Putting my hands to the plow and not looking back

AFRICA.  I’m here!  It’s pretty surreal.  But definitely awesomely cool.

So here is what has been going on:

I went to PASSION in Atlanta January 1^st-4^th.  Talk about a way to be sent out!  God is so glorious, and I could not stop singing that song ‘Fill us up and send us out…’  It was such a blessing to experience it with friends from Kanakuk and Haley Hill! I am so thankful for their friendships.

I was able to spend a few hours with my parents before my plane took off on Tuesday (January 4^th).  They wrote me a letter to read on the plane that included Romans 8:15: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.”  And holy cow it was just what I needed to hear.

After a solid 28 hours of traveling (including a 12 hour layover in London) and meeting some pretty awesome people on the planes, I arrived in the Joburg airport on Thursday afternoon.  Nigel, Chris (my two partners in OM Sportslink—both native South Africans) and Chris’s 5 year old son, Geraint, were there to pick me up.  Sidenote: I must have glanced over the fact that ZA has 11 official languages.  Yes.  11.  Official.  So generally people are very understanding and speak in English; however, they are fluent in like 7 or 8 languages.  It’s crazy cool.

I stayed with Chris and his family for the weekend.  They live in a neighborhood called the Big Five (aka Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, Lion, Buffalo).  It’s the perfect name because these animals are literally separated from you by a small barbwire fence.  Crazy.  I’ll admit.  I was scared.  But moving on, the weekend was filled with lots of traditional South African food (including a true ZA style barbeque with friends), a 5am experience at a local ZA market, and a trip to Soccer City in Joburg to see the Kaizer Chiefs play (This was definitely a highlight)!  For those of you that aren’t futbol fans, Soccer City is where the finals of the World Cup were played.  The stadium holds 90,000 people, although there were only 39,000 at the game on Saturday.  It was pretty unforgettable.

After attending a contemporary South African church on Sunday, I moved into my permanent residence in the OM Center.  Everything is the opposite of what I expected, but still an awesome blessing.  I am living in a fairly large house by myself.  Maggie and Rena (2 OMers…Maggie is from Scotland and rena from ZA) helped me get settled in.  I made the upstairs loft my bedroom.  It may seem a little lonely, but there are other people living on the property.  Rena (51), my next door neighbor, keeps me entertained with her amazing stories of teaching in Muslim schools in Sudan, raising two children, and showing me how to sew my own clothes.  I have also converted her into my exercise buddy, which is uber fun.  Ricky, Andy, Ester, and Prenech also live on the property.  They are all native South Africans and we have started playing 2v2 in the afternoons.  I feel like I’m in the movie Pelada, because we play in this overgrown grass field and use cement blocks as our goals.  It is a blast. 

As far as work, Monday and Tuesday have been all planning this week.  I have been given the responsibility to put together a banquet called the Question of Sport.  It will host about 200 people.  So I am in charge of everything from finding the venue, finding sponsors, and organizing the evening.  I am also in charge of a monthly newsletter called Sports Bites that will have detailed prayer requests and news updates for OM Sportslink.  Along with these projects, I will be going through about 3 different types of Sport Leadership Training along with doing a lot of practical work like clinics in the inner city.  It feels like a lot is on my plate, but if God is with me who can be against me?

Fun Fact: South Africans are terrified of bears.

What to pray for:

-Wednesday and Thursday (January 12-13) is all day prayer and fasting with OM.  Pray for open hearts.  Pray for God to speak. 

-ISLT (International Sport Leadership Training) Level 1:  We at OM Sportslink are hosting this clinic in a couple weeks and still need a few leaders to help out.  Pray for God to send the right personnel.

-God to be glorified.  For His name to be known.

Challenge:

I have been reading David Platt’s book, Radical, and through it God has really challenged me about what His aim for our lives and mission work really is.  A quote from the book goes as follows: “What if anything less than passionate involvement in global missions is actually selling God short by frustrating the very purpose for which He created us.”  Just something to think about.  God bless you guys!

This the house I'm staying in.