Graceland Baptist Church College Ministry

Although I know that the title for today’s blog is a song from Fiddler on the Roof, it also describes our day.  Today was our last day in South Africa.  It started before sunrise.  We left Mafikeng at about 5 am to head to Pilanesburg game reserve.  We got about 45 minutes away and Dennis Janz’s vehicle indicated a battery issue.  We returned and swapped the luggage trailer onto Wes Gestring’s vehicle.  We then drove the 2.5 hours to Pilanesburg.  We drove through the reserve for about 4 hours or so.  We saw several animals, including lions.  After leaving the park, we got a ticket for the luggage trailer not having proper break lights.  We got hung up a little crossing the border into Botswana.  Then, we went to get something to eat.  I had to walk a quite aways to exchange some money and when I was coming back to join the group, I thought that someone was following me to rob me.  I would walk faster and faster, and so did the “footsteps” that were following me.  When I turned around to eye my stalker, the “footsteps” jumped behind me.  I then realized that the “footsteps” were actually something in my backpack making a clicking noise as I walked.  While we were eating, Dennis’ “new” vehicle got a “boot” lock put on it as it was illegally parked.  We finally get to our lodging in Botswana, only to find out that when Dennis and Wes traded cars, the keys for the locks on the luggage trailer were left in Mafikeng.  We had to bust the hinges off the trailer to get our luggage out.  But God still has away of putting a beautiful sunset on our trip.  The desk clerk was helping Darrin Puckett and I to set our air unit.  She asked us why we came to South Africa/Botswana and we shared with her.  Although we didn’t have a ball, we shared the colors from the Evangeball.  We asked her if she was a follower of Jesus and she said she was.  We gave her a copy of the colors of the ball in Setswana, the language of the Tswana people.  She told us that she was a Shona from Zimbabwe, so we gave her a copy of the colors in English.  This is a tool that she can share with others.  This will be my last post until we get home.  Please pray for us as we now head into two days of flights and layovers.  Saturday will be a 31 hour day for us.  Pray that we are able to get some rest.  Also, pray that God will give us a few more opportunities to share.  Good night, God bless, and TTFN.

Today was our last day with the other two teams.  We went out to Moshawane village with Jody Janz.  Four of the girls shared their testimony.  The two from our team were Sarah Davis and Ashley Gadd.  God really used them.  The girls also painted the nails of the girls with the same colors as the Evangeballs.  The rest of us played a pick up game of soccer on a front yard pitch.  Tonight we had our farewell and final team meeting.  Everybody got to share about their experience.  We presented the Gestring and Janz families with a little bit of Louisville culture.  We had two Slugger bats made for them with a personal message engraved.  All persons from all three teams signed the bats.  Well, I don’t know if I will have Internet access any more throughout the trip.  Thanks for following us and praying for us.  I will post all my photos on facebook when I return home.  Take care, God bless, good night, and TTFN.

Frigid, frigid, frigid.  I woke up today to a balmy 37 (F) degrees outside, and a room that seemed even colder.  None of the homes here (with the exception of millionaire’s homes) have heat.  You just throw on a bunch of blankets and pull them over your head.  Anyway, today was a down day as far as ministry is concerned.  Today was our day to catch a World Cup match, New Zealand vs. Slovakia.  They ended the game in a 1-1 tie.  New Zealand tied it with about 30 seconds left in the match.  It was very cold at the stadium, and very windy.  I had to borrow a beanie (we call them toboggans) and gloves.  I even had to buy a scarf.  It was neat as there were probably 5 different languages being spoken by those who were sitting around us in the stands.  Six, if you consider the vuvuzela (plastic horn) a language all to itself.  It is supposed to freeze overnight.  Tomorrow, we get back into ministry mode as we will be heading to the Moshawane village to help Jody Janz with the ministry that she has with women and children.  Then we come home and pack.  We will be leaving the Mafikeng area at 4:30 (10:30 at night Wednesday for those in Louisville area) in the morning on Thursday.  We will be heading back to Botswana but will be stopping by Pilanesburg game reserve (safari) on the way to see some animals.  Then we will start the journey home.  Continue to pray for us to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ all the way to Louisville.  Good night, God bless, and TTFN.

I wish I could take them with me!  That is how I feel about some of the kids that we have met since last Wednesday.  Today was our last day out in this specific village.  We had our awards ceremony and showed our last WC match, Japan vs. Cameroon.  This one young man brought tears to my eyes.  We don’t know how old he is and he couldn’t even understand questions that our interpreters asked him.  He is severely mentally handicapped.  He is mistreated in the village as we have even seen some children shove him to the ground (we put a stop to that).  He gets great joy from watching the soccer matches.  I so long to be able to tell him that although people reject him, God loves him very much.  His picture is posted here.  He has a beautiful smile. Pray for this young man.  I am grateful that we serve a God of mercy.  We had a lot of kids at the showing of the soccer match.  There were two girls that shared their testimonies, Sarah Ash (from Graceland) and Katherine who is from Tanzania but studying at here at Northwest University.  They both did a wonderful job. As we were leaving, I saw a beautiful sunset that reminded me that although the sun is setting on this part of our trip, this village belongs to the Lord and the Son is still risen for the people of Rooirgrand village.  Tomorrow we will be heading to see a WC match between Slovakia and New Zealand.  Good night, God bless, and TTFN.

“Lift Jesus higher, lift Jesus higher, lift Jesus higher!”  Now picture that with people alternating between throwing their right hand and left hand in the air.  Some are turning around, some are jumping, and some are clapping.  This was part of the scene in our worship service this morning.  It was an awesome experience, but not because of the differences in worship services.  What is awesome is that whether a believer is in the States in a climate controlled building, or a believer is in an all metal building in Africa, or a believer is in a secret house church in China we are all worshipping the same God.  Even more awesome is that He can clearly hear every individual voice and is glorified when His Word is preached.

Speaking of preaching, it was neat to see Darrin Puckett, one of our team members from Graceland, get his very first opportunity to preach.  His message was the Samaritan woman at the well.  He was a bit nervous, as he had a photographer and filmographer from worldsoccerjourneys.com capturing his every word.  Pastor Michael, the village pastor, translated for Darrin.  It was a very blessed time worshipping with fellow believers.  Afterward, the pastor asked if we could stay for 5 minutes.  About 20 minutes later, a few members of the church returned with Coke and wafers (cookies to you Americans).  They set up a makeshift table and had the Americans sit as guests of honor for fellowship. 

Tomorrow is our last day out at this village.  The name of the village we have been working in is Rooigrond.  Pray for the kids to be able to perform well at the soccer clinic finally.  We are giving away the rest of the Evange-balls to the kids as prizes.  We are going to break them down by age group and they are going perform the skills for the prizes.  Pray also for Pastor Michael and his new bride of 7 days as they continue to minister to this village.  Good night, God bless, and TTFN.

In soccer, there are two forms of major penalties that can be assessed to a player.  The yellow card is when he does something he shouldn’t do, but it isn’t flagrant.  If he commits another penalty, he is awarded a second yellow card.  Two yellow cards equal 1 red card.  If a player does something terribly flagrant, he can be immediately awarded a red card.  Anyone who gets a red card is disqualified from the rest of the game.  His team also is penalized because they cannot bring in a substitute; they must finish the game one man short.

In the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, Edmund is tempted by the White Witch with num nums, Turkish Delights.  Afterward, he is warned not to interact with her.  He got a yellow card.  However, his desire for the Turkish Delights outweighs his reason, and he goes after them again.  This time, he betrays his family and friends, and causes Aslan to give up his life in order to spare Edmund from the same penalty.  He was given a red card.  So what does Edmund from Chronicles of Narnia have to do with our mission trip?

This morning, I woke up to an elevated blood sugar count.  I had a yellow card.  I was able to attend our morning soccer clinics.  I got to see 4 children who were able to completely re-tell us what the colors meant on the Evange-balls.  Those children were rewarded by each receiving a soccer ball.  We played a couple of soccer games with them as well, then we returned home for lunch.  This is where the story turns.  I did not contain my desire for num nums and consumed too many cookies and rice krispy treats and sweet tea.  My blood sugars soared and I became sick.  I was given a red card.  Right now, our team is out conducting our second World Cup match outreach.  They are showing the US-England match with more testimonies at the half.  I have been disqualified from being with my team, the very reason we came to South Africa, because of my “Turkish Delights”.  My team also had to suffer.  Last minute changes had to be made to drop me off at the Janz’ house where I am staying.

My point is this.  Earlier this week, I did a devotional with our team from Numbers 32:23 ” …and be sure your sin will find you out.”  I am also reminded of God’s warning to Cain in Genesis 4:7 “…sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”  Like Edmund, I didn’t master my desire for num nums.  For those who call themselves Christians, take these lessons and learn from them.  Don’t put yourself into a position where God has to give you a yellow card.  Don’t disqualify yourself from His service with a red card.  Don’t be carried away by your desire for num nums or whatever your “Turkish Delights” might be. 

Tomorrow, we will be worshipping with the villagers.  Will put up some pics and tell about the awesome things God is doing.  Good night, God bless, and TTFN.

The Boys, The Boys.  That is what the South African soccer team is called.  Tonight we showed the opening match against Mexico.  It was a 1-1 draw.  It was a good, unexpected outing for the Boys.  But we are more than just here for soccer, we are here for the Lord.  Let’s talk about His “boys.”  At half-time, we had two of the Tswana students who we are working alongside, share their testimonies.  They were Pumla and Masego.  God did a great job through those girls.  At the end of the game, Pastor Michael and missionary Dennis Janz gave an opportunity for the villagers to make a decision to follow Christ.  Earlier in the day, at our 2nd day of soccer clinics, we used the colored Evange-balls again.  Between both events we had probably 50 or so say that they wanted to follow Christ. 

I don’t share those numbers just for numbers sake, but everyone of them represents a soul that can now claim to be Bafana, Bafana … “The Boys” of the Lord!  We have instructed them to come back to the church on Sunday so that they can get plugged into the local church.  Please continue to pray that God would be lifted up and His kingdom would be expanded.   Thank you for those at home who are praying and who helped this come to pass, for it is your reward as well!  Good, night, God bless, and TTFN.

Cold, cold, cold is what the outside temperature was.  Warm, warm, warm was the temperature in my heart as I saw all those huddled bodies watching the 2 hour Jesus film in their heart language.  It was a tremendous blessing seeing probably 100 people or so on a soccer field, braving winter temperatures, to see a movie made probably 20-30 years ago.  All that were there were able to understand the Gospel as it was presented in their language.

Like every move of God, there will be those set against him.  We had our fair share of drunks, a couple of troublemakers, and some who just wanted to make a commotion and draw attention away from God.  However, we had those who were deeply moved.  One man came up to me after the showing and through interpretation I found out that he was so glad that we showed the film.  Through teary eyes, he told me that he had heard the stories of Jesus when he was younger from school and such.  But, he had never seen the story come to life like tonight.  He said that he hopes we show it again and again.

The missionaries are already planning more showings.   He told me that he could relate to the epileptic boy, as he himself used to have seizures.  He pulled up his pant leg and as I pointed my flashlight at his leg, I nearly gasped.  He pointed to scars, deformities, and what looked like part of his spine in his upper leg.  He told me that God had spared his life and had let him walk.  I asked him if he knew the Jesus that the film talked about and if he had Him in his heart.  His answer was a difinitive YES!  I asked Mosa, my interpreter to pray for him as he felt led, and then I prayed for him.   We prayed that God would heal his body and that He would encourage the man with his walk with the Lord.  The man left in tears of joy after giving out hugs.  Thank you Lord for giving our team these opportunities.

It was a cold windy day today out on the pitch (that’s soccer field for the uninformed).  There were some children that were half-naked and without shoes.  There were also children there with winter coats and boots.  In spite of the fact that all of the children had chattering teeth, they had great big smiles on their faces.  They were running around dribbling (that is when you move the soccer ball with you foot), passing, shooting, and learning how to keep a goal.  They were laughing, cheering, running, screaming, and kidding each other if they missed a goal.  Some of the girls were getting their nails painted in 5 different colors that were being tied into evangelistic presentations.  The children were also presented the Gospel using Evange-ball.  The soccer balls we are using have the 5 colors: black represents sin, Romans 3:23; red represents the blood of Jesus, Romans 5:8; white represents forgiveness and cleansing, Isaiah 1:18; green represents Christian growth, 1 Peter 2:2; yellow represents Heaven, John 14:3.  Kids are going to have the opportunity to win them at the end of our clinics next week.  We had probably between 50 and 100 children out there today, with several villagers standing by watching.  Tonight, we are going back out into the cold to show the Jesus film.  Please pray for people to show, in spite of the cold.