from apartheid.  Rather than taking responsibility for one’s own actions, its common for a lot of people to blame others for their circumstances without looking for ways they can change their situation.  The youth and men of the community seem to have the hardest time with this.  Some of the women, especially the older women, are the ones that are carrying this community.  They are the ones that are working to provide for their families, taking care of all of the household chores, and parenting their children and grandchildren.  The mentality that the man needs to provide for the family and really be the leader seems to be lacking here.  The last thing that I noticed is that people seem to be more spiritual.  They are more comfortable talking about God and spiritual realms and are faster to attribute things to God and show their dependence on Him than most people back home seem to be. Overall, I think I’ve just started to scratch the surface of the lives of those who live here, but I’m really looking forward to getting to know them better and learning more about their lives.

Doug:

When I walk through Ocean View and look around, I have a mixture of emotions. From what I've heard, Ocean View is a pretty poor and helpless place. But since I've been here, I have found that it doesn't fit that description soundly. Yes, Ocean View is "poorer" than Cape Town. Yes, Ocean View does not have the best looking houses or flats. Yes, there is poverty. But overall, the people here aren't too poor, if you consider that running water, food, and a place to stay at night isn't a description of poverty.  When I walk the streets, I see a lot of independence, and it saddens me because some families aren't tied together as they should. The streets here are filled with teens and adults who seem to "waste" their time and are comfortable with doing nothing productive.  They may not like where they are living, but most people or families don't do much about it to change.  

When I walk through Ocean View, I see a community that knows each other but shares the same bad situations and doesn't help each other break of of these situations. I see individuals. Individuals who are stuck in their position or lifestyle because of lack of community that lifts each other up and delivers each other out of the situations that strikes every family. As a result, when I think of sharing the gospel here, I don't think of a community uprising that is willing to stand for a cause or change for the better. I see an individual change. A change that needs to strike one individual that affects him or her enough to change, then personally pursue a relationship with another to see a change in their life. Ocean View needs leaders. Leaders who are motivated. Leaders who are accepted. Leaders who want a change. Leaders who will not settle for less. Leaders who, most importantly, are willing to truly live for the Gospel and give their life to something thats more than themselves

Check out Sarah and Casey’s blog if you are interested in seeing more about the life they live and learning about who we are helping: http://caseyandsarahafrica.blogspot.com/

Work with Ubuntu Sports Outreach is going well. This week, Ali and I have some more work to do with preparing for some of the events going on and preparing some videos that they would like to use for their organization. Cant wait get some of these videos done. Andrew, we could use your skills right now…especially that Mark D2 you have.

We have plans to meet up with some other organizations in the area later this week. Tonight, we will be going with Treswell (one of the coaches of Ubuntu) to share the gospel to a family living in one of the poorest areas in Cape Town. Pray for their acceptance of the good news, and praise God for what is happening in Cape Town and Ocean View!

-Doug

The four Ubuntu coaches during Saturday's soccer game.

God is doing some crazy things through Ubuntu

We've wasted no time jumping right in to the Prince's daily life in Cape Town.  On Friday afternoon we got to see Casey's Ubuntu soccer team play in a 'friendly' that Casey arranged for his team against one of the best soccer teams in the area.  They didn't win, but played hard and stayed focused under the pressure.  After the game, we all grabbed dinner at McDonald's (yes, they're even in Africa) and then took all of the kids to Hillsong Church's youth group.  It was amazing.  For those of you who grew up in a Raleigh youth group, its like a combination of Fun in the Son and Passion Conference...except they have it every week.  There were hundreds of students jumping around and a massive stage up front with a really talented band leading worship.  Lucinda Dooley, one of the main pastors of Hillsong, gave the message for the night.  She talked about not following the crowd, but being a leader.  She referenced how Jesus didn't follow the crowd, but compelled the crowds to follow Him and how we as disciples of Christ should do the same.  I know if I lived here I would try to get involved with their youth ministry just so I could experience it myself and see so many kids going crazy for Jesus.  For the Ubuntu boys, this was the first time they had been to Hillsong and they were definitely taking it all in as they sat in the front row with huge smiles and their eyes wide open.  At the end of the night, the students had the opportunity to commit their lives to Christ.  Those that did went to the front of the room and were given a bible and prayed for.  7 or 8 of the Ubuntu boys did this, which is incredible!  Even though they will likely still go through struggles in their daily lives, this is a commitment they can look back on and hold onto as they move forward in their lives.
I think its so great that Casey is able to reach the boys on a spiritual level and bring them to stuff like this all because of a connection he made through soccer.  Doug and I have been working on interviewing all of the players to create bios that we can put on Ubuntu's blog and when asked what their favorite memory with Ubuntu was, several of the boys even mentioned Friday night at Hillsong.  I think thats so cool.
Later today we're going to go on a prayer walk through Ocean View with Sarah.  I'm really excited for God to open our eyes to everything going on here and to get the chance to pray for the people of Ocean View.
We'll try to write on the blog later this week with a longer update of everything going on.

-Alison

Don't forget to turn the lights off!

So we got into Cape Town Thursday so it's been a while since we've been able to update, but here we go!

First of all, Cape Town is Amazing! With a capital A! It's so beautiful here, the people are friendly, the mountains and ocean is incredible, and God is being represented through many many people here. It's definitely a sight to see.

We're staying with a missionary couple, Casey and Sarah Prince, who are from Raleigh, NC. Alison knows them from her church, Grace Community, so thats how we got connected with them. Basically, they're pretty cool. Awesome folks. Awesome story. Awesome ministry. Sarah has her Masters in Divinity from Duke, so she preaches in some of the churches often. Casey is a pretty legit soccer player, and has opened up a sports ministry called Ubuntu Sports Ministries. The reason why we are here is to help them both out with their ministries that they are doing. 

Ubuntu Sports Ministry is so cool. Basically, Casey moved here, rounded up a bunch of kids, got a series of teams together to add to a soccer league here, coaches them, trains them, leads bible studies with them, shares God's Word with them, and encourages them. It's so great to see what he's doing. Alison and I have gotten a chance to attend some of the soccer games so far. The kids are GOOD! They all work as a team and kick butt every time they're on the field. 

The reason for starting this ministry with the kids is to give them hope and lead them on a path towards God. Ocean View is great. Cape Town is great. But like any other city, there's a lot of drugs that go on and a lot of poverty that is in the area. Many parents are addicted to drugs, and dont raise their kids in a positive direction while they're young, giving them too much freedom and no positive role models while they're kids. As a result, a lot of people get addicted to drugs, remain in poverty or end up in jail. Casey decided to do something about that, and almost two years ago decided to move to Cape Town to starts a ministry through sports. It's great, because he takes young kids who are 13 or younger, puts them on a team in a league, leads bible studies before practices with them, teaches them soccer, leadership skills and life lessons, which as a result keeps these kids out of trouble and off the streets. I've been able to meet a lot of the kids so far and I can't wait for the coming month so establish relationships with these kids. One of the coaches and I had a really great conversation in the car yesterday about Jesus and what it means to us to live for Him, and a couple of the kids in the car were very interested and got to hear what we had to say. I'm so thankful for that opportunity.

I was talking to some of the kids about school the other day. They grow up speaking Afrikaans with everyone in the community, but the kids speak English in the schools. Some kids also speak another language to each other, but I forget the name of it. So one of the kids, who was 12 years old I might add, says to me..."we're forced to know and speak fluently 3 languages in our school systems. How many languages do you know?" My reply: "one. English". Dang it America. You let me down.

I've gotten to drive a lot while i'm here. It's so much fun. But scary. Every car is manual. No Automatics. Driver is on the right side of the car, not left. And traffic drives on the left hand side of the road, not right. Within the first 24 hours I was here, Casey gets me a car and says "ok, good luck. have fun driving". Then drives home....Driving has been interesting to say the least. Lesson #2 in Africa: Don't leave your lights on. The car dies quick if you do. Just saying.

Goin to Hillsong Church in Cape town tonight with the crew for some awesome workship!! 

Doug

Cape Town!!

Like Doug said, we had an amazing time working with Ignite South Africa this past week.  Click here to read more about our time there.

http://ignitesouthafrica.org/2011/05/love-in-action/

As we pulled into Qwa Qwa on Wednesday for the conference Chris Tomlin’s ‘God of this City’ was playing.  It was the perfect start to the day to look around and see such a huge city that God loved so much knowing that “greater things are still to be done in this city”.  All of the pastors and church leaders seemed really receptive of the messages and it was overall a great day.  After we packed up everything from the conference we rushed back to Harrismith to grab our stuff and drove to Johannesburg so we could make our flight to Cape Town this morning.  

We’ve only been here a couple of hours, but its been great so far!  I’ve been dying to get to Cape Town to see Casey and Sarah since I fell in love with South Africa two years ago and I am so excited that I FINALLY found an opportunity to come.  My sister, Christine, beat me to it and visited them earlier this week, but she was only able to stay for 2 days while we’re here for a month, so I think it all evens out.  I know we’re both hoping that this will be the first of many trips for us to Cape Town.  Its been over a year since I’ve seen Casey and Sarah so we’ve spent some time catching up and getting settled in.  We’ll be spending the month helping the Prince family and Casey’s organization, Ubuntu Sports Ministries, and we’ll live down the street from them with one of their neighbors.  

Casey decided to throw us right into life here by making Doug start driving so he could get used to driving on the left side of the road.  If that isn’t enough to focus on, its also a stick shift and our sense of direction is awful since we’re unfamiliar with the area.  He’s done great so far and we’ll pick up the car we’ll be using while we’re here tomorrow.  I’m technically supposed to also learn at some point, but...I might just stick to navigating and let Doug handle this one.

I’m sure its going to be a busy month, but we can’t wait to see what God has planned for our time here and how we’ll be able to serve this crazy family.

-Alison

Jesus is My Super Hero

Wazzup y’all!

Alison is feeling better, thank you Jesus. Thank you everyone who said any prayers for her during the past couple days. She spent some time resting, catching up on any last minute jet lag that she didn’t finish getting during the process. So thats good.

Sorry we haven’t been able to write more. Internet accessibility is just not the same here as it is in America. Que Asco!

Anywho...So the last two days have been pretty awesome. Basically on Tuesday, Alison and I finished up doing a lot of organizing for Ignite South Africa. There was a ton of resources that we had organized for them, and we’re so glad to help out with them because this provides their coaches and their pastors with TONS of resources to learn more about the Gospel, ways to minister, evangelism techniques, etc. Basically anything involving Jesus, there’s a book on it that they have which is pretty awesome. 

Yesterday (Wednesday) was an amazing day. The day was filled with last minute packing, organizing and the pastors conference. The pastors conference was so sick. I wish everyone could have been there to see it. The Holy Spirit spoke through June, Jill, Abram and everyone else who spoke at the conference. It was so cool because just over 90 Pastors, leaders, church members, and anyone else who just wanted to know more about Jesus showed up to a local church in the middle of Qwa Qwa. Topics such as gifts of the spirit, fruit of the spirit, healing, and raising up hope in the community, etc. were talked about and preached, which was awesome to hear. It’s just great to see this ministry doing amazing work in the city because the Holy Spirit talked a lot about hope and how the people in the city should not settle for poverty, or sickness, or anything that might overtake them and belittle them or make them weak. That Jesus died so we can live. That he conquered death, and defeated Satan in the process. That its Him who we need to be focused on, and His rising from the grave that gave us any and all power to remove sickness from our body to heal us. It’s Him who provides for us, and that life in Jesus is bigger than this poverty that they’re living in, and they should continue to trust in Him and not ‘settle’. I wish everyone could have been there to hear what the Holy Spirit said through June, Jill and Abram.

The coaches that are part of Ignite are amazing. There are about 15 colored coaches who work for Ignite that are citizens of South Africa and members of the city and community that they witness to. These coaches go into the schools in Qwa Qwa to teach the students about drugs, abstinence, etc. incorporating the gospel into this. The point of this is to reduce pregnancies outside of marriage, drug problems, etc. that might continue their path in poverty so they can find hope and a purpose, and to rise above. The coaches are so cool. They all talked to us for hours, shared some laughs, ate some good African food with them, and talked about Jesus. Amazing amazing amazing. If they’re reading this, we love you all. Such great people and friends. 

 We just got into Cape Town today. Casey and Sarah are so funny. I’ll let Alison talk more about them. 

peace out 

Doug

Pray for Ali

Wazzup y'all

So i'm going to make this blog short and sweet. Basically, please pray for Alison. She went to bed last night with a fever, inflammed throat, and just complete tiredness. The flu is being spread around here pretty badly so we think she may have caught that, but of course, TIA, so we're not completely sure. So, please pray for her well being.
As for me, i'm fine so far (knock on wood). Although I do have a big rash on my leg from hiking yesterday. Lesson #1: do not hike Africa in shorts. The brush will eat you alive!

Praying for everyone in the States and everyone else who we know who is on summer projects throughout the world. Go team Jesus!

Doug

TIA: This is Africa (continued...)

So the first thing I would like to say is that Alison stole my title for this blog post. Urg. So wrong. Thats the answer to everything here in Africa though. "What is that?" or "Is this going to kill me?". Answer: "I dont know, this is Africa" haha.

So I just want to say that Africa is so amazing. Truth. Once we stepped off the plane and went through customs we could already see what it was going to be like for the next two months. Afrikans everywhere, language I've never heard of before, cars just like from the movies of 4 wheel drive jeeps and their awesomely cool license plates that you see in the Borne Movies (I want one!). Jill and Amanda, two of the three women who run Ignite South Africa, picked us up from the airport. They're pretty awesome people I must say. June is the other woman and she is awesome herself. All three live in a house here in Harrismith, so Alison and I are staying with them for the week. I'm the only guy though, so apparently they just feel free to pick on the lone guy all the time. Women.

We all went to Qua Qua yesterday which was about a 45 minute drive from their house. The ministry itself is ran out of Qua Qua, so it was pretty cool to see what the town was like there. All I have to say is that these women are LEGIT. God has blessed them so much. The first couple hours we were there they had a meeting with the counselors who go into the schools to teach kids about safety and certain protection methods incorporating the gospel into their material. Its so cool because they're all really young but when the meeting started they all started off with songs of praise and prayers and testimonies and to hear how passionate they are about the Lord and to see how they sung songs of praise was mind blowing. I promise you, these 15 counselors sung with more enthusiasm and passion than an entire church back home would. God has blessed these people and their love for Jesus is so strong. It encourages me to push myself even further. The last couple hours we were there we met with a couple of "pastors in progress" I like to say. June taught the class and just amazed me with the material she taught. You could just listen to her and see the Holy Spirit speaking through her during the day. Her love for Jesus is so strong that she perseveres through the trials to teach Jesus to those in the area. I mean she gave her life to live 8000 miles away in a country that is not the most comfortable place to live in to share the gospel for crying out loud. What amazing people and what a blessing it was to see the Bible being lived out.

David was a man who touched me the most. David is 23 years old. He is an Afrikan, who came to know Christ in the past couple years. His hardships are more difficult than the average. His family disowns him for the way he lives. For pursuing a life of love and obedience to God, his family blames him for not being there for his mother, who is struck sick with HIV and is on the verge of losing her property to the government. He encouraged me yesterday though. Through all this difficulty in his life, he continues to look to Jesus for his guidance and for his support. With little income that he has, he hopes to become a pastor and share the gospel to his people. I may or may not have gotten teary eyed while talking to him throughout the day. What made me smile the most was that he had told Alison and I at one point that he had never had a conversation with white people before. Yes, there are white people in SA. But in Qua Qua, most are Afrikan. He pulled me aside and said he had never opened up to someone before like he had to me, and it was a pleasure to talk to a white person who listened and continued a conversation with him before. And apparently me being American made it more worth wild to him. He says that we made his day yesterday. Truth is, he made our day too. What an amazing man David is. If you're reading this, please pray for David and his family. He needs prayers.

Tomorrow is Sunday! What what. Can't wait to check out the church that Jill, June, and Amanda go to. Oh by the way, you should see the view outside of the house. It's incredible. I'll post a picture on twitter at some point. Internet isn't free here. You can't just get unlimited bandwidth. They pay for a certain amount of bandwidth a month here, so I dont want to use up a lot of their internet posting a picture or video. But the next time Alison and I are at an Internet Cafe I'll make sure to post a picture.

Love you all. As Lindsay would say, LATERRRRRRRRR

Doug

TIA- This is Africa

We’re finally in Africa and I love being back here.  We may have travelled for 24 straight hours with practically no sleep, but it was worth it.  We’re in a town called Harrismith, which is 3 hours south of Johannesburg living with 3 missionaries named June, Jill, and Amanda who are the backbone of Ignite South Africa (ignitesouthafrica.org).  I met the three of them when I came to Africa two summers ago so its been great getting to see them again.

We spent the whole day in Qwa Qwa, a township about 45 minutes away from here where Ignite South Africa serves.  We started the day by sitting in a 5 hour meeting with 14 of Ignite’s coaches that teach a program in many of the schools in Qwa Qwa.  The curriculum the coaches teach covers God’s purpose for the students’ lives, leadership, and many of the tough issues they’re facing like HIV/AIDS, drugs, and sex.  All of the coaches were very welcoming and we had a chance to talk to them a bit.  I don’t know why it still surprises me after all this time, but I was shocked to hear all the struggles they’re facing and how much they praise God and depend on Him through it all.  

After a quick lunch at KFC (America follows us everywhere) we went into another meeting with about 15 pastors in the area that are taking a course on the foundations of Christianity, which is HUGE, because most of the pastors here have no biblical training.  This class is legit too with mandatory attendance, homework assignments, and weekly tests.  Today was their last session of the class so it was a time of celebration for the group.  Once again, we got to hang out and talk to them which was great.  David, one of the coaches who was also there for the class in the afternoon, opened up to Doug and I and we got to here a lot about his life.  The bond between Christians, even those that are complete strangers and live on opposite sides of the world, is such a special one.

Ignite is having a big pastoral conference for about 120 people next Wednesday that we’re going to help prepare for in the next few days.  We’re also going to use this time to help with some of the administrative tasks that need to be done and to brainstorm ideas of how L4L can serve Ignite South Africa once we get back home.

Doug will update the blog tomorrow with more details, but we’ve had an amazing start to our summer and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

-Alison

Time flies

I have a confession to make...we're horrible about updating the blog.  We've been working on so many great things that I could write about, but I'll try to keep it short.
It's official.  We're going to Africa this summer.  Plane tickets have been booked, passports have been renewed (and expedited to make it here in time), and we're up to date on all of our vaccines.  One of our volunteers, Doug Wegman, and I will be spending two months in South Africa working with some great organizations and looking for some potential partners that we'll be able to send teams to in the future.  We'll be gone May 18th- July 20th.  While this isn't what we had originally expected for L4L's second summer in Africa, we believe this is exactly where God wants us and are using this time as a chance for L4L to continue developing so that when we send teams to Africa in the future they will be more effective and beneficial.
This weekend L4L is having a retreat in the Appalachian mountains to help prepare for this summer.  Throughout the weekend, Ben Kern and Andrew Vanover will be giving Doug and I some advice and tips that they learned through their trip to Africa last summer.  We'll also use this time for team bonding and lots of prayer as we strive to glorify God through all of the work that we do.
Andrew is using this summer as a time to handle all of the stateside work and will be working to finalize the branding of our organization.  We'll also be redoing our website so keep an eye out for that!!
We'll make sure to update the blog in our last 3 weeks of preparation for Africa.  Please be praying that even with the craziness of finals we have time to seek God and focus on His will for us.

-Alison
Co-founder

today. tomorrow. and yesterday.

The "hit a kid // save a kid" tournament was a blast. Thanks so much for all of the people that came out to play some dodgball it was a great event and i know i had fun so i hope you did to! We had a team from Appalachian State University, the "average yos" come over for the tournament they placed third winning some free desserts, funny thing they were from a local restaurant, oops... The first picture is of anna, kelly, and ben they were the sign holders to let people know exactly where the event was, not sure how productive they were but who knew sign holding could be so distracting? Im just messing: but really.The second picture is during the tournament, and the third is of the 2011 L4L dodge ball champions along with ref doug. They won an assortment of prizes, trophies, t-shirts, moes bucks, and a few other gift cards. Good job champs!

  As for now. Things keep moving. They never really stopped but thats the beauty of it; theres always stuff to be done. Alison, Doug and I are still meeting on a regular basis to talk about the plans for this summer's africa team and all of the logistics behind it. Im totally pumped to have Doug on board hes a totally rad guy with a servant heart who is going to do a great job serving the Lord this summer wherever he ends up and whatever he ends up doing in africa: along with Alison, who is also ballin. Lets just say the africa team is stacked. We have had many people show interest in going to africa this summer but the Lord has just closed so many doors but opened the right doors for both Doug and Alison to go so im pumped about his will for them.

What about me? ben? Well last summer we spent the entire summer over in kenya and uganda which was a blast, and dont worry our fire for the Lord and determination to serve him is in no way lost. But this summer the Lord has changed my plans many times so now it looks as if i will be going to summer school at NC State in an attempt to graduate on time, along with some really exciting media revamping i will be doing for L4L here stateside! As for ben hes looking to pick up an internship this summer but will also be helping with the planning process for next year!
Thanks for reading the blog let me know if you have any questions of if you want to go to africa im sure we could make something work out!
_av
 L4L
Co-Founder

Hit a Kid// Save a Kid

Our dodgeball tournament to raise money for Abby Tracy's childrens home is tomorrow.  We still have a million details to work out, but its all coming together nicely.  God gets all the glory for this one, because this event has fallen apart numerous times and we've been very close to canceling it.  We'll try to update the blog with some pictures after the event.  Check out the website to learn more about it.  http://dodgeball.loveforthesakeoflove.com.

Spring Break

I'm currently sitting in the Charlotte airport waiting to board my next flight to Denver, Colorado.  I'm going to be there learning some super important slope-side evangelism techniques we can incorporate into L4L.  Or maybe I'm just going to spend the last part of my spring break skiing with my family in Breckenridge.  Either way, I've been so thankful for my spring break.  I have had the chance to be part of Sacrificial Spring Break the past couple of days, which is an in-town mission trip hosted by Vintage 21 for about 100 college students in the area. (http://sacrificialspringbreak.wordpress.com/)  I have met some incredible people and have had so much fun serving with the Habitat for Humanity team.  I forgot how much I enjoy doing construction work!  I've loved seeing how many people right here in Raleigh are passionate about serving and spreading the Gospel and are willing to give up their precious week of rest to be part of SSB.  It really has been reassuring that God has placed L4L here for a reason.
Andrew and I and others on the L4L team have been working really hard to get everything together for the dodgeball tournament.  (http://dodgeball.loveforthesakeoflove.com).  We need people to sign up as soon as possible so we have a good idea of how many people will be there.  Please be praying that this event goes well and come out to support us!!

-Alison
Co-Founder

Future and Present

Hey everyone!

So this week is spring break for everyone at NC State and this is the week that I am sending out my support letters for this summer's Africa Trip. I have worked very hard in preparing these support letters and am almost done sending them out. I would like to ask for you to pray with me during this financial support process. God is going to do great things this summer and is going to send the people whom he feels is right to go, therefore I have no doubt in my mind that any struggles will happen with raising support, but if you wouldn't mind praying and praising God with me for this opportunity to be a part of L4L's 2011 Africa Trip then that would be awesome! I can't wait to see what God provides for this summer. I am enjoying this journey so much already, and its only the beginning.


I also want to tell everyone about the dodgeball tournament coming up this March. On March 19th L4L will be hosting a dodgeball tournament at NCSU's gym from 4-7 pm. It's $10.00 to sign up, and all the money will be going towards Abby Tracy's childrens home in Africa. This is such a great cause! You dont have to be a student either. If you're an adult who wants to throw some balls at some college students, come on out! All are welcome. We look forward to seeing everyone on March 19th and having TONS of fun playing dodgeball

Doug Wegman
(active member)

Recap

For no real reason, I just reread all of our past posts on this blog.  If you have a little free time, I would encourage you to go back and do the same.  It's really cool seeing how much we've changed, and in some ways how things are exactly the same, and how God has worked through us and our ministry since we've started.  For me, each one of those blog posts is attached to many memories.  I'm so thankful to have the chance to be part of such a great ministry.  It hasn't been easy and I now understand why there aren't too many college students starting non-profits, but all of the all-nighters, arguments, and obstacles we have failed to overcome have been worth it and have ultimately led us to humility, which I know is exactly where God wants us.
While looking at the blog, I also realized that we used to do a much better job of updating everyone on what we've been doing.  So I'll try to sum up the past few months for you.  We worked non-stop through November as we started sorting through applications for our summer mission trip to Africa and as we planned the Help Portrait event in Raleigh.  Help Portrait was a huge success and was one of the greatest things I've ever been part of.  I really think a little bit of Raleigh was changed by the event.  December was filled exams, a little bit of rest, lots of travel over the holidays, finally submitting our 501(c)3, and lots of change.  Andrew switched from majoring in Engineering to Communications and I was forced to leave UNC because of overcrowding for a semester and take a couple of classes as a Communications major at NCSU.  It was a pretty drastic change, but Andrew and I were both excited about what we thought would be an easier workload for both of us and the fact that living so close to each other would mean even greater things for L4L.
Then January came and our idealized plan started to fall apart.  Andrew became busier than ever, I found myself involved with way too many new projects and was hardly ever on campus, and the adjustment for both of us was challenging.  We've been able to work through most of it and although it wasn't a fun process, I think our communication has gotten a lot better because of it.  We're back on track and are doing just as well as we were before.  Maybe even better.
We're now working on a charity dodgeball tournament at NCSU thats just 15 days away.  The money raised will go towards Abby Tracy's children's home in Uganda.  I'm so excited for this event and it has so much potential, but we're really trusting in God to help us pull this one off.  We need all the support we can get!  If you want to come play or if you want to help sponsor the event, go to http://dodgeball.loveforthesakeoflove.com
We just found out that we didn't make it on to the next round of the eGames, making our involvement with this entrepreneurship competition short lived.  It's discouraging, but I'm hoping we can grow from it.  It frustrates me that we're expected to explain everything there is to know about L4L in under two minutes, but I guess this is something we'll have to learn to do in the business world.
In the past couple of days I've realized that I'll probably be able to go to Africa with our team for part of the summer.  My initial reaction was "Really God?  I just accepted the fact that I was going to be stateside and was starting to get excited about the work being done here in Raleigh", but I'm also really excited (and slightly terrified) about the potential to go back to Africa and would love to get to be there with my team.
We'll really try to do a better job of updating this blog.  Thanks for accepting our brokenness and following what God has been doing through us.

-Alison
Co-founder

eGames

Tonight Andrew and I are going to be competing in the eGames, which is an event held by the Entrepreneurship Initiative at NC State.  Its a competition for new ventures developed by students.  We submitted our executive summary earlier this week and will be pitching L4L to judges in five separate interviews tonight.
We have exactly two minutes to describe L4L and answer any questions the judges have.  Thats ALOT of information to put into two minutes.  If we make it onto the next round we'll be able to present our business plan to a group of investors.  Andrew created some really great business cards for us so I'm hoping that will give us the edge we need. ;)  Please be praying that God give us the right words to say and that the judges will be open to our ideas and plans for L4L.  Most importantly, please pray that God be glorified no matter what the outcome of today is.
We'll give a longer update once we have finished this round.  Thanks for the support!
-Alison

Interest Meeting

Want to be more involved in the community and learn about how L4L is serving Raleigh?  Come to our interest meeting tomorrow night at 7:30 at Cup A Joe on Hillsborough Street to hear about our newest project in response to the Help Portrait event we were involved with in December.

Loving Raleigh

Hi, I'm Krystal and I recently stumbled upon Love for the Sake of Love and have joined with them in a mission to love our city and our world knowing that, by unsearchable mystery, in our love Christ is lifted high.

We want to know the homeless in our city. We want to share life with them. They are beautiful beyond compare and have much to teach us about faith, life, and Jesus. We're not bringing Jesus to the homeless: He's already there. Our dream is to love them and be loved by them and build them to rise up and change this city and carry out the gospel. We are here to make disciples, not to give freebies. 

We believe that relational outreach brings restoration and that people don't care what you know (about Jesus or anything else) until they know that you care. Relationships are hard. They take time. They take love. You get attached. People are not a good investment if you're trying to maximize results. But they are so worth it.

In Liberation of Life it says, 

An old rabbi asked once why so few people were finding God. He replied that people are not willing to look that low. Jesus was born in a stable and God is especially concerned or the poorest, the lowliest, the lost and the neglected. 

If we want to see Jesus more, we've go to get to know them. We've got to be known by them. 

Its what it means to be in love with Jesus. Isaiah 58 says, Is it not this I require of you as a fast: to loose the fetters of injustice, to untie the knots of the yoke, to snap every yoke? and set free those who have been crushed? Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless into your house, clothing the naked when you meet them?

We know that true community is a huge vision. But we are following a huge God. We know that we can do nothing, that we know nothing, that we are nothing on our own. But Christ dwells in us and among us. He's dwelling in you too. Join us in this adventure, in this pressing on toward the goal for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14). 

Jesus, in our life and in our love, be lifted high. Less of us, more of you.
-Krystal
L4L Connect

I need Africa more than Africa needs me

A friend of mine just showed me this video and I love it!  It perfectly describes my heart for Africa.

While L4L is going to Africa to help those in need (in an effective and Christ-centered way) we're also going because we realize that we have a lot to learn from the people there and how beneficial simply living life with them can really be.  And now that we know this we're inviting everyone to come with us and experience it for themselves.

For our summer interns, I hope this video encourages you for what you're about to experience.

-Alison

2011 is going to be AWESOME

Hey everyone.

 So I'm Doug Wegman. I have been working with Andrew Vanover and Alison Gamble lately on plans for this coming summer. I am one of the new 2011 Summer Team Members to Africa and am so excited! I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me and for L4L this summer. ummm I guess I can start off with how God has led me here so far. I am a born again Christian. Became born again at the end of my freshman year/beginning of sophomore year and am currently a Junior right now at NCSU. Go Pack! I have known Andrew now for a year and a half or so...met him through a mutual friend and have really seen him as a motivational person in my life. After seeing everything that he has been doing I think he inspires me to bring the same effort and sacrifice to the table for God as he does. As a result I am involved with L4L and the 2011 Africa Team through knowing him.

I have to say that for the longest time I did not know what I was going to do this summer. I have no clue what I even want to do with my life...and i'm almost a senior! Gosh thats scary. But I know that I want to live a life led by God and not a life led by me with God in the background. I was originally planning on going to SE Asia this summer with another group based out of Atlanta, GA but I have realized that God sometimes opens doors just to close them soon after haha. Funny how he works sometimes... So since that door closed, this door has opened and I feel like God can use me in such better ways through L4L. The goal of this trip is amazing and I can not wait to be there.

Pray for me as this summer approaches. I will be sending out my support letters soon so pray that enough money will be raised to make this trip actually happen for me. Actually don't pray for me, but pray that this trip will happen for God and that he'll use me in the ways he sees fit. Yea do that. Pray for Andrew and Allison that they will be able to keep their sanity as this trip approaches haha. Doing school and working and planning a trip like such is very hard work and if they're reading this, your work does not go unnoticed so thank you so much in advance for everything y'all do.

I wonder what the response from people will be in Africa when they see a guy like me walking around who says "y'all" and "whats up" all the time, sometimes even in the same sentence....okay weird thought I know

Anywho, thank you all in advance for your prays and your support.

Jesus is awesome

Doug