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Our Month in South Africa

Wow, this past month has flown by. As I am writing this blog, I have spent a total of 22 days in South Africa. We had three full weeks of ministry, many hours of training, worship sessions, and many adventures. Each day brought something new. I am so blessed to of had the opportunity to partner with Impact Africa. They are an incredible organization that I would love to partner with in the future. South Africa is a very interesting country. It is First-World and Third-World and I have gotten to experience both.

 

The majority of our ministry here in South Africa was outreach into the Squatter Camps. The squatter camps were created for people to live in while they search for jobs. Many individuals will leave their families from all over the continent (Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Somolia are only a few of the most common) to move to Johannesburg, South Africa in search of work. Johannesburg produces 25% of money in the entire continent of Africa. People leave everything behind in hopes of finding a job here in Johannesburg. They move to the squatter camps, which were intended to be temporary homes, but many people cannot afford anything more. One man told me that he pays 250 Rand (less than $25) a month to live in his house. The harsh reality is that jobs are not as easy to find here than most think. There are jobs available but a lot of these Africans have never been taught simple things that we think are common sense (putting on deodorant, brushing your teeth, bathing, or wearing clean clothes for their interview). It is an endless circle of poverty here in the squatter camps.

 

I got to spend almost every day of ministry going door to door and telling people about the name of Jesus. I am truly so blessed that God choose me to help make him famous in Africa. Many Africans go to church but many of these churches teach against what the bible states. Almost all Africans pray to their ancestors and they believe that their ancestors will protect them. It is as if they worship their ancestors more than they worship God the Father. Many churches also teach about having to do good works in order to go to Heaven; which is strictly against the Bible as well. There are so many distorted things that the churches teach and it is hard to speak truth into the Africans that have grown up with these traditions. Good thing I am not the one talking, it’s the Holy Spirit giving me the words to speak.

 

 

One of my favorite things that we have done here in South Africa is running kids programs in the squatter camps. We spend 30 minutes running around the streets of the squatter camps trying to collect as many kids as possible to come here the word of God. Going up and down the streets is such an incredible experience. Once we have about 6 kids walking with us, kids start running towards us out of nowhere. By the time the 30 minutes are over, the team has brought over 75 kids together to hear the gospel. We set up everything on a dirt field and act out the creation story, the story of Adam and Ava (known to us as Eve), and most importantly the story of Jesus Christ. We have hosted 2 of these programs and have had over 50 kids in total decide that they want Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Numbers don’t matter and we will never know how much these kids actually understood, but I know that this is not the last time these kids will hear about Jesus.

 

Another interesting thing that happens here in the squatter camps is community justice. There are police officers that patrol these communities but I’ve been told that they don’t do very much to help. So the community has taken it into their own hands to look out for one another and punish people that have committed crime. I was chatting with a mama inside her house and we could hear a lot of commotion going on outside. People were running down the street and were shouting at one another to get to the soccer field. The mama I was talking to got up in the middle of our conversation and ran towards the soccer field. I asked another man what was happening and he told me that there was a beating. He continued to say there was a man that had stolen a phone from someone and the community all got together to teach him a lesson. The man that was getting beat was one of the lucky ones; they only fractured a few of his bones. If the crime is more severe like murder or rape, the criminals are beat to death by the community members. My team and I were preaching in an area very close to where the riot was happening. We had to end ministry early that day for our own safety.

 

Even with all of this craziness, the Lord has been working here in incredible ways. I personally have had the opportunity to pray the salvation prayer with over 10 different Africans. Today, I had the opportunity to baptize a 15-year-old in the Holy Spirit. I have had the opportunity to disciple fellow believers, reach out to pregnant woman at local clinics, hold many many African babies, and have gotten to share my testimony with over 50 people. The Lord is doing incredible things here. The Africans are so hungry for the truth. It is truly beautiful.

 

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