Sorry

I haven't posted a couple of days because I started feeling bad last night and I've been in bed all day. I'm still not feeling better - but it's going around the house, so I suppose it was sooner or later. I'm a little stressed because we have a Youth United event on Saturday and there are still a good many things to get done before then. I'm trying to speed up my recovery time by sleeping a ton - I think I slept for around 13 hours last night. But so far, it's not working. I can't afford to be sick right now, but I'm not so convinced this will be a quicky - I haven't felt this bad in a long time.

Roller Coaster

I say that today was a roller coaster because I started off very down because of the morning and then things went from bad to really awesome. This morning, Laura and I drove up to Oleivenhoutbosh at 9:30 for a youth event. We weren't scheduled to do anything, we just had to show up. We arrived an hour and a half before the event was scheduled to begin in order to take care of any last minute details. Turns out that there wasn't much to get to, so we hung out and talked with the other people helping out with the event. However, as the time for the event came and went, we found out that the advertising side of things had been all but neglected. We didn't start until about two hours late, and even then, we only had 25 people. I left very disappointed, but we'll get things figured out for next time I hope.
From there, the day got significantly better. Laura and I drove to a church in Mamelodi that we've been developing a relationship with. They asked me to speak at a huge youth event they had planned. They were expecting around 1,000 young people because the main attraction was a gospel/mainstream act named Kobela. I was scheduled to speak on abstinance right before he got up to do his thing, so there were quite a few people. I'm terrible at guessing numbers, but Laura and I were figuring there were around 750 people there at the time we arrived. I spoke on abstinance and choices. I spoke about the hope we have in Christ - not just for a future Heaven, but for redemption and salvation right now. To be honest, I felt like I rambled a bit and some of my thoughts didn't feel fully connected up there. I was comfortable and confident, but I just didn't feel like things were flowing along well for me. Anyway, in spite of me, God showed up in a major way. As I wound down the message, I gave an altar call and around 75 people came forward to receive Christ as their Savior! I still can't believe it, but Laura was taking pictures and there sure are a gob of kids down front. I don't have the pictures now, but I'll try to post them tomorrow. It was awesome. God was at work in that place and it was undeniable!

All Over

Yesterday and today were two full, busy days. I got a lot accomplished, but I was running all over to do it. Yesterday, Laura and I went to downtown Joburg to give the okay on the shirts we're getting printed up for the Youth United rallies. From there, we headed to King's Hope to have a meeting about an event on Saturday. From there, we drove to Randburg to pick up some stuff from the Silver Ring Thing headquarters. From there, we drove around trying to get a good video shot of downtown Joburg for the video I wrote about the other day.
Today was all about shooting video and getting ready for the event on Saturday. Paul, Laura, Brian, and I drove up to King's Hope and interviewed Magdel (the director) about what God was doing. She did a great job and she even pointed us in the direction of a family who was moving from a shack to an RDP home today. We filmed a bit of the process and it was clear that God was at work! After filming there, we drove into town to buy some food for the event coming up on Saturday. Then, we went back to the church and filmed my section of the video. It was actually really fun. It was the first time I'd done that, so I didn't know what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Please join us in praying that God would be at work in preparation for Saturday.

Office Bound

Today was an all day in the office day. I spent a ton of time working on and sending out emails, planning for the Youth United event coming up next Saturday, and just doing the general maintainence work on the to-do list. I don't exactly enjoy days like today, but I did get a lot accomplished. Also, with Laura here to work on the administrative side, I'm able to focus on more of the things that I enjoy. And at the same time, she enjoyes the administration. It's awesome! Aside from the grid of office work, I'm excited about how God is already working the preparation for the Youth United event coming up November 3rd. This week, we're all working on filming a video to shoot back to the States with an update on what God is doing and it's coming along nicely. Filming for my spot is on Thursday, so I'm looking forward to that too.

Kruger Tallies and More

Here are the tallies of the significant animals we saw at Kruger in a day-by-day breakdown: (as you look through these, just so you're aware, a large number of people go and don't see leopards and lions and other cool animals)
Day 1
Buffalo - 7
Crocodile - 10
Elephant - 21
Giraffe - 7
Rhino - 7
Warthog - 9
Wildebeast - 3
Zebra - 8

Day 2
Buffalo - 1
Elephant - 20
Giraffe - 16
Hippo - 3
Hyena - 1
Leopard - 2
Lion - 6
Rhino - 6
Warthog - 7
Zebra - 9

Day 3
Baboon - 10
Buffalo - 2
Crocodile - 12
Elephant - 15
Giraffe - 11
Hippo - ~25
Hyena - 8
Leopard - 1
Lion - 4
Ostrich - 2
Rhino - 1
Warthog - 8
Wild Dogs - 7 (wild dogs are a big deal, don't ask me why...)
Wildebeast - 10
Zebra - 9

Here are a few of the better shots we got of these animals...

a black rhino


a rather bold elephant


here's the big poppa...


a lioness eating a giraffe


a leopard, which is probably the coolest animal I have ever seen

Then, today, I had the Leadership Training Session for the churches that will be involved in the Youth United rallies. I found out about this yesterday - I thought it was in two weeks. So I spent a major part of the day yesterday working on this material and I was worried the presentation might suffer as a result. I can only give you my perspective, but I thought things went well. I probably talked for close to 3 and a half hours this morning and afternoon, so I'm pretty shot energy wise, but things went well. I said what I wanted to say and I think people were receptive. I think people learned about leadership and Bible study and we were able to get some details hammered out for the rallies.

Back From Kruger

The last three days were awesome! We spent today recovering from a complete lack of sleep - the park opens at 5:30 every morning, so we were up early every day. However, we saw tons of animals. I don't have the tally in front of me right now, I'll post it tomorrow (hopefully along with some pictures). But, we saw three leopards and we saw one pride of 6 lions and another two lions eating a giraffe carcass. We saw tons of elephants and giraffe and a few heyenas. I'll post the numbers tomorrow like I said.
However, this relaxing day had a wrench thrown into it when I found out that I'm doing a leadership training session tomorrow at 10. That in an of itself wouldn't be a big deal. What made it a big deal is that I had this event in my mind as being on November 3, so I wasn't at all mentally prepared for it. I also didn't have all of the material in order for this event. Because I thought I had two more weeks, I was planning on working on it piece by piece, but today I wound up sitting down for a number of hours and pounding some things out. I'm hoping that I don't seem totally unprepared tomorrow...

One Last Hurrah

Today was one of those last-day-before-vacation workdays where you're really productive because you know you have a ton to finish up before heading out. Tomorrow, we're heading out the Kruger National Park - which is basically a safari where you drive your own car. We're all really looking forward to it. But at the same time, there's a distinct possibility that we won't see one animal over the whole three day trip. Here's hoping that's not the case. I'll let you know.

Preaching

This morning I preached at the Soweto Vineyard Church that I attended camp with. I was asked to speak about how to reach the youth of the community, so I spoke about authentic love. I was fully mentally prepared to speak with an interpreter, but when I actually got into the spot where that was happening, I found out that it throws me off a bit. It's really hard to gain momentum with the message when you can only say a sentence or less at a time. Other than the fact that I went through a translator (which they always do...the service is usually in English and is translated into Zulu), I felt that things went really well. I said what I beleieve God laid on my heart for this morning and that's what's important.

A Crazy Meeting

This morning Paul, Laura, and I went with Doctor to meet with a church about 15 minutes away. There was some miscommunication on what exactly this meeting was all about. The pastors we met with thought it was about one thing, Doctor thought it was about something else, and I honestly didn't know what it was going to be about. After I gave an overview of Vox and the work we're doing, the pastor stopped me and said that he wasn't prepared for this meeting because he thought we were there for something else. There was an event planned by an organization associated with the church that the church knew nothing about and he thought we were there to talk about that.
Once the confusion settled, we were able to have a great conversation and the pastor is looking forward to working with us in the future. A meeting that I wasn't sure about turned into a great meeting. The pastor asked many questions that highlighted some of our core values and it was clear that we are thinking on the same wavelength when it comes to ministry.

Misc.

Today was spent compiling to-do lists for the near future, getting money from the ATM to pay for the Silver Ring Thing, dropping the money off, and more paperwork as the day drew to a close. Paul, Laura, and I went to King's Hope together to drop off the money and to give Paul a chance to look at the computer center that he will be working in and doing training in. The visit was productive and it helped him to get a better feel for exactly what he's going to be doing in the future. Also, Magdel was glad to finally have the money. I felt so bad that it took us so long to get it to her. It wasn't anybody's fault, but somtimes things just take some time. Regardless, it was a relief for me to be done with that aspect of things.

Back to Work

We took Monday off after a very long weekend with the conference and getting everybody to and from the event (on Saturday, I drove 45 minutes one way to pick some people up and drop them off...) But today, we're back at it again. I spent all day working on material for training leaders in leadership, Bible study, and small group dynamics/leading. It was a productive day and I'll probably be working on very similar stuff tomorrow. This week is not too busy with meetings and stuff, so that's nice. Really, the next big thing on the calendar for me is preaching at Soweto Vineyard Church on Sunday. This week will be nice to get some office/organizational work finished up before getting back at it.

Conference Again

We spent all day at the conference again, but I loved it. It's a long and draining day, but it was definitely worth it. I'm learning a ton and I'd like to make these summits an annual event that I attend...we'll at least once I'm hired at a church and they're paying. The Willow Creek Leadership Conference in the States is $200! Here it's the equivilent to around $50, which is doable for me, but $200 is a little steep.

Willow Creek Leadership Conference

Vox hosted over 50 local pastors at the Willow Creek Leadership Conference today. It's a two day event with the best eight presenters from the conference that was held last month in the States. Everybody who we brought really seemed to enjoy it and they all seemed to be learning a ton from the different presenters. I know I learned a ton. At this point in my life, I feel like this is an important thing for me to be learning about leadership so that I can avoid some of the pitfalls that I otherwise would have walked right into.
After the conference, we took the pastors back to the Seminary and hosted a dinner for them. Then, we had a short presentation about Vox United - what we're doing and what we'd like to do - and we offered to help the churches. People were very positive about everything and many seemed to really be hungry for help as they move forward in ministry. It was a great day.

Home Affairs, Again

We went to the Home Affairs office again today to try to get our Visa situation taken care of. After another three hours there today, we finally got our Temporary Residency Work Permits. In an earlier post I said these would last us for 33 years, but I was wrong, they're only good for three years...oops. I feel pretty dumb about that big of a misunderstanding, but what can you do? So that was a huge answer to prayer. Also, Paul Hontz arrived today and he'll be with us for the next six months. I'm pumped to have him here. Not only because he's a good friend and he's another single guy my age, but because he will really contribute a whole lot to our team and to what we have the ability to accomplish.

Follow Up

Laura and I headed to Oleivenhoutbosh today to have a follow-up meeting for the Silver Ring Thing. While only 5 of the fifteen or so we expected actually showed up, it was still a good meeting. We got the stats from the Silver Ring Thing people, but we found out they only count people over the age of 13. According to this measurement, there were 355 people who attended - 200 of whom (which??) made a commitment to abstainance. 47 people recommitted their lives to Christ and 59 people gave their lives to Jesus for the first time! I'm continually blown away that God allows us to join Him in His work and I'm humbled by the fact that He does so. He was definitely at work this past week!
After discussing the stats, we covered the budget, and we also talked about what went well, what didn't go well, and how we can improve for next time. This part of the conversation went much better than I had anticipated. People were very open and honest and everybody learned from the mistakes we had made, but we found joy in the fact that despite our imperfections, God still moved mightily. As I said, not everybody was there and I wish we had all been present and were given a chance to give input, but those of us who made it had some great stuff to share and to learn.

Home Based Care Visits

This morning, our whole team went the Zenzele and went with their caregivers to visit people who were too sick to get out to be taken care of. My group visited six different shacks and we were out for around three hours. We tagged along with the caregivers, so we would wait while they gave the patients food and medicine. After that, we prayed over them. It was a great thing for us to go and do this as a team. If home based care visits don't remind us why we're doing what we're doing, then I don't know what would. We prayed for a ten year old boy with cerebral palsey, a woman paralyzed from the waist down, a man recovering from a stroke, a woman with swelling in her entire body, a guy with an STD that was causing him pain and swelling. Also, because people don't want to speak of HIV, we aren't sure who was positive and who wasn't. However, it's probably safe to assume that at least three or four of the people we visited were suffering from full-blown AIDS. It was an emotionally draining morning, but it was a necessary reminder of the urgency of the ministry we're doing.

Meetings All Day

Today was filled with meetings. Productive and very helpful meetings, but not very exciting meetings to talk about.
So, due to public outcry about the lack of pictures on this blog and thanks to Laura's arrival with her camera, here's a picture from the Silver Ring Thing on Friday night. Thanks for being patient.