Africa Recap

I know it has been a couple of weeks since we returned from Africa, and although I can't say that I have fully processed everything that I experienced, Lindsey and I did want to provide a place online to send to our supporters to give you all a more in depth recap since we won't get the opportunity to share with all of you individually. This post will likely be long, and include several photos to hopefully give you plenty of an idea of what the whole trip was like.

First off, I have to say that I am thankful for your prayers.  It was evident as we were serving that this entire trip was covered in prayer and that from beginning to end, God showed up and took care of all of us, even blessing us with little surprises that we couldn't have planned for.  We are so thankful that we have a church body that believes in the great commission and supports those who can go while doing their part as well.  I am humbled and blessed beyond belief to be allowed to go to Africa and serve, but I know that wouldn't be possible without the help and support of a loving church (body of believers) family.  Your prayers were such a big part of our ministry, they are the fuel and I am grateful for them and each of you who prayed and supported us.

Now I know Lindsey posted something about our first day in South Africa, so excuse me if I repeat some stuff but I am going to go from beginning to end. But for those who don't want to read, here is a short video recap I put together of our trip, the music is our youth singing.

For those that will be reading the rest and for understanding the trip a little better what follows will be divided up into 4 main sections that coincide with the main parts of our trip.

• Getting There
• Masi Arts Camp
• Combined Arts Camp
• R&R/Getting Home

As you can tell, this trip we actually held two separate arts camps, and I will get into that as we dive into the sections. Ok, I think that is all the prep I can give you, and away we go.

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Getting There:

 On Wednesday September 26th, we all piled into a big ole' van an headed down to the airport.  Safe to say we were excited.  After over 5 months of prep work as a team, couldn't believe that the day was finally here.  In the first photo you can see Melinda, Thomasine, Tiffanie and Dave from bottom left going clockwise.  Below is a photo of Kathy, Crystal and Lindsey (left to right).

For many on this team it was their first international mission trip and even their first international flight. Thankfully all were prepared and just ready to see what God had in store for us over the next 14 days.

Our flight departed around 7:30 and we wouldn't touch solid ground again until we got to Johannesburg roughly 15 hours later.  Then another layover, and a short 2 hr flight to Cape Town. God blessed Lindsey and I with enough time in Jo'burg to reconnect with a good friend from our last trip, Tim.  It was a wonderful time chatting and catching up.



Thanks to our friends, families, church and other supporters, we all had a second carry on.  These awesome bags were full of gear for camp and blessings for the youth.  Since we were planning an overnight combined camp experience, God helped us provide PJs, two sets of clothes, shoes toiletries, etc so the youth would have all they needed on the trip (Combined Camp). Other blessings like school supplies, some laptops, medical supplies etc were also stuffed in there.  It is always such a joy to see the youth react to what God has provided for them, and we just are lucky enough to be the vehicles to deliver it.

So that you all have a clear idea of where we were in South Africa, here is a map to assist.

                       
View H2A-2012 in a larger map

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Masi Arts Camp:

Once arriving in Cape Town, we traveled around 45 minutes to get over to Fish Hoek where we would be staying, close to Masiphemelele (we shorten it to Masi), where are youth live.  This leg of our trip would last from late Thursday night when we landed around 11pm local time until Wednesday morning.  Friday was a prep day in the morning, so there was much sorting and organizing all the camp supplies, and the making sure that each of the youth's bags were ready.  After lunch, we headed to walk Masi.  I won't include much more about Friday, since Lindsey posted all about it here: South Africa Day 1

Saturday began our first day of Masi Camp. Saturday, Monday and Tuesday our days pretty much looked the same, as far as structure. Our camp schedule looks like this:

• Breakfast (we cook sandwiches and feed the youth)
• Discipleship - the theme for the week was Our Identity in Christ (who does Jesus say we are)
• Classes - the youth choose between drama and creative writing
• Lunch  :)
• Afternoon Classes - the youth choose between Art, Computers and Percussion 
• Music Class - everyone is in this together
• Travel Tips with Dave (this was new for this camp, since on Wednesday we were hopping on a plane to head to the other side of South Africa)
• Circle of Thanks/Closing

So here are a few photos of the classes:

Men's Discipleship

Sinesipho and Lindsey

Drama Class - Re-watching and critiquing their dramas

Creative Writers

Computer Class

Art Class - They made their own journals

Percussion Class

Music with Crystal and Karen

the lovely models from Travel Tips with Dave

Excited to see their own names on a shirt.  This was part of our circle of Thanks, being thankful for what God has provided to us all that day, including the bags to travel with!

You might be asking yourself, "What did they do on Sunday?"  Well we had the priveledge to go and worship with some of our youth at Masi Baptist Church. This church is a huge part of H2A in Masiphumelele.  The youth rehearse here once a week and they allowed our youth to spend the night together before we left for combined camp on Wednesday.  It was such a sweet time to not understand but 1 or 2 songs (since those had english words) but to still feel the passion and joy with which they and we were worshipping our Savior.  It was a wonderful service and we were so welcomed it was great to see just another part of the body of Christ.

So a few highlights from camp and our time in Masi:

• Being welcomed into their shacks and being able to pray with and over their homes, families and lives.
• Seeing the look on our teams' faces as they heard the youth sing for the first time.
• For me (Brian), being blown away by the fact that God was allowing me to teach these youth truth from His word.
• Getting to see the youth react as they receive the gifts/donations God provided
• Conversations over food aka, swallowshipping :)
• Seeing God create instant bonds between the team and the youth.
• Getting to hold a parent meeting and then them asking to hear their youth sing.
• Getting so see some of the same faces we've seen over the last 2 years and see how they are growing!

All too soon our time in Masi was over, but early Wednesday morning we arrived at Masi Baptist to greet our youth and all head to the airport together. The youth were so excited they barely slept, but they did great in the airport.  Here are a few photos from our travel day.

Our fearless travel leaders, KK and Vuyo

 All ready for their boarding passes

 Can you say excited!

 We even got to meet a local TV celebrity, the youth were so giddy about this

 Waiting for plane = photoshoot

 The plane is here!

Now boarding!

 Melinda and Neliswa

 On the plane!

 Ready to fly, I think so.

 Love the smiles.

 Landed safe and sound, off to get our bags...

After a 2 hour drive, we pulled into our home for combined camp, and this is what we saw, along with singing and dancing.  It was so awesome to see how excited the Mkholombe youth were to meet the Masi youth and vice versa. We were excited to be a part of it.

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Combined Arts Camp:

Combined Camp consisted of half of Wednesday, all day Thursday and Friday, and Saturday till lunch time.  Our schedule was similar to regular camp, in that we had most of the same classes, however we also had a lot more time to hang out and just pour into the youth because we didn't have to send them home after camp. We got to have breakfast, lunch and dinner together as well as just some quality hangout time.

 In art, the youth made shirts inspired by street art/graffiti.  This is Daniel working on his shirt.

 We also had sewing class, they made scarves and head bands.

 We hand a combined Percussion class as well.

Other classes that we held similar to regular camp, we had creative writing and drama. And then of course we had music where all 42 of the youth rehearsed singing together.

Thursday was pretty unique because we also had some scheduled recreation time. Lindsey was at the pool teaching some of them to swim, I was getting schooled in soccer but got to teach a few how to throw a frisbee too.

Friday was a really big day. In Mkholombe, Hope2Africa partners with a church called Norwegian Settlers and they have a Friday night youth event which our youth performed at Friday night.  So Friday we had a shorter camp day and then all piled in vans and went over to the church for rehearsal, dinner, and then the performance.

 Here are the youth in their performance wear, after rehearsal and ready for dinner.

 During the performance, this is one of their dramas, Jesus is being crucified here, but will rise again.

God really showed up at the performance that night, and when Jason, the youth pastor at Norwegian Settlers gave the altar call, 28 youth chose to accept Christ and 9 more wanted to rededicate their lives.  I didn't realize this until later, listening to people who were closer to the action and then re-watching a few videos, but as those 37 came forward, our youth saw, many for the first time, themselves being used by God. The Lord allowed them to see the fruit being reaped from their labor and it was such a tender moment to see youth coming forward and tears streaming down cheeks as they understood what it meant to be used by God.  For one it was particularly special as one of his sisters came forward to accept Christ.  Now there are two believers in that home.

After the altar call and an amazing time of prayer as our American team all were assisting with counseling, then came something somewhat unplanned and unexpected.  We got back to Skogheim, where we were staying, and the celebration and joy that poured out of our youth was amazing.  They were clearly praising the Lord and they were no longer two Hope2Africa teams, but one team, united for the sharing the Gospel.  Hearing them continue to sing and to shout Masikholombe and just be a part of the celebration was so much fun and a huge blessing from the Lord.  We also introduced them to s'mores that night, which was a lot of fun to watch as well.

Saturday was bitter/sweet.  We all knew the goodbyes, and see you later's were coming, but we still enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together. Which was immediately followed by lots of photos, some of those below.  Then we gathered and had our graduation ceremony.  It was important to H2A and to us to celebrate their accomplishment, not that it is hard to go through a combined arts camp, but completing something and having something to show for it, was just another way for us to continue to love them and show them they have value. We also had fashion shows from the art and sewing classes.  More pictures followed and then we had time to go pack up and get ready to leave.  Time had flown by but we still had precious moments left with the youth.  I was so excited when my Masi youth sang one of my favorite songs (one of the first I heard them sing) which is entirely in Xhosa, but I love hearing it.  Such a sweet moment for me.  Now for some photos from Saturday:

Daniel, Nondumiso, Melisa, Balu, me, Joyce and Ibanathi 

 Lindsey, Lucky, Andy, Mama Becky, Musa

 Sewing Class post Fashion show.

 Art class post fashion show.

I included this photo because it is one of my favorites and as you should all know by now, this is our Masi director Vuyo. It was wonderful to recognize him and all the work he has done.  God is truly raising him up into a leader and he is growing in that as he leads his team in Masi.  I really love that I have had a chance to pour into him, he makes me smile and laugh and I always learn a lot from being around him.  Can't wait to see what else God will do through him.

They all have such awesome smiles.

Akhona, Lindsey and Zizipho

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R&R/Getting Home:

Well this post has gotten long enough. I do have plans to include some about our last day and a half in SA, but wanted to go ahead and get this posted out there, so I will work on this last part later.  God truly blessed us on this trip, and once again I can't thank our supporters enough for all the prayers as you were vital to our work.  Now that we are back though, don't stop praying, you can keep praying for our youth, go find Hope2Africa on facebook and "Like" their page to get prayer updates, also check out their website if you want more info on them.  And as always, if you want to come we are already talking about next year God willing.  Thanks again.

South Africa 2012 - Day 1

Well, it feels awesome to be back in South Africa!!  Today we started with errands to prepare for camp.  So we started off with some breakfast and team devotional and the hit the mall/grocery store (yep the grocery store is in the mall).  We got food for our team, food for the kids at camp, supplies for camp and some last minute items we needed.
Then we ate a nice lunch at Dixie's, which is on the waterfront near Simon's town.  So we could look out on the Indian Ocean during lunch and see the occasional whale!  We've already seen lots of whale activity and it's fun!

Then, the best part of the day was going to Masiphumelele, the township/squattercamp where the youth we work with live.  So we met Vuyo and some other Hope2Africa youth and we walked around Masi.  We stopped in about 4-5 of the homes of the youth and prayed for them and their families. Here are some of Brian's pictures of Masi. (I shrunk them down, so they'd load faster.)

Our team and some of the Hope2Africa youth walking with us through Masi.

You can see some of the "block homes" in the backgroud.  There are block homes and shacks in Masi.

This is a good photo of the shacks and fencing and debris we saw all through Masi.



The mountains just outside Masi are beautiful.



Ok that's it for now, so I can get some sleep.  You can pray for us tomorrow - we start our Arts camp tomorrow.  Brian and I are leading Discipleship in the morning.  We'll be talking about Our Identity in Christ (how God sees us) all week, and tomorrow we start with "We are Forgiven" as part of our identity.  Then our team will lead computers, art, percussion (led by Brian), music and drama classes the rest of the day.  We also have a Parent Meeting (you can pray for that too), to make sure all the parents know all the details about us taking their kids to Durban for the Combined Camp portion of our trip.

Thanks for your prayers!

South Africa - Post 4

Well to be honest, I thought I was going to get everything in with 3 posts, but I wanted to do one last post to show you more pictures of Masiphumele (the township/squattercamp where our youth live).

Below is Wendy in front of her home. Wendy is on the leadership team for our youth.

This is just a picture to help show the homes in Masi, and how close they are. Masi is very over populated, and people are continuing to build shacks even in the marsh at the edge of Masi.

Occasionally fires will break out in Masi, and unfortunately the fire will destroy many homes because the homes are so close together. Below is us making our way back to one of our youth's homes. We would go to their homes, meet their families (if they live with anyone) and pray for them.

There are a couple of water ways/creeks that go through Masi. You can also see the power lines spliced and more homes, made of whatever materials are available. Then in the background, you see the God's beautiful creation in the mountains around Cape Town/Fishoek.

The "front" part of Masi off the main road has paved roads and is the "formal" portion of the township. This is where the government has helped build clinics and schools and these roads. The previous pictures have been more of the "informal" part of Masi, where tons and tons of people have move here to live.

Another view of Masi.

This church (Masi Baptist) is where some of our youth attend. This church has been a great partner with Hope2Africa, letting our youth rehearse their repertoire and have Bible studies here during the year.

Thanks so much for reading about our trip with Hope2Africa to South Africa. You can continue to pray for this organization and God's work in these youth. We pray that they will reflect Jesus to their community and country!

Our church will be going on another trip this year, Sept/October of 2012. You can also be praying for that upcoming trip. Hope2Africa will be sending teams in April 2012 as well. Thanks for your prayers!

South Africa - Post 3

As I mentioned in the last post, we would end each day of camp with prayer and surprises. We took TONS of donations from people all over the United States (THANK YOU!!) to our youth in South Africa. We also were given financial donations to purchase shoes and clothes for the youth as well. Here are some pictures of donations we were able to give the youth.

First we unpacked all our donations to see what we had and figure out what days we could take the items to the youth. The donations included towels, soap, school supplies and some clothes. We purchased pants/skirts and 2 pairs of shoes for each youth as well. Here's a picture of some of the shoppers with shoes:

(Picture courtesy of Kathy)

Here are some of the ladies modeling their new dress shoes. They also got a pair of tennis shoes. They guys got a nice pair and a casual pair as well. :)

Here are when the youth got their towels and clothes and other goodies.

Another exciting gift was back packs. Each of the youth got one of these bags. :)

My favorite gift that God allowed us to give was the bag of groceries. Thanks to a generous donation, we were able to purchase 1 bag of groceries for each youth to take home. We believe this bag will last their family about a week. It included apples, cheese, beans, rice, coffee, bread, cooking oil, some other items, and a couple of treats like a rotisserie chicken and a candy bar.

(picture courtesy of Kathy)

On our last day of camp (Thursday), we had a shortened camp, then went out into Masi for the youth to perform. This year they set up at the "flats", which are apartments that the government came in and built. The next post will show more pictures of Masiphumelele. Most people in Masi do not live in these flats.

The youth started with prayer. :) They go and set up their speakers and sound board and do the entire performance on their own.

(Picture thanks to Kathy)

Then the youth began their performance with the new dance they learned in Amandi's dance class. The rest of the performance includes dramas and songs that share truth about Jesus and His love. Here are more pictures of their performance:

Another drama -

In this next picture you can kind of see the crowd that had gathered.

One last song. The youth also end their performance with the gospel and handing out tracks in Xhosa (their native language).

Finally, I have a brief video of part of their performance.