During my first 6 months in South Africa, I touched a basketball exactly zero times. Soccer is definitely the sport of choice around here, along with rugby and cricket. The few times that I had ever even seen anyone playing basketball, I was pretty sure that they didn't know what they were doing.
During our STeM trip to inner-city JoBurg, we walked to a nearby park where we had planned to run a dance clinic as an outreach to local kids. Now, dancing was clearly a gift for a few members of our team, but this white boy (that's me!) was not one of them. So while our dance outreach began, my eyes kept wandering over to the basketball courts, where I saw some pretty decent games going on. In one of those moments where you know the Spirit of God is speaking to you, I realized that I just might be able to better connect with the guys on the basketball court, rather than the dance floor.
So I jogged over to see what was up on the courts. I immediately jumped in to play some 2-on-2. One of the guys was wearing an Indiana Pacers shirt, which I just thought was hilarious. Anytime he messed up, I'd say, "You better take that Indiana shirt off! That's not how we play in Indiana!" And anytime he hit a nice shot, I'd let him know that he was making Indiana proud. It was in this setting that the following conversation ocurred between me and one of the other guys:
Kamal: Are you a Christian?
Me: Why do you ask?(The question caught me off guard. I had not shared about my faith with these guys yet. For all they knew, I was just some random Joe Schmoe off the street. I was kind of excited though, figuring that maybe he had noticed something "different" about me).
Kamal: Well, you look like Jesus and $%@#...
I almost busted up laughing on the spot. First of all, I wanted to laugh because just seconds before I had been feeling proud, thinking that these guys must have seen some Christ-like feature in me that made them see that I was a Christian. I was humbled to find out that that Christ-like feature was my long, dark hair and overgrown beard!
And second, I wanted to laugh because in my 24+ years of living I had never heard "Jesus" and
that word used in the same sentence. (I won't tell you what word he used, but it has four letters and my mom would wash my mouth out with soap if I ever said it!)
It was just one of those classic moments that made me realize that Jesus meets us where we are at--whether that is an
I-grew-up-in-a-Christian-home-and-accepted-Jesus-at-the-age-of-4 kind of guy like me, or a
you-look-like-Jesus-and-$%@# kind of guy who is still on the journey of finding his Creator. Jesus wants to know us both better. Jesus is passionately pursuing us both!
It was in that moment that I knew that the Spirit had spoken to me, that I was in the right place. It was cool that God used one of my first but forgotten loves, basketball, to speak into the lives of these guys. I was able to earn their respect on the court, and, more importantly, I earned their respect off the court. Over the course of a couple days, I got to know some of the guys and was able to speak some truth into their lives. I was able to share with them who God is in my life and what He's done for us through Jesus. It was a blessing to be used by God, and it was a lot of fun because I got to play basketball in the process!
It was also on those same courts that I was able to build a friendship with M'Easy. This guy is a natural leader and a wizard on the basketball court. He could certainly play some college ball in the States. We had quite a few intense games together!
Enjoy the pics...
This little hut served as "home" for our group while we worked in Chihota.
I always enjoy a chance to rock out on the guitar.
It was really great joining together with Praise in ministry again. He was my first roommate in Africa, and he remains one of my closest African friends.
I thought this tree was really cool...so I took a picture in front of it.
We began each day with devotions, as well as a time of corporate prayer in which we claimed the community for Jesus.
We then rounded up the kids in the community and essentially ran a VBS for them. We played games, learned a memory verse, taught a fun and interactive lesson, and shared dramas with them. Here, Vusi and I are performing a drama for the kids. We did the whole drama in Shona, the native language of Zimbabwe, and the kids laughed so much when they saw me--a big, white, bearded guy--speaking in Shona.
In the afternoons, we did either door-to-door evangelism or open-air evangelism. In the picture above, we are running an open-air evangelism event in front of a bar in a tiny town near Chihota. I can't say that I think this kind of fly-by evangelism is the most effective form of evangelism, but I will say that God showed up and we saw many people come to know Jesus through the power of His Spirit. It also challenged many of the young people on our team to be bold in sharing their faith for the first time, which I think was an invaluable experience for them. Even more encouraging was that we were able to connect many of the new believers with the church in Chihota, where they will be able to continue forward on their journey of discipleship.
In the evenings, thanks to a generator and some makeshift lighting, we were able to have services in the tiny church building. Each night the church was packed, and we saw the Spirit move. Again, many people came to know Christ or received healing at these services.
We continued sharing the love of Jesus through dramas...
...as well as through personal testimonies.
This is my buddy, Munya Takawira, from Zim. He's been sighted on my blog before--you might remember him as one of my fellow convicts during African Realities. Munya was gracious enough to let Ted and me stay at his home in Harare during the STeM training. It was awesome to see first-hand the ministry that Munya is doing in Harare.
It was also cool to introduce Ted to some of my good friends. Ted got to know Vusi pretty well in Zim, as Vusi led our ministry practical in Chihota. Vusi is one of the most gifted leaders I have ever met, and I'm convinced that he will be one of my life-long friends.
Ted, Auntie Kathy, and me hanging with my good friends from Malawi, Praise and Anthony. Praise was my roommate at J-Life when I first arrived to South Africa. These guys came down from Malawi to join in the Zimbabwe STeM, with the intention of running their own STeM in Malawi later this year.
Ted, Praise, Tara, Me, and our new friend from Zim, Nigel.
The J-Life South Africa leaders teaming up with the J-Life Zimbabwe leaders!
We had lots of fun together!
