Life in South Africa

Praise and Thank You

2010-07-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting here in bed, the reflections of the past 8 ½ months pushing their way to the front of my mind, creating a mad rush of emotions unequal to anything I’ve gone through in the past. Despite it being 1:30 in the morning and holding back the kind of tire that hurts your head, I cannot sleep. This is due partly because I’m listening to an inspiring new Hillsong United album, but mainly because I’m trying to identify the emotions which have taken over. To just say I am sad would be quite a disrespect to the other feelings. Anxiety, worry, excitement, gratefulness, joy, and just a general feeling of being overwhelmed all deserve mention and thought. I try to handle these emotions, each one more extremely felt than the next. Yet as this incredible journey comes to an end and the next one begins, the one thing which provides me with any sort of stability is the knowledge that a truly all-might, all powerful, ever graceful, encouraging, protective, genuine Father is standing with me through all of it. The fact that it hurts so damn much to be leaving Cape Town behind is testimony to how greatly my Father has blessed me during this time. Through joy and sorrow, courage and desperation, familiarity and the unknown, social prosperity and loneliness, God my Father has stood by me and upheld me with His overwhelming love. When difficulty showed up, I had not but to cry out to my Father to be reminded that I would never be alone. In the hardest moments as well as in those of purest joy, by no doing of my own, my Father came alive and clearly spoke the words “I am with you” into my soul. His love crashed over me like ocean’s waves over its rocks, powerful and without care for consent.
A new stage begins in my life. New challenges will present themselves and the context of ministry will change. Yet the constant company of the one whose love knows not even the boundaries of paternal sacrifice will accompany me all the days of my life. The end of these 9 months bring with them a great sorrow for having to accept them as past, but through the pain, I will bow down and worship the Lord my God whose blessings have poured down on me like the sun’s rays overwhelm the desert sand. How great is His love that He has allowed me to meet the people I’ve met, seen the places I’ve seen, and experience the moments I’ve experienced, all through the love of people like you who support, encourage, and allow me to follow His urging call on my heart. My prayers are full of thankfulness and joy for unsuspecting angels like you that He has sent upon my life, for people that have made His love known to me by so many means. We serve a mighty God who suffers in our agony and delights in our joys that we may NEVER feel alone; a God who came down from the highest throne, that we may be able to witness his glory; the One who forgives time and time again, despite knowing that we our sins will hurt him again, and again, and again. This is the God we serve and the God in whom I delight. If I have but one prayer to lift up, it may be that you may know this amazing and empowering Love. Thank you for shaping my life into what it is and for believing in me. I love you more than you know.
“O How He Loves Us.”

Andy

My view on racial relations

2010-06-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have now been in South Africa for over 7 months. I have lived some of my most memorable experiences, visited awe-inspiring places, and met wonderful people. Some of these experiences I have shared with you through this blog. But what came to my mind the other day is that I’ve never really shared my reflections/observations on the frailty of racial relations in post-apartheid South Africa. So, I will do my best to express some of my conclusions on such delicate a topic.
Perhaps the greatest advantage to being here with Ubuntu Sports Outreach is that I actually get to live in a South African township. Now, most images that spring up when the thought of a township comes to mind are that of dirt roads, 10 X 10 ft metal shacks, and children everywhere. That image is actually quite accurate. However, that’s the image that is portrayed of the more exposed Black communities. That image is slightly different from that of Coloured communities. As you may know, I actually live in the latter.
Coloured people in South Africa are a small minority. Not having reaped the wicked benefits of the Whites during Apartheid, nor the assistance of an all black government, Coloureds have been caught somewhat in the middle. Unarguably closer to the poverty of Blacks, most of the nations Coloureds have settled in Cape Town. The ‘Cape Coloureds’ make up almost all the Coloured population in South Africa, and seldom populate the other major cities like Johannesburg (the ‘Black Concrete Jungle’), Pretoria, or Port Elizabeth.
Underrepresented in the government, unable to relate to the wealth of the Whites, Coloureds suffer a major struggle with identity. During Apartheid they were given a few more rights than Blacks, but were secondhand citizens in the oppressive system nonetheless. Where then, should they find their identity? Are they supposed to embrace the overwhelmingly white sports of Cricket and Rugby? Or are they to invest their passion into Soccer, the sport of the poor? The do not have a history with Cricket or Rugby as they weren’t allowed to participate until the mid 90’s, and Bafana Bafana (the endearing term used to refer to South Africa’s soccer national team meaning “Our Boys”) is an almost all Black team. Coloureds cannot fully relate to Blacks because they have White heritage, but neither can they relate to Whites due to their Black ancestry. They are caught within the struggle of not knowing where they’re from and instead find identity in their culture’s deepest problems: unemployment, substance abuse, promiscuity, domestic violence, etc… They see these evils in their communities and assimilate them with their own culture. Not even their language is uniquely their own as is the case in the Black cultures. Their primary language, Afrikaans, is the language passed down from the Afrikaners who believed Coloureds to be animals in the first place.
One of the saddest things that I have gotten to experience while living in a Coloured community is the extreme racism that exists towards Blacks. Speak to just about any Coloured in Ocean View, and the feelings towards Blacks are basically the same. Even among passionate Christ followers whose faith can move mountains, racism is ever prevalent. In their case, they wouldn’t consider themselves racist, but offer every other symptom of racial resentment imaginable. As one friend and fellow church member said, she is “not racist, just anti-Black.” Perhaps too vain, I would have thought (and understood) their racism towards Whites. But this is not the case. Towards them exists almost a sense of a vague unacknowledged admiration. A sense that when you really look at things deeply, Coloureds are also ‘White.’ So much so that you will often hear Coloureds refer to Blacks as Africans, dismissing any insane thought from foreigners that they too belong to this continent.
A relationship between a Coloured and a White isn’t too common. Relationships between a White person and a Black one are rare, but exist. Yet when I stop to really think about it, the idea of a Colorured and Black couple is almost laughable. It simply doesn’t exist.
When Nelson Mandela took charge in 1994 after decades of oppression and violence towards his people from Whites, everyone expected him to unleash 27 years of prison-induced pain out onto the nation’s White population. Yet, when he was released, this most formidable of men did the unimaginable. Instead of cleansing the nation of the Whites that represented a century of oppression, President Mandela forgave those who had made him suffer. FORGAVE!!! He was unjustly imprisoned for 27 YEARS! AND HE FORGAVE!!! I have visited Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned. The place is a putrid dessert with very little vegetation, millions of rocks, and miles of ghastly dirt. His cell was the size of a very small bathroom and the beds were as comfortable as lying on a highway. On top of it all, Robben Island has one of the most beautiful views of Cape Town and Table Mountain. Prisoners on Robben Island were forced to look upon this taunting view of beautiful freedom which for them was utterly unattainable. I say this to emphasize how illogical it was for Mandela to forgive. Another case in which the light shines brightest in the dark.
I say all this to help you understand the concern that many South Africans face about a post-Mandela future. Now 92, Nelson Mandela probably doesn’t have much longer to live. Many fear that with his death will rise much of the vengeance that was postponed 16 years ago. With the leader of the ANC (African National Congress) recently singing the song “Kill the Boer (basically kill the White man),” this outlandish fear doesn’t seem all too unreal.
When thinking about South Africa’s racial problems, I cannot help but feel a deep sense of resentment, borderline hatred, towards Whites. I always get this image of a big white man’s hand coming down on two men, one Coloured, one Black. In this mental image, both of these men are blindfolded while the ‘big white hand’ slaps and irritates the two black and coloured men. Irritated but not sure about the source of the irritation, the two men try to helplessly fend off the ‘big white hand.’ Seeing this, ‘the big white hand’ finally removes the two men’s blindfold. When the coloured and the black man, angry at being bothered, make eye contact after the blindfolds lift, they automatically think of each other as the source of the annoyance and began to fight. Finding it amusing, ‘the big white hand’ retreats back a bit in order to better see the fight going on bellow, laughing intensely as the hand has now transformed into a face.
It’s hard to explain a picture which has never travelled outside my brain, but hopefully you understand a bit better how I inevitable think of the situation. The White Man came in and caused horrific problems through his disturbed system of Apartheid. He abused, beat, degraded, humiliated, and killed innocent people, whilst growing richer. Once Apartheid ended, the Coloured Man and the Black Men were left with nothing while the White Men went away to enjoy his wickedly gained wealth. Coloureds and Blacks may not be fighting themselves every day, but thanks to Apartheid they now battle much worse problems. Disease, alcohol abuse, dismal education, domestic violence, drug use, lack of identity, unsanitary living conditions, undignified housing, self-hatred, lack of confidence, and the list continues. Racial relations in South Africa may appear at peace from the outside. But when you really get to examine the problem from the inside, reality dictates something other than peace.
The likes of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are very unlikely to repeat themselves. But the One who will always be present is our Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through Him that we find leaders to set an example through love, peace, and forgiveness. Please pray for South Africa and its people. The world is beginning to arrive for the nation’s greatest ever event. Pray that the people of this great nation will feel great pride in their country and that they will learn to live in peace, free from the resentment of their heart. Thank you so much for wanting to hear some of my observations on such unique a problem. I look forward to discussing many more of my experiences with you when I see you again. I pray that you are well and living in the peace given to us through Jesus Christ.

Love,

Andy

May

2010-05-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

It is my belief that the light shines brightest in the darkness. In the darkness, light has its chance to come through and really make an impact on the dark that surrounds it. No matter how dark a room may be, if you light a match, the light will shine bright regardless of the darkness that encircles it. I have found this week to be one that really depicts that.
Monday nights are a productively busy time for the Methodist Church and the Prince household. In the church, an Ubuntu team meets to plan what promises to be a remarkable ‘Community Festival’ in September. Just 10 yards away, in the house, Ocean View’s women gather for their regular support group meeting meant to be a safe haven for the women of the community to share their ever-prevalent problems with domestic abuse. As we do live in South Africa (a British colony), tea is an essential component of any successful meeting. Obviously wanting this meeting to be a success, water was set to boil in the kettle as the women greeted each other with love. The water having finally boiled at an incredible temperature, a first cup was poured and left, unintentionally and temporarily, unattended. Being age appropriate, beautiful little Kieren saw the tempting cup sitting on the edge of the counter. After smiling at Kyle, one of our favorite boys who was watching Kieren that night, the 16th month old baby proceeded to make one of her short life’s biggest mistakes. Reaching up, Kieren grabbed the cup, pouring the boiling hot water on her face, neck, chest, and shoulders. As all would, she began to cry furiously as terrible pain took over her fat little body as the skin quickly melted off. After being dipped in cold water (which is what you must know to do when a burn occurs), Kieren was immediately rushed over to the nearest hospital. After taking the necessary steps to prevent the burn from worsening, an ambulance took Kieren and her distraught parents over to Red Cross Children’s Hospital. She was then placed in the ward for children who have suffered severe burns and was given proper treatment to lessen the pain and prevent infection.
This all happened Monday night. As of Friday, Kieren is still being taken care of in the hospital. Today (Thursday) was a great day for her, as Sarah told me. It was the first time she smiled and began acting so that we could recognize that Kieren’s awesome personality was still there. Though she has lost her voice from the crying caused by the agonizing pain, it’s a huge cause for happiness to see that this baby that I, and everyone, love so much, is now regaining her personality. I first visited her on Tuesday. She was asleep thanks to the many drugs she’d been given for the pain. As Casey says, she looks like the Bionic Woman, having all her neck, parts of her face, and half of her chest and belly looking completely raw. She had a successful surgery on Wednesday and has been doing a lot better ever since. I spent time with her on Thursday, and although she looks like a mummy after being completely bandaged from her waist up with the exception of her eyes and mouth, it was such relief/happiness to see my baby being herself again.
If you don’t know Kieren, well then your life is that much worse. Not only is she the most beautiful baby in all of Africa, she’s also the funniest, flirtiest, most persuasive, most stubborn baby in the continent, and perhaps the world. She is charming like you know you should wish she wasn’t. Feeling bad about some of the other babies in her community which often don’t get to eat, Kieren takes no chances with food, eating what seems like everything. This has developed into a belly which seems to be a whole being on its own. We didn’t understand why her belly had to be so big, but thank God for that, not joking, because if her giant belly hadn’t been there, the boiling hot water would have also fallen on her adorably fat legs.
According to the doctors at the country’s most prestigious hospital for burns, Kieren will recover with no real problems and should develop little to no scarring. Casey and Sarah are both exhausted, physically and emotionally, having had to sleep on the floor of the waiting room for most of the past 4 nights. They’ve had a few heated discussions with some of the hospital staff and haven’t eaten a ‘real’ meal since Monday. On top of that, the incredible work that God is doing through them in Ocean View has gone through an atypical week.
As dark as the whole situation is, God’s light is shinning brighter than ever. The discussions with the hospital staff have happened because the ward has been invaded with visitors for the o so many people that love the Princes. Their work in Ocean View has gone through an atypical week because the regular meetings have been extended to fit in the amazing amount of prayer that everyone has been doing. All sorts of people have extended their love and support by bringing incredible amounts of food over, constantly asking me for updates (I’ve been staying at their house during their absence), and travelling close to an hour to make sure that the Princes know that they are loved. This is what the Church should look like. This is what it means to show love as Jesus would. It has been an enduring week. But faithful as he is, our Father has heard our prayers and turned the enemy’s evil doings into something full of love and of life. I am so grateful to our Father for hearing our prayers and for showing me how He moves through people to comfort His faithful children that He loves so much. I believe God has made something great for His Kingdom out of this dark situation. No matter how dark it may be, His light will always shine bright.
Also on Thursday, two new volunteers arrived to work with Ubuntu. One of them was supposed to arrive on Monday night, a couple hours after the incident. Due to the Icelandic volcano ash cloud and a technical problem on the plane, he wasn’t able to get here until today. Praise and thanks be to God for using the ash cloud to prevent him (Ben) from getting here in the worst of timing.
Please continue to pray for the World Cup and everything that comes with it. My excitement is unexplainable, but at the same time, too many problems come attached to be able to fully enjoy it. As I mentioned the past blog, human trafficking is a huge problem and PROSTITUTION WILL BE LEGAL FOR THE 30 DAYS OF THE WORLD CUP! The politics in this country are beyond complaint and the president is quite literally a disgrace. He’s just had his 20th child and is about to marry his 6th wife. No divorce; polygamy. O and when being investigated on sex charges before being president, he was asked how he knew he hadn’t contracted AIDS after having sex with an unknown woman. His response, in all seriousness, was that he knew he didn’t have AIDS because he showered after the act. Yes, this is the president. And yes, I suppose this IS Africa. But still.
Please pray for Kieren’s healing, and just as much for Casey and Sarah as they go through this physically and emotionally strenuous week. Please pray that they will continue to see just how much He loves us.
I pray that you are well in your work, with your families, with your studies, and in your relationship with our heavenly Father.
My love and gratefulness goes out to you.

Andy

April

2010-04-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

Six months have gone by since I arrived in Cape Town. I’ve lived incredible experiences, formed exceptionally strong relationships, witnessed how ALIVE Christ really is, been to some of the world’s most beautiful places, and grown to appreciate the complexity of suffering. With everything external that I witness, the internal changes are just as big.

Because of who God made me, I process a lot of ‘random’ thoughts. Mostly these are questions to which the answer is something very relevant and significant to me. There often are questions to which I cannot find a satisfying answer, but it is the search or the answer that is important and many times leads me to even bigger questions. This whole process of how my brain works is amplified when I get to spend so much quality time with myself and my Heavenly Father like I am during these 9 months. This explanation may make sense only to me and be lost on everyone else, but it is the path by which I find conclusions to some of the things I share with you on this blog. That said, I want to tell you a bit about a few of the many things that have been on my heart and mind during the past month.

One of my recent revelations is, perhaps, vague, but vast and meaningful to me at the same time. I have to come to learn/appreciate how beautifully infinite the possibilities of existence are. We don’t often stop to reflect on it, but when you think about it, it is such an incredibly remarkable thing that despite there being over 6 ½ Billion people in the world, not a single one of them will ever live the life that you have. The experiences you experience, the people you meet, the places you see, they’re all entirely uniquely to your life. What’s more, you can make of your life absolutely anything you want. Now, while I appreciate and understand that certain things are restrained by one’s upbringing, abilities, and ‘fortune’, you can do ANYTHING you want with your life. Maybe you want to be a free lance writer travelling across South America. Or maybe you want to train to be an astronaut and travel to space only to retire in a few years and open a butch shop in Nepal. Perhaps you want to make jewelry and donate your profits to a farmer in Nigeria. It’s possible that you want to be an artist who finds inspiration in European architecture. Now, I know these things are completely random and seemingly mindless. But I think that’s what’s so great about it. In a manner of seconds, I came up with different possibilities of what you or anybody’s life could be. There is such an infinite amount of possibilities completely unique to who you are that you can do with your life. Maybe it’s a stupid and obvious thought, but I find something beautiful in it.

This leads me to another thought. I always knew that I would do what I wanted to because it was what I wanted and not because I felt any type of social or family pressure to do it. If I didn’t think that way I would never be where I am today. But I only slightly deviated from the path. I still went to high school, got the grades I got, and am now going into university. I promise you I know the importance of education. I get to see what a lack of it looks like every day in Ocean View. But I cannot help but think how overrated a post-secondary education is. Yes, being knowledgeable and fully preparing yourself to be better at whatever it is you want to do are important. I just feel that, even though you can choose your own career path, everyone just does the same. People go to college, get a job, find a compatible mate with whom they can begin a good family, work, take vacations, live special moments every so often, and die. I make it sound quite dull. All of these things can actually be quite beautiful. But yet, they’re all the same thing in a way. I feel like we are all cattle just following the same marked path. Once we pass through the gates, there is an open fence which gives a sense of freedom and specialty. But without realizing it, we are all in the same enclosed space. I want to live outside of that space. If I don’t want to go to college and do something of actual importance in my life, I need to do it. Don’t worry, I’m still going to go. It’s just the thought of knowing that people do all these things: college, work, family, maybe church; and despite how well they may do all these things, whatever they may have accomplished in any aspect of their lives, in the end it can all be in vain. There is no satisfaction in what they did no matter how well they may have done it. You could be very famous, incredibly wealthy, successfully devoted to your family, and reach 70 without knowing what the heck you did with your life. I find that thought depressing.

As depressing as it all may sound, even if you don’t become a Martin Luther or anything near it, there is one and only one thing that can fill the satisfaction of living worthy life. That is, knowing that you lived a life in full devotion to Jesus Christ. Not just in devotion to a good cause, but to Jesus Christ alone. A life lived for him is literally the ONLY thing I can rationalize is worth living for. It’s the only thing that I could picture myself at 75 looking back at, and finding genuine satisfaction with what I did with my life.

This has also led me to wonder what the world would look like if ‘Christians’ looked at their life from the perspective of their faith. In other words, what would it look like if our first priority truly was our work for the Gospel? If, instead of having a job in which we occasionally were inspired to try to let others know about our faith, the main reason why we had a certain job was because the setting was the right one to make God’s love evident. What if, instead of being teachers who happened to be Christians, we were Christians who happened to teach? What if we chose a university primarily because it was the right place for us to minister to others? I may not be explaining myself well. I just think the world would look completely different if those who call themselves followers of Christ actually followed Him. Faith with no deeds is no faith at all. There’s a quote that by Dallas Willard that says “Faith is treated as something that only should make us different, not that actually does or can make us different. In reality we vainly struggle against the evils of this world, waiting to die and go to heaven. Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that the essence of faith is entirely a mental and inward thing.” Unfortunately, I find him to be right. The American church, generally speaking, is just too bland, too vague.

Now that I’ve been able to say some of that, I’ll let you see a glimpse of what has happened in the past month or so.

At the end of March we held clinic at a new primary school called Christian David Primary. We were supposed to have 25 kids but ended up with over 30. As great as it is that kids are wanting to go, 35 kids is a lot for 2 or 3 coaches. Situations like these are really teaching me how to use discipline and meanness when dealing with kids sometimes. The clinic was a success and we have a coach starting to work there next week.

During around that time, I was also hugely blessed with the opportunity to help run a soccer camp in a town 2 ½ hours away from Cape Town called Gansbai (the G is really a harsh H or J sound). As part of a larger holiday club for kids, Casey and I, as well as other coaches from around the country, came in to run the soccer camp that was going on at the same time. The club was run by an organization called the Football Foundation for South Africa. We had about 150 kids show up every day for the kid’s club part, and I believe 6 soccer teams with around 16 players each. Me and another one of the coaches organized a certain ‘station’ each day where we would work on different aspects of soccer. It was a great opportunity to affirm myself as a coach and to work with black children, a completely different culture and language than the Coloureds I live and work with.

Though working with the children and doing soccer was awesome, it wasn’t the best part of the trip. During our stay there, we were hosted by an American family, the Johnsons from Tennesse, who own a resort called Mosaic Farm. This 5 star resort is one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I’ve been to. We were fed amazing food from their 4 star restaurant and treated like royalty by their incredible staff. A lot of the pictures I have posted are of this unique place. More importantly than being able to do all this, for free, was the friendships we built whilst helping out there. We spent an amazing time with our new New York friends who were there to record the work that was being done by everyone in Gansbai. It was great to see these MTV and Nickelodeon producers come to see the beauty of this incredible country that is South Africa. It was really an awesome experience and I am so grateful to God for allowing me to live it.

Also, it’s been extremely inspiring to see the great work that Sarah Prince has been doing with Ocean View’s women. I’ll let you find out more about that if you want on their blog, www.caseyandsarahafrica.blogspot.com. They are WAY better with their blogging responsibilities and I’m often doing the same things they talk about.

There have also been some wonderful things happening with our boys. We’ve been having a few of them whom we have grown particularly close to come to church on Sundays. This is usually to the Methodist church that Sarah pastors. But two Sundays ago they also went to Hillsong United, a Sydney, Australia based church known for its amazing worship. There, after the sermon, the people attending were asked to raise close their eyes and raise their hands if they were ready to seek Christ. When this moment came, all three of the boys that went raised their hands to indicate that they wanted to put Jesus first in their lives. It’s really beautiful to see how our presence here is working in their lives. This also opens up the doors to directly share the Gospel with them. Hopefully this week we will be meeting with them to have a Bible study of some sort. Please pray for that.

There are some more things that I need to write about which I’m hoping I’ll be able to do by the end of the week. Writing this thing can be quite fun and quite a pain in the butt, and right now it’s the latter. There are some great things happening but I want to do them justice so I will write about them sometime this week when I’m in a writing mood. My writing tends to suffer when I’m now, like now.

I do want to ask you for prayer for something specific. With the World Cup coming up, and all the foreigners that will be coming in because of it, child trafficking is alarmingly relevant right now. Kids of all ages are being taken to be used as sex slaves during the time of festivity that the country will be living. I know it’s something that we hear about sometimes, but it’s a whole different thing when you’re actually in the places where it’s taking place. Please pray for this in whatever way you find useful. For the protection of the kids, awareness of the problem, governmental interference. This reminds me to tell you that they’re thinking about making prostitution legal in South Africa for the World Cup. Please pray for the situation. It’s such a huge, horrific problem, yet we don’t always think much of it in the United States.

Thank you so much for all your love, support, and prayers. I thank God not only for the incredible experience lived here, but for the people at home who so greatly represent His love. I hope and pray that things are going well for everyone. Please let me know if there is any way in which I can be praying for you, whatever it is. (andychenlo@hotmail.com)

Love,

Andy

February-March

2010-03-15T04:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize for being so slack with my blog duties. No excuses, but I have been having to do a lot of college business whenever I get the chance to be online.

Another month and a half have gone by in beautiful Cape Town. It has definitely been the hottest, the last few days being in the high 90’s, low 100’s. It’s quite a feat to survive these temperatures without a/c, and in my case, without even a fan; truly agonizing to the point of near insanity. And you can never emphasize the brutality of the wind enough. It really is like being in North Carolina during a bad hurricane. So much so that it destroyed the Prince’s backyard patio, lifting up the large wooden poles from the ground. But other than the irritating weather, God is continuing to show me His love for me in everyday life.

March 1^st marked the half-way point of my stay in South Africa. It was a good place for me to reflect a bit on life here, and everything which that encompasses. More than anything, it made me realize how incredibly long of a time 9 months is. It’s like a whole year of my life. A seriously long period of time, something which I had thought of before coming, but not really grasping the idea fully. Anyways, I’ll be back home on July 6^th, only after enjoying some of the World Cup, to which, by the way, I will get to go to 3 games.

Since I’ve been so undisciplined about keeping up with this thing with any sort of time structure, I can’t really remember the order in which certain things have occurred. That said, I’m going to talk about some of the highlights of the month of February and early March.

Perhaps one of the most memorable experiences thus far was getting to hike up Table Mountain. One of the best things to do while in Cape Town, this hike was made much better by us being able to bring along 4 of the boys with whom we work. Ocean View (the township where we live) is on the Southern Peninsula of Cape Town. So to actually get to the main part of Cape Town, one must drive over another mountain just 10 minutes away from Ocean View. Two of the boys who went with us had never been over this mountain, so seeing their faces as this whole new world opened up was quite rewarding in of itself. Anyways, the hike is definitely a challenge, a harsh 2 ½ hours of steep rocky steps. It being the hottest day of the year didn’t do much to help either. Though we started at around 7:30, the heat’s harshness was inescapable. Our water supplies never seemed like enough, especially for some of the boys who have yet to learn the concept of pace. However exhausting the climb may have been, few things are as gratifying as finally reaching the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, pictures are the best I can do, though never sufficient to really make you understand what it’s like to be there yourself. God must have smiled when he pictured people at the top of Table Mountain. It’s quite breathtaking.

On a not so jolly note, I had a scooter/motorcycle accident about a month and a half ago. As in a lot of third-world countries, dogs roam the streets as if it was theirs. Most of them aren’t huge scooter fans, and will often run along as you drive, barking and bickering as they go. However annoying they are, most don’t do much other than run beside you. But as I turned onto my street, one of the dogs ran right across my path, causing me and my bike to fly in complete opposite ways. Perhaps even more annoying was that while I was on the ground, the dog, still alive, continued to bark at me as if I had caused it a disturbance. I have never been much of a dog fan, so this situation was not a good one for me. More than pain, I was in extreme hate and anger. And I couldn’t really forgive the animal too easily as it has no soul and the boundaries of my mercy do not include dogs. Fortunately, the stupid dog is now deathly fearful of me. I sincerely believe I would have killed it if it had crossed my path anytime soon after the incident. Anyway, I’m obviously in good health despite a few scars and some broken parts on my bike.

On February 27^th I also got to attend one of my best South African friends’ wedding. Despite the inconsiderate tornado like wind, and the sermon given during it, the beach wedding was quite delightful. It was a great cultural experience and I got to enjoy some delicious food.

I should also tell you that I am playing for a team now as well (soccer team.) I am the only ‘white’ person on the team and am really enjoying it. Most of the guys are former professional or semi-professional players so the level is really quite high, which also means that I am staying in good shape and getting to know a lot of unnecessary Afrikaans. We practice a couple times a week, and play every weekend. It’s great.

The first week of March, Casey and I got to attend a TREC Coaching course. TREC stands for “Training, Resourcing, and Equipping Coaches.” It was a basic level coaching course that involves important concepts of ministry into soccer coaching. Though going over some of the soccer concepts which you are taught when you are 5 years old could be a bit tedious, it was great to get to see the factors of working with kids that transcend the sport itself. I’m excited about bringing some of those concepts into our work with Ubuntu.

On March 15^th, the Cape Town Argus Cycling race took place. It’s a 109 km ridiculous race over an insane amount of mountains. But I supposed if that’s your thing then that’s just who you are. 38,000 people took place in it and part of the path took them right by Ocean View. So from 7 AM till around 4:30 PM, a constant typhoon of bikers rode by Ocean View, creating a big community event with food and music to cheer on the tired bikers, one of them being Casey. Another one, the one I really cared about, being Lance Armstrong. So I woke up at 6:30, got dressed and went down to one of the main curves on which they would be turning. At 7:12, I got to see Lance riding down, just 10 feet away from me. I was pretty excited.

I think those are most of the main events that I wanted to talk about, although I’m sure I’ve missed quite a few. But being here, and just going through a natural maturity process regardless of where I’m living, I am continuing to learn new things. One of the things which God has pressed on my heart is the power of prayer. I find it incredible how real God is and how much He wants to show us His love. When we pray with an open, humble, Christ-centered heart, our Father hears us. When we are open and accepting of His will, God hears our requests. Now, I am completely against the theory of prosperity and I think it’s blasphemous, so that’s not what I’m talking about. But the Word says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” It’s such a beautiful thing to know that no matter what, there is ALWAYS someone who loves you in unimaginable ways listening to the needs of your heart. My prayer over the past few months as I look ahead into my future is that I will be able to do my Father’s will. I pray that the opportunities will open up for His will to be done with my life, and that if I am not to understand it, that at least I will be granted the courage, will, opportunities, love, and support to follow Him where He leads me.

Not wanting to be redundant, I have to thank you for your love, support, and prayers. A day does not go by where I do not think of the people who have helped my time here be a ‘success’. Please continue to pray for me and God’s work through me. That I may be efficient in bringing Christ to the people with whom I interact, and that through His grace and power, South Africa will be a nation renewed. The African continent is in deep suffering; it is only through the name of Jesus Christ that it can be healed and restored. Please keep Africa in your prayers, especially the generations of its future.

I hope and pray that all is well at home. Wherever you are, if you are reading this, you are my home.

Love,

Andy

Table Mountain Pics

2010-03-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

Top of Table Mountain

2010-02-10T05:22:00.001-08:00

Holidays and such

2010-01-25T04:17:00.001-08:00

I didn’t think I could stretch the gap between two blogs more than the previous two, but apparently I can. Way too much has happened since my last entry. I will try to briefly tell some of the things which I have done and been doing.

Firstly, Cape Town has so clearly and effectively became a home away from home. I have grown to love this place and its people immensely. Every day is a clear demonstration of God’s great love towards me and I am grateful beyond words for where He has lead me. I did write a ‘newsletter’ of sort for my church so I’m just going to copy some of that on here and then tell you a bit more

Two and a half months have gone by since I first landed at Cape Town International Airport. Though I haven’t been as disciplined about my blog duties as I should have been, I hope you may have been able to follow some of my experiences and their due reflections throughout these first essential weeks. They have been an incredible time of appreciation towards the bountiful amount of blessings which God has bestowed upon me. A time of constant reflection reflected through action. In other words, a time where the lessons I learn are not just being kept within me, but represented in the love which I wish to show others in my daily life.

I want to give you a little idea of where I am today. I am continuing to live in Ocean View, located in the Southern Peninsula of Cape Town. It is a vibrant Coloured township which few to no foreigners take chances to live in (I believe the Princes are one of two white families.) It has a large Muslim population; I’ve heard 40% of the 40,000 people living here. Its negative reputation doesn’t do the positives justice. Despite, and perhaps because of the insecurity and high crime rate, there is an incredible feeling of community and communal protection. Everyone knows everyone and their business and news spreads quite quickly. Neighbors keep an eye out for each other’s well being. This concept has been made clear to me in a few occasions. On one of them, I had left my scooter parked outside, thinking my family would be back at about 7 PM, before we move it in the house at nightfall. I was going to be gone until late that evening but knew that my family would keep an out to make sure no one got too curious towards the bike. As it turns out, my family didn’t get back until 11 PM. Seeing that nobody was home, my neighbor across the street kept a nervous eye on the scooter. After half an hour of this, he decided it would be best if he moved the bike into his own house, just to assure the 5 guys wandering up the street at the time wouldn’t proceed past their prying looks. As soon as my family pulled in, he hastily made his way over to explain the situation. Though I’ll never be able to tell if it really needed to be taken away into his home, it was a great opportunity for me to really appreciate the community in which I lived.

Casey and Sarah Prince live just a few blocks away, making it quite comfortable for me to pop in whenever I need. Their yard continues to be a safe haven for Ocean View’s children. Whether they show up to play soccer, ride their bikes, or just hang out, it is a great opportunity for us to show them the love of Jesus Christ. I find it incredible and worrisome that they are allowed to wander around all day, implying a lack of family structure in their lives. While we will never be able to fully supplement the absence of their parents, hopefully our presence may give them a sense of self worth.

Though simply spending time with the children has been a great form of ministry and relationship building, our official Ubuntu Sports Outreach clinics have been greatly successful as well. The first ones were held at the beginning of December, the last week of school. Because we are in Africa, children spent the last two weeks of school doing absolutely nothing. When Casey and I showed up to let them know that we wanted to play soccer with the kids, the principals and teachers were eager and excited that we would be giving their students something productive to do. The clinics took place in four different primary schools. Two, Marine and Kleinberg, are in Ocean View, a few blocks from my house. Another, in Masipuhmelele, the Black township just 5 minutes down the road. The last clinic took place in Simon’s Town, the white Navy town just around the Peninsula. In the smallest clinic, only 8 kids showed up; in the largest, 40 or so kids made their way down to play with us. While we would love to reach out to a great number of kids, it can be really hard to handle that many 9 to 13 year olds. All the same, the clinics were greatly successful and seemed to effectively let kids know what we were all about.

While I am not playing soccer with the kids, with Ubuntu or not, I have been working a bit with Living Hope, the large AIDS organization in the Southern Peninsula. There, I go to Kid’s club in Capricorn, a mixed township where many refugees have made their home. I spend about 2 hours playing with these amazing kids, most of them aged 4 to 11. It is an incredibly rewarding experience to able to love these kids to whom affection is rarely shown. While at club they are also fed, as that is often the only meal they receive for the day.

As part of being here, I inevitably go through the process of knowing myself. The thing which I have found out, however, is that the only way of truly knowing yourself is doing so through others. This is the basic idea of the word Ubuntu. The concept explains that everyone is interconnected, that everyone’s well being is directly correlated with the well being of others. During Apartheid, Desmond Tutu explained that the dehumanization of the victims was equally as dehumanizing toward the perpetrators. When the White police treated the Blacks like animals, they themselves became animal-like. Through a translation into my life, I have found that the love and goodness that I show others is the love that Jesus Christ shows me. My devotion to others is what makes me a follower of His. It is a concept which may make more sense in my head than I am capable of verbally explaining.

Through the last three months I have also discovered that I find myself relating more to those older than me than to people my age. It may be because I rarely get to be with people my age or because most of my friends are in their mid twenties. This has made the thought of going back home and going to college a bit of a challenge.

That was some of my newsletter. I figured I should tell you a bit about the awesome places I’ve visited as well.

I think it was between Christmas and New Years that I visited Boulder’s Beach. This place is a magnificent one not just because of its stunning view; it is also the home of many African Penguins, formerly known as Jackass Penguins. They are the best combination of goofy and cute in any living creature. I think most of you have a general idea of how penguins walk. This, and the way the jump in and out of the water, made for a humorous excursion. The best part of visiting the penguins was when me, and the two friends I was with, took a nap among their home. Lying on a giant boulder with one of the most amazing views of the Ocean, quietly listening to my iPod’s speakers, and watching the penguins walk two feet in front of me as if I wasn’t there, all the while dozing in and out of sleep, was an overwhelmingly great experience.

There are times like these, or like when I see myself driving a manual scooter on the wrong side of the road, which simply make me smile. The scooter part mainly makes me laugh, but seeing where I am today brings me great happiness. With this happiness also comes an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness towards my Heavenly Father.

I also saw baboons for my first time. On our way to Cape Point, 20 or so of them were hanging out by the road. They’re angry, funny looking creatures. However, they are also some of the smartest animals in the world. The stories you hear about them are incredible. If you throw something at them, they throw it back. When breaking into a house, they will send the smallest one through a small open window so that he then opens the big window for the rest to come in. If you’re in a car taking pictures of them with an open window, one will distract you to take pictures while another sneaks in on the other side of the car where no one is looking. They’ll go through your backpack and steal all your food while leaving everything else behind. To me it’s quite humorous, but they are obviously quite dangerous as well.

Staying on the topic of dangerous animals, there was a shark attack last week in the beach that I go to just 10 minutes away. A Great White, the size of a mini bus, or about 20 ft long, devoured a 30-some year old Zimbabwean. I think that’s the only attack since I’ve been here, but the shark flag has gone up 3 different times while I’ve been at the beach. They try to keep this information from the public, but apparently there are around 30 of them in the area. The father of the house where I live works in the Navy, who is responsible for keeping track of everything going on underwater.

During the holidays I also got to visit Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The views from the top of the mountain there are simply breathtaking. Cape Point is the southernmost tip of Africa. The Cape of Good Hope is the peninsula that all the European explorers had to sail around when trading with India. As a history lover, I couldn’t believe that I got to be there.

This past Saturday I got to go to the first ever game played in Green Point Stadium (the World Cup venue in Cape Town). While the soccer was terrible, it was an awesome and exciting time. Being in a World Cup is going to be the single most exhilarating, purely joyful things that I ever do. If you can’t tell, I’m pretty pumped about it.

I’ve done a lot more touristy stuff but my brain is worn out so I’m just going to tell you about things that actually matter.

The holidays were the hardest time for me so far. Christmas and the weeks preceding it were the first time that I truly missed home. Every once in a while I get to missing Raleigh, but the holidays were more consistently home sick times. I spent Christmas morning at Church and then with the Princes eating at some friend’s house here in Ocean View. I did really enjoy New Years though. One of the churches that I attend the most and where a lot of good friends are, holds a New Year’s service every year. While it may sound like a strange concept to us at home, I thought it was an awesome idea. You are receiving the New Year in the House of our Father with people whom you love. It would be pretty cool if churches in the U.S caught on to this tradition.

Please continue to pray for me as I hit the three month mark. I have just over 5 months to spend here and it really is going to be terribly hard to leave. While I am excited about getting home and seeing everybody, I realize how hard it will be to be back in Raleigh and leave everything in Cape Town behind. Through the power of prayer, I have made Cape Town my home away from home. It will undoubtedly be hard for me to leave the friendships, my home, the kids, and the city itself.

Please pray for the youth of South Africa, that they may get to know Christ in a very real and personal way. That this year, such a huge year for the country, will be one where the love of Jesus is revealed to the children that Ubuntu is working with. Pray that our work here may be efficient and broad; that we may be able to represent the love which is shown to us every day. Even though this is closer to you than me, please pray for the people of Haiti. That hearing the stories will break our hearts as it does God’s.

I love you all very much and miss you and hope that you don’t freeze during these cold minds.

Love,

Andy

2010-01-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

November 18th-December 15th

2009-12-14T01:57:00.000-08:00

It has now been closer to a month than a week since my last blog. My internet usage is quite restricted as it is dependent on my own transportation which for the past few weeks had been non-existent; I just bought a scooter but have yet to buy a helmet. But a lot has happened since my last post so I’m going to try to summarize and be brief. That’s always a challenge so please bear with me.
I have now gone to the beach a few times. My first time was with my family when we went for 4 hours to an incredible tidal pool 5 minutes away from the house. The water was brought in over the walls by the crashing waves of the freezing Atlantic Ocean. It’s incredible to be laying in this beautiful clear water completely surrounded by mountains and ocean on a perfect day. Really sacrificing myself to be here.
The second time I was at the beach was with the Living Hope volunteers. Again the water was as close to freezing as it can be without becoming ice, quite literally intolerable. But it was a lot of fun. Second time we went surfing to a nearby beach which is supposed to be the surf capital of world, which sounds a lot more intimidating than it seemed to me. It just means that the 90% of the people who live there do so for the surfing.
A few Saturdays ago I also got to go “caving” with Casey and Matt Berry. Not really knowing what I was agreeing to go to, I went along. After about an hour and a half worth of hiking, half of which was spent figuring out where on the mountain we were, we delved into a giant crevice on the side of one of Cape Town’s many mountains. We went through and found ourselves on the other side of this giant natural structure of rock and dirt. It was a lot of fun.
The Prince’s yard continues to be a community center for the kids of Ocean View. It was expanded to more than just soccer which can be both good and bad. We often need to kick out the teenagers who for some reason think it’s ok to smoke a hookah in someone’s backyard. Casey also had to speak to the guys who smoke marijuana right on the outside of the yards cement wall. Things like this, along with inevitable but infrequent fights between the kids, can make everything quite exhausting.
I’m not going to talk much about it because it is still a bit fresh on my heart and my reflection on it will likely be kept within my family, but my Grandma passed away on Saturday the 28th. It’s hard for me to think of her as dead so instead I like to think that she just got a promotion. I, as well as my family, am a direct reflection of who she was. There was concern for me during this time as I was away from the comfort of mourning with my family. My family, nuclear and extended, figured that I may be having a very hard time due to the fact that I was here by myself, without anyone to share my pain. But as horribly sad as I was, I realized that at no moment I had felt alone. I have come to form such a personal and REAL relationship with God that I genuinely felt the presence of my Father with me during this time. My biological family may have been thousands of miles away, but my Father and Creator was right there with me, suffering as I did over the temporary loss of an AMAZING woman. I’m never alone. He will always be by my side. There is a song in Peter Pan that says: “Me and my shadow, my shadow and me. We’re always together, as close as can be.” This is a bit how I feel about my relationship with my Father.
This past week we also got to go to the World Cup draw festival. I don’t know if it’s worth trying to tell you how incredible it is to be here during these preparatory months before the World Cup. If you’re reading this then you know how IN-LOVE I am with soccer. I would say it’s like a child in Disney World for the first time but that isn’t anywhere near as exciting as the festival and events like it. There were around 150,000 people lining Long Street and the streets that intersect it. There were Germans, Koreans, Brazilians, Dutch, Argentines, Nigerians, Americans, Scots (not sure why considering they dint even qualify), South Africans, and every other nationality you can imagine; which also made for a lot of beautiful girls. There was an incredibly healthy blend of nationalistic pride and global community in accordance with the festivities that should accompany such an event. I kept getting goose bumps as I walked through the crowds. It’s just one of those moments in your life where you are happy beyond your mind.
On December 2nd through the 6th I attended a conference at the University of Cape Town with Sarah Prince. Its aim was to bring together some of the most prominent scholars on the topic of Restorative Justice and Psychological Trauma in post-conflict societies to discuss different approaches which they found successful in help healing those affected by trauma. The topics were absolutely fascinating to me. Some of the sessions I attended included “The Silent Narrative of Violence – The Transgenerational impact of Violence on Children in South Africa Today,” ”Are any actions unforgivable,” “Speaking at the Limits of the Human: Witnessing ‘The Greatest Silence, Rape in the Congo,” and “Transgenerational Transmission of Holocaust Survivor Process of Dialogue between a Holocaust Survivor and his Descendents through Three Generations.” The other topics were related to the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda, violence in Northern Ireland, Xenophobia violence South Africa, the Romanian genocide, and the Chivu Conflict. While these topics may not be that interesting to everybody, it was fascinating (and disturbing) to get to listen to the narratives of the people affected by these atrocities and to hear the research been done by in these societies.
To hear some of the stories that took place during the different genocides and how the survivors must now live along their perpetrators is surreal. You literally cannot believe that humans are capable of such inhumanity. It was all the more real when you had survivors themselves, just 5 feet away, sharing their story. Babies being decapitated by child soldiers and thrown into the trash right in front of their mothers, seeing your family burned alive by your next door neighbor, having your lips and ears cut off by the man you used to buy bread from. You wouldn’t believe the things people did. As hopeless as hearing all this for a week can be, it also affirmed my belief that there are some situations out of which nothing can get you other than the promise of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to forgive your family’s murderers by your own human capacity for compassion. In these circumstances, nothing can give you the strength to forgive except the empowerment of love that Jesus’ gave us.
During the conference I also got to meet one of the men who I truly admire the most. The most exciting part of the whole week was meeting Desmond Tutu, twice. He first spoke on the second day of the conference and was presented with an award on the fourth day. The first time he was there was to have a ‘roundtable discussion’ where he would answer a question from 6 distinguished scholars who were attending the conference. Listening to their questions was SO annoying. Instead of asking the damn questions, these idiots babbled for like 5 minutes about themselves and the work they were doing, trying to impress someone who they were inevitably impressed with. But through his humor and simple manner, Desmond dismissed the fanciness and answered the questions as a true man of God. The night before, Sarah had asked the speaker, who recollected narratives from Rwanda survivors, about the importance of faith in the process of reconciliation. His answer was so sad as he spoke about the Church’s hypocrisy and how it had no room to talk after being on the wrong side of so much violence. Hearing Desmond speak so unashamedly as a pawn in God’s Kingdom was so refreshing and encouraging. He really is an incredible man.
On a lighter subject, Ubuntu had its first clinics this week. School ended last Friday, and since school is a joke in South Africa, especially in Ocean View, the kids were literally doing nothing when they attended. Attendance was 25% for the last two weeks and the ones who did attend just ran around the yard and did whatever they wanted. That said, it was a great accomplishment to get a good amount of 5th and 6th grade boys to show up to play soccer with us. Casey wrote more about it on the Ubuntu blog (www.ubuntusports.org) if you would like to find out more about it. Basically, it was successful in getting our name out there and letting the kids know who we are. The clinic included some fun drills and games along with a 10 minute period where we got to speak to the kids about a particular character trait as it relates to Christ; this is the basic structure for all Ubuntu events. This week we spoke about confidence and self-worth and how our true feelings of worth coming from being children of God. I would say that between the three, there was an average of 20-25 kids in each. We’ll have another clinic with the same kids during the first week of January, before school starts.
I’m getting tired of writing so I’ll tell you the rest very briefly.
I got a scooter on Saturday. It is manual and it drives very well. It will be very nice to depend on myself for transportation.
I think I’m going to Robben Island this Saturday. As someone who respects and admires Nelson Mandela so much so as to call him a role model, I am very excited.
I find out if I got in to NC State tomorrow. I am curious and excited to find out what happens, but at the same time, I am having a really hard time thinking about going back and hearing about the ‘problems’ people at home may face. I have another 7 months here but I am already preparing mentally for the impact that I will face when I have to go back.
Thank you so much for reading this. I would think it’s quite exhausting and even boring to read but it is encouraging to know that you are interested in what God is doing in other parts of the world. I know I need to make these things shorter but it is a big challenge for me.
Please continue to pray for me and all of the people here. Pray that Ubuntu’s injection into our community may be well accepted and successful. Our success is just another brick in building God’s Kingdom. I will be praying for everyone at home, that we may realize how blessed we are and how much responsibility comes with the empowerment of God’s blessings on us. I encourage you to not be a half-ass Christian but to be a TRUE follower of Christ in all ways, despite our failures and shortcomings.
My email is andychenlo@hotmail.com in case you would like to have it. I would enjoy hearing how you are doing back home. Please understand that my internet access is very limited.

Love,

Andy

2009-11-18T02:36:00.000-08:00

3rd Week

2009-11-18T02:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry for taking so long to put this up. I’ve had a hard time getting internet for a while.
Another good week has gone by. I am now living with the Marthinus family, and they are wonderful. Julian is the father, Shermaine the mother, and Sharmina is the 17 month old girl. Though it was quite a change to finally leave the Prince’s household, they have been wonderful in making sure I feel welcome and at home. I’m getting settled into my room, slowly taking in the fact that I will be living here for another 8 months or so. It’s very weird to settle into a home which is not truly your own, yet you must treat it as if it were.
This past week, as the others, went by very quickly. The past Sunday I, along with Casey, Sarah, and Mike Jenkins, went to Hillsong Church. Some of you may have heard of their ministry or at least of their music, more likely the latter whether you know it or not. I won’t be able to give you too much information but I know that they are a Sydney Based Church whose song and albums have been increasing in fame over the past few years. Many of their songs have caught the attention of big name Contemporary Christian singers including Chris Tomlin, and David Crowder Band. The service had about 250 people and was held in the fancy Cape Town International Convention Center. The sermon was given by Phil Dooley, the head pastor who moved here a few years back after leading an incredibly successful youth ministry in Australia.
They also organized a ‘Men’s Conference’ this past Friday and Saturday. Casey, Mike Jenkins, a good friend, Shagmie, and I, attended. There were around 350 men (my guess.) Over the two days, 4 sermons/messages were given by Phil and another Australian pastor, Steve Penny. They spoke of ‘serving Christ as broken men’, ‘love, sex, and marriage’, ‘always finding a way’, and I don’t remember the other : / When three different sessions were offered, I chose to attend the one speaking about “Becoming A True Man Of God.” It was an amazing 45 minutes that really seemed directed at me in many ways. Jon Norman, the speaker, talked about managing each of our weaknesses which too often lead us away from God. The visual metaphors and examples he used really spoke to me in the way I must handle my weaknesses in order to stay a man of faith. It was a greatly useful time.
Saturday was also my birthday. From 9-4:30, I was in the Hillsong Conference. When I returned home, I spent a few hours at the Prince’s, playing soccer with the kids there. It was a lot of fun, and I found out they all think I’m in my mid 20’s. They kept guessing I was 23, 24, 25, I even got 28 years old. I know they’re still young but there is no way I look or act anywhere near that age. But I suppose I am in my last year of being a teenager. It sucks. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have tried to comfort me saying that my tough teenage year will be over and life picks up afterward. I wish they knew how great my teen years have been. I’m really unhappy about the fact that I can’t help getting older. Generally speaking, these past 6 years, along with the previous 13, have been the best years of my life.
The Marthinus wouldn’t be home for the rest of the day, so instead of coming home and being bored on my own, I went with Shagmie and some of his friends from Church to Century City, one of the biggest malls I have ever seen. It was fun to be able to spend time with them, learning some Afrikaans as well. Which leads me to my next point; I’m not sure how much you guys know about South Africa’s history, but I’m guessing you know enough to know that it was a Dutch and British colony, not sure in what order. Afrikaans is the Dutch dialect language spoken by the Afrikaners (White Dutch South Africans) during the time in which they first came to the country. I knew people here spoke it, but I figured it would only be a small percentage of the population. As it turns out, I was wrong. Just about every white and coloured person speaks it as their first language. When they speak to each other they don’t speak English, the speak Afrikaans. On Tuesday and Wednesday I went to a special youth-aimed service. After we were done with the music, this girl was supposed to come up and share this incredible testimony. I was really excited to hear the way God had worked in her life and the amazing turnaround that she had. Little did I know, her whole testimony was in Afrikaans. It seemed so exciting and some people even cried. I wanted so bad to understand and be inspired but it’s kind of hard to do when you don’t understand the language. So from now on I have decided to try to learn some Afrikaans. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’ll also mention that the Black population speaks Xhosa. This is the clicking language, though it’s not quite as exciting as you are probably thinking. The actual clicking is used once or twice every 3 or 4 sentences. But it is pretty cool.
This week I was blessed enough to go to one of the support groups that Sarah is helping lead. The Princes know this amazing family of Congolese refugees. It’s a 30-something year old couple with two young kids; a 3 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. They live in Capricorn, a poor township about 25 minutes from where we live in Ocean View (realize that when I say poor, I don’t mean public housing. It’s actually poor; houses/shacks made out of cardboard and scrap metal poor. Nothing like anything you can find in the U.S.) It was a group of about 10 other women, one from Rwanda, and the rest from different parts of Congo. I took three years of French in high school, so it was really funny to see how I would live up to the challenge of understanding and communicating with these women. I must compliment my teacher, because I could actually hold a decent conversation, much to my surprise, and understand almost all of their enthusiastic prayer.
As I sat there with my Aeropostle jeans and Nike winter jacket, I could not help but feel bad about myself. I have no doubt in the strength and trueness of my faith. Yet as I watched these women with hurt in their eyes, I almost felt invalid as a Christian. I hadn’t heard their stories, but I kept imagining the terrible pain that these people had experienced. These are the people who have experienced things like the Chivu conflict first-hand. They had lived through the Rwanda Genocide. I’m sure many of their friends and family members had died from the atrocities of humanity. If it weren’t for their decision to flee, their children would have been potential victims of the Lord’s Resistance Army. And there I was, having just graduated high school, what college to attend being my biggest worry. I almost felt unworthy of their presence. When we finally got to pray, in French, these women, instead of asking God why their lives were as they are, they were praising Him with incredible passion. I am so blessed to have been there and grateful so Sarah for letting me accompany them.
I almost forgot to mention the other moment this week where I was reminded of how alive Jesus really is. Red Hill is a very poor community about 20 minutes from Ocean View. It is built on the mountain so there are three ‘levels’ where people live. The two lower ones are Black while the highest level is coloured. This past, a great wild fire took out all the first level and some of the second. It was a devastating blow for these families that have so little. A lot of the first level has already been rebuilt with the shacks that stood there before. Living Hope has a ‘kids club’ and a ‘teen club’ there. When Casey and I pulled into this informal settlement, 4 or 5 kids surrounded the car. Some of them recognized Casey from his previous stay in Cape Town so we gave them a ride to the kids club on the second level. When we got to the small opening by the Living Hope container where most of their work took place, I saw about 30 all sitting down on three big benches, looking at a man who seemed to captivate their attention like nothing else. They were all following Mzoa’s (again, a guess at the spelling) singing of Jesus’ live and love for them. Mzoa’s gift with children was amazing. After the singing, he told them about the time when Jesus’ feeding of the 5000. With pictures he drew himself, he had different kids come up to hold a different image representing different parts of the story. Between each activity he would say “Christ is” to which the kids would respond “alive.” He would then call out “in Red” and they would respond “Hill.” The process would then be repeated backwards. It was so amazing to be there, witnessing how God was investing in these kids’ lives through these people. I couldn’t help but think of how alive Jesus still is today, whether in North Raleigh or in Red Hill, He is alive through the people that follow His Word.
On Sunday evening we had a braai (barbeque) for my birthday at the Princes. The volunteers for Living Hope came over, as did my host family and other friends from the community. It is hard to be away from all your family and friends during a birthday, but I am so blessed in that God’s community transcends all political boundaries and crosses the deepest oceans. I am so grateful for the love that He continues to show me through all the wonderful people I’ve met here and for the overwhelming support that I have at home. I cannot tell you enough how much it means to me. I know many of you think I’m doing something great by being here serving Christ, but your love and prayers are equally as representative of God’s love for the world.
Over the past year or so, I have really come to witness and understand the true power of prayer. There must be a lot of people praying for me because I have felt the comfort and happiness of my Father so clearly. I ask that you may continue to pray for me this week as I keep witnessing God’s work in Cape Town. Please pray for the youth here in Ocean View. Having nothing to do, the great majority of teenagers turn to alcohol and drugs to shun the boredom which seems to overtake their lives. Also, please pray for the huge amount of unemployment in Cape Town. Too many people are wasting their lives away, giving up all hope that they may be productive in some way. It is horribly sad. I may also be getting a scooter for myself this week, so if that is the best option, I pray that it may work out as it should. I will continue to pray for you in your daily lives and struggles. I really pray that you may be able to appreciate everything you have. I know it is human nature to complain, but very few of your complaints actually deserve to be so. Please appreciate what you have, not just the materials, but the structure and peace in your lives as well. Be grateful for your family, your health, your education, and so much more that God has blessed you with. It is awesome to live so comfortably, but as Christians, God expects a lot more of us than to just be happy with what we have. With great power comes great responsibility.

Love,

Andy

2nd Post

2009-11-09T05:47:00.000-08:00

I keep telling myself that I need to keep up with this thing more. But I am either too lazy about it, or I’m actually busy enough to have an excuse. Probably both.

A lot has happened since my first post so I’ll try to hit the highlights. On Friday the 31^st (Halloween) we visited a young missionary couple living in an area called Mitchell’s Plain. It is notoriously hostile and did not seem to be much of a welcoming environment. Because of this, these people wouldn’t go out of their house for whole days. I really felt bad for them, realizing that missionary work is not for everyone. When we (Case, Sarah, Kieren, and I) picked them up to try to eat lunch somewhere nearby, they did not know how to get out or go anywhere. We decided to follow our instinct. Apparently it wasn’t very sharp because we ended up in Khayelitsha, the second largest township in the world. If you can imagine one of the informal settlements that sprung up during Apartheid, this black township is the most extreme case of ‘civilized’ poverty that I have ever seen. Every single house or store was a scrap shack, no bigger than 10 by 10 yards. Children were everywhere, most with cheap shoes or sandals ran down to the sole, as if they had been worn every day for 3 years. As we accidentally entered, Casey looked at me and said, “This is the real Africa.”

I heard on the radio the other day that South Africa was now the nation with the largest disparity between the rich and the poor. Driving through the coast, you can find multi-million dollar homes looking down on some of the most spectacular displays of nature and humanity combined in the world. A few miles down the same road, you can encounter places like Khayelitsha, where AIDS and violence kidnap the future of thousands of South Africa’s children. It is a gruesome reality, but the result of a system of hatred, ignorance, and fear. Though there is no legal Apartheid in place, the divisional structure which it left behind will take a long time to disappear.

Though it’s already been two weeks, I feel like I am getting into the final stages of my transition. On Monday I move in with the family with whom I will be spending the rest of my time here. It’s a couple with a 16 month old daughter. The wife’s name is Shermaine, Julian is the husband, and the little girl is Sharmina. His may be the only name that I didn’t misspell. They are a wonderfully friendly family and live 10 yards away from Nash, whom I will be working with in his ministry as well. He, like Ubuntu, tries to target the young boys in Ocean View to try to keep them from the drugs and violence that corrupt the township. On top of that, he targets the heavily conflicted Rastafarian population by pulling them away one by one. They have some surreal stories.

Kids are continuing to come to our yard. They come after school at like 2:30 PM and leave when the sun goes down 5 hours later. Don’t know where they get their energy from. It’s awesome to be able to spend time with them, but again, it’s hard to feel like I’m working when I’m having so much fun. The challenge is to be direct about Jesus’ love for them. I have a Bible verse tattooed on my wrist, which most often makes the transition into why we are here, ministry. Once we open up about it, they really seem to want to show me that they too believe in Christ. There is a lot of work to be done but there does seem to be an openness and willingness to hear our message.

Sunday night we went to Hillsong Church. Some of you may have heard of them or at least some of their songs. They are a contemporary church based in Australia. The evening service we attended had about 300 people, mostly young adults but many families were there too. The music was awesome, the message was even better, and it was a great experience to feel God’s presence so clearly among these people. It just comes to show you that Christ’s passion is the same here and everywhere.

I want to thank you again for all your support. It’s been such a fun and exciting 2 weeks, I’m really looking forward to the resting 8 months. I also forgot to mention how dedicated the people of Ocean View are to Christ. Most of the people I’ve gotten to know are involved in ministry in some way. It seems like anytime I walk into someone’s house, they are always listening to worship music. All of their thoughts come back to their faith and they are grateful for what all they have. We could really learn a lot about what it means to truly follow Christ.

I keep remembering things that I had wanted to tell so I’ll just make a quick list.

- Met the Living Hope volunteers, one who attended Casey’s youth group and went to Enloe. It was nice to see people my age going through similar things, though a lot more sheltered than I in regards to what they’re allowed to see and live.

- Casey and I got invited to play on a local team. They’re an amateur league but very competitive and players often get seen by Ajax Cape Town, the local professional team. It’s a lot of fun to still be able to play competitively.

- I’m training Casey every morning, hopefully preparing him to make a comeback into professional soccer; the dream being to play for Ajax CT.

- This has to be the windiest city in the world.

- There was a motorcycle accident yesterday that we witnessed. A girl from Masipuhmelele, the poor township just 5 minutes away from us, jumped in front of a motorcycle. The guy tried to avoid her, which, combined with the rain, made him slip out completely. We stopped and both Casey and Sarah were extremely helpful in calming the girl down and calling an ambulance. Everyone was fine but it’s worth telling.

- I’m realizing how adaptable I really am. It’s so exciting to be in a whole a new country with new people to meet and wonderful experiences to be lived. I’m wondering if being away from everyone will get harder as time goes by because it has not been a challenge at all yet. There are people and things that I kind of wish I could still see and do, but it has not been anywhere near as challenging as I had originally thought.

I hope and pray that all is well at home. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I move in to a new house. Please pray that I may be useful to His work in South Africa. Also for the extreme poverty that engulfs this country. It can be overwhelming.

Love,

Andy

1st week

2009-11-01T01:17:00.000-07:00

Hello :)

I didn’t think I would have a hard time writing this thing. But apparently it’s a bit hard to know how to start.

I’ll begin by giving everyone my most genuine thanks. Though I have traveled internationally quite a bit through my 18 years, I had never realized the preparation and nervousness that comes with it. One of the biggest obstacles was to get all the paper work done in order to submit my Visa application. Thanks to His grace and all your papers, I received my passport with the confirmed Visa acceptance on Wednesday, October 21^st, four days before my departure on the 25^th. Although it should have been a stressful situation, I had a hard time pretending to be worried so the parents wouldn’t lecture me about my irresponsibility. I knew there was the possibility of the application not being accepted or to not get to me on time, but through my and your own prayer, God’s will was done so that I could leave on time. For that and so much more, I cannot thank you enough.

As happy, relieved, and excited as I was to receive my passport with the Visa stamped in, it really dawned on me that now that I had it, it was actually time to go; very weird feeling. I eventually began to pack away what seemed like my whole life. I didn’t have much experience packing for 9 months, so that was definitely a fun challenge.

In between the packing and the chaos that it entailed, I was also having to say all my goodbyes. Again, a very weird feeling knowing that I wouldn’t see everyone for a little less than 9 months. It did feel a bit like people were mourning my death. I’m not sure they realized that I was coming right back. But I couldn’t complain. The support and love I received from everyone was a direct representation of Christ’s immense love for me. It seemed almost greedy to pray to Him for more when I was already experiencing His Grace more than some people do in their whole life. I had said during service that the whole experience of preparation was strong enough to stand on its own, and it really was that powerful.

After being accompanied to the airport by my family and two close friends, my Southwest Airlines flight left at 12:32 PM. It would only be an hour and a half flight to Detroit where I would then board to Amsterdam. Always having enjoyed flying, I wasn’t too nervous about being on a plane for that short a time. I happened to sit next to a 20 year old girl who was returning to Green Bay, Wisconsin. After talking to me about the misfortunes that come with living in a town like Green Bay, we got to talking about what and why I was going to Cape Town for a whole school year. It was a great opportunity to revise that myself but more than anything, for her to tell me a bit about the struggles and decisions she had faced as she had begun her college life. It was a wonderful opportunity to see how someone who lived hundreds of miles away faced the same struggles that young adults faced in North Carolina, and everywhere.

I arrived at Detroit having 4 hours to spare. I made my last phone calls, checked my soccer news, looked at my emails, and skyped a few friends. I left the country at 6:30 that evening on an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Having never flown outside of the Western Hemisphere, I was SO excited to be flying over Belfast, Manchester, and the English Channel. It was also time for the sunrise over the clouds, a sight I will never forget. I couldn’t help but be in awe of God’s amazing artistry. It was unbelievable.

I arrived in Amsterdam at 7:15 AM, completely thrown off by the time difference. However, my extreme tiredness was completely overpowered by the excitement that came along with seeing all these Dutch people speaking their weird language. It was AWESOME. By the time I had to leave though, 10:30 AM, I was barely alive. I hadn’t slept at all in the flight and it was now 5:30 in the morning for my Raleigh time.

My three hour break in Amsterdam was followed by an 11 ½ hour flight to Cape Town, South Africa. My butt was felt like it was missing after all those hours sitting down, but it was well worth it. After going through customs, I walked out to meet Casey. It was really nice to see a familiar face waiting for me after all those hours on my flight adventure. We drove to his house about 30 minutes away. It was definitely an educational ride. Besides all the information being thrown at me by Casey, I got to see in just that short drive, the enormous disparity that engulfs this beautiful country. The first sight was one of Cape Town’s biggest and poorest black townships, followed almost immediately by heavily secured white neighborhoods with beautiful homes and barbed wire on top of the 3 foot thick walls. We then crossed one of the city’s many mountains to find another distraught black township. Not even the darkness of the night could hide the terrors that haunted these people. And apparently they live directly across from the home of many baboons; my first sign that I really was in Africa. I got home to a beautifully welcoming room with a note from Sarah saying just that, “Welcome.” It felt good to finally be there.

The next morning I woke up at 7, something which I hadn’t done in over 5 months. I ate some good Kellogg’s breakfast and took a 10 minute walk around the block. Casey, Sarah, and Kieren live in a mixed township called Ocean view. It has a large Muslim population, an infamous and dangerous Rastafari population, and mostly colored families. There are more children in a block than ants in an anthill. Teenagers and adults walk around with a toxic bag that doesn’t leave their nose, fuming a terrible smell of glue, paint, or thinner; it’s a sight that I’m still struggling to deal with. There are many boys and ‘men’ with long dreads, known as the Rastafari. For those of you who don’t know, these are the drug dealing, violent, uneducated desperate followers of the Rastafarian movement. I know pretty much nothing else about them other than the fact that Bob Marley was one.

On Tuesday I also got to go on a run with Casey. Though running has always been a dreaded requirement for me, it was a whole different experience to run to the top of the hill where we went. If only you could be there. When running up hill it seems like your body just wants to torture you, yet when you get to the top, you cannot believe your eyes. As you lift your sight to see the pavement slowly crouching down, the waters of the Atlantic Ocean open up, accompanied by two majestic mountains that curl around the sandy beaches. If you weren’t a believer, you would definitely re-consider after witnessing His majesty through nature. Casey had told me not to look back where we had come from because he had a surprise. The surprise didn’t let me down. When running back up the hill from the other direction, I was met with an almost exact replica of the previous view. Again, the splendor of the Atlantic greeted my eyes. So whether I chose to look left or right, I was met by God’s artistry at its best.

On Thursday, I got to meet the man who I would be working with the first few months. Nash (whose name I’m sure I misspelled), is a friendly, Christ-driven man whose ambitious drive to save young men one by one has led him to go out to the lowest of the low. When at his house, we got to meet two men who had been saved by His grace through Nash. One was a former Rastafarian drug dealer, his missing teeth had rotten off his gums. The other, also a former Rastafarian who had been clean for two years, was delighted by the fact that I was from Argentina, to which he greeted me with a big hug. It should also be said that Nash’s son is named Diego, after the Argentina soccer legend Diego Maradona. I will definitely be telling people where I was born more than where I live J. The effects of heavy drugs were clearly visible in both these men and the way their brain had been damaged; something which not many people really get to see in person. Nash told us about his ministry, the terribly violent and drug-afflicted society that was the Rastafarian movement, and some of the people which he had brought to Christ. During my whole time there, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. What could I, and 18 year old who had just graduated from high school in Raleigh, be teaching these murderous men? Literally murderers. I can tell them of nothing but the love of Christ. It was a good reminder that I myself am nothing, but by His side, I can do anything, despite my youth. I must admit I felt dismayed at the moment. One of Tini’s favorite verses reads: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I will be keeping this verse as my prayer over the next 8 months, and would ask if you could do the same.

The Princes live in a 3 bedroom house on the Methodist Church’s ground. It has a beautiful yard with wonderful grass; used as a parking lot during service. As Casey’s attempt to begin playing competitively once more, I was volleying some balls into his arms, testing his reflexes and hands. After about 5 minutes of this, two boys showed up, asking if they could play. Taking the opportunity, a 2 on 2 game broke out. We played for about 20 minutes before another 5 kids showed up. We then turned the game into a 4 on 4. Casey and I had to go meet this family with whom I may be living the next 8 months. When we returned an hour and a half later, approximately 20 kids had organized themselves into 5 different teams, switching out every two goals. I jumped in and tried to show them some tricks so they would validate me as a player. The only thing was that I felt like I wasn’t working. At first I felt like this was bad because I had traveled thousands of miles and here I found myself just playing soccer and having a blast. Then I remembered that this was what I had set out to do. I feel like I’m being lazy just playing, but that is my work. I am so blessed to have this opportunity. The kids seemed very excited that I was there, telling me about their favorite teams and players, and asking me if I could do certain things with the ball. It really feels like this is what God intended me to do.

I also forgot to say that I drove a manual car on Friday. While you may think that there isn’t anything too special about it, you should know that I drove on the wrong side of the road, and wrong side of the car. I’ll admit to having swayed over to the right lane twice, but I’m still alive. I also got to eat a Gatsby for the first time. One of our friends here in Ocean View makes these delicious, HUGE sandwiches with sausage, home-made fries, fried chicken, cucumber, lettuce, and tomato. It’s about 2 ½ inches tall and over a foot and a half long. It was enough to fill up all three of us and it only cost 35 Rand. Equivalent to less than 5 DOLLARS!!

I hope you got to read this all without getting bored. It’s a bit hard to say everything I need to in a short enough time that it is convenient for everyone. Reason why I have now written 3 pages single spaced. I can’t promise that the posts that follow will be this long but I do hope to keep you updated. I will be posting pictures up soon so that you may better understand what I am living.

I would also like to request your much needed prayers. Prayers that I may not be overwhelmed; prayers that I may find myself useful and worthy of His work; prayers for the progress of Ubuntu; prayers for the Princes as they continue to adapt to a new life style; prayers for me being away from home and coping with all that it entails; and most of all, prayers that His will be done in a country where the scars of racism and apartheid are so fresh and deep.

I thank you for all your love and prayers and hope that you all continue to do well. I am praying for everyone as your lives take new and old paths.

Love,

Andy