Part 1. South Africa-

We are now all back in Chi-Town, overwhelmed and exhausted but thrilled at what the future holds. Well, I said I would be writing loads and posting pics often but I was just not able to, as every second was either spent meeting with people, being overwhelmed or driving and expressing high degrees of road rage. (tip to anyone traveling to South Africa, South Africans are very aggressive drivers...it was great!)

So many things about this trip were great, but clearly it was the children who stole our hearts.

(little posers)
So to give you a bit of background to why we took this trip... in a nutshell; the purpose of this particular trip was to discover and establish a way forward with our indigenous partners in 4 main areas
1. Internship Program- To evaluate different sites and begin to develop our internship program suitable for each church and it’s community. We also began to look for in-country staff (Local coordinators and City Directors) and began to hammer out much of the logistics of the program.
2. Orphan Care Ministry- We visited several church locations to assess and determine their need for orphan and widow care in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
3. Partnership Projects- We wanted to see what already existing projects are running and how we can come alongside these local churches and participate with them.(feeding schemes, computer classes, home based care for AIDS patients and orphan care needs.)
4. Communication- We need to convey the needs of these partnerships through images, data, stories, etc. We took over 4000 photos, heard stories and gathered information to better tell these untold stories.

(a small pastors home we visited)
We spent time with each pastor and his wife. We visited their homes and we walked through their neighborhoods, visiting orphans and people in the community. We travelled in South Africa, around Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Temba and Mafeking. We also went to Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

(Streets of Soul City- informal settlement, Mamelodi)

(Cape Town's coast- St.James & Muzenberg)
Here are some pics of the journey and some of the beautiful places and people we got to hang out with. We have been through some really impoverished communities and some very affluent areas. South Africa is 2nd in the world, in the list of the greatest disparity between the rich and poor.


(many people live in shacks like this one in Mamelodi- a township of Pretoria)

(this small shack sleeps 7 kids and their mom.)
Here in Mamelodi we had an amazing time with Pastor Vincent and his church, "The Powerhouse". We discovered some amazing serving opportunities for the interns, which include; AIDS hospice ministry, working in schools, community gardening and nutrition training, tutoring, prison ministry and computer skills to name just a few. Here we got to encourage two classes of computer students and help them understand the importance of computer skills for future opportunities. Below, Evangeline and Jenn are teaching them what the Internet is and how it works. Eg. searching on Google….and the dangers of internet dating of course. (they got a kick out of that concept.)

(a computer class hosted everyday in the pastor's garage)

In Mafeking we visited Mmbatuo Baptist church where the pastor shared his need for people to come out and help the church’s AIDS ministry. He was thrilled at the idea of an internship program and rattled off a list of advantages it would provide for the community. Pastor Edward Seleka is the pastor here, he is often quoted for saying, “AIDS is the greatest evangelist in Africa.” This is his reality as he's constantly called to minister to people on their death beds, who want to know what is next. He is constantly preaching the gospel at funerals where people are staring death in the face.

(Info about AIDS is everywhere but indifference and ignorance is winning the day.
/ Pastor Edward and myself outside his church. )
In Cape Town we visited a couple ministry partner sites and one potential church. We ended up loving the sites and being awed at the commitment of some of the staff we met. (A big shout out to Lindsey Henley, our hero!) We checked out Beth Uriel (a home for at risk youth) and Straatwerk (a ministry working with prostitutes and the children of prostitutes.) Pictured here below we went on home visits and hung out with a bunch of these kids and their neighbors.

(visiting Straatwerk in Cape Town)
There is so much more to share about this trip but I am tempted to split it up into two parts and let the other team members share their thoughts. (and we're still going through 4000 images...hang on, it takes time.) So check back for more the next time we post.

(more posers....such hope in all these kids eyes, I love it!!!)
Anyway, it’s been a phenomenal life-changing trip for us. I don’t just say life changing in a Christian marketing sense... I say it because 3 of us quit our jobs to be here and to be doing what we’re doing. All 3 of us are fully committed to working out the vision of Africa Revolution and following it through with the big sacrifices and faith it has and will be requiring of us even here in the US. Pray especially for Jenn and Evangeline who have come on board with Africa Revolution and are already playing a vital role in the development of this vision.

(L to R - Jenn, myself, Evangeline and Bac on the road)
Pray for us at this juncture as we now take what we have seen and heard and develop it. Support us as we really need partners with money to make this fly. I strongly believe that God calls some to do the work and others to support it. We are not short on those who want to do the work. We are just short on the financial partners. I know I’m sounding a little blunt about the money stuff... but my thinking about how this all works has shifted a lot. I make no apologies. As I walked along dusty streets in Africa I was moved at the prayers of these needy communities... prayers for God to rescue them. (Africans know the Psalms.) And it dawned on me that WE, God’s people on this side of the ocean are that RESCUE! Matt:25 calls out to us to be the practical participants in that rescue. ("The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matt 25:40) What a privilege. What an investment. What an opportunity to "do" for Jesus, to worship God with what He’s given us, to be the answer to so many prayers. Crazy beautiful stuff.
Thanks you guys,
Love you.
allan

(chillin' on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town- on the back deck at Jesus' house...coz we all know He lives in Cape Town.)