Day Three - the work begins

Today I spent most of the day figuring out why I am here. They are a great mission with a genuine desire to serve the desperate poor, the sick, and the orphan. H@W is also experiencing extreme growth which they are not equipped for. This organization is in need of help with structure and everyone I met with was ready for some assistance.

I don’t think there is enough time to accomplish even half of what they need here. Please pray that God will direct to the areas with the most need and the fastest resolution.

I met an incredible couple that are here as a part of the US Peace Corps and I think they are a big part of the solution. They both have business organization backgrounds and have been waiting for my arrival. We are going to work together well. They are from Minnesota and have an incredible heart for God.

My internet connection has not come through yet because this is Africa (TIA). I went to the computer store today to get it resolved and the power was out. They just close up and go home. Two hours in and out town and no internet. However, we were able to secure some very necessary items; Coke, Diet Coke, and cookies. I was able to ride in with Jean Amie so it was worth every minute. She is an awesome individual.

We are about to go have our day wrap up meeting and then I will be working well into the night to finish the work of the day.

Bless you all. I appreciate your prayers and emails.

Wally

Day Two - The Head of the Lion

We left for Church today in the community of Masoyi and we had church. On the way, we stopped to pick up a friend named Busi and she translated for us. The speakers spoke in both English and Sswati (a derivative of Zulu) but most of the singing was in Sswati. They saved several rows for us up front and sang like angels behind us. We were able to sing along a little but most of the time I was sitting there stunned by the glory of God in the place.

In the “doesn’t God enjoy a little irony” department, Jeff was pointing out some of the landmarks on the way to the church and pointed out a mountain that we can see from our accommodations. He told us the real name which I can’t spell in any form so I will give you the translation: The head of the lion. This mountain when viewed from the correct angle looks just like the head of a lion with the ears, mouth, a long nose made from rock formations and the mane made of trees.

They did have a small building for meeting and many were dressed in their Sunday best. There were all ages and several people participate at many levels. Offering was broken into three different opportunities to give. Three plates were up front. One for tithes, one for feeding the orphans, and on that I didn’t hear. They sang and danced to the front to give to the Lord. (Here come the tears) Giving back to the Lord is a glorious occasion in any language and they gave like the widow. They were not giving out of their wealth. Lord, may I learn from their example.

Now for the preaching. (better hold on) One of the older women came up for preaching and this was all done in Sswati with the English interpretation. The passage was from John 6:22 regarding Jesus talking about being the bread of life. Have you ever thought about that verse from the standpoint of actually being hungry? I had not. We listened as the speaker poured out her heart to Masoyi and its problems. The answer to all the conditions in this community lie in John 6:22.

After church, we returned home. Eric, Amber and I made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with chicken soup. Very fun. We then were able to do rest for about an hour where I went to talk to Eric N. and had some coffee with him. We had a team meeting to determine what we would be doing for the next week and I am excited to share what the team is doing as we go. It looks as though I will mostly be here at the school working with them. Hopefully, I will get out next week to one of the orphanages. H@W has about 30,000 kids in its care right now and we are aiming for 100,000 by 2010.

Tonight I have my initial meeting with Marc. (COO H@W) We are getting things rolling and I am ready.

Wally

Day One if Africa

We arrived in Joburg yesterday around 3PM local time. The plane flight was long and there wasn’t much sleeping but it is over and I won’t have to ever to that again. (oops) The drive to the African School of Missions (ASM) was interesting as we saw several animals along the road that you don’t see in our part of the world. (no lions) It was also interesting in that they are not that concerned about lanes or speed limits here. After the 4 hour trip we ended up in city that could have been mistaken for anywhere in Texas. It was like driving through Frisco.

Another 10 minutes down the road and we weren’t in Frisco any more. ASM is located between the community discussed above and Mosayi. Middle class here starts at the equivalent of about $90k a year and the people of Mosayi would be lucky to make $100 per month. The level of poverty is something we really don’t understand. According to Jeff, the surrounding communities are not even aware of Mosayi and the road signs in the area lead you around communities like this. The HIV+ rate in this city is 2/3.

The ASM is a beautiful campus with huge tropical plants and a mountain on one side. There is also a large electric fence around the place that gives you a sense of being protected and confined. Normal life is a little different. The huge fences are just part of everyday life. To show how safe it was, the leader told us that they were able to let the guards go and haven’t had an incident since December. Sounds good to me; let’s keep that streak going.

I was up early this morning for a run, some reading, a bath (no showers), and a modest breakfast. Sounds like a regular Sunday morning. (minus the starbucks, doughnuts, and goodies everyone brings to class) We are about to leave for church in Mosayi that Jean Amie is taking us to. She has a friend that will translate for us and I am really looking forward to it. I wish I could remember the language but I wouldn’t be able to spell it anyway. I am anxious to get started as I really don’t get going until the work week starts.

Wally

Soon and Very Soon

I have completed packing and ready to embark on my adventure. After a beautiful day with my wife and a fun evening with the kids it has come down to go time. Staci and I had some great discussion over lunch that I wanted to relay to you guys.

Most of this is in the form of prayer requests for the trip. The basics are the same: safety, health, and effective travel. The other things are more particular and center around the effectiveness of my work. They are as follows:

• Stamina to work as long and hard as it takes to get the work completed
• The Spirit to guide every word that comes out of my mouth when discussing how to better the work that is already being done
• The Spirit to close my mouth when it should be closed
• Direction on how to direct this project. (I have little idea what I am walking into and fear that it may be more than I can handle)
• A spirit of family with those I am working with so we may accomplish the work of Jesus in this troubled part of the world

Lastly, if I may steal a thought from the book, I pray that God will return the investment with children that will be led to him as a result of this work. Hands at Work is touching kids on a grand scale but this could lead to an exponential exposure to more kids.

Thank you for being an important part of this trip.

Wally

FishCamp 2007

This post has nothing to do with our Sunday School class, but I couldn't resist the temptation to post the pic's from our men's camping/fishing weekend.

I know you are jealous.

The pic's are set to the song, "Point of Difference" by Hillsong.

Got lions?

Since Wally reminded me that we're bearing down on the end of the Lion book, I thought I'd post a few of Katherine's lion's that I'm stealing from her RaisingFive blog.

She wrote a post the other day called,

"More on the end of the parenting honeymoon."

Kath's a great writer - I can't read her posts without cracking up. But I appreciated her thoughts in this post because she "candidly" described the lion's she's chasing, and I thought that some of the folks in our class could relate to them. Here there are:

• Keeping my marriage strong, when kids’ needs seem to be so insistent
• Raising kids to know and love God in today’s culture
• Finding balance with our schedule so we can have dinner together most nights of the week
• Strength to deal with ongoing character issues such as selfishness, anger, carelessness

She finishes up with a quote from Batterson,

There is a pattern that I see repeated throughout Scripture: Sometimes God won’t intervene until something is humanly impossible. And he usually does it just in the nick of time. I think that pattern reveals a dimension of God’s personality: God loves impossible odds…

Too often our prayers revolve around asking God to reduce the odds in our lives. We want everything in our favor. But maybe God wants to stack the odds against us so we can experience a miracle of divine proportions. Maybe faith is trusting God no matter how impossible the odds are. Maybe our impossible situations are opportunities to experience a new dimension of God’s glory.

Can anybody relate?

So...how big's your miracle?

Are you Foolish Enough

I am looking forward to finishing up the "Lion" book on Sunday with everyone and wanted to give us some thoughts to consider before class on Sunday.

Is it the fear of foolishness that keeps us from walking on water or killing giants or finding the Messiah. What foolish thing is God asking you to do? What Lion is he calling you to chase?

Following is a list of things that you may want to consider. Then again you may have your own. Please bring your thoughts to class on how you may pursue some of these things.

• Tell someone your sorry
• Fast
• Confess a sin
• Share your faith with a friend
• Tithe
• Serve in the church
• Go on a mission trip
• Tell someone you love them
• Lead a small group
• Befriend a homeless person
• Ask for a raise or new responsibility at work
• Ask someone out
• Sell something and give to a person in need
• Pray every day
• Pursue a new hobby
• Submit your resignation
• Submit your resume for a new job
• Go back to school
• Other?????????????

"Instead, God has chosen the world's foolish things to shame the wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27a)

So how do we overcome the fear of foolishness? Read Eph 5:18 and come talk about it on Sunday.

The Great Commission is Risky

We have had some good comments through email and posted on this blog. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. Following is a comment from someone in the class followed by a video from South Africa.

From Anonymous:
"As usual, this was going through my head DAYS AFTER our class. I think understanding scripture is KEY in knowing the heart of God and therefore giving us direction in our lives.It seems that to the degree of importance (from scripture) something is, the greater risk is justified. e.g. evangelizing unreached people is in line with the great commission, and therefore worthy of greater risk."



George is the CEO of Hands at Work. I will be working with George and others to develop their systems. Thank you to all of you that are praying for my family.

Wally