In the jungle! The mighty jungle!

Matthew Ward reporting for blog duty!

I am excited to update you on our mission trip so far as we have passed our halfway mark sadly and the reality that our time here is coming to a close is becoming apparent. We make the most of our remaining time and serve to the fullest! This has been quite an exciting week to say the least. On Monday May 24th we went to Life Community Center which is a place that is intentional about educating and spending time with kids who do not go to school but who hope to be placed back into the schooling system. There the guys worked hard doing some yard maintenance. We also washed their vehicles and did a lot of moving for them etc. The girls were busy in the kitchens and also worked inside and played with the kids. In the afternoon we went to Kids Stop which is similar to Life Community Center in that it caters to the needs of those who don’t have the privilege to go to school. There we played balloon stop which was absolutely crazy and the place became a madhouse. But nonetheless it was a great time. We also had the most epic soccer game with kids that were super talented and energetic. Unfortunately my team lost but that is beside the point.

Tuesday the 25th was absolutely an amazing day. I can say with confidence that for me personally it was the most eventful and spirit led day so far. Many members of the team have been waking up at 5:50 a.m. to workout and finally I decided to join them. So it was with sore an aching body that I joined my fellow team members to evangelize on the streets of George at about 8:30. Obviously I can’t speak for everyone else because we each had different encounters with the people there. But to say the least God really spoke through the poor and the oppressed. It was crazy. We got into small groups and started out into the streets. I was with Tyler and Emily. We met individual after individual and each one seemed like a divine appointment that the Lord had orchestrated with his own hand.

First we met a man who showed us around and introduced us to all of his friends and took us to a part of town that we did not even know existed. He introduced us to gangsters and drug dealers and countless of homeless and jobless people who were suffering. We were able to encourage and pray for many people. One man was a believer and wanted so badly to feed his family and kids so we bought him and others food etc. God just kept directing us to people who desperately just needed to be reminded that He loves them and that there are people that care for them. Almost everyone we met were just roaming the streets looking for a job. Out of know where a young poor black man probably about 28 came out of know where and told us he say us praying and just wanted to encourage us. He didn’t ask us any questions but told us to keep working for the lord and recited several passages of scripture to us. It was almost as if he was sent as a messenger from God because when we turned back to see if he would take a picture of us he was already long gone.
There I also saw members of our team being so generous to those in need. Two people even gave up their own jackets to a couple of shivering men. This is what I love about participating on a mission trip. You are surrounded by like-minded people united by the bond of Christ who use the opportunity to not give any excuses but to live out their faith. This has been a great way to jumpstart what I pray will be a lifetime of service for all of us.

There was also a great experience that our team got to share together as a whole. After speaking to people from the particular block we were at, we stopped to go to the bathroom at a building before heading to another part of town to evangelize. But instead we found a white homeless man who later told us he was about to commit suicide before we arrived. He poured out his heart and was so encouraged that we would take the time to talk with him. He really showed us that South Africa is not just hurting in the black communities but in the white communities as well and that we shouldn’t bring those kind of biases to ministry.
Later that day we went to the surfing ministry and cleared out a backyard for one of the child’s families. We were able to then minister to many in the neighborhood as they came out to play jump rope and soccer on the street. When Africans see a bunch of white Americans serving the black community they automatically are intrigued and want to see what’s up.

Later that night Steve, the OAM director, gave a bible study about hearing God’s voice and it was encouraging to see how God speaks to us. Then Steve shocked us by telling us that we were going to “bush camp” that night. He told us we could not bring anything with us but a sleeping bag and whatever we clothes we had on right there. So literally 3 minutes later we were in the truck and on our way to a Safari type of animal reserve where we were going to rough it for two days. We slept under the stars after hiking to the location he had directed us to and saw the silhouette of 20 Zebras running against the night sky. In the morning Steve woke us up at the crack of dawn and had us do a number of tasks that made us feel like we were on a reality show. He made us roll around on the grass to “wash”. The first competition involved a frantic race around the camping area and the winning team got a roll of toilet paper. Our next contest was to come up with a song and make a pyramid. We had to make our own fires with barely any supplies it was more challenging than it might seem. The next contest was called nightline where we had to follow a rope blind folded. We also competed on a ropes course that was pretty difficult. But the most difficult thing was the eating contest in which we had to consume a raw egg, spoon full of coffee, a lemon with the peal, goat testicles, flaming hot sauce, a pickle, cookies, and marsh mellows. I was surprised no one threw up! All in all it was a great time to spend time with God in his creation and bond as a team.

On Thursday the 27th we went to an old person’s home where we did gardening with them and pushed those around who were in wheelchairs. In the afternoon half the team went to the ocean with the kids from the surfing ministry to catch some waves while the rest of us made musical instruments and worshipped with the kids. Both times were amazing.

Many of you have been praying for the unity of our team. I can sense the blessings of those prayers tangible. We are developing deeper friendships and care for each other as we begin to communicate openly. In fact I’d say that is the most challenging aspect of ministry; communication.

We have about two weeks less and we know that the end is going to come much too fast. We want to make the most of every minute we have left here. We don’t want to have the feeling at the end of the day where we did not take advantage of the opportunity that God has given us. It is a good kind of urgency. Just as we know our trip will soon be over we also know that the Kingdom of God is at hand and the rest of our lives must reflect this same strong purpose.