Vision Casting and a Surprise Visit

This weekend has been quite a rush! On friday we went to the Apartheid Museum which saddened my heart and made me realize how destructive sin really is! Sin caused the eye to look away from God and look at the temporary satisfaction that Gold gives. The reality is that Jesus is our only satisfaction now and forevermore! A buddy of mine told me his brother went missing during a (black) south african march on Joburg and he believes that he was killed during the violent response to the march.

On a better note we had our CCP Vision Night which really opened our eyes to what has been happening to the Campus Outreaches throughout the United States as well as what has been happening in South Africa. I really am beginning to understand the concept of globalization for Jesus and it has been an exciting thought to develop! I only hope I can apply it to my life so that Jesus is made known more! Neal (the guy who gave the talk) said that we need to be Working Worshipers taking the Word to the World. He talked about how we need to see the need for the lost and how we are called to pray at all times! So Pray!!! Those who are not world Christians (taking the gospel to the world) become Worldly Christians (living for what is in the world)

Also yesterday I got a visit from my older sister Stephanie:

Steph and I got to talk for a while and catch up on our time in South Africa as well as just some Brother/Sister time. Steph has been in SA for about 6 months now and she will be there for another 4 and a half years. Keep praying for my sister!

Prayer Requests:

1. Thank God for the missing Campus Outreach man, Matt Hill, who has been found 

2. Pray that the racial separation goes away

3. That we can be World Christians and no longer Worldy Christians

Bible Study= Answer To Prayer

I will have to keep this quick... I don't have much time to type this

In the past few days we have been trying to share the gospel but we have come up with just about nothing... Yesterday my ministry partner and I, out of frustration, gave up on the trying to meet students because all of the students were studying and no one was in the room. We sat down and for our last 30 or so minutes discussed why the gospel wasn't able to be reached that day. We realized we hadn't prayed that morning for the students we were about to talk to nor had we clung to a promise.

This morning we pulled away before going on campus and we opened up our bible to look at some promises and the first thing we saw was Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and then to the Greek."

WOW!!!!

God really promises that he will save the men who he has called! We then prayed that God would open doors to the rooms we walk past. The first room we were able to go to had about 4 guys just hanging out in it and we were able to talk to them for a while and play some soccer with them (which I am horrible at!). That night we recruited them to a bible study being led by some of the student leaders on campus. Not expecting a big turnout... God brought FIFTY-TWO students!!!! How incredible! My ministry partner and I left worshiping the Father so much more than we started the day off! God really is awesome!

Sowubona!- Hello!

Greetings from South Africa! It has been incredible here! If only I could take you along with me to explore the rich life that glows from the culture here! We arrived at the airport around 9 at night tuesday night and after eating drove back to our place and crashed. Following that night we took a tour of Jozi/joburg (Johannesburg) and shopped for supplies that we would need at our lodge. We got a little situated, met lunch at Wits' common eating lounge, went out to dinner, and then crashed into our bed after being affected by the jet lag (remember we are 6 hours ahead of most of America). Thursday we received our CCP training and we took a tour of the Campus (which is incredibly beautiful!). We then went to the campus prayer where we first sang a song of worship (in three different languages... awesome) and prayed with students.

Friday we started the real grit of our project. We went to campus to meet students and point them to a braai we were holding. For those who aren't from South Africa (which I believe is most of you) a braai is a grill with music playing and dancing... like a cookout party. A braai is incredibly appealing to students because of the free food, the fun, and the dancing. I went with my ministry partner (mike hoy) to bring some students to the braai and got to meet a good handful of students at Dals (the res I'm laboring at).

At the Braai we met got to talk to a group of students and were able to share the gospel with some others. The braai was so much fun. It was a good taste of South Africa

(A group of students I met at the Braai)

(Rodney, a student leader with CO at Wits, has helped us in our ministry at Dals... An answer to prayers)

The next day we went to Soweto (the Harlem of South Africa). We watched a soccer game played by the Orlando Pirates (not orlando florida... Orlando the providence). The Pirates were playing for the league championship. I was not the biggest soccer fan before this game and the game itself made me a huge fan. Five of us decided to go into the superfan section of the stadium where there were bongos and horns (vuvuzelas) being played! It was so crazy! The Pirates won the game by a score in the last 7 minutes. We ended up rushing the field and there was chaos (we were the only white people on the field... It made it easy to point us out to the other students who didn't want to run on)!! Never have I been to a game like that (american football has nothing on it!).

(The group of CCP guys who rushed the field)

At the end of the game we left and were able to get a taste of Soweto after the game with people celebrating by honking their cars (hooting) and cheering. There were a lot of kids asking for our red shirts we were given at the beginning of the game (for free). I was reluctant to give my shirt away but God really showed how greedy I was and so I joyfully gave my shirt away.

Today at church we studied how to know God better. The person talking really humbled me by hypothetically asking us to sit down for five minutes and attempt to write 50 attributes of God... I don't think I could do it... I felt like I need to grow in my understanding of God.

Please pray for our time here in South Africa... We have a lot to learn and no room for Pride in it all.

Please pray for:

1. Our ministry- when we leave the students at Wits will be in bible studies with the student leaders.

2. My walk- That God might grow in me a hunger to know him more

3. My brothers and sisters- That God will build an environment of humility and grace in our team where we are able to mess up and still love each other.

Grace and Peace

"I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more."

2 Samuel 12:8

Waiting for the Shuttle

Its 7:30 in the morning and I am waiting to get shipped out to the Indianapolis airport for the plane ride. Our team met last night at the hotel to catch up and learn what our theme was/what we are studying/what we are reading for the summer. This past week flew by as I prepared for my time in South Africa.

I spent some good time with my family over the week. One of my biggest highlights was that I got to hang out with my little brother a lot. He is a skinny red-headed child who is extremely athletic. Over the week we would play catch with a baseball (I'm not the best at it) and we would eventually spend his birthday time together going to the batting cages. I love learning small things about him (and others!).

I also got to spend time with a lot of my past high school friends over the week and share the gospel with them. A statement made to me (not meant to be negative or positive) was that I talk about God a lot. I personally took that as a compliment given that the best thing I could possibly talk about is God. Everything else in this world that I could possibly talk about is futile and short-lived!

We were told our theme for the our time down in South Africa. It is "Down and Out" because our goal is not to see what God does through us but rather what He does to us. We want to have the gospel go further down in our hearts so that it overflows and we might go out to others and proclaim His name.

Our first book we are reading (which I would strongly advise reading) is called "Humility"

This book packs a punch to the readers about approaching the Cross of Christ and how to (with grace) humbly bow down to it.

The other book we are going through is something by World Harvest Missions called Living in Light of the Gospel Story. I have not gone through this book before but I have done a study by the same group and I know that it will be incredible!

Well, we leave in about 15 minutes to head out for our day of fun! Please pray that I can use my time to the fullest as I seek to have the Gospel sink so far into me, my brothers, and the lost. Please also pray that I can not waste my time in the airports.

I cannot believe it is about time! AHHHH!!!!

Grace and Peace

"But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

Summer Joys

Done
I am finished with my finals! I took a break from my blog writing because my body was breaking down from the lack of sleep and overloading of (potentially useless) information. It would have been easy for me to find my satisfaction in being done with school but I must realize that Jesus is my sole satisfaction! I was able to say with Paul in 2 Corinthians that God is the God of all comforts. He is the Lord over everything I wish to make my lord (rest, no school, summer). Jesus is my true satisfaction.

This semester has been my hardest with a final in every class and roughly 10 research papers. It certainly built discipline in me! I am approaching my final year in college. I am quite excited to graduate and see what comes around the corner for me.

A Week Away from Africa
Yes... it is true... In one week I will (still) be on a plane to South Africa. I cannot believe that it is this close! I have been so excited for it! I only wish that I could make Jesus more famous in South Africa. In 5 days I will arrive in Indianapolis to spend the night at a hotel with my team. In 6 days from 9-9:30 we will be saying goodbyes to family (come if you wish to say bye!). We will spend roughly a total of 10 hours in waiting or moving in an airport. Finally, in 7 days we will arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa.

(Johannesburg, South Africa... Beautiful!)

Gospel at Home
I am back home in Fort Wayne (for the time being) and while I am here I wish to share the gospel with some of my friends. I want to reflect David in Psalm 57:3 and have God exalted and glorified above everything (including my life). This is a scary process for me because my friends knew me before I was saved by Jesus. The reality of it is that I am not the one who changes hearts but God! Please pray with me that I cling to the promise that Jesus is my true Hope (and not what my friends think of me).

Prayer Request

1. Once again please pray that our team might cling onto 2 Timothy 2:2 and seek to make disciples in a lost world (at home and in South Africa)
2. Pray that I spend my time home wisely in order to glorify God
3. Pray that when I share the Gospel (or speak it to myself) that, as it says in 2 Samuel 23:2, "The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; His Word is on my tongue."

Grace and Peace

"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God."

Psalm 42:1

15 Days and Counting

I cannot believe we are only 2 weeks away from leaving. In two weeks from today we will be meeting up in Indianapolis to stay at a hotel for a night. At twelve we leave from Indy to Atlanta and (after a 7 hour layover) we go straight to Johannesburg (we leave at 8 p.m. and arrive at 5 p.m.). One of the most comforting things to realize with the whole idea is that even though the flight might be long the trip will be absolutely worth it.

I have been praying lately that God can provide me with a few young men to share the gospel with that are from another country within Africa. I dream of seeing men come to Christ that are from another country who will go home and share the gospel with their family and see a gospel movement in their city, town, or tribe! What an amazing opportunity! This is a HUGE prayer in my life and I want you to pray along side of me about this.

Another thing I am praying about is developing a close relationship with my team. One of the most common reasons missionaries go back home aside from lack of support is the inability to get along with their team. I pray that our team will be bonded together by the Blood of Christ (blood brothers). I ask that you continue to pray our team that we will continue to be in a grace environment (not a condemning one) and we love each other far more every day we are there.

Finals Week
The reality has hit-- I have only one more week of my junior year... Yes, just a week and a year away until graduation from Indiana State University. I am in my last week and therefore finals are becoming a very real thing to me right now (I should be studying right now instead of writing this!). 4 finals and 1 paper away until my Junior year is behind me.

I want to encourage you to what my last week composed of:

1. Jesus- Last week I was reading through 1 Thessalonians 1. I encourage anyone to read it if they want to see the effects of Discipleship and the power of the Spirit (SPOILER ALERT: The lives of the body is so powerful that it reaches EVERYWHERE!)

2. South Africa- Getting excited about where we will be living during the summer. We are staying at a place called the Tower Lodge in Auckland Park. Below are pictures of where we will be staying.

I encourage anyone who wants to read about other people do in South Africa to read my sister's blog. She is on staff with Campus Outreach Johannesburg at a campus called Pretoria. http://www.journeytojohannesburg.blogspot.com/

3. Discipleship- I had my last discipleship group meeting on wednesday night with my leader (brett) and the guys I am in it with. Below is a picture of us after a retreat in February

(From Left to Right: Zach Chike, Zach Hamil, Ryan Teppen, Brett Barnes, Julian Chike, Derek Hayes)

4. Bittersweet- Julian Chike (2nd to the left) is graduating this semester and we had a senior send off on friday. What is crazy is that a year ago he and I were not the closest of friends and yet God reconciled our relationship through Christ that he is one of my best friends. I say it is bittersweet because even though he is leaving I know that he will be making disciples as he leaves. He is still making Jesus his priority!

"In you presence there is fullness of joy"

Psalm 16:11b