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