Latest Update

The following is my most recent email update that I sent out to my prayer partners. It sums up a lot of what I have been up to in recent weeks. If you'd like to be added to my email list, just let me know!

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Hello Family and Friends!

Greetings from South Africa! By now, you might have begun to wonder if I was still alive, but have no fear, I AM ALIVE!!! Probably my biggest frustration since arriving in SA has been my inability to communicate well with everyone back home. Let’s just say that “high speed” and “internet” are not words that are commonly used in the same sentence around here! Still, I apologize for such a long gap since my last update. Hopefully this letter will bring you all up to speed on what I’ve been up to...

Training

For those of you who may not have known, my first four months here have been devoted to ministry training. I am living on a farm with a group of about 40 other trainees, most of whom have very little ministry experience, who are being trained to plant disciple-making youth ministries alongside local churches in Africa. We have now entered our last month of training. I am going through the training along with the rest of the trainees, while at the same time I am striving to learn how I might train others in disciple-making ministry in the future. I have been very impressed with both the content of the training, as well as the methods used for learning. The training is very experiential. For example, we did a course on evangelism, and then we immediately went out into a local community to practice sharing our faith with others. The constant commitment to combine the practical with the theoretical has really proven to be invaluable as we go through the training.

Ministry

Although for the most part we are stranded out in the middle of nowhere at the training center on Driefontein Farm, like I mentioned before we are often given opportunities to practice ministry. Just last week we left the farm in three different teams for a whole week of practical ministry. My team went to Duduza, a township about an hour away from the farm, where black people were relocated during the apartheid regime. We might more commonly refer to it as the “ghetto” or the “slums.” What we found there was an active, growing church with lots of potential. We stayed in host homes there, which was quite a rustic experience (ie. bucket baths!). We partnered with a youth pastor in the township, Jeff, who helped us plan ministry each day. Our team performed dramas and testimonies in several of the schools in the township. I was able to preach the gospel to an entire school assembly, some 1500+ students at a secular school. God definitely had his hand of blessing on our team the entire week. We also spent quite a bit of time with kids at a local community center/food kitchen, mostly doing sports ministry. We partnered with 10 other local youth ministries for an all-night youth event (7PM-7AM!!!). We had tons of fun that night, combined with some great discussions surrounding many topics in regard to our faith.

Much in the same way that we had been taught during our training, we spent an afternoon training Jeff’s youth leaders in evangelism, and then we went out with them to help them practice sharing their faith. I was paired with two young girls named Thuli and Bali, and it was exciting to see them come alive as they began to share their faith with others. That afternoon I was able to help lead two boys, Sifiso and Mko, to a personal relationship with Jesus and get them connected with Jeff and the local youth ministry there in Duduza. Praise God! It was incredible to join together in ministry with other believers from such a different cultural context. The bond that we had in Christ was clearly evident all week, and we left feeling as though we had a new family in Duduza. It was easily the most impactful week for me since arriving in South Africa nearly three months ago.

Even on the farm, I am consistently involved in ministry. I am weekly helping to lead a Zulu service, mostly for young children, where I often preach (with a translator) or lead the singing (my Zulu is improving daily!). I stick out like a sore thumb, being the only white person there most weeks, but I love it! I have also had the opportunity to preach to the farm workers, and I lead worship for the Sunday service with the trainees. Such a variety of different ministry opportunities and experiences is part of what has made this such a unique and impacting experience for me.

Relationships

As I candidly shared with you before leaving for South Africa, my biggest fear in coming here was that I was coming alone. I asked you all to pray that I would build solid relationships here, and I have felt those prayers! This community that I live with is now my family. We have gone beyond the superficial and have shared life on a deep level. I meet daily with a small group of guys, Bronson from SA, Vusi from Zimbabwe, and Praise from Malawi, and we are constantly challenging each other. We are currently going through a harmony of the gospels together, and each day typically turns into a debate of some kind in which we sharpen each other. That group has been a blessing to me. I have also tried to take some of the younger guys under my wing. I have begun to mentor a young guy named Duane, a former drug dealer and self-proclaimed “gangster” whose life was radically transformed when he found Christ just a couple years ago. I am always encouraged by his desire to learn and grow, and somehow I find that when we get together and talk he mentors me right back with his young and pure faith. I could share so much more about all of the incredible relationships that God has blessed me with, but for now I’d just like to thank those of you who prayed specifically that I would have meaningful relationship here...God has answered that prayer!!!

Challenges

Again, thanks to all of you who prayed against any homesickness that I might be attacked with. I have yet to find that to be a challenge! Probably the biggest challenge I face daily is being constantly confronted with so many needs around me and not knowing what to do. God is developing in me a heart for Africa, but at times the need here seems overwhelming. Two areas that God has especially placed on my heart are the poverty here and the lack of education and opportunities for young people to succeed. I have no idea what the next step in life after this year will be for me, and that is a challenge as well. However, my hunch is that my burden for Africa will draw me back here at some point in the not-so-distant future.

Prayer Requests

• Please pray for the church in Duduza. More specifically, pray for Jeff as he works a full-time secular job, while also pouring his life into and discipling the youth of Duduza.
• Please pray for Sifiso and Mko, the young boys who gave their lives to Christ last week. Pray that they would get plugged into the church there and that the gospel they heard and received would fall on “good soil.” Pray that they would grow in their newfound relationship with Jesus.
• Please pray that I would continue to be challenged and growing in my own relationship with Jesus.
• Please pray that our community on the farm would continue to grow together in unity.
• Please pray for me as I consider where God is leading me for my future.
• Please praise God for your prayers which have already been answered!!!

Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support. I would not be here if it wasn’t for all of you! God Bless!

Serving in Africa,

Adam


P.S. I’d love to hear back from all of you to know what’s going on in your lives and how I might better pray for each of you! Feel free to leave me a comment or shoot me an email at ACkosmo22@aol.com. Thanks!