Over Easter break, I had the privilege of traveling down to Pietermaritzburg to visit my good friends, Josh and Jamie Quarandillo. Besides enjoying a week with the entire "Q" family, I was also able to witness firsthand one of the most remarkable ministries I have ever seen. Josh is the founder and executive director of
Enable Now!, a ministry that I'm convinced has stumbled upon the future of missions. Let me explain.
Four years ago, Josh, Jamie, and crew (they have five kids!) moved into a township in Pietermaritzburg known as
Ward 34. It was there that they began to acquaint themselves with the community, volunteering to teach Life Orientation classes in the local schools and getting to know the young people in the area. After cultivating many new relationships in Ward 34, Josh started an under-17 club soccer team. Over the course of the next two years, Josh coached these 22 kids in soccer, as well as in life. He taught them to be leaders in their community, and he and Jamie missionally lived their faith out in front of these young boys. With many of these kids living on the streets or growing up in broken or abusive homes, Josh and Jamie became like parents to these guys. In fact, they even took one of the boys into their own home, more or less adopting him as one of their own (you do the math--that's
six kids!!!).
Over the course of those two years, around a dozen of these boys came to know Jesus in a personal and transformational way. You heard me right...these kids are coming to know Jesus left and right. How did it happen? Well, for starters, not through a church plant or a Bible study, and especially not through a fancy building being built. Now, I'm not against church plants, evangelism through Bible studies, or even bricks and mortar, but I do think that for too long missions has been defined by these things. There will always be a place for traditional church ministry (I think), but I'm also convinced that the future of the Church and of world missions is a bit more organic.
The boys in Ward 34 call themselves a "family." They meet together daily, eat together, serve the community together, pray for one another, and more recently even study God's Word together. Sounds a lot like a
church to me. These boys, who two years ago may have never walked through the doors of a church building, now ARE the church. They are disciples of Jesus Christ. It doesn't stop there...
The ministry of Enable Now! is three-fold: transforming young people and communities in the areas of leadership, economic, and spiritual development. Simply put, it is a holistic approach to discipleship, identifying and meeting both the spiritual as well as the material needs of the people. The balance is, dare I say, Christ-like.
There's so much more I could say. I could tell you about the under-11 team that was recently formed this year, in which the under-17s are currently mentoring and discipling the younger boys. I could tell you about the business plan that these boys and Josh have come up with and are currently working towards, which could help bring many in this community out of hopeless poverty and sub-human living conditions. There's so much to say, but more than anything I ask that you consider ways to partner with this incredible ministry. Please pray for Josh and Jamie, as they tirelessly pour out their lives into the young people in Ward 34. And, if God leads you to help even more, consider
partnering financially with the ministry of Enable Now!
Josh starting a new "family" of under-11 boys.
Mthobisi, Josh, and I proudly waving our American flags, as the U.S. Soccer Team made a great run at the Confederations Cup Championship in South Africa. (The U.S. lost to Brazil in the final).
Hangin' with a few of the Quarandillo kiddos:
Adrienne and me at the beach in Durban.
Hiking to a waterfall at Cumberland Nature Reserve.
More hiking at Cumberland.
