Citrusdal Pictures

The first picture is of my roommate and I playing a game with kids in the squatter's camp we worked in each day. It was basically dodgeball, only we always threw and the kids always dodge. What a great game for the thrower! The second picture is from the day we served hot dogs and candy to the kids, the picture doesn't show it, but it was quite a mob when I pulled the candy out of my car. I thought the littlest kids would be trampled.

The last picture is one of the interns presenting a skit to the kids at school. It is a skit relates soccer to our need to have God in our lives to live as He intended us to, to fulfill the purpose for which He created us.

Citrusdal and soccer teams

March 21, 2009
I got to play in my first game today because my clearance finally came through. Our team one for the first time and it was against one of the best teams in the league (I’m not saying it was because I was playing). I played all but about the last 10 minutes and I played alright. My hamstrings have been very tight since I got here, and today my legs felt better than they have been for the last 2 months, so I was really happy about that. The team played well together and fought hard the whole game, even when we went down 1-0 with about 20 minutes to go in the game. We ended up winning 2-1 with just a minute to go in extra time. The whole team has not been all together yet for a game, and once they are all there, I’m not sure that I’ll be starting, so I’m thankful for any playing time I get now.
Last night we went to hear Philip Yancey speak (I wasn’t actually planning to go, but some people backed out and I didn’t want the ticket to be wasted). His lecture was decent, but the worship and other presentations weren’t very good, so we decided not to make the 20 minute drive again to hear him tonight. It was nice to hear an American accent and stories about familiar places though.

March 29, 2009
What a week! We spent this past week in a little community about 2 hours outside of Cape Town, called Citrusdal (if the name doesn’t give it away, it is a huge valley where there is orchard after orchard of citrus trees, lime, lemon, tangerine, and orange). It was a beautiful place, the mountains were very rugged, with huge rocks and jagged boulders on each face, and citrus trees lined every road (unfortunately the fruit was still very green, except some tangerines that someone bought for 50¢ for a huge bag, and they may have been the best I have ever had). Unfortunately, there is a huge diversity among the people, between the business and landowners, the laborers, and the unemployed/migrant workers. I didn’t get the sense that the wealthy didn’t care or weren’t trying to do their part, the population of the unemployed is just too high and alcoholism and HIV is just even worse. We actually found people very helpful in donating buns, hot dogs, and snacks to give out in the communities, but what the people need is to know God, and that is what we were trying to show them.
We spent our mornings in 4 different schools, at each one we did an assembly where we shared about God and then led games with the kids. It would have been nice to work with those kids longer term, but we only had an hour or 2 with them for a day. They are so unaccustomed to having anyone come to them from the outside that when they heard there were people coming from Cape Town and that some of us even came from England and the US, they treated us like we were superheroes. They didn’t want to let us go after spending just such a short time with them.
Our afternoons were free, but all of us saw that the community really needed to be impacted, so we spent each afternoon in a squatter’s camp about a mile from where we were staying. It was an area where there were about 200 government built block homes, most about the size of a small American kitchen or living room, and shared by whole families, so beds were often stacked all around the 1 or 2 room homes. Most did not have running water. Beside the homes were another 200 wood shacks. They were no larger than 10 feet by 12 feet, and they looked like something a group of kids would build for a fort out of collections from a dump. We were told that about 10 years ago there were about 10 wooden shacks, but over the past several years, a lot of the migrant workers who would come in for the citrus harvest would not leave afterwards, but were unemployed because of the seasonal harvest, and so ended up building these shacks. For the 200 shacks, I saw about 5 port-a-johns, like you would see at construction sites or fairs at home. The quality of life was very, very low.
We would spend a couple of hours there each afternoon, and we just walked around talking with people and playing with the kids. There was a language barrier (in the schools and the community) because most of the people only spoke Afrikaans, so only 6 people in our group, those from Cape Town, were able to speak with the people, and the rest of us relied on them. That was by far my biggest frustration of the week. The first day I walked around with one of the guys from Cape Town, but I spent most of the time just listening to him have conversations with people in Afrikaans. So the second day I decided just to find a way to serve any way I could, so I spent a couple of hours picking up litter on one street. By the end of the 2 hours, I had about 40 kids helping me and we picked up 7 bags of trash from about a 100 yard section of road. We could have filled a dump truck had we been able to cover the whole community. It was the highlight of my day though to see that the kids cared and realized that the trash shouldn’t been there. (Unfortunately, by the next day there were chip bags and candy wrappers on the ground again). After that, I spent the rest of the time just playing with kids. When we would drive in to the community, immediately we had 40 or 60 kids chasing our cars shouting and waiting for us to play with them. And when we left, they crowded around our cars so tightly I just had to pray that one of them wouldn’t get hit. There were kids as young as 16 months playing in the streets by themselves, may be with an older sibling to watch after them. I couldn’t talk to them, but I could play with them and smile at them, and give them a hug when we left. On Thursday we gave away hot dogs to the kids, almost 100, and I bought little candies to give to the after, and they were so anxious and excited to get this little thing like a Starburst that I couldn’t get them to sit down for anything. They crowded around practically trampling the littlest kids. I would have to grab on to the little ones and place the candy directly in their fist to make sure they got one. I don’t know if candy was that unusual or if it was just a contagious mentality to crowd, but it was so crazy I actually had to stop giving the candy out. I just hope that the kids understood we were there to show them God’s love and not just to play games and hand out candy.
One of the Ambassador’s staff has a mother-in-law who lives in Citrusdal and was our contact in to the community. She is working to get grants to set up shelters/orphanages for children with HIV. She told me she hasn’t met a woman in the squatter’s camp who does not have HIV, which is very disheartening, because that means that most of the kids would have HIV as well. Medications are available, but most adults don’t take them for themselves, and wouldn’t be responsible to give them to their children either.
Some of the other interns spent their time in 2 homes in particular, people who they met on the first day and talked with throughout the week. One man had been an engineer, but was crippled in a taxi bus accident that killed most of the other passengers. He lost his job and his home and ended up in the squatter’s camp in a wheelchair with his wife and young kids to take care of. A couple of guys prayed for him all week and encouraged him with Scripture. They believe he is a Christian, but that he had given up hope. Throughout the week he told them how they had showed him that there is hope in God and that he can carry on. God provided for him in many ways throughout the week, rides to and from the hospital, food for his family, and money to buy bread, and he acknowledged that it was God at work. He even was able to get up out of his wheelchair and walk across the room on crutches for the first time in a long time. I think he was given hope that had been previously dampened and I think that if God continues to work in him that he could make an impact on that community.
On Saturday, we hosted a fun day for all of the kids around Citrusdal. Unfortunately, there was a political rally that day and a lot of people were at that instead. The schools we visited were all about 20 minutes apart down bumpy dirt roads and schools were supposed to provide transportation for kids, but they didn’t, may be due to the rally. So, we had hoped for about 500 kids and ended up with around 150. I think it was the right 150 kids though, because the squatter’s camp and government homes were very close, so it was mostly those kids who came over to spend another day with us. We played games, sang songs, and did a skit. The guy who has been with us several times doing our evangelism and discipleship training also came out for the day from Cape Town with some of his staff. He presented the gospel to the kids and pretty much every single one of them stood up to receive Christ. I think it was a contagious act where when the first person stood, everyone else stood as well, but may be a few at least made a sincere commitment, at least I hope and pray. I also pray that someone will be there to follow up and that the kids can get plugged in to a church, if at all possible.
Sort of a side note, we spent the week in a campground, which turned out to be nicer than anyone expected. We did sleep in tents, but the area was very grassy and in nice surroundings. We were afraid we would be on dirty, dusty, hard ground, digging holes in the ground for our bathroom, but that wasn’t the case. One of the staff also brought a lot of cookware, so we were able to do all of our meals in an electric skillet, a pot, or on the grill. It was actually pretty relaxing and enjoyable. There was a pool, but we all laughed when we saw it, because I think you could have jumped over it without touching the water, at least width wise, and there was definitely no room for swimming laps length wise. We did have one touristy afternoon, on Friday when spent about an hour at some natural hot springs. It was actually a hot spring fed pool, but it was very nice and relaxing, and it was a good change of pact to the week.
I would say that it was a good week, but I feel like you do when you come back from a short term mission trip. You hope that you made an impact, that people saw and heard the gospel, but you know that they need something more. My heart has been impacted by what I saw and experienced, and I pray that God will provide people in the community to work and build relationships and disciple people for an extended time so that there is a lasting impact on the community.

March 31, 2009
I was asked to coach the Ladies’ Second Team on Saturday and practice starts tonight! They had to join a league other than the one they had planned to join, so it begins much earlier than anyone planned or hoped. It is basically the feeder team for the semi-pro team that I am playing for. We will have practices just one night a week and games on Saturdays. It will mean that I will miss my practice one night, but hopefully it won’t interfere with any of my games. The girls will mostly be 15 and 16, but some will be older. Pray that the team itself will be impacted, that God would bring Christians as well as non-Christians to play, and that there will be gospel ministry as well as discipleship taking place. Pray that the team will also make an impact on others in the league through our values, attitudes, and play. Pray also that I will have wisdom in how to be a leader for the girls and how God will use me in their lives, and that I will coach well also.

Ethics and Prison

March 15, 2009
This week we spent quite a bit of time talking about ethics and different scenarios that one might come across in sports and debated what Biblical principles would teach us about how we should act in those situations. Some of the debates were pretty interesting. We also talked about Sports Values, things like winning with humility, losing with dignity, teamwork, etc. Basically, it is about applying Biblical principles again to sports, which are valuable lessons to teach to Christians and non-Christians.
I met again with the girl from the college who I am mentoring. Our conversation was pretty general; I am just trying to get to know her. I asked her how much she has studied the Bible and she that outside of church, she hasn’t. So I asked her if she would be interested in studying the gospel of John with me. She didn’t know what that was, but I think that is partly due to the fact that she has gone to a Xhosa church and only has ever had a Xhosa Bible. She asked me if I would get her an English Bible, so I went out and bought one for her to make our studying together easier. I also got her a notebook and wrote down passages that we could read this week. My plan is to meet with her after church next week to talk about what we’ve read. She also came with me to church this morning (I was supposed to pick her up at 9:30 for a 10:00 service and she got in the car at 9:55, which meant we were about 5 minutes late for church, because knowing Africans I had built in some leeway time, next week I’ll have to lengthen it). She enjoyed the service and said she would like to go with me again next week. I don’t know what will come of our time together or what God is doing, but it is an area where I would appreciate prayer.
I went to Bible Study again on Wednesday night and they asked me if I wanted to switch groups, recognizing that I had been placed in a very young group. They moved me to a group with people my age and it was more comfortable and more challenging, so I guess God answered that prayer. There was one person who was very overzealous though and it made it very difficult for anyone else to contribute to the conversation. I was a little unprepared for such a person, but next week I’ll know and be prepared to talk and think at the same time instead of thinking before responding and not getting a word out. The leader said this person has only been there a couple of weeks and he’s still trying to figure out how to handle the situation as well.
Yesterday we had our second game and this time we had 12 players available, so there was at least one substitute. I don’t have my clearance still, so I was not able to play again. I did invite the team over for dinner afterwards and a handful of them came. We had dinner and then we hung out and played some games. It was fun.

March 16, 2009
Today was our day off, but it was a little rainy this morning and windy this afternoon, so it gave the air a bit of a chill (still warm enough for short sleeves). I went to the waterfront with 2 other guys and we visited the Two Oceans Aquarium, which was actually a little disappointing. There were animals from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, but not a huge selection. It cost $8 and we saw everything in about an hour. Afterwards we were walking along the wharf and saw 8-10 huge seals lounging on a pier, and one swimming in the water. We thought that was more exciting. Tonight I have practice and have to pick up my laundry on the way. Not many people have washing machines, including us, and most people wash all of their clothes by hand, but I just don’t think I would get my clothes very clean and don’t want to invest that kind of time scrubbing all of my soccer clothes, so I pay about $4-5 every week and a half to 2 weeks to have my clothes washed for me. They wash, dry, and fold them for me, and usually even match my socks (I always have to refold them after for myself, but that’s partly because I’m picky about how my shirts are folded). Sorry that wasn’t very exciting information.

March 19, 2009
Yesterday we went back to the prison where AIS runs their academy and we spent the afternoon with the guys in the program. They took us in to the prison and to the room where the guys stay. As part of the program, they all live together in one room, like a giant dorm room, and all adhere to the same rules and standards. Ambassadors has even been allowed to provide posters and other decorations for the room, so there are a lot of Scripture verses around the room pointing the guys to the truth about who they are and what God has done and can do for them. They have to follow pretty strict disciplinary guidelines to stay in the program and these are posted and tracked in their room as well. We trained with their “team” (they have training 3 days a week and will soon start competition in a local church league on Saturday as well), so we got to interact with the guys a bit. Part of their training includes spiritual training as well. This week’s lesson was about lying and we participated in the discussion as well. The conversation was challenging and encouraging and the guys seemed pretty engaged. Everyone was divided in to two groups and two of the prisoners led each group discussion. They are both Christians (I wrote about one of them in an early post) and know the grace of God and what He has done for them, so it is really cool to see them teach the Scriptures to the guys, because they can relate so well. There seem to be wardens in the prison who are leading them as well, I am fairly certain that their cell warden is a Christian and has a great impact on them. So God is at work there.
Please pray for that prison though. These guys are in an area of the prison that is for younger offenders and their section is specifically for sports and ministry, and is slightly separated from other parts of the prison, but not entirely. It is a very dangerous and very horrific place. Gangsterism runs very deep throughout the prison, which means murder, rape, and violence and very prolific throughout the prison. There are sections of the prison that are controlled by gangs and guards are stabbed regularly. The maximum security areas are unsafe for anyone from the outside to enter and ministry is next to impossible. Pray that the guys in the Ambassadors program would be freed from any gang ties (some of them have been heavily involved and breaking ties is very hard, as it puts their lives in jeopardy). Pray that they would be open to hear the truth of the gospel, that the Spirit would be at work in their lives, and they would be free from the binds of their past. Pray for those who have given their lives to Christ that they would continue to be a witness and continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our great Lord and Savior. Pray that God would put people in their lives who are able to minister to them from within the prison at lengths that Ambassadors is unable to go to during their limited time there.
I’d also like to ask for prayer for myself with one of my roommates, I’ve been frustrated with her lack of motivation and diligence, and it is affecting my attitude toward her, so I need pray to know how to motivate her and help her along with some things she really needs to accomplish.
I spent significant time in prayer today for some friends at home and each time I pray for people at home it gives me great assurance knowing that God is the same God there and here, and I’m able to pray for you to our great and awesome God as if you were sitting here with me even while you are an ocean away.

March 20, 2009
Today we organized a tournament for the college across the street from our playing field. They help us out by allowing us to use different facilities and stuff, so in return they asked Ambassadors to participate in their “Fun Day”. We ran a tournament for 8 teams of students and I spoke for just a couple of minutes during the tournament just to tell them who we are, what we do, where they can find us, and what we believe. This afternoon we are heading back in to the city where we will do outreach among a Muslim community. Last week only a few kids came, and the teens were not interested in talking much with us, so hopefully this week more will participate.

The first picture is the fishermen I wrote about catching fish in their nets. The second picture is my soccer team after their first game.

Hot and Busy

March 6, 2009
My weekdays have been very busy. I haven’t had time to journal regularly and I have probably forgotten some of my thoughts and experiences from this week. Monday was our day off, but I spent a few hours in the morning in the office and then had practice in the evening. But, in the afternoon I went to a place called Boulder Beach where there is a natural penguin colony. It is protected, so I had to pay to get on the beach, but you could actually walk around and sit on the beach with the penguins. There were hundreds of them all over the place, it was really pretty fun.
Tuesday, we were in the office and we talked more about evangelism and discipleship. Wednesday, we went to help mentally and physically disabled kids at a track and field event. The kids were from about 7 to 16 and it was fun to be with them and see how enthusiastic and excited they were to get to compete. Thursday, we were in the office again, wrapping up our time on evangelism and discipleship and just came up with creative ways to share the gospel, like songs, dramas, art, spoken word, and written word. It was an incredibly hot day and we are scheduled on Thursdays to have one-on-one meetings with a mentor, but the office gets unbearable, so we went to her house for lunch and then to a swimming pool downtown. It was definitely a good way to beat the heat.
Today, however, was just as hot (it has been about 100 degrees the last two days) but we were too busy to get out of the heat. It was a good day though. We had our workout this morning and then went to our supervisor’s apartment for breakfast. We watched a video from Louie Giglio, called Indescribable, where he talks about how enormous the universe is and yet how God loves us. So, we are basically insignificant and significant. It made me wonder why the universe is so huge and so magnificent. The only reason I can give is that it is to declare the glory of God and sing His praise. Later, we went to a park for about an hour and a half to have lunch together and relax, before going to do outreach through a local church. A few guys from the church basically go in to a community and play soccer and share a testimony and talk with the young people who turn up. It is a Muslim community and most of the young people are very heavily in to drinking and addicted to drugs. Many of the people often come drunk or high and often are rude and unresponsive to the gospel. Today however, one of the interns from Cape Town shared his testimony and one the key teenagers, who has often caused problems in the past, actually paid attention and said that he saw how Christ was impacting this kid and said he thought it was good what this church is doing in their community. It is a small step, but was very encouraging to the guys who have been doing this ministry for the last several months.
I went to church on Wednesday night and joined one of the young adult Bible studies, they were very young adults. Most of the people there were in college or just finished. I’m 99% sure I was older than my group leader. At this point I’m going to pray about whether I should keep going. I enjoyed the study; they are going through the book of Mark, but it was pretty basic. I’m not sure how much I’ll get out of it and I know I can give input in to it, but don’t want to step on the leader’s toes. I’m also not sure how well I’ll relate to the students. At the same time, it could open up opportunities for ministry and discipleship. I think if I am being fed and challenged at church, it will be fine; I just want to make sure that I am not being drained without being refilled, so I’ll have to keep watch and see how it goes.
I’m almost forgot may be the most important part of my week. On Wednesday afternoon I met with this girl at the College of Cape Town where some of the interns were staying. It was sort of a “random” thing; a God thing. She has been talking with one of the male interns and has been telling him about her life and her desire to do a degree in social work. She comes from an abusive home, but seems to be very hopeful and motivated to do something with her life. She wants to help other people to see that they can succeed and wants them to be hopeful as well. She was basically looking for a mentor and the other intern asked me if I would meet with her. I asked her what her goals were and how I could help her meet her goals, and she asked me to mentor her and also help her find ways to get involved in the community. I also asked her if she was a Christian and she said yes, but that she has not been able to go to church since she has been at the college, which has been since January, because the taxi route is so long. So, I asked her if I could pick her up for church, so she could come with me, and she said that would be great. We talked for a while about her family and her home and some of her experiences. I don’t know why God put me in her life, but I think it is potentially a great opportunity to disciple someone I would never have met on my own. I hope we are able to continue to meet together. I am praying about what I can do to disciple her. I would like to ask her if we can study through a book of the Bible together. I’m not sure what or how it will work, but I think that is where I am leaning and pray for God’s direction. I think I will start by asking her how much she has studied the Bible so far, and then go from there. I just pray for opportunities and guidance from God. He is a good God.

March 10, 2009
Saturday I ran some errands and then sat at the beach while I worked on a “homework” assignment we were given. We are working through some material called “Born to Play” and had a booklet to read through that talked about what it means to be a Christian and an athlete. There isn’t much that I haven’t studied before, but it has renewed and challenged my thinking in areas in which Scripture applies to sports.
Sunday the ladies soccer team played their first league game. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play because I don’t have my clearance yet between the US and South Africa. I sent my papers in a couple of months ago, but after getting lost in the mail and then a slow processing here, I’m still waiting. Hopefully, it will be done this week. We only had 10 eligible players for the game, including one girl who was sick, so our team ended up losing and will have to fight its way back now. It is a 22 game season, so there is time.
Monday we went and did an assembly for the school we helped last Wednesday with the track and field event. We were able to present the gospel to them through a couple of skits, and the teachers thanked us, because they said presenting the gospel through sports was a great way to reach the kids in a way they have not been able to. Then, because it was supposed to be our day off, most of the interns went to the beach together. We went to a place called Fish Hoek, which is on the eastern side of Cape Town, so in a bay where the water is a little warmer than on the Atlantic side. Because there were guys there, I had people to play in the water with me (I can’t get any of the girls to go swimming). The water is still too cold to stay in for long, but the weather has continued to be really hot, so it was very nice to go in for a while and dive through the waves. It is a fishing community, which the name entails, and there was a fishing crew on the water while we were there. It was a pretty neat process to watch. About the time we arrived, there was a man on a cliff about ¼ mile above the sea, spotting for fish. He started waving a white flag and all of the fishermen ran to the shore to shove their boat out in to the water. It took about 12-15 guys to push the boat off and then four guys jumped in a rowed out in to the bay. They began casting nets in to the water and did so for about 2 hours. When they started they had towed ropes about a hundred yards or more long with them that they attached to the nets. When they returned to the shore about 20 guys started pulling the ropes and dragging the nets to shore. It took a good half hour for them to get the nets, which were full of fish (although not as full as I expected). I think they had 3 or 4 of these nets to tow in, with a fish called Yellow Tail or Snook, which are about 2-3 feet long. They loaded up all of the fish and immediately took them to sell.
Today we discussed Romans 12:1-2 most of the morning and how it applies to sport, or anything else in life. I decided that I would type up some of my notes to record a little about what we have been studying. It is very long and no one is expected to read it. We basically broke down the verse and thought about what it said and meant and then how it applied. These are my personal thoughts. “Therefore,” Paul is looking back at the previous verses (and chapters) that say who God is and what He has done. ‘To him be the glory forever,’ is the conclusion of chapter 11, and now what Paul continues with is to be our response, the only proper response in light of God’s glory. What has God done in my life, what has He shown me, and how does that incite me to respond? He has given me gifts, talents, abilities, strength, health, love for sport, and love for Him.
“I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy,” in light of God’s love and grace enacted in our lives, this gives us more reason to respond in the manner Paul sets forth. It is God’s love and His desire to have a relationship with me that has given me my abilities and desires and He has blessed me because of who He is. I have nothing to earn and therefore nothing to lose, so I should play to the best of my ability for God, with no hindrance or fear.
“To offer our bodies as living sacrifices,” is a willing giving up of ourselves for God. It is total and full commitment (a cow sacrificed to God in the OT couldn’t later graze in the field or be used for milk, it was completely given up for its purpose) of who we are and what we do for God’s glory and service. Sport is a way to show our total and full commitment; to be completely dedicated to God by serving Him through sport.
“Holy and pleasing to God,” being set apart from the world in our obedience to God. This is by God’s grace and by dependence on Him as He transforms us in to His image (just as we were saved by grace, so we live by grace). We have an opportunity through sport to show we are different, to be set apart from the world and corruption of sport, to represent Christ.
“Our spiritual act of worship,” all things at all times should be in worship of God. Our heat and our mind should be set on glorifying and praising God. We can worship God in our play and our attitudes; with our teammates, opponents, and officials we can follow Scripture and bring God glory.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,” when we are redeemed we are called to put off the old self and put on the new self, created new in true righteousness and holiness. We are no longer to follow the ways of the world, our deceitful desires, or selfish interests. We can’t follow both God and the world, but need to be completely made new in the attitude of our minds. Our sport should be under our relationship and obedience to God; not following the ‘social norms’ and letting the pace or emotions of the game get the best of us, but being a new creation in follow God and playing with righteousness and holiness.
“Be transformed” is being mad new and being made more and more like Christ, which requires both obedience and dependence on God’s grace to work in us through the Holy Spirit. It is a change of heart, mind, and body. It is not an instant change from the patterns of the world, but we can pray for our attitude and actions, our team, our opponents, etc. We can work on issues that conform to the world, become more Christ0like in our play and attitude, and apply Scripture more and more to sport to determine God’s desires and pursue them by His grace.
“Renewing of your mind,” destroying thoughts, temptations, and arguments that are against God’s ways, and taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ. Continually focusing our thoughts on Christ and God’s word and brining light in to the darkness. This entails knowing God’s word and seeking to apply it to sport, pursuing how we can follow God through it.
“Test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will,” only as we are transformed and our minds are renewed can we know and discern God’s will. As we are made new and more like Christ and our thoughts are turned to Him, we can know God’s desires, which is to reflect His image, to be in a relationship with Him and others, and to have dominion and care over creation.
I have to turn my laptop off; it is 94 degrees with no breeze and way too hot to keep it on.

The first picture is me at the top of Table Mountain overlooking the Atlantic Ocean (from the south east side of it). The second picture is a classroom at the homeless shelter. The third picture is the group of academy boys who will be trained and discipled by Ambassadors in the prison.

A busy week

On Monday morning we did our workout and then went to the intern supervisor’s apartment to watch ‘Facing the Giants’ and talk about some of the aspects of sport’s ministry. There were 9 of us who carpooled together, and when we got there, we all got on the elevator together to take it to the 5th floor. The elevator capacity was 8 people, but we aren’t huge people, so all 9 of us got on. I don’t think the standards for elevators are the same in South Africa as in the US. I’m pretty sure at home we would have gone up the 5 floors just fine. However, we heard the motors turning for a while, like we were going up, but all of us had the feeling we weren’t going anywhere. Instead of going up, we actually dropped about 2 feet below the ground floor. We were able to pry the inside door open, but because we were below the floor, we could not get the outer door open to get out. Nine of us were stuck in the elevator. I called the guy we were supposed to be meeting and he came down and called the engineer, who came over rather quickly to get us out. We were only stuck for about 20 minutes, which meant the situation was more funny than anything else. No one was claustrophobic or had any major fears, although a couple people admitted afterwards that they were nervous. It was just a great way to start the week!
Wednesday we went to the ARK, which is a homeless shelter outside of Cape Town. The part of the shelter we visited housed orphans from 18 months up through teens, mothers with children, single women, and elderly women. There is a separate camp for men and families, which we weren’t able to visit. Every person we met wanted to be with us and talk with us. The little kids clung to us in seconds, wanting to hold hands, look at our cameras, and follow us everywhere we went. The older kids were just finishing school and working on their homework, so they were a little less interested, at least outwardly. A couple of the Ambassador’s women were working with a large group of girls, teaching them soccer. So, we split up teams and played with them for a while. Their skills ranged from good to not so good, but, they all had a good time. We talked with them for a little while afterwards as well. I think that they were the girls that Ambassadors does the most work with. They teach them soccer to build relationships, but they talk with them individually and apart from soccer a lot also. It would be nice to go back there and get to know some of the girls and talk with them more.
I’ve been praying for a couple of the girls on the soccer team specifically also. I pray that I will have opportunity to disciple them more individually, so I pray for relationships to form and opportunities to challenge them.
Friday we climbed Table Mountain. The route we took was straight up a gorge on huge step-like rocks. It was a muscle burning climb, but it was beautiful and well worth it. We were given a target time of 1 hr 45 min to climb, and we did it in half an hour less than that. The day was beautiful and the view from the top was spectacular. I would love to go back up again sometime, maybe on a different route. We rode the cable car back down, which was a fun experience as well. The inside of the car rotates as you descend so you can see all around.
Saturday Ambassadors hosted a soccer tournament, so the interns put a team in. I was the only girl playing in the tournament, but I didn’t care. I don’t have the speed to keep up with guys, but I did alright anyway. I scored a goal; it was actually the game winning goal in the quarter final game of our section. So, that was fun. Our team sort of fell apart in the semi-final game though, and I got really frustrated with some of the guys. It wasn’t frustration over losing to a team we should have beaten. I was frustrated because we ended the game with 2 yellow cards and a red card, which was not the way we should have been representing Christ. The game got physical and our team (or some of the team) just responded the wrong way. We even talked about that exact thing this week as well, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. I really fear that the opposing team saw nothing different in us, nothing that would make them want to know Christ. I really wish there was a way to rectify the situation, but I’m not sure how to do that. I do want to talk with somebody about it and see what can be done. It was definitely not the way the tournament should have ended for us.
I visited 2 more Church of England South Africa churches today and I enjoyed both services. The sermon tonight was very good; it was challenging and Christ-centered. I think the closer of the 2 churches will be where I decide to go. It is a fairly large and diverse congregation with a lot of young people. I was told that 60 young adults went on a retreat this past weekend and 100 regularly attend their small groups. I am going to try to go to their young adult Bible study this Wednesday and see how that goes.