I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. —Philippians 1:3-5

Today we say our final goodbyes, then head to the airport to fly out tonight to Switzerland via Qatar.

Together, an immense sense of joy and the kind of hurting sadness that wells tears in my eyes every time I say goodbye to someone have marked our final few days here. Right now, I am at a loss; I simply don’t have the right words to express what it’s been like to exchange goodbyes to our loved ones in the township. Suffice to say it has been very hard and deeply meaningful. Perhaps I’ll have more articulate words once I have had more of a chance to reflect, but for now, as the African sun has turned today’s rainy morning bright, I appreciate the sentiments of a dear friend of ours from home: “Travel safely and well—letting the tears fall like rain on the parched soil. Beauty will blossom because of this.”

Thank you for your prayers as we travel to Swiss L’Abri, where we look forward to taking some time to process this incredible year in Africa, and then on to Aix-en-Provence and Paris, France. Arrival in the U.S.: July 9.

And please note: our physically leaving South Africa by no means marks an end to Mamelodi Stories. There are many posts we have “in the queue” to share—stories, photos, reflections—and as Lord’s work continues here, we intend to share it. So please stay tuned!

The ticker below updates automatically.

Filed under: General and Reflections by Rebecca on June 23rd, 2009. Tags: Aix-en-Provence, departure, France, joy, leaving Mamelodi, Paris, Qatar, sadness, south africa, Swiss L'Abri, Switzerland | 5 Comments

I am tempted to think of productivity as setting out to accomplish certain tasks (a to do list), then eventually checking them off. The speed and orderliness with which those tasks get accomplished usually determines how I am feeling. For instance, back in North Carolina if I got into the car with Rebecca after a day at work where I knocked out a lot of items, I’d be in a cheerful mood.

"’My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord". –Isaiah 55:8

If I happened to have had "one of those days" where everything I set out to do was more complicated than I thought and I couldn’t reach down and check much off the list, then I’d go home frustrated. I eventually learned to repent from that, knowing that productivity for me is something I put in place of God—I care more about how much I get done than how much I am worshiping God through my life. Ouch.

As we were discussing productivity here this morning, I was reminded that God’s ways are not my ways. If the main overarching goal in my life is to glorify God, then all those little tasks, even the seemingly important ones (like blogging!), really aren’t all that important. So at the end of the day when I kick back and say, "Wow, look at all I’ve done today," God probably shakes His head and says, "Why were you playing in the dirt when I was calling you? I had great plans for you today." So far, I’ve learned that God doesn’t give us a to do list and then say, "Get ‘er done." He has much more care and concern for us, and after all He really just wants to share fellowship with us. While I certainly don’t know yet what God’s ways are, I think it has something to do with trusting him moment by moment. It has something to do with planning my day with the knowledge that nothing may get done, but that probably many other great and surprising things will come up that God had prepared for me in advance (Ephesians 2:10). And through those things God was able to be with me, to correct me, to ultimately make me more effective in His kingdom.

Filed under: Reflections by Nathan on September 17th, 2008. Tags: faith, productivity | 3 Comments

Since our arrival, I’ve been intent on visiting the people whose lives I was privileged to document as part of my master’s thesis (HIV Stories) . During the worship service this morning, I got a tap on my shoulder—it was Selina from one of the stories, "Living Positively," smiling at me with a huge grin. If you’ve seen that story, you know she has been HIV positive for many years now and was on a downward spiral before she found Jesus at the Powerhouse and her life turned around. So it was just great to see her again, to hear her voice and to know that she and her family are well.

The church service was also really special today. Besides the joyful songs and a great sermon, seven babies were dedicated to the Lord. Vincent called the mothers up front along with any relatives of the children. He said, "I want these relatives to be here so that if in the future these babies are taken to a Sangoma (a witch doctor) you can say, ‘No! This child belongs to the Lord.’" There is a real danger here of babies being dedicated to Satan through ancestral worship practices as infants. Vincent’s dedication was powerful and it was beautiful to see all the little faces, held by their mothers. One little guy even clapped with the congregation as they cheered for him.

After church was over, I looked outside at two little girls standing on a wall together and recognized them from the "Facing the Future" story. One girl, Koketso, is the face featured on the fridge magnet we’ve given to our supporters and the other girl, her sister Maria, is sort of the "poster child" for the "Facing the Future" exhibit . It was wonderful to introduce them to Rebecca. For both of us it was as if frozen faces in a painting were coming to life before our eyes. When you see their faces, look into their eyes and hear their quiet voices, all the poverty statistics just fade away and you can see these kids are real. It just melts my heart with joy to see these kids again. The same tension still exists however—the tension between their innocent hope and their dismal situation in life. These kids are orphans, living with their fellow orphaned cousins in a house their uncle owns, yet he has little to give them. I really want to follow up and see how their situation has changed since I was here last in February 2006—yet I suspect their only source of support is the Powerhouse. I didn’t take my camera with me to church today (on purpose) but I’ve put up two photos from HIV Stories and I invite you to view their story, "Facing The Future," at www.hivstories.org .

Later, we had a chance to take the girls, along with Selina’s children, Thabo and Legato, and two others back home. With all of them piled into the backseat of the AR van, it was beautiful to hear their little whispers to each other, their excited giggles and then to turn around and just soak in the beautiful image of their shining little faces.

"Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." —Jesus (Mark 10:13-16 )

Filed under: Reflections by Nathan on August 17th, 2008. Tags: children, Facing The Future, HIV Stories, HIV/AIDS, Living Positively, orphans | 4 Comments