TentMaker Ministries / Africa

What do you choose today?

2011-10-09T23:58:00.000-06:00

We were blessed by this powerful message by Max Lucado last week and pray that you will be to ... what do you choose today?

Each Day I Choose - By Max Lucado

It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.

For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose.

I CHOOSE LOVE…
No occasion justifies hatred;no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical… the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. I will be kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it only be of myself. I am a spiritual being… After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal.

I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL
I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

ONE MONTH LEFT to GET OUT THE VOTE!

2011-10-04T13:20:00.000-06:00

We need you to GET OUT THE VOTE to help TentMaker Ministries and all the orphans, vulnerable children, care givers and local church leaders we serve in Africa win a $50,000 grant in the Giving of Life Grant initiative. With less than a month to go, praise God, we're holding on to 6th place! Here's what we need you need to do:

1) REGISTER

For 5 (yes 5!) votes go to http://www.givingoflife.com, click on "Register for More Votes" in the top right hand corner, and create an account using your email address (2 more votes). You'll receive an email to activate your account. After you activate your account, sign in and in the top right hand corner you should see "3 votes remaining. Get more!" click on "Get More!" and link your twitter account (1 more vote) and facebook account (1 more vote). That's a total of 5 votes!

2) VOTE

Go to http://www.givingoflife.com/browse/tentmaker_ministries and click on the "VOTE" button as many times as you have votes. (You can do this without registering/signing in and you will get 1 vote).

3) SHARE

Share this event invite with all your friends encouraging them to participate and share the invite, share a link to the voting page on your wall with all your facebook friends encouraging them to vote and share the link, and email the event invite to all your non-facebook friends.

then...

4) PRAY

Pray that we finish in the top 50 and find favor with the review committee that will be evaluating the 50 ministries that receive the most votes to determine which ones will be the recipients of their 20 grants... 17 @ $2,000, 1 @ $10,000, 1 @ $20,000 and the top award of $50,000!

Voting ends Friday, November 4 at 5:00 pm Eastern time and the award recipients will be announced 6 weeks later by the review commitee on Friday, December 16.

From all of us at TentMaker Ministries and all the orphans, vulnerable children, caregivers and local church leaders we are serving in Africa, a sincere and heartfelt "Thank you and God bless you!"

http://www.givingoflife.com/browse/tentmaker_ministries/
.

Faith Like Potatoes?

2011-09-17T13:25:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Dr. Don Orvis and our friends at Face to Face International (www.face.org) for sharing this story...

Missionaries in the later part of the 19th century began to push into the interior of China. There they found a small community where the main crop was potatoes.

These Chinese nationals had a good climate and great soil, but their harvest was tiny potatoes about the size of marbles. The missionaries asked, "Surely some big potatoes grew here?" "Oh yes, we used to get big ones, but lately we only get a few now and then," they admitted.

What do you do with the bigger potatoes?" "Well," the local farmers answered, "We eat them, of course. They are the best."

The nationals were planting the tiny potatoes that had the genes that produced even smaller crops. They were systematically reducing their crop as they took the biggest and best for themselves. The missionaries showed them that only when you plant the big ones -- the "best" that you have -- will you get bigger potatoes in return.

We smile at people who do not understand this most basic principle. Yet, we often do the very same thing. We say "I want to keep the best for myself." Whatever is left -- the leftovers -- I will let God have them. We want to give God our "runt" potatoes, and then we wonder why life seems disappointing.

What kind of potatoes are you planting? Big ones or runts? Maybe you're not planting any... Remember, you reap what you sow.

10 seconds of your time for $50,000?

2011-06-24T10:57:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to have the chance to win a $50,000, $20,000 or $10,000 grant from Giving of Life Grant. The 10 ministries that receive the most votes make the finals, so it's up to you... please check out our profile on their website and vote! Help us help the orphans, vulnerable children and people that care fort them. Here's the link: http://givingoflife.com/browse/tentmaker_ministries/

Sowing Seeds

2011-03-24T14:14:00.000-06:00

¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown". Matthew 13:1-8

I'm not much of a farmer or gardener, but think it is important to note when reading this parable that the sower was “scattering the seed”…. He (or she) was throwing it EVERYWHERE… not carefully placing it in the most promising locations. There is not a lot of skill involved in scattering seed…. walking through a field, taking a handful of seed and throwing it. Anyone can do it. A child can do it and be as effective as an adult. True to form as told in the parable, when you “scatter seed” in this manner some is bound to fall along the path, where the birds will find it and eat it up. Some will fall on rocky places, where there is not much soil. Some will fall among thorns, but some will fall on good soil, where it will produce a crop—“a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown”.

It is also important to note that in this parable what matters is not skill of the sower, but the quality of the soil upon which the seeds falls. Seed that falls on good soil will produce a crop, seed that does not will not.

We have been scattering seed for some time now and just as in the parable, some of our seed (resources of prayer, time, and yes, money) has fallen on roads, in rocky places, and amongst thorns. Praise God, though, some has fallen on fertile soil and has or is producing a crop, —“a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

After a time of prayer, preparation and waiting, last week we started an inductive Bible study for local church leaders of what the Word of God says about sex using Kay Arthur’s book “The Truth About Sex” as a guide. Talking about sex is taboo in many cultures and in spite of the ravaging effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic here in Africa the subject is never addressed in most churches, even though God’s Word openly and often addresses His purposes and guidelines for how we are to honor how He has created us as sexual beings.

With the subject matter being as sensitive a topic culturally as it is, it took some time and prayer to find a church and pastor willing to host or sponsor the study. Praise God, a local church responded to the call. In an effort to increase the yield (“a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown”) it was prayerfully decided that the class should be for local church leaders… pastors, their spouses, youth leaders, elders…. that, once empowered by the teaching, would be able to take the information learned back to their respective churches, ministries, small groups, communities and workplaces to multiply the knowledge.

We were praying for 30 local church leaders to attend. Several days before the first class we received a registration list from the sponsoring church of 18 participants. The day before the first class we were told the list had grown to 30. The team responsible for the class agreed we should prepare materials and refreshments for 40, but in faith we prepared for 50. At the appointed starting time there were 4-6 people present, but the number started to quickly grow. By the time we started the Bible study, praise God, there were 60 adults in attendance, eager to hear and learn what God’s Word said about sex and learn a new way (inductive Bible study) to read, understand and learn His word on their own.

The information contained in the scripture presented was a blessing to them and their enthusiastic reception of and reaction to the new study methods and information contained in the scripture presented was a blessing to us. At the end of the first lesson when it was time for those interested in committing to completing the remaining five classes we found that there were more that wanted to continue than we had books for, (again, praise God!). We registered as many as we could accommodate and have many on a waiting list for a second class to be started when we receive additional books, probably in mid to late May.

We are now praying over offering additional topical inductive Bible studies and inductive studies of complete books of the Bible. Please join us in those prayers as well as thanking and praising Christ for the seeds we have sown finding this patch of fertile ground and pray that they will produce a crop of a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Fender Bender on the N3

2011-01-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

Traffic conditions are scary at best in South Africa as road construction, disabled vehicles, unroadworthy vehicles, unqualified drivers and wide variances in speed always make driving an adventure. The odds caught up with us on Friday as we were rear-ended by a truck while stopped behind another accident in front of us. Praise God none of the five in our Nissan "Hardbody" Sani were injured and the damage to the vehicle was minimal... a broken rear turn signal. The truck that hit us and it's occupants took the brunt of the collision and weren't as fortunate though... the vehicle was not drivable and one of the three occupants, seated in the passenger or left side of the vehicle, sustained a minir injury to his leg and cuts from the passenger window which shattered in the impact. Please keep the safety of us and everyone travelling on the South African roads in your prayers.

2010 Year-End Tax Receipts and Donation Summaries Mailed Today From South Africa

2011-01-20T07:46:00.001-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving from South Africa!

Wait, what’s that? “Happy Thanksgiving”? Is Thanksgiving celebrated in January in South Africa?

No, it’s not even celebrated as a holiday in November here. But we are blessed to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving twice every year… in November as most people in America do, and again in January when we prepare and send year-end tax receipts to our donors that document how the Lord has blessed us through each and every person that has supported the ministry which Christ has called us to. It’s like Thanksgiving all over again, when we give thank and praise to God for you and your selfless support and important role in advancing the Good News of His love to the people we serve. Without you it would not be possible for us to do what Christ has called us to do.

To us, preparing and mailing these documents is more than meeting a mere formality required by the IRS… it is an opportunity… a blessing and honor… for us to remember and give thanks for the manner in which He has provided manna from heaven through our generous supporters on a daily basis to sustain the work He has for us here.

If you are one of our many financial supporters, your year-end tax receipt and donation summary was mailed to you today from Johannesburg, South Africa. As always, we are interested in knowing how long it takes for the mail to arrive from South Africa (last time the first piece was received in 8 days), so please let us know when you receive yours. The first one to reply will be blessed with a box of “Select White Chocolate Choc-Kits, our favorite South African biscuit (cookie) the next time we return to the states.

And while we’re at it, Happy New Years, or “Compliments of the New Year” as they say here! In South Africa “Happy New Year” also means “Back to School” as the South African school year follows the calendar year, with students who have advanced to the next grade starting that grade in January. For many students this means attending new schools as they advance from primary school to high school.

The start of a new school is always one of great need for many South African families and students as returning to school necessitates the purchase of school supplies and in many cases, new school uniforms due to a change of school or the old ones being outgrown or worn and tattered.

We have been assisting a number of students and families with their school fees, supplies, uniforms and transportation costs without the promise or pledge of funding for these expenditures and our Educational Assistance and Sponsor a Child Funds are presently underfunded. Please consider supporting a child’s education by donating to our Educational Assistance or Sponsor A Child funds. For reasons of security and confidentiality we can not publish the names or pictures of the children in need on the internet, but we will provide you with information about the child your donation supports when the funds you donate are allocated and spent. To donate to these causes please visit our website at http://www.TentMakerMinistries.com and follow the links to our on-line donation page, which allows you to designate the item you would like to sponsor. All donations made to our Educational Assistance and Sponsor A Child Funds will be used to meet the educational needs of students requiring assistance.

We thank God continually for you in our prayers. Please also keep us in your prayers for divine wisdom and guidance as we continue to learn and be led by His Holy Spirit. We are excited and blessed by the opportunities that lay before us to reach an ever expanding multitude of people with His Word.

Finally, as we close this letter we would like to encourage you with these words from the Apostle Paul, a TentMaker by trade, which can be found in his first letter to the church at Corinth, Chapter 9:

Generosity Encouraged

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 1 Cor 9:6-15. (emphasis added)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from all of us at TentMaker Ministries!

“Happy New Year” means “Back to School” in South Africa

2011-01-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year from South Africa, or “Compliments of the New Year” as they say here! Along with the New Year, school resumed this week in Johannesburg after the long holiday break. The South African school year follows the calendar year, with students who have advanced to the next grade starting that grade in January. For many students this means attending new schools as they advance from primary school to high school.

The start of a new school is always one of great need for many South African families and students as returning to school necessitates the purchase of school supplies and in many cases, new school uniforms due to a change of school or the old ones being outgrown or worn and tattered.

We have been assisting a number of students and families with their school fees, supplies, uniforms and transportation costs without the promise or pledge of funding for these expenditures and our Educational Assistance and Sponsor a Child Funds are presently underfunded. Won’t you please consider supporting a child’s education by donating to our Educational Assistance or Sponsor A Child funds today? For reasons of security and confidentiality we can not publish the names or pictures of the children in need on the internet, but we will provide you with information about the child your donation supports when the funds you donate are allocated and spent. To donate to these causes please follow the links to our on-line donation page, which allows you to designate the item you would like to sponsor. All donations made to our Educational Assistance and Sponsor A Child Funds will be used to meet the educational needs of students requiring assistance.

Harvesting Means Hanging Out

2010-08-29T19:00:00.000-06:00

By Jennifer Holste

The goal of poverty alleviation is to restore broken relationships that people have with God, each other, and the systems in their lives. To restore someone back to the image of what God created them to be takes time. It requires a relationship. In more simpler terms, hanging out.

Is that what missionaries are really doing with their time? Just hanging out? Is that really the best use of their resources? What about the buildings and programs that need to be established? If there is no immediate fruit to the labors of a missionary, is he/she really doing their job?

Consider New Song Urban Ministries, situated in Sandtown - a 72 block area in Baltimore Maryland. On the outside, Sandtown is a typical North American inner city ghetto with high rates of violence, drug abuse, pregnancies out of wedlock, and unemployment. Yet on the inside, there is New Song, staffed by more than 80 people with a multi-million dollar annual budget. It runs programs for housing, job placement, healthcare, education, and arts. What is their secret to success? Mark Gornik (co founder) explains:

"Instead of imposing our own agendas, we sought to place our lives in service to the community....For over two years we weren't working to renovate houses, we were out and around in the community, 'hanging out.'...During this time the foundational relationships of the church were formed....Everything revolved around building community together."

It took New Song 4 years to build their first home. 4 years for one home? That hardly seems like a productive ministry. Again, Mark explains:

"Is such a housing process too slow? Why not let professional developers do it? New song and Sandtown Habitat were building people, leaders, community, an economic base, and capacity, not a product for profit."

Ministry is about process, not product.

Consider farming as another example. Think about all the things that need to happen before a crop is harvested. "First, someone has to go and prepare the land. This is backbreaking work that involves felling trees, pulling massive stumps out of the ground, extracting rocks and boulders from the field, and moving them aside. But there's no harvest yet. Next the soil has to be broken up. The earth needs to be plowed, fertilizer churned in with the soil, and orderly rows tilled to prepare for the seed. Then the seeds must be carefully planted and covered. But still no harvest. Perhaps a fence needs to be built to protect the plants from animals that might devour them. And always, the seedlings must be carefully watered, nurtured, and fed over the long growing season.

"There are sometimes setbacks - bad weather, blights, floods, and insects - that can jeopardize the harvest. But if all of the hard work is done faithfully and with perseverance, and if God provides good seed and favorable weather, finally a glorious harvest is the result" (The Hole in Our Gospel, Stearns).

Jesus invested countless hours of time and teaching in a small group of 12 men. Three years to be exact. While He performed miracles, signs, and wonders, things really started to take off after the Great Teacher had left. Those who had been taught were now going out, spreading, multiplying, and taking their knowledge with them. They had been called out, nurtured, empowered, enlightened, and released. All of this occurred within a relationship that revolved around simply hanging out.

We need to move beyond our Americanized tendencies to evaluate the worth of a project based on its output. Product does not automatically determine merit or value. Let us be more process-focused, fixing our eyes on sharing the joys and sorrows of life with someone. Let us live beside them, demonstrating our genuine love, care and concern for them. May we laugh with them, cry with them, hold them and hug them. With this perspective, we are showing Christ's love to the world instead of simply talking about it (Stearns).

Please Welcome Jennifer Holste to the TentMaker Ministries Team

2010-08-22T09:15:00.001-06:00

“And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest”

Luke 10:2

There has been much earnest prayer for the Lord to raise up workers to come and join in the harvest. Praise God, He has answered the pleas of His saints! God has raised up Jennifer Holste as a long-term volunteer from Pennsylvania. Jennifer first experienced the work of TentMaker Ministries in January 2010 when she served in South Africa on a vision team from Calvary Chapel at Chester Springs.

Long after the trip was over, the burden to return and continue serving remained steadfast in her heart. Being a teacher, Jennifer had the summer of 2010 free to assist in our US office. Jennifer served as volunteer, writing curriculum that will be used to teach young teenagers the biblical foundations of basic life skills such as decision-making, conflict resolution, values, drugs and alcohol, HIV/AIDS, and sexual purity.

While she served, God moved mightily in her heart. Shortly after returning home, Jennifer answered God’s call to serve for a longer period of time with us. She left her 7th grade biology classroom in Pennsylvania after 3 years of teaching to join TentMaker Ministries in service to the Lord.

From September through December 2010, Jennifer will continue to write curriculum and serve in our US office while working on raising support and building a prayer team for a planned term of service in Africa from January through mid-July 2011 to help implement the programs she develops.

If you would like to partner with Jennifer to support her during her term of service, simply click on the “Donate” button to the right of the screen. Scroll down until you see “volunteers in need of sponsorship” and click on the yellow “Donate” button again. You will see her name in the list. You can also donate to the “Sara Bible Study”, the program which Jennifer is writing, under “Recurring Expenses” as well. If you would like to follow her journey, visit her personal blog at http://doublen-jenn.blogspot.com/.

It’s an awesome time to be in service to the God of the universe! Join us as we stand in awe of His power and provision!

Back in the U.S. (for now)

2008-11-02T07:52:00.002-07:00

We completed our most recent 6-month term of service in South Africa on September 29, 2008, when we returned to the United States after hosting a team of twelve from our home church, Great Divide Calvary of Breckenridge, CO, on a short-term mission trip in Freedom Park, just outside of Soweto, Johannesburg. The team worked alongside staff and volunteers from one of our ministry partners in South Africa in sponsoring a feeding program for approximately 100 children a day and a week-long after school program for twenty-four youth aged 11-14. The team was a blessing to the local staff and volunteers, the children, and members of the community whom they had the opportunity to meet, pray, worship and ‘do life’ with for the time they had together. The team was blessed as well by the experience and is eager to continue to partner with and support the work in Freedom Park and the surrounding areas with their prayers, purses and presence.

The team was a great inspiration to us, personally, as well. After serving as full-time volunteers with different organizations over the last four years it became clear to us that it was time to shift the focus of our service from working for other organizations partnering with and providing support to organizations which share our visions of ministry, stewardship and accountability. As a result our focus will shift from raising support for our personal efforts to raising support for our ministry partners and projects. The Great Divide team's gifts of prayer, finances and their presence provided us and the local staff and volunteers with confirmation of our calls, lifted our spirits, made us even more passionate abou the ministry Christ has entrusted us with and gace us strength, courage, and boldness to continue to reach the nations for Him.

After being back in the states for less than two weeks Bill returned to South Africa on short notice for a week to meet with local partners regarding project opportunities and attend a church conference to investigate additional potential partners as well as opportunities to participate in planting churches and establishing a Bible college.

We are excited about the opportunities the Lord is presenting for us to partner with organizations across the African continent and world. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to develop these relationships as additional opportunities to reach the nations for Christ.

Xenophobia

2008-05-29T00:09:00.000-06:00

We don’t know if you’ve seen any of the news reports coming out of South Africa about violence against foreign nationals… dozens have been killed and hundreds or thousands have been displaced from their homes seeking safe sanctuary in police stations or churches and the U.S. State Department posted a Travel Advisory for Americans traveling to South Africa.

Things in Mafikeng (where we are) are stable… the Setswana people who make up the vast majority of the population are a very peaceful people and part of the larger ‘Batswana’ tribe which ranges between here and the country of Botswana, which is just 12 miles up the road. Most ‘foreign nationals’ in Mafikeng are from Botswana and considered family as a result. The big problems are occurring in areas where there is a large population of foreign African nationals who have emigrated (legally or illegally) to seek employment or safe haven from political persecution.

There was a demonstration recently in a village located between here and the Botswana border that closed the highway but that was because of lack of service delivery (electricity, etc.) in the village, not the foreign national problem.

We hosted a group of Amercan university students here last week who we took to the airport in Johannesburg Sunday. Our normal route from here to the airport goes right alongside two of the hot spots of violence in Jo’burg so we altered our route and got them there without incident. One of the places our friends in Johannesburg are doing ministry in is called ‘Zimbabwe Park’ because of the high numbers of people from Zimbabwe living there. We have been worried about them but just received an email from them saying everything was fine there. We are planning to visit them next weekend and for now have not changed those plans but will wait and see how things develop between then and now.

For the latest on the situation we suggest you google 'xenophobia south africa'.

Please keep the safety of everyone here in your prayers.

When in Rome (Part 1, posted by Bill)

2008-05-13T02:47:00.000-06:00

Many of the books we have read about mission work and tentmaking recommend learning the local language and living in the community for a period of time (sometimes years) before starting ministry. Unfortunately we did not have the luxury of time to do that, so we have been struggling to become conversational in Setswana and take every opportunity we can to experience life as a local does.

Mafikeng is the Provincial capital as well as home the University of the Northwest so a large part of the town population is made up of government workers, teachers and students. The town is surrounded, however, by rural areas called villages inhabited primarily by the unemployed, unskilled and uneducated. The contrast between the standard of living enjoyed by those in town and endured by those in the villages is striking. People in town live in nice houses, eat good food and drive nice cars. People in the villages, on the other hand, construct their homes out of whatever they can find, usually do not have access to electricity or running water, are lucky to manage one meal a day of bread or ‘pap’ (corn meal cooked as a pooridge or drier and thicker so you can pick it up and eat it with your fingers), and have no means of transportation so they walk everywhere. Wheelbarrows replace the status symbol of an automobile... it is a sign of prosperity to have a wheelbarrow and a family that is especially blessed may have two. Short of a wheelbarrow the head is the most common method of carrying things.

To experience more of the village way of life I have begun walking some places rather than driving. It is a short walk from the office to the center in Top Village which we operate out of so that was an easy transition to make. On one occasion I met several women equipped with plastic shopping bags who were picking a very specific weed that was growing in the shade of a tree. I asked them (in English) what they were doing and after the initial shock of the question wore off they showed me what was in their bags and were able to communicate through hand motions and the word ‘ja’ (eat) that they were picking weeds to eat.

Increasing in distance, my next venture on foot was the two plus mile walk from the house in which we stay to the grocery store for some groceries including a bag of ‘charka’ (charcoal) for a braai (barbeque). Once again trying to experience the local lifestyle as completely as possible, I attempted to carry the bag of charka on my head back from the grocery. It was difficult at first (I have been told I have a pointy head), but after I placed my baseball hat on my head and used the bill of the hat to help balance the bag I managed pretty well. Needless to say, I turned the heads of a few drivers who were driving down the road which I was walking beside.

Really getting into the spirit of things, a couple of Saturdays ago I set out from the house for the office, which is 5 miles one way. I took me an hour and twenty minutes and provided a great opportunity to practice the limited amount of Setswana I have learned (Dumela, Rra! Le kai? Ke teng, O kai?’ (Hello, sir! How are you? I am fine, and you?). I managed quite will with that little bit, only confusing the ‘Le Kai’ and ‘Ke teng’ once or twice. The problem with this is it leads the person you are talking to to believe that that you can converse in the language, so the greeting was usually followed by a barrage of Setswana or Afrikaans which went in one ear and out the other (no resistance in between). That would provide an opportunity for me to explain that I came from America, was just learning Setswana and only spoke English.

On the walk back I met a gentleman named Abner who worked in the platinum mines in Rustenburg, about a two hour drive from Mafikeng. (The Northwest Province is known as ‘The Platinum Province”). Abner was home for a long weekend. He told me he lived near the mine while working and would come home once or twice a month to see his family. We have been curious about how platinum is mined since we arrived and in the next twenty minutes of walking and talking Abner clued me in on the whole operation. He was very pleased with his job at the mine and was trying to recruit me to work there. I enjoyed the conversation thoroughly which made the 10 mile round trip walk worth the blisters and sore muscles that followed. I don’t know that I will do it every day but certainly when time and weather permits.

Pressing on beyond the opportunities that walking through town and the villages present to meet and do life with the locals, we recently travelled with a local pastor to his hometown of Zeerust to experience life in his village. The pastor arranged for us to experience parts of a traditional funeral and wedding. It was quite an experience. I’m working on that blog entry now… keep checking back for the first part of that.

Village Preschool

2008-04-15T11:57:00.000-06:00

Today brought special reminders to me of why I am serving here. I spent my morning visiting a village preschool and found myself following around 14 little busy bodies that remained on the go for 4 hours nonstop. I was so impressed with the way the children played together. I saw signs of motherly love as the little girls held and fed their baby dolls with care. I saw boys sharing tools in the car and truck center and mischievously chase each other with plastic elephants and rhinos. During circle time, I attentively listened as the children introduced themselves, one by one, using full sentences in English and proudly announcing to me if they were a girl or a boy. I even saw a new teacher emerge, and an assistant equally capable as they took over their new roles after the holiday break (the head teacher has since gone out on maternity leave).

At first glance, one could think that this preschool might be found anywhere in the U.S. But after a closer observation and as the time went by, there were noticeable differences that clearly separated the two environments:

The clothes being worn by the children did not match;

Little feet were colored orange from the dusty roads that brought them to preschool this morning;

Coughs and skin sores that would warrant an immediate trip to the pediatrician were common sounds and sights;

There were no fancy backpacks…in fact, there were no backpacks at all!

The teacher assistant went to fetch water for the day with her container;

Washing hands before snack was done with a tub of water and a bar of soap;

Some children had mothers come to pick them up from school, other children waited for another family relative to fetch them because their mother is no longer alive, and they all arrived on foot.

Do these differences really matter? Depending on where you are, for some, yes they do matter. But the greater question should maybe be, should they matter? Do they make a person any less important in the eyes of God? Not at all. We do what we can, with what we have, where we are.

The best reminder of all for me today came when I told the young teacher that she was doing a great job as a teacher. Her reply was “No- it is only by the Holy Spirit that I can do this. I have to pray to God everyday that He will tell me what to teach”. So for the days that I worry if the preschool curriculum that I am writing is appropriate for these precious young children, once again God spoke to me through another person that I thought I was to help! God continues to bless us all, teaching one another how important we are to each other, no matter what side of the ocean that we call our home.

One year ago to date there was no preschool for the orphans and vulnerable children in this village. We are blessed to be a part of a ministry that has created the opportunity for these young ones to have a place to play in a safe environment, be given a beneficial education, and most importantly be loved and accepted just like any other child. You can see in the children’s faces that even though they have experienced life for only a short three, four, or five years, they value the gift of education.

The mother or guardian of the children at this preschool does not have to pay any fees for them to attend our school. The only form of "payment" that is required is their involvement in the child's education. They have to attend at least one meeting a month, at which time they are taught parenting skills as well as given an understanding of the importance of pre-school education.

We want to see the parents and other family members value this gift for their children, too. Please pray with us in the months ahead as we focus on ministering to the parents and the rest of the village community that they may get involved and see the importance of these educational opportunities.

Safely Back in South Africa

2008-04-09T06:21:00.000-06:00

We arrived safely in South Africa Sunday evening, March 30 after a long but uneventful 17 hour flight. We breezed through immigration in about 10 minutes, our bags were among the first up the conveyor belt, we picked up our rental car and were off the airport in under 45 minutes. Sometimes it takes 2 hours or more, so we were really lucky. We stayed with friends in Johannesburg on Sunday night and drove to Mafikeng on Monday. We stopped on our way to visit with a Jen Lisowski from Hopewell United Methodist Church in our old hometown of Downingtown who has been serving about an hour outside of Johannesburg since January. Jen has been making advance preparations for two teams from Hopewell that will be arriving in May. You can check out Jen’s blog here.

It has been unusually rainy for this time of year with downpours each of the first three days we have been here. The South African government has implemented a “load shedding” program similar to “rolling blackouts” in the States due to lack of capacity in the country’s electrical grid. We have scheduled outages every Tuesday and Saturday evening from 6 PM to 10 PM. At least now we are aware of the scheduled outages… our first week we were not and were caught unaware and unprepared.

Last weekend we had business to conduct in the city of Rustenburg, about two hours away. We made the trip on Sunday and arranged to visit with Jarod Ely, Susan’s second cousin once removed (quite a bit of research went into that!) who is in Africa for about six weeks making repairs to a Bible College in Rustenburg with a week-long side trip to Mozambique to assist with repairs to a diesel boat motor. Check Jarod’s blog here.

It is a real blessing to see young adults like Jen and Jarod dedicate their time, efforts and finances to make a diffrence in the lives of people here in South Africa.

We have come particularly close to a young woman here about the same age as our daughter whom affectionately calls us her American ‘parents’. She was very sick when we left in November and we feared she may not be here when we returned. We were surprised and relieved to find her much healthier than when we left her, which is an answer to prayer.

Headed Back to South Africa

2008-03-29T07:45:00.000-06:00

We're headed back to South Africa today. The past four and a half months in the U.S. have been a new experience for us which has blessed us greatly. We returned to the US on November 11, just in time to be with our daughter Laura and son-in-law Warren for the birth of their first child (and our first grandchild) Lucille Jane on November 14.

The majority of the rest of our time was spent traveling the states making presentations to individuals and groups interested in coming to South Africa on a short-term mission trip. We put over 11,000 miles on our car in the process. According to our records, we spent 92 of the 135 days we were back on the road. During that time we traveled on a very frugal budget of $11.70 per day for food (for two of us) and spent only two nights in hotels. The other 90 nights we were blessed to be welcomed into the homes of friends or family.

We learned and grew much from the experience. While it is true that it is “better to give than receive” we also found it true that it is easier to give than receive. Receiving or accepting is sometimes a very difficult thing to do. Call it pride or independence, in the past when traveling we would normally refuse friends’ invitations to stay with them and opt to stay in a hotel so as not to impose on them. Not so this time. While at first we were reluctant or embarrassed to accept the invitations of friends and family to stay with them or join them for a meal, we quickly realized that the simple act of accepting their invitations and offers was a blessing and ministry to them. Many people have the gift of hospitality and it is a pleasure and honor to see how they are blessed when they have an opportunity to use it. Use your gift and allow others to use theirs, you will bless them by doing so.

The world teaches to be independent and self-reliant, but the Word teaches us to be interdependent on each other and fully reliant on God. This is one of the things we see and value in the villages of South Africa, where in many cases people must rely on each other and God to make it through every day. We had an opportunity to learn and live this lesson as we traveled and thank God for the opportunity to do so, our lives have been forever changed by the experience.

There are currently seven teams scheduled to come with the first group scheduled to arrive May 17 and the last one (from our home church, Great Divide Calvary in beautiful Breckenridge Colorado) scheduled to depart on September 28. Please pray for all the teams preparing for their trips.

Reading, Writing, Checkers and Scrabble

2007-11-01T07:56:00.000-06:00

A new after-school program was started several weeks ago to supplement the formal education of school-aged children living in the village. The purpose of the program is to improve the confidence, self-esteem and performance of the children at school.

The hope is to accomplish this by providing individual and small-group tutoring assistance as well as educational games and activities that will make learning a fun and rewarding experience for the children. The program is incentive and rewards based, using positive reinforcement for participation and effort.

As many as 40 children ranging in age from 3 to 15 years attend the program on a daily basis, all meeting in one room with three or four adults to supervise. We are anxiously awaiting the completion of a new learning center building consisting of three separate rooms which will lower the noise level a bit and allow us to separate the children by age and provide age-appropriate resources and activities.

It has been a real pleasure to spend time with the children reading and writing, putting together puzzles and playing checkers and Scrabble, which are favorites of the older children. The children value the opportunity to receive an education greatly and it is not unusual for children to be waiting for the program to begin and request their favorite activity… ‘We want to read’… ‘We want Scrabble’… ‘We want checkers’… ‘We want puzzles’. The boys in particular swarm the checker boards, which teach critical thinking and Scrabble has proven to be an excellent tool to build vocabulary and sharpen spelling and math skills. Yesterday the boys got a real kick out of playing chess for the first time and all the different intricacies and complexities of chess compared to checkers.

The learning center currently has one Scrabble board and two checker boards but the children are collecting plastic bottle caps (Coca-Cola caps are red, Pepsi are blue) to make their own checker sets. Plans for double-elimination checkers and Scrabble tournaments are being made as well as a good old-fashioned spelling bee.

Life Lessons

2007-10-16T15:00:00.000-06:00

Twenty one children between the ages of 7 and 13 have come every day after school for the last two weeks to participate in a 10-day crisis intervention program. The first week the children were involved in activities to learn more about HIV/AIDS, Christianity, and coping with the death of a loved one. The first two days found the children somewhat reserved about sharing their feelings and asking questions, but by Thursday’s session, the tears were beginning to flow and their questions were being asked.

Our hope is that the children will be able to come to a greater understanding of how to cope with these tender feelings inside of them, most of them resulting from the tragedies of child abuse and neglect, extreme sickness, and ultimately death, all of which are overtaking their community. We ask that you join us in praying that God will work through us to bring comfort and hope to these innocent children that are dealing with more than we can ever imagine and at such a young age.

Life and Death in the Villages

2007-09-28T02:37:00.000-06:00

Spring officially starts in South Africa on 1 September and there are signs of new life as grass and flowers that have been irrigated are green and blossoming. After five months without rain it rained today, which is a blessing and curse as it rained so hard that many shacks and roads in the villages were flooded and will take several days to dry out. The much needed water will soon turn all the brown, dormant vegegtation green and eliminate the dust that has blanketed everything for some time.

We often wonder what these signs of new life mean to the people in the villages as the much needed rains flood their residences and make their already difficult lives even more difficult to endure. And while vegetation springs to new life around them, the cycle of poverty and death they are firmly entrenched in continues.

At times the problem seems so large we wonder how it can ever be solved, which reminds us of the question 'How do you eat an elephant?' The answer, of course, is 'One bite at a time.' We have often asked 'How do you save a million children?' (5 million, 10 million, use whatever number you like). The answer, of course, is 'One child at a time'. The task of saving 1, 5 or 10 million is so large and imposing that we cannot imagane a way accomplish it. But one at a time is doable, so we concentrate on the one in front of us and do the best we can to make a difference in their life and break the cycle of death.

We are presently working on developing a preschool and after-school curriculum for school-aged children as well as ten one-hour bereavemnt lessons dealing with grief and loss which will be presented during two-week 'interventions' for children from the villages, all of whom will have suffered a deah in their families. We will present the material to at least two groups of twenty children before returning to America to make presentations to groups and individuals interested in coming to South Africa next summer to serve on short-term mission teams or as medium- or long-term volunteers.

If you would like more information on short,- medium-, or long-term opportunities please email us at info@tentmakerministries.com.

Winding Down

2007-04-28T00:46:00.000-06:00

We are back in Johannesburg after spending 38 days driving nearly 7000 km (4,300) miles. We depart Johannesburg Sunday evening and arrive back in Breckenridge, Colorado Monday afternoon. We have been touched by all the people we have been blessed to meet, places we have been and things we have seen. The task now is to seek God's direction in sorting out the numerous service opportunites we have been exposed to and organize opportunities to share the blessings with others. Please pray for guidance and wisdom as we undertake this difficult task.

On the Road Again

2007-04-13T07:59:00.000-06:00

We are currently in Cape Town where we will be visiting Children of South Africa and Baphumelele Children's Home. We have much better internet acces here and hope to upload more photos and maybe a video or two... we have so many but slow internet connections have prevented us from uploading much.

Cape Town looking down from the cable car to the top of Table Mountain

Earlier Post...

After spending a good deal of time in the Johannesburg area we are about to hit the road, spending three days in Rustenburg at Lighthouse Children's Shelter. From there we will head to Helping Hands in Africa in Mafikeng, then make the long drive to Cape Town (about 14 hours). We will be visiting several ministires in Cape Town while there, and the last week of our time here is still not booked.

Sparrows HIV Village

2007-04-13T07:54:00.000-06:00

Zulu Huts at Sparrrows Village, the world's first HIV Village

Sparrows Village is an HIV/AIDS hospice located in suburban Johannesburg. There are currently 75 adults and 225 children living in the village, which has been open for about 5 years. With the advent of affordable and accessible antiretroviral drugs, patients who in the past would have come here to die are now learning to live with HIV and AIDS.

Messiah Ministries Youth Camp April 2-5

2007-04-13T07:53:00.000-06:00

We spent four days with Graham and Eileen Greene and 28 youth aged 15-21 in Magaliesburg at the Youth For Christ camp studying God's treasure in each of us and enjoying fellowship with each other.

Each day consisted of 2-3 bible studies as well as organized activities and free time. All of the teaching was done in English, but most of the youth spoke one of the native languages to each other. It was inspring to hear their stories and learn of their dreams.

2007-04-01T06:20:00.000-06:00

There is such great need here and so many opportunities to serve we fear the hardest part of the journey for us will be to select where to serve. By selecting one we feel we will be rejecting the rest. Pray for God's will to be shown to us as we continue to visit addditional ministries.

We hope to add a photo album soon containing more photographs of our experiences so far, sorry if the photos on the home page cause it to load slow, but as they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Messiah Ministries - Diepsloot

2007-04-01T06:16:00.000-06:00

A small part of Diepsloot, which consists mostly of lean-to shacks made out of anything people can find.

We are back in the Johannesburg area with Graham and Eileen Greene of Messiah Ministries who have a church and minister to the people of Diepsloot, a squatter camp north of Johannesburg. We came back from Two Sisters with no accomodations reserved and all of the B&B's we called were full, but were blessed to be offered a one bedroom flat (apartment) for the same cost as a room at one of the B&B's.

We worshipped at Graham and Eileen's church this morning, which meets in a tent Graham and Eileen erected on vacant property in the squatter camp. The tent was vandalized some time ago and Graham and Eileen are believing the Lord for funds to fix the tent and erect a security fence around it and build a shack for a groundskeeper to stay in.

We will be assisting them at a camp for 29 youth aged 15-21 from Monday to Thursday. and will likely be unable to post anything until we return from the camp.