I have a book recommendation for you: “The Jesus Storybook Bible; Every Story Whispers His Name,” written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jago. Okay, so it’s a kid’s book, but it’s brilliant. Seriously!

This fabulous children’s Bible (sold in the U.S.) is what we’ve been using to tell some Bible stories to kids in Masi at a children’s club Friday afternoons. I had a chance to look at it more thoroughly today. I read most of it this afternoon and cried at several parts. The language is accessible and poetic. The story of God’s “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love” for his people and his “Great Rescue Plan” is so beautiful!

An excerpt from the creation story, talking about Adam and Eve:

“When they opened their eyes, the first thing they ever saw was God’s face. And when God saw them he was like a new dad. ‘You look like me,’ he said. ‘You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever made!’”

The book focuses on the broader story of God’s plan for the world. I think perhaps because it uses such creative language the whole story hit me in a new way today. God sent Jesus into the world to make right what had been wrong! I think, too, that I’ve recently been experiencing afresh the gospel story because we’ve been talking about it with so many people in CPx and in Masi.

In class we’ve had to practice sharing God’s Story. It’s broken into five parts so we can remember all the main points better: Creation (of the world and people), Rebellion (sin entered the world), Sacrifice (punishment for sin is death, but Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to take our punishment), Return (now God’s heart is for us to return to him), and Commission (we now follow Jesus and teach others what we’ve learned). It’s a simple story that I’ve known for years, but we’ve been challenged to use fresh language to tell it in three minutes and even shorten it into a one-minute story. We’ve also been practicing telling our own story, of how Jesus became real to us, and weaving that into God’s story for all people. It’s been challenging to figure out how to share it so succinctly, but also challenging to take out all the “churchy” language we’re so used to using. But what comes out is the most compelling stories we have! I cried today as Whitney shared the three-minute version of her story tied in with God’s story.

This is good news, people! When we’ve heard about Jesus all our lives it can be easy to forget why we needed Jesus to come. Before he came, people had to make sacrifices all the time to make themselves right with God. It was expensive and time consuming and bloody. It was imperfect. But God had a perfect plan. The Jesus Storybook Bible gives an excellent, small picture of what it must have felt like to be alive when Jesus — the man the Jewish people had been waiting for for so long — finally came. God speaks to John and tells him Jesus is the one:

“John’s heart leapt. This was the moment he’d been waiting for all his life. ‘Look,’ John said, as Jesus came down into the water. But his voice came out as a whisper. He couldn’t make it any louder. It was all he could do to even speak. ‘The Lamb of God … God’s best lamb … who takes away the sins of the whole world.’”

We spent several hours in Masi again on Sunday. I normally might wait a few days before sharing about it, and lump a week together, but our time was just so encouraging I feel like it needs to be shared in its own posting.

We started off by going to the Zimbabwean Bible study that started last Sunday. At the end of our first Bible study, we asked the man that gathered the group if he would be willing to lead this week and he was (which is a great sign for longevity!). We got there yesterday and he’d gathered people again (and this time some additional people: also a good sign). He then got us started through praying together. He’d also already picked out a passage of scripture to look at and led us in that study, remembering almost all of the steps perfectly. It was just a really encouraging time. All three of us “missionaries” that were there agreed that there is great potential in this group and particularly their leader. Here are a just few reasons we are thinking this:

• Their leader gets it. He’s new to Jesus and the Bible and praying and such but he is picking it up fast. And not only that he is hungry for it, wanting to gobble up as much as possible.

• Mission is on their mind. Their leader said, in his concluding thoughts (something we all go around and do), that it wasn’t enough to just learn these things about God but that we are to share them with others. That really made me smile and we got to encourage him in this: “Yes! That is something we are to do with anyone and everyone we meet! Don’t hesitate to take what God is teaching you today and share it with any that you meet!”

• God is answering prayer in their midst. This has taken two forms so far: (a) last week we prayed for a baby that was their, probably less than 6 months old, who was covered from head to toe and an extremely bad rash. His skin literally looked scaly. But as soon as we got to the Bible study this past Sunday, the first thing they did was show us the baby who was completely healed and tell us how thankful they were to Jesus because as soon as we all got done praying for him the rash started disappearing. (b) Their leader mentioned as his greatest need knowledge in how to manage money because it seemed as soon as it came in it disappeared on things. After talking it over with my coach, we volunteered to teach him and any of his friends next week some simple budgeting techniques that could hopefully over time begin to improve his family’s quality of life.

• God is springing up within them a desire for His word and presence. They really want it, and as much of it as they can get.

Anyways — that Bible study, “pre-house church”, was super encouraging and well on its way to becoming a house church and a bright shining light on a hilltop for the rest of Masi to see.

Our next appointment didn’t show, which was disappointing but happens often enough. We did get to pray for a woman struggling with alcohol and tobacco addictions. We spent quite some time praying for release from those bonds in her life. She cried and felt like God touched her life in that time and we are hoping that it is so. She’s one that we’ll try to follow up with at some point in time, if we get a chance.

Our next appointment was our last for the day. It was with another Zimbabwean who left one previously established house church to start another (this is the kind of growth exciting to see). It was small this Sunday but good. There was also two common threads that tied this one to the first one of the day. (a) It’s leader also said that his greatest need was for understanding in managing his money (we invited him to the little class) and (b) a healing was confirmed. You might remember that on our first day in Masi we prayed for a man who had a neck injury and hadn’t been able to move his neck since November and hadn’t slept well because of it. He was at this Bible study and said that ever since we prayed he could move his neck again freely, without pain, and that that night was the first time he’d slept well in about 3 months (and he’d slept well ever since). He spent a good chunk of his talking time in the Bible study praising Jesus (which is encouraging to hear). We have hopes for this group, just as with the first, and our praying that it grows and will be nurtured by Jesus and His Word and Spirit.

So — that was my Sunday in Masi. Encouraging and exciting. The Lord is moving and I am so blessed to be a part of it. For all those praying and supporting, I hope you are blessed by these stories as well. And for everybody reading, I hope you are encouraged by the incredible God we serve.

I am long overdue for a post such as this. Brandon has been very faithfully recounting his outreach time in Masi and posting it online, but I’ve only briefly referenced what I’ve been doing. Brandon and I have actually not had any overlap in our outreach times; we’ve gone out with separate small groups in Masi. So all my stories are different.

First, I’ve been working with a program called Vulnerable Children. I mentioned this before here on this blog. Me and Whitney have gone out together every Thursday, Friday and Sunday afternoons and we’ve always had one or two other people with us: Vuyani, Lifa, Lucas and/or Nicole. We started out the first day pretty awkwardly trying to plant churches among the families of V.C. kids. We set up five appointments to come back later and have Bible studies with the families, but of those five appointments only one of them has yet panned out. People are pretty nice here and won’t tell you no if they think it will hurt your feelings. It’s okay, I think we got the picture. Since that day, we’ve had some really great interactions though. We’re less nervous and so our relational juices are flowing more. It’s been awesome to get to know the people in Masi.

One V.C. family I’m particularly excited about is this one in the Masi Wetlands, the poorest area of the township. This sweet teenage girl invited us into her home and introduced us to her neighbors and family members who all just happened to be hanging out together in her home. On that first day two weeks ago we prayed with the six women and assorted children who were there, teaching them how to pray out loud. We all went around and shared what we were thankful for, and it was incredible to be in their presence and here how God had moved in their lives already. They’ve heard about Jesus and been to church, but never been discipled. Whitney and I set up a time two Sundays ago to come back and have a Bible study with them and it went really well. Two of the women especially seem very excited to learn more about God. I could tell the Holy Spirit was moving in their hearts as they responded to the creation story that we ready together. Last Sunday we met again as a group, and it didn’t go quite as well. We ran out of time, but the women asked us to come back and share more about Jesus. I’m very excited for the potential in this group.

Another thing we’ve started to do with Vulnerable Children is host an afternoon kids club every Friday. This past Friday was our first. It brings me back to days of Bible Clubs in the projects that I worked in for three summers growing up in San Antonio. I led the singing. He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands was a big hit. Especially the line I added of “He’s got Masiphumelele in his hands!” I also told a story to about 20 very well behaved children ages 2 to 13. I shared the story of when Jesus fed the 5,000 and Whitney illustrated it as I spoke, drawing stick figures on the white board. It was brilliant (and really funny at parts).

It was so different sharing this story of God’s provision with these kids, rather than a middle-class Sunday School class in the States. I shared that God could make something great out of something small and provide for needs when there wasn’t anything, and these children face dire needs every day. They need safety in a community of rampant crime. They need love and affection in a family with absent or extremely ill parents. They need food and clothing in a city that has scarce jobs for family breadwinners. It was fun and fulfilling to love on these children, but also made me want to do more. That’s what we’re trying to do with our outreach to their families. We already set up an appointment to spend time Friday with one family we met last week, and we hope to follow at least one other child home after the program to meet their family and see if we can spend time and pray with them.

The family we’ll be meeting with Friday is actually a pretty cool story. Sunday we had an appointment fall through, so we decided to try to find another V.C. family on our list. We had an address, but it wasn’t much help in a community that identifies streets with landmarks, not actual street names. It took us an hour and a half to find this particular shack. Whitney and I both wanted to give up after a half hour of walking around in the hot sun asking everyone we saw for directions, but Lifa pressed on. We were rewarded by finally finding the dark green shack. We spoke with the oldest child in the family, a teenager who helps care for her younger siblings. She spoke only a little English, and we were about to leave when he aunt showed up. This woman cares for her own children as well as her late sister’s children — eight total. She works five days a week, but only for four hours a day and can’t find any more work. When we asked if we could pray for her, she opened up about her struggles. As we prayed, Whitney got a really encouraging word for her and I just felt the impression that the Lord wants to lift her burdens off her shoulders. He sees her and loves her, and he sent us to her to share that with her. I am excited about loving on the children and spending more time with the family Friday before also taking the kids to the kids club.

We’ve been spending time with other people in Masi besides just V.C. families though. We’ve been going where the Spirit of God is leading, which has led us to some wonderful people who are eager to hear about Jesus and experience him for themselves. I’m going to write about them in a separate post, however, since this one is getting quite long. Don’t want to lose your attention!

I’ve got more stories to tell about outreach — they never seem to stop! We’ve had three days of it since my last note, last Sunday and Thursday and Friday.

Sunday

Sunday started with a trip to Darlington’s house. We were kind of surprised (but shouldn’t have been!) to find him waiting for us. When we got to his place, he immediately gathered his friends and family that lived around the immediate vicinity and brought them to us. In all — there were about 8 of us (which is an excellent starting point). We went through the process for having a simple Bible study, starting with prayer and then reading the text and it was quite a blessed time. When we finished a couple of really neat things happened that we should be praying about:

1. One of the guys there said that he had never considered reading the Bible before but now he was going to immediately track one down and get it and start to read (we plan on helping with this if he needs it). He definitely had a hunger for the Word of God that you really are encouraged to see.

2. One of the ladies told us that she had never prayed — had never wanted to — before we came and now she wanted to start praying to God every day. That’s quite the change and will hopefully radically change her life and she learns and discovers more about who God is.

If I didn’t say this already, I meant to: we were really encouraged by our time. Darlington even agreed to lead this coming week instead of me (breaking dependency on foreigners is a key to continued existence).

The rest of the day was spent hunting for other people. We were able to pray and talk with quite a few but that really was our power encounter for the day.

Thursday

Thursday was different for a couple of different reasons.

1. Munya, Lucas and I went into Masi an hour early and

2. I drove into Masi for the first time by myself. And I should mention that this was my first time driving anywhere in Africa further than several hundred yards. And my first time driving a stick further than several hundred yards. And that driving in Masi is insane (due to the flood of people and vehicles in the road).

Anyways, we went into Masi early to do a Bible Study early enough in the day that the women in attendance would have plenty of time to make dinner for their husbands. It was with a group of Zimbabweans and their were quite a few there (that all lived in the same complex, I think). We got their and discovered that it’d been a pretty rough week for our connector (his mom had just passed away) and so we led it using Psalm 62. It wasn’t a normal passage we use but it was what God laid on my heart and according to Munya (who is a “Zim” as he calls himself) was quite meaningful to the group. They all stayed engaged throughout and were incredibly interested in knowing God better. One lady in particular (our contact’s wife actually) even said that she was for the first time feeling compelled to seek God. That’s again, something incredibly encouraging to hear. We are likely going to try and get into Masi early on most Thursday to meet with this group.

After this, we went to another Bible Study we had scheduled. But the person of peace wasn’t home. We at first were discouraged but then we found out why she was gone: she had gotten a job! This was a total answer to prayer — she’d been without work for quite some time and asked us to pray about this the week before when we had first met her. God does work in mysterious ways beyond us. Our prayer now is that she recognizes the Lord’s provision and is even more open to His movement in her life, and that she’ll desire to be discipled and make disciples. We plan on following up again as soon as we get the chance.

Our last Bible study of the day didn’t pan out. We waited about a half hour and the guys never showed up. It’s discouraging, in one sense, when this happens but it kind of clues you in real fast on who is actually hungry and not hungry.

Friday

Friday was another crazy day. We started with taking Juli and Whitney to meet a group of teenage girls that my group had met the previous day. They seemed incredibly peaceful but we were all guys and thought it best that the girls pursue them. It was definitely a good thing. And so after dropping them off, Munya, Lucas and I went to the library in Masi to spend some time praying. We didn’t have any appointments for the day and wanted to spend it “hunting” for people. While praying for clues, Munya once again found his walking by and jumped up and started talking to him. It’s a guy that’s really interested in both having a Bible study with us and bringing his friends to it. Hopefully this will happen on Sunday. We went from there to another Zimbabwean house church (that has been around for some time) to encourage them (we felt kind of like Paul in this). They led and we joined and shared our hearts with them and it was an all around great time. It’s encouraging to see these things going on their own without the need for outsiders like ourselves.

We went from here to a meeting we had scheduled with a guy named Doctor. He wasn’t around but we found a group of three guys that wanted to know what we were doing, and upon telling them, asked us to do an impromptu study with them. We obliged (of course!) and as we were finishing the prayer time Doctor showed up and joined in too. It was a good test case Bible study — it contained people really hungry to know about God (2 of them), a gatekeeper that granted us access to the group (an older brother who isn’t all that interested) and Doctor who we really aren’t sure about. We are definitely coming back to meet the 2, and Doctor but we’ll just have to see what happens. The prayer is that reactions won’t be dependent on the action of the older brother as he’s already granted us access into their lives.

After this, it was time to call it a day…but the story doesn’t end! As we where praying early for clues, God gave me one — A white picket fence. As we walked back to meet the van taking us home, we passed a house with the white picket fence and a guy sitting outside. Being bold we stopped and told him what we were doing, that Jesus gave me a vision of his fence and that Jesus wanted him to know that He loved him and was singling him out today. He had no clue how to respond to this and kept saying, “I’m shocked! I’m amazed! I don’t know what to say.” We asked him if he knew who Jesus was and he replied that he had only heard people pray to Jesus but didn’t know anything other than that. He agreed to let me share though and share I did. When I got done he said, “I know that what you say is truth, and truth to be believed.” He said he wanted to know more and he is gathering (hopefully!) his friends and family to hear on Thursday. We got a chance to pray for him for healing (he’s been sick since November) so continue lifting him up as you read this, for the healing and that Jesus would use him to bring Kingdom change to the area he lives in.

And that brings me to the end of our last few days in Masi. Hopefully you can be encouraged by these stories. I know I am.

(NB: I am copying the idea for this post from one of my fellow CPx students, Julie Ostrand)

Things here in South Africa aren’t too different from the United States. People over here on the other side of the world have the same hopes and dreams, as well as many of the same brands. That’s right, we just bought us some Colgate toothpaste, Loreal styling mousse and Neutrogena hand cream — and we used our VISA to pay for it. Of course, there are a whole lot of differences in this place as well. Here are just a few of them.

1. Driving. It’s done on the left-hand side of the road. That’s caused all sorts of problems as we’ve been learning how to drive. There’s the obvious problems of staying on the correct side of the road, and especially turning into the correct lane of traffic. However, there are more subtle differences as well. I rarely remember to look in my rear-view mirror because I’m used to looking up and over to the right for that, not up and over to the left. Also, there’s the whole other side of the car that’s not on your right anymore but your left. So you have to learn to completely rejudge the boundaries of the car. We’ve hit some curbs along the way. Oh, and the blinker (which is called a flicker here) is on the right hand side of the steering wheel instead of the left. So we keep turning the windshield wipers on instead of the blinker, I mean flicker.

2. Crime. It’s pretty bad here. Lots of scams, pickpockets and muggings. Also on the more serious side, a lot of murders and rapes. So we keep a close eye on our possessions when we’re out and about. We don’t walk anywhere alone during the day and only in large groups (at least seven or eight people) after dark. This really changes some of our lifestyle, especially as we haven’t had a car these first few weeks. Also, most communities (that aren’t impoverished) have gates around their neighborhoods and/or high fences with barbed wire on top to keep burglars out. Almost every home has “Chubb Armed Response” plaques on the front to warn criminals away. Neighborhoods are guarded by one of several private security companies that monitor house alarms and drive through the streets to deter crime.

3. Pre-paid everything. Did you know that the pre-paid system of cell phone payment was actually created in South Africa? (This was told to me by our used car salesman, so I’m sure it’s true.) People didn’t have enough money or any credit, but they still needed cell phones, so South African cellular companies created the pre-paid system. It’s modeled after the pre-paid system for electricity. You don’t have a bill each month, instead you purchase chunks of new electricity as you need it. Our Internet also is pre-paid, which brings us to…

4. Internet. It’s not unlimited! I took unlimited bandwidth in the States so much for granted that I didn’t even realize it was unlimited. Now we have limits. You don’t pay a flat rate per month, instead you pay per gig of bandwidth that you use. And it’s expensive. We figured out that to download and watch a one-hour episode of Lost online it would cost us about $70. Not. Worth. It. So we limit our picture and video upload and download big time.

5. Accents. South Africans use soft A sounds, like the A in tall rather than the A in rat. They also pronounce their Ts, where Americans basically soften them so they sound like Ds. Also, the Rs are much softer at the end of words. An examble: water bottle:

American: Wader boddle

South African: Watta bottle

6. Languages. Yes, English is a very commonly spoken language in South Africa, but there are actually 11 official languages. So everyone knows at least two. Makes me feel inferior when I meet people who know as many as six or seven.

7. No central heat and air. This is a big one, with many repercussions. It means that we thrive on dressing appropriately for the weather, as well as having our fan on all the time (as it’s summer now). Everyone also keeps the windows and doors open in most locations, which means that bugs and especially flies become a common indoor pest.

8. Tips. Every time I go out to eat I feel like a stingy tipper. But the standard for restaurant gratuity is 10 percent. However, there are people you tip here whose jobs don’t even exist in the U.S. Parking attendants, for one. In any parking lot (say, at a mall), there will be a number of men standing around with yellow reflective vests. These guys occasionally point out an open spot or stop traffic coming the other way so you can pull into a spot. Very helpful. You must tip these workers. There are two reasons for this: 1) this could be this person’s only income to feed their family and 2) you want to make sure your car is there when you get back and no one’s broken in to get your stuff. Another person you’re supposed to tip here is the guy who puts gas (called “petrol” here) in your vehicle. There are no self-service pumps, only attendants.

9. Pharmacies. They operate very differently. If you want an over-the-counter medication, it actually has to come over the counter. In Oklahoma, the only OTC drugs that you have to ask the pharmacist for are allergy meds that people could use to make methamphetamines. If you want Advil Cold and Sinus in Oklahoma, you’re going to have to give them an ID, and your contact information. In South Africa, there are far more over-the-counter medications that you have to go through these hoops for. Brandon and I tried to get one at our local pharmacy, Clicks, this week. In the states, there are a billion varieties of these OTC drugs lining regular shelves. In South Africa, we asked around for them and were directed to the “Dispensary.” One side of the pharmacy counter was for prescriptions and another for OTC meds. In order to get our drugs, we had to give my birth date, address and phone number. The pharmacist put our purchase in a bag and put a printed label on it telling the price. Then — here’s the kicker — she placed it inside a metal cage and handed it to us. So we carried our meds to the front counter to pay for them, all the while holding the handle to a square silver cage. They did remove it from the cage after we paid for it, but still — major TIA (This is Africa) moment!

10. Coffee. Although Africa is known for it’s superb coffees, people in South Africa actually predominantly drink instant coffee. It’s just part of the culture. And the instant coffee we have here at Africa House is the cheapie stuff, called Ricoffee (reminds me of someone yodeling over the Alps). Fortunately, it’s not the only thing drunk here. The grocery store, Pick n Pay, stocks an adequate selection of ground coffee as well. French presses are available in most shops, although they’re more expensive here. I planned ahead for this, however, and my Clever Coffee Dripper and Starbucks VIA packets have proved useful. One thing I haven’t been able to access here is half and half. That’s the only thing I ever put in my coffee in the States. But I literally cannot find it anywhere here. I tried to explain it to my South African friends (which, by the way, is actually very hard since I don’t know how they make the stuff) and they had no idea what I was talking about. I tried getting cream at the store and mixing it with milk, and that was a no-go. The cream here is yellow and thick and doesn’t dissolve in the coffee. So I’ve switched to whole milk. It’s better for me any way. (Just not as creamy.)

11. Service at restaurants. We are spoiled in America, people! The service is so slow here. And it’s not any one waiter or waitress, it’s all of them. It leads me to think that it’s not that they are lazy, it’s just that there’s a culture of slow service. Brandon orders bottomless lemonade at Mug and Bean (one of the few free-refill items in South Africa) and he has to flag down the waiter and beg for another refill. They don’t come check on you every five minutes and hand you your check as soon as you’re done. We’ve had to ask for our check every time. It’s just a different mind set.

12. Robots. They’re traffic lights, not animated machines that eventually overpower their creators and take over the world. It’s pretty strange to see big signs on the road that say “ROBOTS AHEAD.”

Anything else you’d like to know about?

Guess what I found here in Cape Town? A street that’s named Norman Road. Just reminded me a little of my Oklahoma home.

Norman Road

Brandon and I with our new (to us) Toyota Tazz

So in order to get around town, Brandon and I decided we needed a car. And thanks to the generosity of many people, we were able to buy it this week. We purchased a used 2006 Toyota Tazz. (Pictured above, which I have named our Razzama Tazz) We don’t have Tazzes in the States, but they are a very popular car here in South Africa. A reliable car that will last us a long time and keep us safe. (Also a very no-frills machine. I will miss my old Sable’s power windows and CD player!)

Now Brandon and I are learning to drive it. Yes, we bought a car that we don’t know how to drive. It’s a standard. Which is pretty standard here. We shopped around a lot and they just don’t carry many automatics here, and the ones they do have you pay a premium for. So we’re embracing using a stick. We’ve had three lessons and Brandon actually drove home from the mall yesterday! Next we’ll practice driving up and down the less populated road near here. Then the final test will be taking the highway over the mountain…in rush hour. There are lots of mountains here, so this could get interesting! Please pray that we would learn quickly and stay safe!

Also, I thought I’d post a few picks from our Valentine’s Day date night, since I told you about that in advance. The go-as-a-group-and-then-split-into-pairs date went over very well!

The view by the restaurant

A self-portrait, so you don't forget what we look like

As of today Brandon and I have been married exactly one year. Happy anniversary to us! It’s crazy to think about the journey that God has taken Brandon and I on over the past year. Our life looks totally different now, in nearly every aspect. To celebrate our anniversary, Brandon and I went into Masiphumelele to lead house churches. Well, okay, that is how we spent our day but it wasn’t done in order to celebrate our special day. That’s just what happened to be on the agenda for the day. It’s been a busy, draining day, so we’re actually planning to spend some time alone together tomorrow to actually celebrate. Monday is our off day, so we’ll be able to get away a bit to celebrate.

So…Masi! I know Brandon has posted on this site about some of the exciting things he’s witnessed God doing in people’s lives in Masi so far. We’ve actually been going in separate groups, so I haven’t posted any of the exciting stories that I’ve experienced. While he’s been meeting a lot of men, and a lot of people from Zimbabwe, I’ve been connecting with women, mostly Xhosa people.

My group, which has consistently included Whitney Caldwell and one or two other people, has been tasked with attempting to plant churches through the connections All Nations has in one of their ministries. The Vulnerable Children program provides food for children in Masi in extreme need. This includes households that are run by children because either they don’t have parents or their parents are too sick to care for them (about one in three people in Masi have HIV/AIDS). It’s a great ministry, but no one has really intentionally tried to see if the families of these children would be interested in learning more about Jesus through simple church. So the others and I were given a list of the 25 or so V.C. children and asked to see if their families would be interested in reading the Bible together and learning more about Jesus. The idea is that we would then lead them through simple steps to have a house church with their friends and family, soon handing off the leadership of the group to one of the people in the gathering.

We have found a few of the families so far. This task is complicated by the fact that there aren’t real addresses in many parts of Masi and people are so transitory that they often move away from one house and don’t tell All Nations where their new home is. Some of the families haven’t seemed very interested in starting a Bible study. But that’s fine. Our goal is to find a “person of peace” (based on the Luke 10 model), who is hungry to know about Jesus and willing to gather their community together to form a church. Today we had our first exciting Bible study in one of the homes of a V.C. child. It was awesome to see the Lord speak to the women there, giving them insight into his word that’s far more valuable than anything I could have taught them. The whole idea is to see the people of Masi empowered to follow God, and I saw a little bit of that this afternoon.

I’ve also been connecting with other people that God leads us to as we’re walking through Masi in search of the Vulnerable Children homes. I am especially excited about one group that Whitney and I connected with Friday. All afternoon all over Masi we kept running into these people who we finally found out were all connected, all close neighbors, all of whom want to know more about Jesus. We taught one of the young women the simple method we use to read the scriptures together, and she is going to lead the study when we all meet together next Sunday. I am very excited to see where God takes this group.

Okay, I have more I could share. It’s been a big week, as usual for us here in CPx. But I’m running out of energy to type, and I’m sure you’re running out of energy to read, so I’ll save it for another blog post.

We had our second week of community outreaches this week. As I wrote before, Juli and I are in Masi so that location should be assumed throughout this note. A lot happened in my group (I walk around with our coach, named Munya who is from Zimbabwe and Lucas who is actually from Masi) so I’ll break it down into days.

Thursday

Thursday was our second official day in the community (our first being last Friday). Our goal was to meet some new people in our quest to find people of peace (a concept I’ll develop more on this blog soon) as well as follow up with those we met last week. Munya put me in charge of our time, and charged me with leading the way, so I first had the three of us stop at the playground at the library in Masi to pray and seek guidance about who Jesus wanted us to find that day (basically treasure hunting for those familiar with the concept). Not 30 seconds into praying Munya yells at a guy and ran after him. I followed and on the way he said that he saw a picture of the guy where the brown shirt that was passing. We flagged the guys down (there were two of them) and started talking to them and they immediately asked if we would sit with them and explain more (a good sign). They were actually so excited that they wanted to do a Bible study then and there, in the park. So I facilitated and taught them how to facilitate as well (the steps for praying and reading the Bible which I’ll get into more in a separate post soon). It took about an hour and they were just really excited and promised to gather their friends and family for another Bible study on Sunday. When we left they actually turned around and walked back they way they came — it was almost as if they were just prompted out of their homes to meet us.

We next went to find another Zimbabwean we had met last week. We went to the place we thought we were supposed to meet and he wasn’t there so Munya called him. He explained that he had gathered people at his home at 1 and that he was waiting for us there. This was a good and bad thing to hear. It was awesome to hear that he had gathered and was really taking the initiative to learn about Jesus but bad because it was 3pm, which is the time we’d set for the meeting, and not 1 and most of the people had gone home for the day. He met us back at the fruit stand though and took us to his home, which opened into a big courtyard. There where several people there and they all informed us how excited they were that we were there to share and how they couldn’t wait for us to come back but that it would have to be earlier (1ish) so that the women would have time to cook. So, next week on Thursday we are going to do our best to get there between 1 and 1:30. Pray for this gathering as there is a distinct hunger in the people we met and they are apparently bringing many more.

Before we left the courtyard, we had the opportunity to pray for one of the woman who was having foot problems (named Christine). She seemed touched by the prayers and told us that she could walk better afterwards but we’ll find out more in regards to this next week when we see her again. Pray for full healing!

After all of this, it was time to head back for our ride. But we were encouraged. It was definitely a fruitful day, I must say.

Friday

Yesterday was a pretty incredible time in Masi — it rivaled our other times, I must say. We started off treasure hunting again but I was the only one to get clues: a serious leg issue that required crutches or a cane and a shorter, stocky palm tree. So we started off with those in mind looking for folks to share with, pray with and start churches with. The first guy we encountered was a younger man (probably younger than me) who seemed really excited; he says he is gathering a group for Sunday, so we’ll see.

We left his house and immediately found the short, stocky palm tree and there was a woman doing laundry underneath it. So, we went up and engaged her in conversation. Once we told her what we were doing she stopped what she was doing, took us to her house, and welcomed us in to sit with her. She also immediately invited her sister in as well. We shared and explained more and she is inviting friends and family, hopefully for Sunday afternoon.

We left there and immediately found the leg problem. There was a man with crutches across the street and a foot in a cast and bandages. We ran across to him and explained what we were doing and that we thought Jesus wanted him to know His love today and asked if we could pray for his leg. He said yes and immediately sat down. We laid hands and prayed and when we finished he pointed at his leg and drew barriers (pretty much where the bandages were) and said “Here it felt very very strange as you prayed. It felt like everything was moving around and changing inside me. And now it isn’t really hurting.” He then got up saying “Thank you Jesus! King of kings and Lord of lords!”. He gave us his name and number and wants to connect again to learn about what we are doing. Pray for this encounter to — it sounds like he’s not going to have bandages and such the next time we see him but more importantly we are hoping his heart stays fixed on Jesus and that he will be a catalyst for change in his community. It feels like a lot to ask but completely within the realm of God’s possibility.

From their we met a lady we had met last week that felt peaceful (she was one that was super touched when we prayed). Unfortunately she right now seems caught up in the old ways and not just Jesus and isn’t super interested in focusing on Him above. Pray that this would change as we’ll likely see her again.

We went from her house to another contact that Munya had. He is a Zimbabwean that currently attends another house church but is interested in gather people in his own area of Masi. This will definitely be exciting if it happens (and involved no work of our own; we just get to come along for the ride, and a good chunk of discipleship).

Lastly, we had a guy run into the street and up to us intrigued about who we were and what we were doing. We told him. He immediately said he wanted to be a part of that and gave us his number. He then said that he’d gather people together for next week. He found us and it all happened in about 10 minutes time.

So yeah — outreach is definitely going well. It’s crazy to walk in the experiences that we are all walking in. All the groups have stories similar (and some can be even more fascinating than the ones from my group, for example the fundamentalist muslims interested in meeting and sharing that one group found). The harvest is definitely plentiful and ripe for the picking. Keep praying for (local!) workers to work it — we foreigners long to be simple catalysts that see a locally lead and driven movement toward Christ.

One of the big blessings of CPx is that it includes people from all over the world of all different cultures. It’s something I knew about coming in, but didn’t expect to be such a blessing and delight. There’s definitely the potential for a lot of conflict here as a result of all the different cultures, but it’s been so wonderful. There’s a feeling of spiritual family and community that I have only gotten in other groups that are similarly focused on the same mission of Jesus.

During our morning corporate worship times, I’m sometimes struck with the beauty of the worship that’s coming from all these different cultures. We sing African worship songs, which is so freeing and fun, but we also sing some Western worship songs. One morning last week we sang “Hosanna” by Hillsong United, and I was so moved by the experience that I broke down in sobs. This was the song that I sang over and over to God during the time in early 2008 in which I recommitted myself to following where God led me. I knew at that time he was calling me to missions, and “Hosanna” was a big song for me at that time. Singing it here in this context was so special to me because the Lord used it to remind me that he keeps his promises. I wanted so badly to GO to the nations, and he’s brought me here. And now I’m singing this same song with my brothers and sisters from around the world. Incredible!

Thank you to all of you who prayed that Brandon and I would make friends quickly and have a spiritual family here! Brandon and I both feel so thankful for the people here. I’ve begun to get closer to the other young married women. We had girl night last night for the first time and it was so good for my soul.

I wanted to share with you a little of the spiritual family that I have here. So Brandon took photos Saturday night at our CPx game night at Africa House. Here are a few of the faces that have quickly become close to us.

It's a good thing we brought our game of Apples to Apples, because it was a big hit!

Brits in the foreground, Americans in the background

Sbu, who translated for us in Masi in May and is now part of CPx.

Siya, from South Africa

Hanging outside at Africa House before the games