CJDTS -S. Africa- Fall 2009

A few words by the long term team that we workeded with in South Africa:

Yesterday was a special day. The Home that was built by the YWAM Orlando team was dedicated prayed over. There are still a few minor things to be done, like a door to be hung, the floor to be poured in the old room & a few more panes of glass to be put in. But with the team leaving today for Rustenburg, we wanted them to be able to bless the home & the people they have worked so hard to provide a home for.

The Orlando team did a fantastic job with the help of 2 of our favorite workers, Steven & Simbisiso. I must say, I think it is one of the prettiest homes we have built. And during the building process, the team took the time to build relationship with the ladies that live near by. The kids loved playing with everyone & would often bring them mangos.

The team decided to take up a collection to get a home warming present. They were able to get quite a few necessities as well as some special treats for the kids! After the prayer time & presenting of the gift, the gogo thanked the team& told them that before they built the home, every time it rained she would not be able to sleep. Just seeing her smile blessed the team. I think they were as blessed as the family. And that´s what it´s all about!

Posted by John, Carla & Rae Shaw 3-5-2010 read more posts by the Shaws at http://shawsmissions.blogspot.com/

Our first day at Freedom Park, squatter camp, we went around to the patients houses with the nurses that work at the clinic within the park. We would visit the patients and ask if they needed prayer for anything. Our last house for the day was a house with a married couple. The woman wanted prayer for the pain she was having that started in her foot and went all the way up her leg to her back. The man wanted prayed for pain in his eyes and that he would be able to get a job. So as a team we prayed for both of them. After we prayed Hailey felt like God wanted the girls to pray for the woman and the guys to pray for the man. We separated, Hailey and I began to lay hands on the woman and pray. We ended our prayer and the woman immediately grabber her foot and started squeezing it. Then she stood up and stomped on it. Hailey and I looked at each other not knowing what she was doing. I asked her “does it still hurt?” She looked up and said “the pain is gone!” Hailey and I just started to cry. We couldn’t believe what we had just witnessed! We saw God using us to heal one of His children and even more, we saw that woman experience God, His love, and His power! One thing God taught me that day was through obedience, faith and prayer someone was healed and free from pain. - Lyndsey Sharpe

Well it has been a busy first week here in Rustenburg. We got settled in and spent the weekend having team meetings, getting ready for the week ahead. Sunday we had church in the morning and then had a team Braai (bbq) in the afternoon to spend some quality time together and to relax before we jumped into ministry.

We spent the week in two different locations. The first is a feeding scheme located in a township called Phokeng. We were feeding and doing a VBS at two different locations. The two locations are at local women´s homes in the community. Half of the team went to a women whose name is Martha. She has a care center for orphaned and vulnerable children. There are about 30 - 40 children who come afterschool. We spend time with the kids helping them with homework, telling Bible stories, playing games, and feeding them a meal. The second half of the team went to a women named Agnes´ home. 50 - 75 children show up everyday at her home. Agnes is very commited to these children, and starts everyday with a Bible story. Our team has been doing arts and crafts, feeding them, and wrestling and playing. The boys LOVE to wrestle!!

Our time at the feeding scheme´s has been really good. The students are really connecting to the children. Many of these kids do not have a home to go to, and the love of parents to care and nurture them. Agnes and Martha have said a number of times how our students are impacting these kids lives. Not only by sharing the Bible with them, and giving them a meal. But by loving them, providing safety and security for them, encouraging them, and giving them a place to just simply be kids. The students have really took these kids in and given all of there energy and heart to sharing the Kingdom of God with them in what ever way they can.

The second location that we have been working at is what is called a Squatter Camp, just outside of town. A Squatter Camp is an unofficial development made up of shacks. The people that live there are often times refugees from surrounding countries or people that are working in the near by mines. Many people come to the area looking for work, but then end up living in poverty in the shack developments.

We are working with a clinic that is located in the Squatter camp. We have been going with the women of the clinic to their patients shacks. The percentage of people that have been tested for HIV/Aids in the camp is 47%, so many of the patients that we have been working with are HIV positive. Due to the lowered immune system the patients often times have other chronic illnesses as well. We have been walking from shack to shack through the camp, checking the patients, spending time with them, caring for any basic needs that we can, as well as taking time to pray for and share with every patient.

This has been an eye opening experience for all of us. Being in a place where all people are living in is a shack made of tin scraps and trash, while caring for people on their death beds. During a debriefing time this week we had the students sharing what they were learning about from being in the Squatter camp. Many of the students responded by expressing the question "How could God be in a place like this?" but they were taken back by the faithfulness of God to show up. We have all really seen God´s heart for the poor and needy, as well as seeing God move in the lives of those who desperately need him.

It has been a really good week. We are going to take some time to rest this weekend, as well as having a Braai (bbq) to celebrate Leah Brooks getting Baptized! We will put some pictures up on the next post so you guys can see all that we have been doing here. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Well we packed up all our things and headed out early this morning. We took a 6 hour shuttle ride through the beautiful South African country side to the town of Rustenburg. We will be staying on a farm here on the outskirts of town. The boys are staying in a Rondweval (a hut) and the girls are staying in little cabins and in the base dorms. Everyone got settled in and we are all looking forward to the next three weeks. We will be spending this portion of the trip working in refugee and squater camps, as well as in hospice, working directly with those infected with the HIV virus. Thanks for all your prayers, we are here safe and ready for what God has ahead for us!

With the home completed and the grounds at the care center ready for the foundation to be poured, our time here in White River is done (at least for now).

It’s been so amazing to see both of these projects come so far in only 3 weeks. Tomorrow February 4th^, the home will be officially dedicated & presented to grandmother & orphans.

Friday we’ll pack our bags & head to Rustenburg for 3 weeks. Ministry will look quite different during our stay there. Our plan is to be serving with home care/hospice workers & specifically with those affected by HIV/AIDS. Although we were challenged physically here in White River, constantly asking God to be our source of strength as we practically worked to show compassion, we are really looking forward to extending God’s love to those who are in such a physically vulnerable state.

Due to the nature of our ministry over the next few weeks photos will be very limited. Thank you for understanding!

“TIA = This is Africa...” is a pretty popular phrase we’ve been learning to use over the past couple weeks. We’ve learned quickly that things don’t always go as planned or on time here but reminding ourselves that “TIA” has brought a lot of joy & laughter!

On Sunday we headed to a church in the local community. Phil led some worship, Natalia, Steven & Allyse were able to share personal testimonies, and Karl gave the message. It was a lot of fun, full of vibrant singing & dancing!

Our week was business as usual working hard at the home & care center. It’s been pretty awesome seeing the completion of the home come closer at the end of each work day. The 2 rooms have been successfully added with the exception of the roof which will be started on Monday. Also some of the guys have been working hard on adding a veranda to the front. We’ve made friends with a some of the kids in the community who are always hanging around wanting to play. They make it all worth it!

The care center has also been a large project to tackle. The team has been pick axing and digging trenches for the foundation. The land has been incredibly difficult to break through but they have all been working so hard & with such great attitudes. I’ve been really proud of everyone. Monday, Wednesday, & Friday some of the team takes a break from digging and head into Elizabeth’s house to help prepare food for the feeding. Since we’ve been here she’s been averaging about 30-40 children from the community.

Thursday afternoons we stop working after lunch & head to another feeding to help distribute plates & play games. Every Thursday they feed between 100-150 children. We all had so much fun just loving on the kids and being silly. I think Thursday’s are going to a favorite day for a lot of us!

Hello from Mpumalanga, South Africa!
Sorry for the delay, things have been super busy since our arrival on late Sunday evening.
After some orientation & adjustment to time, Tuesday we started the construction of the home and care center.

The home is being built for a "go-go" (Grandma) who has 2 children of her own and is also caring for 4 orphans ranging in age from a few months to 15 years old. Right now all 7 are staying in a small 8x8 dirt floor home with a leaking tin roof. When Ten Thousand Homes saw the need it was decided to restore the existing 1 room home and also add on 2 more rooms.

The team has been working hard to gain ground in the construction process of the home. As of right now the foundation has been poured & bricks are starting to be laid.
Neighbors have been coming daily to lend a hand and it’s been really amazing to see them function as a community.

As I mentioned before we’re also working on a care center. The care center will provide a place for HIV/AIDS orphaned children to go & be cared for; receiving meals, homework help, and a sense of family. The center is being built behind the home of a local woman, Elizabeth. Right now Elizabeth is feeding 100-150 children daily from her home. This center will give her the facilities she needs to continue to extend compassion & love to the local children.

Tomorrow is our first day off and we plan on taking it easy & resting here at the beautiful YWAM Kruger Park base.

Thanks for all of your prayers!
Stephanie

Karl, the CJDTS leader, contacted me and told me the team has arrived safely in South Africa.  They will not have email for a few days but when they do they will give a more detailed update.

Dean Sangrey

Training Director                                                                                                                                                

7 Mighty Nations...

Mary Sliter spent the week teaching out of the book of Deuteronomy 7 and showing us how it applies to our lives today. We learned about different strongholds that we may have allowed to become ´mighty nations´ in our lives, keeping us from reaching the places God has for us. She taught us how to kill those the way that God has commanded us to, and we finished the week by doing just that during a long evening of ministry. It was an amazing time of freedom for many and we´ll never be the same.

North Carolina...

After a 12 hour bus ride, we arrived in North Carolina to join up with 6 or 7 other DTS´s from the East Coast for our yearly DTS Gathering. We had worship, intercession and our teacher was Winkie Pratney. He taught about different aspects of God and we were so amazed by God´s greatness. It´s easy to say how great he is, but it means so much more when you start seeing some of what that means. Spending time with students from all different parts of the world and from different bases was such a great experience! It was definitely worth the long drive!

“God loves and accepts us the way we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way.” Lindsay quoting Michael Berg

 This week was amazing! Michael Berg, YWAM Orlando’s base director, taught Biblical Restoration, which deals with the Father heart of God and forgiveness. We identified many misconceptions that we’ve had about God and his nature and character. Our lives were changed as we learned what true forgiveness is and what it means to walk in a lifestyle of forgiveness. But beyond just learning about it, we also put it into practice on Friday as we broke into our small groups and spent some time asking God to reveal who we needed to forgive. We finished by speaking blessings over those people. It was such a life-changing time, and an experience that has led us into beginning a new lifestyle; a lifestyle of forgiveness.

“I realized that forgiveness isn’t something you just do in the beginning, it’s a lifestyle. And that’s why Christ died on the cross, so that we can forgive, and once we do that, nothing can hold us back. That’s why we’re here…that’s what we need to tell people. It was like getting saved all over again!” - Jacqui

“It was so amazing to watch everyone get healing. It hit me that this is what being a part of the body of Christ is about. Like it says in Romans 12:15 – “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” I felt so honored to be a part of that…praying, encouraging, and loving them. It’s something that I want for EVERYONE!” – Alicia

“Love longs to communicate.” – John Bills

 Can one week change your life forever? It certainly can! It’s the first week of DTS, and yet we’ve already learned and grown so much!

 God wants to communicate with us; that’s what this week was all about. We were able to explore the different ways he speaks and how to recognize His voice in our lives. We had the privilege to put it to practice through intercessory prayer! Sharing the classroom with the DR-I DTS, we were able to break into groups and ask God for specific prayer points for their outreaches to the Dominican Republic and India. They, in turn, prayed for our outreach to South Africa.

 John also gave us a short education on HIV/AIDS and the difference between compassion and pity. There are so many stigmas revolving around HIV/AIDS that aren’t true, and it was enlightening to learn the truth about it.

 Some of our extra curricular activities included splitting into teams for a fun and competitive time of recreation playing volleyball, spending our Saturday afternoon at the beach, and having our first small groups where we got to know each other better through sharing our testimonies.