I also had the chance to go on my first African safari down in Pietermaritzburg with the Quarandillo family. I had never seen so many cool animals up close in the wild before. Not gonna lie...it was pretty awesome!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Cumberland Nature Reserve
Pietermaritzburg is also home to some beautiful countryside. We spent a day hiking in Cumberland Nature Reserve, which was tons of fun. Enjoy the pics.
Enjoying the beautiful sites of Cumberland Nature Reserve.
Hangin' with some of the "Q" kiddos: Jansen, Jordyn,
Haley, and Raja.
Mthobisi and me.
Yikes!!!
Enable Now!
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.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Whoa, Rusty!!!
I told you here about my attempts to break a horse here on the farm. My first attempt, bareback nonetheless, was especially comical. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 12
More Duduza
Our group with Jeff (far right), Pastor T.J. (bottom left), and the other youth leaders at the church.
Bringin' the Word at a local school in the township.
God opened doors that day, as 1500+ students packed the assembly at a secular school to hear the Gospel.
Leading worship at an all-night (7PM-7AM!) JAM YOUTH event in Duduza. This picture was taken probably around 3AM...still goin' strong!
Learning to dance...township style!
My "family" in Duduza.
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 11
Practical Ministry--Duduza
Another week that I will never forget was spent partnering with a church in a local township called Duduza. The J-Life trainees were separated into three teams and sent off the farm to do practical ministry in three different townships--essentially slums where black people were forced to live during the Apartheid era in South Africa and still live today. Throughout the week, we teamed up with a youth worker named Jeff and his youth leaders, doing sports ministry, schools ministry, evangelism, and working at a children's center, among other things. We were also hosted by families in Duduza, which gave us an even greater understanding and appreciation for the people living in the township. More than anything, though, we became closely bonded with the church in Duduza, encouraging them in their never-ending ministry in an impoverished community, as they in turn challenged us and spurred us on to greater faith. We left feeling as though we were truly family with the church in Duduza.
Some of the homes in Duduza.
The first two-story tin house I've ever seen.
Hangin' with Munya on the streets of Duduza.
Sunset over the township and a shaggy MaxAC.
A typical house in the township.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 10
Cage Matches
When living on a farm out in the middle of Nowhere, Africa, entertainment can sometimes be hard to find. We're talking no TV, minimal internet...basically months without much contact with the outside world. That's enough to make anyone go a bit crazy. So what did we do to entertain ourselves? Cage matches...of the creepy crawly variety. That's right, we caught a tarantula, a praying mantis, a toad, some grasshoppers, and whatever other bugs and creepy crawlers we could find and put them all together in one see-through container. The result: hours of free entertainment!
Lance showing off his praying mantis.
Anthony holding onto one big mamba jamba grasshopper (I believe that's the technical term).
A tarantula that we found in our bathroom.
Eager faces look on as the lid is closed and the cage match begins! After hours of entertainment, the unanimous winner, in a shocking cinderella story, was the fearless toad!*
*No animals were harmed during these cage matches...except the bugs...they all got eaten.
Friday, May 22, 2009
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 9
American Football
On a crisp April day (we're currently heading towards winter down here in the southern hemisphere), I decided that it was time to teach my South African friends some American football. We had a blast, and it didn't take long for several of the guys to admit that American football is better than rugby. So true, my friends, so true...
Huddle!!!
MaxAC playing some all-time QB.
Avoiding the rush as Chris chases after me.
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 8
Crazy Hair
As I've mentioned before, I have yet to let a razor touch my head. Along with the perk of having some sweet-action long flowing hair comes the ability to try out some other interesting hair styles. Let me know what you think...
Hangin' with my Indian friend, Chris, on crazy hair day. It was also "India Night," which included sporting our India gear, as well as enjoying Chris' killer curry.
Precious and Shegz attempting to start me off with some dreads...
...didn't work out too well.
Not sure what was going on with the hair on this day.
Rockin' the headband and an afro!
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
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Many Languages of South Africa
One of the most intriguing things about South Africa, in my opinion, is the incredible ethnic, cultural, and especially linguistic diversity of this country. I don't know why, but ever since I was young I have been fascinated by different languages. South Africa has ELEVEN officially recognized national languages, including English, Afrikaans (an Indo-European language, derived from Dutch), and nine other African dialects. As you'll notice in the table below, Zulu is spoken in more homes than any other language.
Two years ago, I set some goals for my life, and at the time one of my five-year goals was to become fluent in another language. I've decided to give Zulu a shot, which means that I have only three years to meet my goal (that might be a little unrealistic, but I'll try my best!). My language studies to this point in my life have included Spanish, Mandarin, Koine Greek, short stints of German and French in middle school, and bits and pieces of Hindi, Bengali, and more recently, Afrikaans. Zulu is significantly different from all of these other languages. In fact, I have found all African dialects to be unique from any other language that I have studied before. Until now, I've mostly been picking up words and phrases here and there from my interaction with Zulus, but I recently purchased a beginner's level Zulu book which I plan to study for an hour or so each day. The Zulu language contains "click" sounds (a la the bushmen from The Gods Must Be Crazy) which add to the difficulty of learning the language for a white boy like me. Still, I'm always up for a challenge!
The 2001 census recorded the following home language speakers:
| Language | Speakers | % |
|---|---|---|
| Zulu | 10 677 000 | 23.8% |
| Xhosa | 7 907 000 | 17.6% |
| Afrikaans | 5 983 000 | 13.3% |
| Northern Sotho | 4 209 000 | 9.4% |
| Tswana | 3 677 000 | 8.2% |
| English | 3 673 000 | 8.2% |
| Sotho | 3 555 000 | 7.9% |
| Tsonga | 1 992 000 | 4.4% |
| Swati | 1 194 000 | 2.7% |
| Venda | 1 022 000 | 2.3% |
| Ndebele | 712 000 | 1.6% |
| Other languages | 217 000 | 0.5% |
| Total | 44 820 000 | 100.0% |
Saturday, May 16, 2009
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 7
Horse Training
One of the benefits of living on a farm is getting to spend a lot of time with animals. Now Driefontein Farm is a cattle farm, which doesn't excite me too much. However, the owner of the farm, Mr. A, is also a horse lover--he has about a dozen horses on the farm. A couple months ago, on our day off, Mr. A asked a group of us if we wanted to take the horses out for a ride. Even though I don't have much horse-riding experience, I enjoy riding so I gladly accepted.
When we got ready to ride, Mr. A asked me if I would be willing to try riding one of his horses that wasn't broken in yet. I explained to him that I didn't have much experience but that I was willing to try anything. He then asked if I would try to ride the horse bareback. Like I fool, I again replied that I was up for anything. Thus, my relationship with Rusty, the most stubborn horse on the planet, was born.
After a frustrating first experience with Rusty, Mr. A asked me if I would be willing to train Rusty every day. I again explained to Mr. A that I didn't know what the heck I was doing, but he offered to teach me. And, thus, my horse training career began.
So I've been riding Rusty as much as possible since that day. He's still a pain in the you-know-what, and he's bucked me off him twice, but he's definitely making some progress. I can now get him to walk, stop, trot, and canter. The other day Mr. A told me that in order to be considered an official horse rider I had to be thrown off at least eight times...something to look forward to, I guess!
MaxAC whippin' Rusty into shape!
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 6
African Realities
One of the most impactful weeks in my first four months here in South Africa was "African Realities Week." One fateful Tuesday morning, we rolled out of bed for our 6:30AM prayer meeting, like usual, and little did we suspect that that day would be anything other than the norm. However, when we arrived for the prayer meeting, we were met by Tara, a J-Life staff member, who informed us that we had just entered "African Realities Week." This week was designed to give us a taste of what life is like for the majority of people in Africa. Whatever we were wearing at that moment, those were our clothes for the week. Whatever we had on us, those were our possessions for the week. We were allowed to get one blanket and pillow from our dorms, at which point the dorms were locked for the week.
We were then divided up into nine different groups of society: illegal immigrants, recently released convicts, AIDS children, a child-led household, illiterate single mothers, orphaned children, subsistence farmers, the middle class, and the upper class. Then, according to our social class categories, we were allotted a certain amount of money to get us through the week. Some groups were given nothing (i.e. orphaned children) and were forced to beg off of other groups, while other groups were given a large allowance (i.e. upper class). We then had to walk 6 miles to the road and take a taxi into town to buy food for the week.
My group was the recently released convicts. We were given a dollar a day to live off of for the week. With some smart shopping, our weekly meals included bread, cereal, peanut butter, pap (mashed maize), and ramen noodles. We also made the upper class guys "an offer they couldn't refuse"--we were recently released convicts, of course--and they bought us a bag of rice.
Throughout the week, we learned all about issues that Africans face--issues such as AIDS, poverty, disease, and lack of education. We had no access to electricity all week, and we were given no shelter until nighttime, when we had to pay rent to sleep on a hard wood floor indoors. Each morning we were woken up early to work manual labor jobs. A few days of "African Reality" was enough to open my eyes to how incredibly blessed I truly am.
One experience that I will never forget is going to the medical clinic in Balfour to get tested for AIDS. After learning all about AIDS, the lack of health and sex education in Africa, and the fear many Africans have of being tested, we were given the opportunity to get tested ourselves. Inside the clinic, we sat in a waiting room full of nervous faces, some of which would undoubtedly face their worst fears that day. Even though I have not engaged in any activities that would make me susceptible to the disease, I still found myself nervous going in for the test. What a life-changing experience...
Munya and MaxAC putting on their hardcore convict faces.
The "Convicts" enjoying a delightful meal of two-minute ramen noodles, cooked over a fire.
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 5
Evangelism Training--Extension 23
After going through a course on evangelism, we spent an afternoon in a local township, Extension 23, sharing our faith with anyone who would listen. We spent quite a bit of time building relationships with the kids there. One of the J-Life teams was sent into Extension 23 last week, where they will be doing ministry for the duration of the year.
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 4
Miscellaneous Highlights
At the Apartheid Museum with Anthony.
My good friend Kenneth "Michael Jordan" Tfumbatsi. Ken is the J-Life country leader in Swaziland.
Hangin' with David "Bernie Mac" Mulonga. David is the J-Life country leader in Zambia. I'll be heading up to Zambia later this year to help David launch J-Life Zambia.
Enjoying some good times on Valentine's day. If you look closely, you just might be able to pick me out of the crowd.
Dorm 7, winners of the J-Life 2009 Fun Night Dance-off!
J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 3
Real Men Retreat
1) Tell us who we are
2) Keep us out of the battle
3) Steal our destinies
It was a powerful weekend for the whole group of guys, including myself, as we dealt with issues from our pasts. So many of these guys came from homes where their fathers either abused them or were entirely absent from their lives. The anger and hurt from such wounds went deep, but it was great to walk along with some of these guys as they began the process of healing from those wounds. I will remember that weekend for many years to come.
We left as boys, but we came back as men!
That retreat was also the location of some sweet Lion-King-esque sunsets!
Justin and me out by the Vaal Dam.
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