Leadership Camp - 45 Student Leaders Camp in Tents

Three and a half days of leadership camp left me simply desperate for God, desperate for answers, and desperate for a bed!

It was incredibly fulfilling to work with these young leaders and help to provide guidance and instruction during these few days.

The weekend started with an intense challenge that would rival Survivor because of its more than two hour length! Students were put into groups of 5 and were given laminated maps, two inner tubes, 3 sticks and a rope. They were then sent into a gently moving river of varying depths to take their team and their raft upstream.

Several stops along the way had them searching for flags and working as a team. But easily the greatest challenge was the fact that of 45 students, at least 20 were not at all comfortable with water! Some could not swim at all and one of my own students said later that it was her first time being in a body of water of any kind! (It was great fun to watch her learn to swim in the pool throughout the weekend.)

“Going against the flow” was a common theme over the next few days as students grappled with issues of their identity, the effect that Apartheid has on how they value themselves, and forgiveness. Huge topics for a huge weekend.

If I’m being honest, I didn’t really want to go. Just the idea of taking a long weekend and spending it in tents was not that appealing to me. But man was I glad I was there!

The weekend really brought me back to the heart of what I do – and it connected me with students that I wouldn’t otherwise have known.

The weekend made me desperate to find all the answers in the bible to every question they have.

The weekend reduced to me tears as conversations about forgiveness led one young girl to speak about how rape had left her pregnant at 15. Through tears she told me about the blessing of that little girl’s life, even in such turmoil and hardship.

Days later I was struck with this picture of what happens when we don't strive after forgiveness as people who have been forgiven so much. I'm sure the analogy stems from so much talk about who is able to swim and who is not...Our feet are shackled to the bottom of a pool and the water is filling up around us, but we have the key to unlock our chains in our hand. But it's just too scary to put our face under the water, dive down and begin the process of unlocking ourselves. So instead we settle for drowning slowly.

From Cape to Kenya!

Ayanda Msebenzi has completed his 3 months of discipleship training and is now on his way to do 2 months of mission work in Kenya!

I was reminded by a friend recently, that it’s an amazing fulfillment of the great commission to see a young man who lives in a shack take to the slums of Kenya to spread the gospel.

Personally, for me it’s experiencing his dynamic change in just 3 months that blows me away. Before he left for Kenya, Ayanda joined us for our Monday morning prayer meeting. To hear the conviction with which he speaks and his command of the truth was just plain inspiring.

The other day I received an update that read, “Dear Parents” and I giggled. He and I laughed about it together over lunch, and then he later wrote me a text and called me mom. A touching sentiment for sure, but also an accurate account of how invested I feel in his future, and the future of others.

Upon his return Ayanda will start into the Media Village video production semester, and the directors there are already speaking with him about fulltime employment with them, which speaks to how hard he’s working.

The outreach cost was more than we planned, but it’s certainly not my place to halt what God has set before him, and so we step out in faith that God will meet these needs as He has met the others!

Jungle Room grabs cameras and takes to the streets (of Kuyasa)

Our 8 to 11 year-old art class is in full swing! We’re working through the ViewFinder Project curriculum – a wonderful initiative that teaches students that with the help of a camera they can make even “ugly” things beautiful.

It was insightful to get a glimpse into what they find to be ugly. When asked the question I heard answers like, “fights, stabbing, shouting, food in the road, police, vomit and Tsotsis (street thug)”. At the least it was a glimpse into what an 8-year-old might be exposed to in a township.

What a challenge and privilege it is to teach a young child about photography – and in another language! Each Friday I’m amazed with what they retain from the week prior, and I certainly love the tiny arms eager for hugs at the end of class.