Link Lovin' It: Friends in Missions

I want to continue highlighting some blogs that are worth checking out. You can follow these blogs in the blogroll on my sidebar, or better yet, add them to your Google Reader! Here's some link love for my friends on the mission field:

• Amanda Lehman has spent much of the past two years serving as a teacher and working in an orphanage in northern India. You can read about Amanda's heart for "the least of these" here.
• Jess Gates is mentoring teenage girls and doing some incredible sports ministry in the Dominican Republic with Students International.
• Kory and Ali Lantz are missionaries in the truest sense of the word. They work with at-risk teens right here in our own backyard, in the Keller Park neighborhood of South Bend.
• Miah and Michelle Collins train youth leaders with J-Life in South Africa. Miah recently ran a 56-mile race. You can read about that experience here.
• Nick and Sarah Anderson are church-planters in Oaxaca, Mexico. They talk about "spiritual mapping" here.
• Ranae Holdeman is a teacher for missionary kids in Botswana. She shares some good thoughts about wisdom here.
• Jeff and Amy McKissick serve as medical missionaries in Paraguay. They also have the cutest kids E-VER!

I'm so blessed to have friends serving the Lord all around the world! Check out their blogs, pray for them, and send them some words of encouragement!

Link Lovin' It

I'm assuming by now most of you have noticed my new blog design. (If you're reading this on Google Reader, come over and check it out.) I've also added several links in my sidebar to friends in the blogosphere. Here's some link love to my blogging friends in youth ministry:

• Derry Prenkert is Senior High Youth Pastor over at Nappanee Missionary Church. Derry has been one of the most influential people in my life, and his blog is a must read for anyone in youth ministry.
• Jason Thompson has been a Middle School and Pre-teen Pastor at NMC for several years. Jason was one of my mentors when I interned at NMC in the summer of '05. Jason is currently using his platform to make a big difference in the DRC. You can read about "The Congo Project" here and here.
• Jon Andrews is the youth pastor over at Wakarusa Missionary Church. Jon is doing some downright inspiring stuff right now, raising awareness and fighting against sex trafficking in Asia. At 300 lbs., John also just finished his first half-marathon!
• Kara Szyarto is Youth Director down at Columbia City United Methodist Church. Kara and I studied youth ministry together at Bethel College, and now she's out there on the cutting edge of youth ministry!
• Phil Strahm is the youth pastor at Trinity Park United Methodist Church down in Greenfield, IN. Phil and I have been good friends since 2005, when we interned together at NMC.
• Seth Bartlette is the youth pastor at St. Mark Missionary Church. Seth and I were "partners in crime" at SMMC for several years, working together with the youth ministry. Seth continues to do an incredible job impacting the lives of young people at St. Mark.
• Terry Linhart was one of my youth ministry professors at Bethel College, where he also serves as the Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy. Simply put, when it comes to youth ministry, Terry is the man!

You can keep up with the latest posts from each of these guys on the blogroll in my sidebar, or just add them to your Google Reader!

Link Lovin' It

• Geoff shares some challenging and insightful thoughts about lent here.
• Terry talks good books here and here. I also really like his thoughts on rekindling our passions. Read about that here.
• Derry shares some of the funniest videos I have ever seen here.
• Kent from Church Relevance shares about the future of evangelism here.
  

Highlights from CO

I spent this past weekend in Colorado with my buddies Ted and Jordan. We've started somewhat of an annual tradition of "Manly Men" trips (a little over a year ago we spent a week touring NYC together). Here are some of the highlights from the four days we spent in Colorado:

• Dominating a burrito from Illegal Pete's in Boulder.
• Waking up to a view of the Rocky Mountains.
• A day of skiing on Breckenridge Mountain.
• At least a couple dozen sweet (and humbling) wipe-outs on the slopes!
• A day of skiing on Vail Mountain.
• Four days of good fellowship with good friends.
  
• Getting buried in several feet of snow after a wipe-out, and taking a solid 5 minutes to dig myself back out!
• Watching HGTV in the hotel with the boys (and loving it!).
• Cruising around CO in our tiny little Kia Rio (and barely making it up the mountains!).
• Super greasy (and tasty) burgers from Smash Burger.
• No broken bones!
• Getting away and enjoying God's beautiful creation.
  
• Growing icicles on my beard and my dreads while skiing in conditions that included heavy snow and temps. with a wind chill as low as -21!
• Relaxing in the hot tub at the hotel after freezing our butts off on the slopes all day.
  
• A romantic Valentine's Day dinner with the boys! (Mad props to these guys' wives for letting them take a men-only trip over V-Day!).
• The best (and biggest) nachos I have ever eaten from the Dam Brewery Restaurant in Dillon, CO.
• Interesting conversations with strangers on the ski lifts.
• Challenging conversations with Teddy both on the way to and from the Chicago airport at the beginning and the end of our trip.

Great trip. Great friends. Great times!

Smooth Criminal

I'm not sure how I've neglected posting this video for so long. During my time in Africa, I became good friends with a dancer from Zimbabwe named Tawanda (although I nicknamed him "Taekwondo"). Tawanda and I became friends when he joined me on a mission trip that I led into inner-city Johannesburg in July. It didn't take long for me to realize two things about Tawanda: He loves dancing and he LOVES Jesus. That made for a pretty cool combo, and Tawanda was able to lead our team in some incredible dance ministry during our week in one of Joburg's roughest neighborhoods. Not only is Tawanda an amazing dancer himself, but he is the choreographer for Zimbabwe's leading dance group. He's just an all-around great guy, and he loves to use his passion, dance, to share Christ with others.

Anyway, enough of the mushy stuff. During our mission trip, I shot this video of Tawanda free-styling to Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal. I repeat: THIS WAS NOT CHOREOGRAPHED! This is just Tawanda being Tawanda. Enjoy.

"For You Are Good, My God"

As promised, here's a video of me jammin' down in South Africa with two good friends, Christian and Chevonne. This is actually a song that I wrote while down there. It's called "For You Are Good, My God," and as far as I know this was the first time that I ever performed a song that I wrote before a live audience. Hope you like it!



Disclaimer #1: The camera work on this video is pretty shaky. Sorry!
Disclaimer #2: Don't worry, I'm aware that my hair is ridiculous in this video!

We Be Jammin'

This past year I was blessed with some really great friends from all over Africa. One common interest that I shared with many of my African friends was a love for music. During the "training phase," my first four months in South Africa, I connected with several friends who were brilliant musicians. Nearly every night for four months we got together for "Jam Sessions" where we would sing worship songs together, write some of our own music, and laugh a lot. I've got several clips and recordings of these Jam Sessions, which unfortunately I couldn't share with you while I was in Africa, but thanks to AT&T and the high-speed internet in my home here in the States I should have some videos posted soon. But, for now, here are a few pics of my jammin' crew.

Blast From the Past

Yesterday, I was back on the campus of my alma mater, Bethel College, to hear my old friend and professor, Chad Meister, give an address in chapel. Being back on campus and sitting in chapel brought back many memories of the four years I spent learning and growing at Bethel. It also reminded me of lots of fun memories, like the airband competition that my roommates and I won our senior year. Check it out!

Hangin' in Joburg

I've been meaning to post a few more highlights from the couple weeks when Teddy visited. We spent a couple days in Joburg, where we got a chance to reconnect with my friend, M'Easy. (You remember M'Easy, right?). Joburg is a pretty hectic city, and I don't think I would want to live there, but we had a good time exploring it fo a couple days. We also went to see the movie District 9 while were in the city. Not the best movie that Hollywood has ever produced, but the setting of the movie was Johannesburg, so that made it kind of cool.

Ted and M'Easy chillin in Joburg.

M'Easy and me in Gandhi Square in Joburg.

Teddy G in Zimbabwe

By now, you should all know that my friend, Ted, visited me here in Africa for a couple weeks. Ted and I grew up together in youth group at Nappanee Missionary Church, and, more recently, Ted was very involved in the student ministries at St. Mark Missionary Church, where I served on the student ministries staff. All that to say, I'm pretty sure that most people who are actively following my blog know Ted. For that reason, and because Ted hasn't posted on his blog in nearly two years, I decided to put up some pictures of Teddy in Zimbabwe. Enjoy.

Ted getting to know some of the young people in Chihota.

Teddy gives Chihota a big thumbs up!

Ted and Pastor Jengwa enjoying the hour walk to the nearest school.

Teddy and Praise are all smiles.

Here I Go Again On My Own

For the past two weeks, I've been having a blast hanging with my good friend, Ted. I feel really blessed to have some great friends, and it meant a lot to me that Ted came out to encourage me and to see what my ministry here in Africa looks like. It's always nice to know that someone from back home really knows from experience about the place where I live and the people with whom I'm working. Ted and I had more than our fair share of adventures over the past couple weeks, including a couple very stressful days earlier this week, as we got lost in Johannesburg and actually missed his flight home Sunday night. But, last night we got him on another flight, and he should be home later today. Despite some of the chaos surrounding these past few days, it was very encouraging to have Teddy around. He's one of the craziest guys I know, but he's also got a deep love for God and for people. I could definitely see Ted pursuing long-term missions at some point in his life.

Ted and me in front of our "home" in the rural village of Chihota, Zimbabwe.

While heading to the airport (the first time, Sunday night), Ted pointed out that I was heading into my longest stretch of time in Africa without a visit from someone back home. I hadn't realized it myself, but it was true. Terry Linhart and family came down in March and stayed in South Africa for two months. Shortly after that, Adrienne came down to intern with J-Life for two months. And, just a few weeks after Adrienne left, Ted was here to join with me in ministry for a couple weeks. But now, I'm flying solo down the home stretch! I've got a little more than 3 months until I'm heading back to the States. Please pray that I would finish strong in these next few months and that I would be free from any homesickness or loneliness.

The classic 80's song "Here I Go Again" by White Snake sums it up well:

Here I go again on my own
Goin' down the only road I've ever known
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
And I've made up my mind
I ain't wastin' no more time
Here I go again

Video Update From Zimbabwe

Again, thanks to everyone who was praying for me while I was in Zimbabwe. It was an incredible trip, and we saw God move in amazing ways as we partnered with other believers there who are steadily advancing God's kingdom. I've also been very blessed to have one of my best friends and fellow member of The Association, Teddy G, with me for over a week now. We arrived back from Zim late Monday night and are still extremely exhausted. You can expect many updates from our trip to be coming soon, but for now enjoy this video update taken at our ministry site in the rural village of Chihota, Zimbabwe!

STeM: Part 3

Relationships

One of the best parts about short-term missions are the relationships that are built within the community where you are ministering. I was able to really connect with a young guy from Mozambique named Manuel. I met Manuel, or M'Easy as he likes to be called, at a park where he was dominating some other guys in basketball. We connected through basketball and quickly became friends. Manuel then began to hang out with our group daily, coming to our youth services at the church, working at an orphanage with us, and really digging into ministry with us. One of my highlights of the trip was the relationship that I was able to build with Manuel over just a few days, and it has been great to stay connected with him since we left the community. I'm hoping to head back to Joburg again soon to hang out with M'Easy and keep up the friendship that has been started.

Adrienne, M'Easy, and me chillin' at an orphanage in Berea.

I was also lucky enough to make a "little friend" while I was in Berea. Meet my little buddy, M'Pho!

Tragedy & Death

I apologize for such a morbid topic, but if you want a real inside peak into my experiences in Africa, this is an issue that can't be ignored. During my short time in South Africa, I have found tragedy and death to be so much more of an ever-present reality here than anywhere else that I have ever been in the world.

As we all know, whether we like it or not, physical death is guaranteed to come find us sooner or later--well, hopefully later rather that sooner! Most of us probably know someone who has died, maybe even a close loved one. I'm not in any way disputing that tragedy and death has somehow touched close to home in each one of our lives. However, I've been absolutely blown away by the sheer amount of tragedy that the average African faces consistently in their lives.

The number of children I have talked to who no longer have both parents, or often times even a single living parent, is staggering. Although rarely discussed openly, in many of these cases it is relatively clear that AIDS has stripped these children of their parents. Multiple times I have seen with my own eyes bodies laying on the side of the road, being put into bags by the police. During a short-term mission to inner-city Johannesburg last month, a girl was raped and murdered in a park across the street from the church where we worked. Some of the kids we talked to in the park the next day had known the girl.

Until recently, these tragedies had not hit so close to home...

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine and the leader of J-Life Kenya, Yallo John Mutua, was traveling to a rural community in Tanzania, where he was to be involved in training lay leaders in disciplemaking youth ministry. While en route to this training, Yallo's bus crashed, killing 28 people, including Yallo. At 26 years old, it was hard to imagine that Yallo's time on earth was up. He showed leadership and vision beyond his years, and he played an integral role in expanding God's kingdom throughout Africa. He touched many lives, including my own. I will never forget the passion that Yallo brought to everything in life, especially to influencing this next generation of young people for Christ. Yallo, you will be missed.

Yallo John Mutua
February 17, 1983 - July 26, 2009

Sad Goodbyes

After two months of enjoying the company of my good friends, the Linharts, it was finally time to say goodbye this past Tuesday. I had a blast getting to know them all better, and I'm pretty sure having a few more Americans around helped me keep my sanity in recent weeks! What a great family...they will be missed!

One last goodbye at the farm.

Not to be outdone in Cape Town, Terry strikes his own senior picture pose. Notice how he rocks the purse with confidence. Sorry, Terry, I couldn't resist!!! :-P

One of the funniest guys I know...

...is my buddy, Bronson. We've gotten to know each other quite well over the past few months, as we've been in a small group together, competed in sports against each other daily, and done a lot of ministry together. The following is a brief conversation we had a couple days ago, which made me laugh harder than I've laughed in a long time...

Me: I think I might shave my beard pretty soon.

Bronson: Yeah, it's hard to tell how fat your face is behind all that beard!

Ha! And that is why I love this kid so much...

Bronson and I performing a drama together at a youth 

camp this past weekend.

Some Introductions...

I'm actually in town tonight with a decent internet connection, so I'm going to try to post as many pictures tonight as possible. This picture goes way back to my first day here in South Africa, meeting the other trainees who have since become dear friends of mine.

(Left to Right): MaxAC (USA!), Sabin (Congo Brazzaville), Praise (Malawi), Shegz (Kenya), Christian (Kenya), Justin (Kenya), Anthony (Malawi).

Say Hello To My New Friends...

Hangin' with my friend, Mxolisi, from Swaziland. (Don't even try to pronounce his name...you're wrong...trust me!)

Sunday Night Tradition

After a brief hiatus from our Sunday night tradition, we gathered once again last night for more food (of the Chinese variety), fun, friends, and this week, some family as well. Good times. 

I'm gonna miss these people next year...

A Good Meal and Great Friends

Over the past couple months, I've gotten the chance to try my hand at cooking more than a few times. Now for those of you majoring in AC to the Max trivia, you might recall that I'm not exactly Emeril. However, in recent months I have become what I would consider quite proficient in making Chinese food. So, Sunday night after our high school ministry, Adrienne and I cooked up a storm: Jasmine rice with Thai Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce, stir fry chicken, szechuan chicken, and chopped onions, garlic, and green peppers. If I can say so myself, it made for quite a tasty meal, and what made it even better was sharing it "family style" with a great group of friends.