Luke 15:24

Posted on April 9, 2016     Leave a Comment

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

I’m writing this story at 11 PM on Thursday, April 7th because this is the day that a lost child has come home!!  I cannot sleep tonight….first, because of all the excitement of the day, and all the details the Lord perfectly orchestrated and second, because I am broken for the people out there who have yet to come home.  

This story of the prodigal son began about a year ago, when we first arrived here.  As our family became familiar with Heidelberg (the town nearest to us) we found a local restaurant, Nando’s, that had great food and was reasonably priced.  Adjacent to the restaurant was the parking lot.  Like all parking lots in South Africa, there are always guys that stay and watch your car, and when you return, you give the guy a tip.  A great way for people to make a small amount of money, in a country where the economy is in such bad shape.

This was the first time we met Thembinkosi.  When our family first saw him, something about him stuck out to us but, we couldn’t put our finger on it.  Jeanie remembers that he was barefoot and this clothes were extremely tattered.  He seemed timid, and broken.  Over time, we began praying for him, talking with him, purposely dropping food off for him, and the Lord increased our love for him.

In August we shared with Nathi and Karabo about Thembinkosi, and told them when they were in town working at the after-school program, they also needed to check up on him….and so they began building a relationship with him too.  Nathi moved into extension 23 in January and a few months later, he found a roommate, Bayanda.

As we shared in one of our last posts, we are doing a men’s group at extension 23 church – with our main focus on reaching and discipling non-believers within the community.  A few weeks back we challenged everyone to spend time with a non-believer, who society would say has no hope.  Bayanda (Nathi’s roommate) works across the street from the parking lot Thembinkosi is at, so he immediately said he would spend his breaks with him and also start building a relationship with him too.  I, of course, thought that was awesome but I had no idea what was about to happen.

Oddly enough, about 2 weeks ago I was chatting with Thabiso, the extension 23 pastor.  He told me about how a sangoma (witch doctor) had stopped him and said, “Pastor – you need to go and tell my son about Jesus – he isn’t doing well.”  A pretty strange request coming from a witch doctor.  I hadn’t thought much about it until I took Thabiso to lunch and wanted to introduce him to Thembinkosi….and he said, “Rob – are you kidding me….Thembinkosi is the sangoma’s son!!”  I really couldn’t believe it – now there were 5 guys that were reaching out to him.

Which brings me back to today….it is the first cold day we have seen in a while.  As Thabiso and I were en route to buy a winter school uniform for a girl we met (more details on that later),  I thought it would be good to get Thembinkosi a sweatshirt.  We looked for him in the parking lot, and he wasn’t there so we headed back to the extension.  On our way back we saw his mom, the sangoma, and she said he was at home getting ready for work, we should go see him.

When we arrived at his house, he couldn’t believe or understand why we came to see him.  And as we shared with him why we were there we could see the overwhelming emotions and he asked, “Why me, why me, why me?  You don’t know what I have done.”  It gave us the perfect opportunity to share the gospel, and he gladly accepted.  I have seen the ‘light bulb moment’ with people as they have come to the full realization of the gospel, BUT never like this.  He seemed to change right before our eyes.  It was one of the most incredible things I have ever witnessed.

I can’t begin to truly express in words all that God did to save this man, and all of the people he used to do it.  Each one of us involved having strengths and weaknesses that produced the perfect platform for Christ to shine.  What an unbelievable feeling, when God chooses to use us to invite one of his children home.

Please join God and us in celebrating the return of one of his children.  Welcome Home Thembinkosi!!

UPDATE:

Today (Saturday, April 9th) I was going to meet with Nathi and Bayanda and Thembinkosi.  We all wanted to spend some time with him, and continue to disciple him in his new-found faith.

Just as I have read in John about the woman at the well, Thembinkosi had done the exact same thing.  We found out that he had gone right away and shared with his friend what the Lord had done in his life.

^{John 4:28} Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” ³⁰ They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

As we were heading to lunch, Thembinkosi asked if his friend, Xolani, could come with us to hear about the good news.  After two hours of us sharing with Thembinkosi more in-depth, about the character of Christ, and Thembinkosi also sharing with us what he has experienced in the last few days, Xolani interrupted us and said, “I want what Thembinkosi has – and I want to give my life to Jesus today.”

All 5 of us bowed our heads and with tear-filled eyes Xolani committed his life to Christ.  Thus begins the journey for Thembinkosi and Xolani!!

Please join us as we continue to cover these two young men in prayer.  Both of them have been in and out of prison and struggle with drug abuse, but we know the power of God and also experienced it these past few days…we pray expectantly!!

^{Philippians 1:6} being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

AMEN

Easter 2016

Posted on March 27, 2016     Leave a Comment

The 16th of March marked our one-year anniversary here in South Africa.  We have loved this past year and have seen God in all things.  The times we felt like packing up and calling it quits, the times we saw peoples lives change and we knew it was nothing we had done, the times we laughed until we cried with our kids and the young adults we shared our home with, the times we questioned what our purpose was – but when we looked to His word, we knew we were exactly where He wanted us to be.  Thank you for joining us on our journey!!  May you all feel God’s presence as you seek Him.

As we celebrate Easter, we were fortunate to have 3 extra young adults with us.  Karabo, Nathi and Bayanda.  Below is a short testimony of what the Lord is challenging them in their individual lives.  It was relaxing and joyful to spend the weekend with these young men.  We are seeing Christ use these (and many other young adults) to impact Africa.

It is true, He is risen!!

Extension 23

Posted on March 15, 2016     1 Comment

I know many of you reading this have enjoyed the people of extension 23, just as we have. Since we have been apart of our church family back home for 15 years – it took us awhile to hear clearly from the Lord where He wanted us.  Finally we decide that extension 23 would be our home church while we are here.

Now that we are committed, and in the beginning phases of building relationships, Rob has had the privilege of starting a small group with some of the leaders of the church.  Please join us in praying for this community.   Like many places in Africa, it is known as a fatherless generation, with a lot of drug and alcohol abuse, poverty,  and unemployment.  This tends to breed hopelessness, but we are praying against that, and asking God to help us find ways to engage the lost.

Our goal is the share the gospel, plain and simple, with no extra bells and whistles.  Oddly enough, the extension has many churches, but very few (if any) are teaching from scripture and staying true to God’s word.  One of the main goals of this group is to develop a strategy to engage the community with Christ as our perfect example.  We can see that this community is tired of the “religious prosperity gospel”.

Praise God we are already seeing evidence of God’s light in this lost community.  Thank you again for your involvement into our ministry.  Your financial commitments have allowed us to accomplish a few tasks, that have made a big difference.  Stay tuned for more…..

Happy Birthday Tanner!!

Posted on March 6, 2016     3 Comments

Today, we celebrate Tanner’s 7th birthday.  Yesterday we spent the day with Siyabonga, Thobile, Karabo, Nathi, Grandma and Grandpa Long and went to the movie, Zootopia and did one round of lazer tag.  It was a fun-filled day!!

One of Tanner’s dreams came true, Grandma and Grandpa Long brought him rocks for his birthday!!  He was in heaven this morning as he sorted through them – enjoying and marveling at each individual rock.

Tanner has a smile that melts our hearts, and he still says to me all of the time, “Mom – I love you!!”

We LOVE you Tanner bananer and are so glad God gave you to us!!

Happy Birthday Tate!!

Posted on March 3, 2016     1 Comment

Today, we celebrate Tate’s 13th birthday.  Yesterday we spent the whole day at the waterpark.  We also walked to the Palace and found the elephant statute (pictured above).  Today we were up at 5 AM to go to Pilanesberg National Park.  We saw lions, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, zebras, wildebeest, and one of our favorites, the dung beetle.  We came back to the hotel for a quick swim break, and we are heading back to see the animals around dinner time.

We have watched Tate over the years grow into such an awesome young man!!  He is kind-hearted, easy-going, and loves the Lord.  He is also a great older brother to Austin, Tanner & Hudson.  We love him dearly and know that God has great plans for his life…what a joy to walk alongside our children as they grow in their understanding of the world and how God will use them for His glory.

We LOVE you Tater tot!!

They have arrived safely….

Posted on March 1, 2016     3 Comments

My parents are here and they managed well, despite their circumstances.  We picked them up on Saturday morning at 9 AM after they had been traveling since Wednesday morning.  My mom stayed up all day and went to bed that night even with her days and nights mixed up.  My dad slept on and off for a bit until he caught up, but all is well, and they are adjusting to the dry air and warmer temps.  We ran out of internet, so I was unable to update….I know we had a few people on pins and needles.  We are now in Sun City for a few days and also Pilanesberg National Park (hoping to see some elephants).  We will be celebrating Tate’s 13th birthday and Tanner’s 7th birthday!!

What fun to have them here, and to show them all we know and have learned about South Africa….

A few glitches…

Posted on February 26, 2016     2 Comments

and we are still patiently waiting for my parents to arrive.  They departed on Wednesday from Cedar Rapids and flew to Detroit.  The sat on the runway in Cedar Rapids for a bit because of ice, which caused them to miss their flight from Detroit to Atlanta.  Once they got rebooked in Detroit, they were told there is a chance they won’t make their flight from Atlanta to Johannesberg.  When they got off their flight in Atlanta mom started running and didn’t stop until she arrived at the gate to be told, “They left 10 minutes ago”.  Delta gave them hotel vouchers and they stayed in Atlanta on Wednesday evening.  What a long day of unexpected events, but it gets even more CRAZY!!

Delta does one flight a day from Atlanta to Johannesberg so they were rebooked for the same flight but for Thursday evening.  They spent most of the day at the airport, and finally boarded the plane about 7:30 PM.  Oddly enough they were on the runway ready to take off and the plane was taken back to the gate.  They sat for an hour and then were told there was an issue with the hydraulic pump and everyone needed to get off of the plane.  After sitting for 2 more hours they were told the airplane wouldn’t be able to fly and they would get another plane, and schedule a new flight for Friday morning.  They decided not to take another hotel voucher, and just sleep at the airport.

When I talked to them yesterday they were in good spirits, but we texted a few times after they were told they wouldn’t be leaving until the morning, and I could tell they were losing their positivity.  2 very long days of travel – and they still have a 15 hour plane ride ahead of them.  We pray that the flight is smooth, and of course, NO MORE glitches.  This is the second morning in a row that I have had to tell the boys we won’t be going to the airport to get grandma and grandpa….you could see the disappointment in their eyes.  Austin said, “Wow, I know God has a plan and just needed them to come a few days later then expected – I wonder if we will ever figure out why they were delayed two days!”

We were suppose to leave this Sunday for a few days at a game park, but I managed to reschedule it and we won’t go until Tuesday now.  I am anxious to get them here so they can relax a bit, eat some normal food, change their clothes, rest in a bed, brush their teeth and most importantly see their grandkids.  The count down has started again for the third time……SOON they will be here!!

Our time in Mozambique

Posted on February 22, 2016     1 Comment

We decided to take a quick trip to Mozambique before the SUMMIT 2016 and before my parents arrived.  We wanted to spend some time with Chico and Gloria (Chico is the J-life country leader for Mozambique) we were also able to bring Chico back with us so for the SUMMIT 2016 so he didn’t have to endure a long bus ride.  And lastly, to face our fears of Mozambique and give the beautiful country a second chance (if you haven’t read about our first trip to the Mozambique border, click here).

We had all of our i’s dotted and t’s crossed – our visas were done ahead of time at the Mozambique consulate in Johannesberg, our paperwork was complete with endless certified stamps, we had our ZA sticker, red triangles in case of car trouble, our safety vests visible and we were prepared for anything.  We also had our Mozambique travel book with us, as we tried to remember all of the do’s and don’ts of the country.  One thing we knew for sure is that Mozambique is a true “3rd world country” as it has been plagued with a civil war for years.  Just this past year, Mozambique was finally declared “free” of land mines.

The border crossing was nothing short of chaos, but we managed to hold our own in all of the lines, and not shrink back.  We acted as if we knew exactly what we were doing and this was our 100th time here.  We met Chico in Matola (the capital city) and stayed there for 1 night.  The hotel was stayed in reminded me of a big old house.  I shared a room (and bed) with Tanner and Austin.  Rob shared a room (and bed) with Tate and Hudson.  Our rooms were on the second floor and unfortunately a bar was on the first floor so our sleep was less then we had hoped for…but we left early the next morning and drove a good 8 hours to our destination for the week, Inhambane/Tofo beach.  Even though this country has been war torn for years, the natural beauty of this place took our breath away, and our views were out of this world.  We were in walking distance to the beach, and the constant breeze helped with the high temps and even higher numbers of mosquitos.

We also managed to get pulled over 3 times, and were given 3 different tickets – we knew ahead of time we would be prime targets; #1 – We were driving a car with South Africa plates, #2 – Our skin was white, and everyone said it would be even worse when they heard our american accent.

All of the police in Mozambique supplement their income with bribes.  Each time we were asked how we wanted to “handle the situation”, waiting for us to say we would give them money, but we refused and were written a ticket each time.

Our time with Chico and Gloria was uplifting and refreshing.  Gloria spoke limited english, so we learned to communicate via body language.  I would point, or try and act something out but I also caught myself speaking loader and slower when I talked to her (am I the only one that does that!?!?) that surly didn’t help, she just looked at me longer and with more confusion in her eyes.

So often when people talk about Africa the constant theme is poverty, desolate, the forgotten continent, and the overlooked people….but we see something very different.  The smiles among the poverty and overlooked melt our hearts.  We don’t see desolate, we see perseverance against the odds.  This forgotten continent isn’t forgotten to Jesus – he died for them as well.

We love seeing the true beauty of Africa.  The fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ and the constant reminder that Jesus is really in all things…

Child of God…

Posted on February 5, 2016     Leave a Comment

We have welcomed 9 new trainees for 2016, 4 students from Bethel College in Indiana, and 12 guys from all over the African continent.  The diversity is awesome, and it gives all of us a glimpse of what we will experience in heaven.

In Psalms 86:9 it states, all the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

The trainees (pictured below) will be with J-life for a full year.

The Bethel College students (pictured below) will be with us for 1 semester.

The guys from all over Africa (pictured below) will be with us for 5 weeks.  A few of these guys, Lord willing, will be our new J-life country leaders in some of the hardest to reach areas in North Africa.  One of Rob’s biggest highlights since he has been here is sitting with this group of men, and hearing their testimonies, daily struggles, and perseverance against such adversity.

Thank you Lord for letting us be a part of what you are doing in North Africa.

Below is a video of a song that touched many hearts.  We did a men’s/women’s weekend that is designed to teach us that we are NOT who the world says we are, we are NOT defined by our past hurts, sins, failures, or successes but we are defined by what Jesus has already accomplished on the cross.

I am no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.

AMANZI WEMPILO JESU – Jesus is living water

Posted on January 8, 2016     Leave a Comment

As we reflect back on 2015 and see all that God has done, we stand amazed at all of the details that He worked out and how well all the pieces to the puzzle fit together.  I know I have said many times that our plans generally aren’t God’s plan for our lives but we have learned that Jesus is our living water, and He satisfies.

We are slowly learning to trust in the unknown and continually reminding ourselves that we don’t need to know.  We can’t begin to imagine the up’s and down’s we will face in 2016.  Unfortunately, if we did, we would try to freeze time in the up’s and avoid the down’s.  Our past up’s and down’s in 2015 have stretched and grown us in ways we could have never dreamed of, so why do we always try to run when the down’s come our way?  Over and over again we have learned that Jesus is our living water and He satisfies.

Below is a video that Cindy made with Nathi and Karabo while she was visiting with us.  We sing this song almost daily as we begin our devotions.  Cindy wanted the Sunday school kids back home to learn it as well.  If you have kids in Sunday school, I am sure you will start hearing your kids humming the tune – it is very contagious.

Also, THANK YOU for all of the financial support we have received from the states.  Your contribution to our efforts here in South Africa never go unnoticed.  We know of the sacrifices and the hard work that goes into supporting us, and we appreciate it more than words can say.  We have the privilege of being the hands and feet BUT without the support we wouldn’t have been able to come alongside and help meet the needs of the people here.  With that being said, there are endless needs here and for those that feel led, every amount can be used to further God’s kingdom.  Thank you for helping us with everything from school supplies and uniforms for the local kids, groceries for the many, many people who sit around our table every night, medicine for unexpected illnesses that pop up (for the people who don’t have resources for adequate health care), an emergency appendectomy, sinus infection, dental work, and the list could go on and on.  While we can meet the needs of the people around us in such a tangible way, we also get the opportunity to share Jesus with them – and as we explain that life isn’t always fair, and they doubt their circumstances, we can tell them of the confidence we have in Him.

A great reminder that Jesus is our living water and He satisfies.

Hope you enjoy the video – and soon you will also start singing – AMANZI WEMPILO JESU.