Blessed Relationships

Robin and I have just returned to the US after 3 weeks in South Africa. We were incredibly blessed by the time there which absolutely flew by. Unfortunately due to some struggles with internet access I was not able to post a real-time update on our trip the final 2 weeks. So I want to give a brief synopsis of some of the highlights of the rest of our trip that included.

• Sweet reunions with our home cell group from Norwegian Church and so many other friends in South Africa
• The miracle of finding a new flat in town at the right price for Debbie, Rachel and Nunus; seeing their joy in having a better and more secure place to live
• The Ugu AIDS Alliance meeting during which Two Tunics and the other members shared their programs and mapped out who's working where in the Ugu District
• Our visits with Doug and Suzy Hufton to Moi at Sinekhono Project and Cornelia at Jesus Christ Cares Ministry
• Our precious time with Sharon Jones, our dear friend and manager of the Genesis Care Centre on her return from England on the day of our departure
• And most especially 12 September 2010, the day Rachel and Nunus (our "adopted" nieces) prayed to invite Jesus into their lives as Savior and Lord as we shared the gospel with them

The event of this last bullet will certainly be the most enduring memory of our trip and the one with a certain eternal impact. The amazing growth we have seen in the girls over these last 4+ years has been incredible to be a part of. (We also celebrated Nunus' 8th birthday during the trip.) The seeds planted through the commitment to get them weekly to the Norwegian Church services and children's church, the children's Bibles given and read with them, the Scripture Union camps and the gospel message shared with them last March have, through the watering and nourishment of the Spirit born fruit for a harvest now. God is good!

In my previous post about the first week of our trip I mentioned the word or theme that stood out for me was "progress". Progress that brought me a little taste of heaven. As I reflect on the highlights of the last half of our trip listed above another theme word is clear. That word is "relationships". Every one of the highlights listed above involves a very important and precious relationship that God has brought into our lives since he first called us to South Africa in 2005.

God is a God of relationships. He accomplishes His purposes through the relationship of His people with Himself and with other people. The Bible is full of the stories of relationships of God with his people and their relationships with one another. God initiates a relationship with us and then pursues it. As we respond and enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, He grants us life, faith, hope and love. And that love must be lived out in our relationships with other people. God has blessed us with incredible loving relationships with so many people in South Africa. Being with them again was such a blessing to us and another foretaste of heaven.

A Taste of Heaven

We have had a busy and blessed week since arriving in South Africa on Sunday. It has been great having Sandra and Douglas Shuff here with us this week from Northview Bible Church in Spokane. Sandra has been a part of two short-term mission teams that have served here with Two Tunics in 2008 and 2009, while it is Douglas's first time visiting.

Some highlights of the week for me:

• Worshipping at the tin shack church of Pastor Amos in the Mkholmbe shanty town
• Sweet reunions with the staff at Genesis Care Centre and many other dear friends
• Sandra's "Jesus Loves Me" presentations at 3 of our community creche (preschool) partners
• Home based care visits with Amos and Busi - humbling, disturbing and uplifting at once
• Seeing the "investment" in projects like Nokukhanya and Sinothando Creches bearing fruit (especially Lindiwe's teaching of the children and Pas's garden in a bag)
• Oh, and let's not forget lunch at the Waffle House and dinner at Edelweiss (it hasn't been all work and no play)
  

One of the words or themes that stands out for me this week is "progress". When one is here full time working in the community, frustration over lack of progress can become an everyday experience. The positive changes that do occur is so slow and incremental that it is easy to overlook them. Now returning after nearly 6 months away (our longest absence in 5 years) and with Sandra return 18 months after here last visit, it has been encouraging to see much evidence of positive changes around several of our partners.

I've already mentioned Nokukhanya Creche with Lindiwe's teaching of the children ( Two Tunics is providing her training through TREE) and Pas's incredible bag garden (Two Tunics provided "seed money" and training through Tim Barratt a local farmer). There are also many children Sandra remembered by names and faces who were sick, dull and full of rashes before who are healthy and vibrant now (thanks largely to good nutrition Two Tunics supplies through Food4Africa and Feed the Babies). And a man with TB lying dying on the dirt I saw during home based care visits in March is now sitting up, eating and interacting with his family (thanks to support given to family to consistently administer his medications and much prayer).

Yesterday I was reading in 2 Corinthians 5 and was struck by verse 4 which speaks of the mortal or dying being "swallowed up by life" (NIV). Paul was speaking about how through Christ, although our mortal bodies are dying we have future heavenly living bodies. But I was struck by the evidence I had seen this week that even while in these mortal bodies awaiting our desired heavenly dwellings, we can experience little pockets of life swallowing up death and hopelessness. This happens as each of us follows and serves Christ in the way he has been called. And I believe God is glorified whenever and however death is "swallowed up by life".

I thank God for the foretaste of heaven He has given me this week.

Gazing Godward

No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, just off the face of internet publishing. Not that anyone will have noticed or certainly had their life impacted negatively by my absence. And yet I still feel the need to apologize if only to myself. God doesn't want my apology, only my repentance so I will offer that as well.

Since I last posted:

• South Africa hosted a successful World Cup - congrats to Spain but I was pulling for the Dutch - (commiserations Alfon's and Marco
  
• The 4th of July was rained out in Seattle


• Summer came to Seattle on July 5th and still hasn't left - "yeah!" (see picture below of Robin and Debbie on the ferry from Seattle)


• Two new members joined the Two Tunics board - welcome Debbie Tucker and Doug Hufton, our St Louis connections


• My daughter turned 28 (don't tell her I told you)


• We started attending Mars Hill Church at the Bellevue campus


• My wife Robin and I have enjoyed 4 more blessed months with our grandson Mikah (see picture below gathering eggs in Vicki's henhouse)


• The work of Two Tunics in South Africa goes forward thanks to Onnie, Debbie and our 9 amazing community project partners as well as all our faithful supporters
  
  

All the stuff above was good stuff. Well most of it - we'll forget about the 4th of July in Seattle. But somehow through it all I didn't feel like I had anything to share here. It wasn't like God wasn't using this time and teaching me. We have loved the teaching at Mars Hill. And God has used The Pursuit of God by Tozer in some deep places in my life. But day to day I think I have struggled with the separation from the work I still feel called to in South Africa, even knowing without a doubt that this (Seattle) is where God wants us to be for a time.

Now as I resume this blog I think back to why it started - sharing a faith journey. The title of this blog comes from a description by Spurgeon of faith as "slender wires". That description still rings true in my life and I think always will. Now another description of faith has come to me as well by Tozer. Faith is the "gaze of the soul upon a saving God". As Tozer says "looking and believing are really the same thing". We direct our attention where we look. And faith is not a looking once, but a continuous gazing, a "habit of inwardly gazing Godward".

I think maybe during this time I have been looking in the wrong direction. Not all bad places - in the Bible and in good books, but not continuously at Him. And too much at myself. The eye never sees itself, and so faith is occupied only with the Object upon which it rests. I need to continuously practice looking away.

Getting back to the final bullet point above. In 2 days Robin and I will leave for another 3 week visit to South Africa. We have much to accomplish there both personally and for Two Tunics. It will be good to be back but I'm sure hard as well. My prayer is that as we go we will be gazing on Him.

A Tale of Three Churches

This past Sunday was "move in day" at New Life Church in Renton . New Life has become our home church since we moved back from South Africa to Renton WA last November. New Life is a church of a couple thousand people and is alive and growing. Although it had a large facility to meet in with an attached building for it's Christian school, New Life had made a decision a couple years ago to build a new sanctuary and turn the current sanctuary and lobby into "Kids Town" as well as a gym for the school. Sunday was the first services held in the new building. The new auditorium has a feel much like the old building but is larger and will seat 1600 people. There is also a new 400 seat chapel. You can even take a tour of the new facility on the "New Building" section of the website. Although we are newcomers to New Life, we could sense that Sunday was a very special day in the life of this church. It is obvious that this is a blessed church.

Sitting in the new church building on Sunday I was reminded of a chapter in the book "The Hole In Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision. I read this book during our recent trip to South Africa. One advantage of spending about 50 hours in airplanes is that it gives you a lot of time to catch up on your reading. The book is excellent and challenging for Christians and American churches. John Ortberg says about the book "It is a prophetic and hope-filled word for our day. If enough people read it and do it, the world will change." That is exactly what the gospel of Jesus, the whole gospel, the one without the hole in it is about - changing the world by changing the lives of people. Stearns says the whole gospel "encompasses tangible compassion for the sick and the poor, as well as biblical justice ... the spiritual, physical and social dimensions of our being."

On the flight back to the USA last week I read the chapter entitled "A Tale of Two Churches". In it Stearns tells a parable of two churches. One, The Church of God's Blessings could well be New Life Church or any number of churches in America. It could also very well be Norwegian Settler's Church in South Africa, our other home church where we worshiped the last four years. Another church with a building program that you can watch from the web cam on the church website.

The other church Stearns describes, The Church of the Suffering Servant could well be Pastor Amos' church in South Africa we had visited the previous Sunday (see my March 26 post South Africa Trip Highlights). As I wrote in my last post, Pastor Amos is one of the key partners Two Tunics is working with in South Africa. He has a powerful ministry in communities where AIDS and poverty are having a devastating impact on people's lives. Communities where spiritual warfare with the powers of darkness is an everyday reality. Through Amos' Jesus Voice Kingdom Ministries people are receiving the whole gospel. People are experiencing real deliverance from oppression. People are responding to the gospel and his church is growing. Growing beyond the walls of the 3 sided tin shed the church meets in and around.
Robin and I with our friend Athena in the church in Mkholombe

One of the pastors speaking to the Mkholombe Church

People attending the church crowd around the shed in the hot sun

These last 2 weeks I have attended 3 churches. All of them have new building programs. Two belong to "The Church of God's Blessings". One belongs to "The Church of the Suffering Servant". I thank God that I have the privilege of attending all of them. I can't wait until my next visit to the Mkholombe church. The Churches of God's Blessings that I attend are doing good things. They are having an effective ministry. They are making at least some attempts to be about the whole gospel. As Stearns says:

The American church in my little parable was not a "bad" church; it was just oblivious to the suffering of the little church in Africa. It wasn't that they wouldn't help the African congregation; they were just so preoccupied with their own programs and people that they failed to see the bigger picture: the reality of the church across the world.

Thank you Lord for letting me see the bigger picture with the small African church in it. Thank you Lord that your gospel doesn't have a hole in it. Thank you Lord that we have the opportunity to partner with Pastor Amos in bringing the whole gospel to people who desperately need its hope. Pastor Amos in front of the new building for the Mkholombe church which needs a roof

South Africa Trip Highlights

It was so good to sleep in my own bed last night. Especially after 3 weeks in a small bed in a hot room and our 33 hour trip back to Seattle. These last 3 weeks in South Africa have been busy and hard but incredible in so many ways. Unfortunately due to the busy schedule and shortage of access to the internet I have not been able to post regular updates on the progress of the trip over the last 2 weeks. So I will try to give you the highlights now and fill in some of the details at a later time.

Some Trip Highlights
In addition to delivery day and the church dedication in Eastern Cape I wrote about in the previous posts, here is a partial list of other trip highlights.

1. Meeting with the management committees of the community projects of Two Tunics' 9 key community based partners: These meetings were one of the key objectives of our trip. Two Tunics is committed to responding to the needs related to AIDS and poverty in a way that enables each person to fulfill God's purpose for them. We want to be about sustainable solutions that build upon local assets (people, knowledge, skills, and resources) rather than just offers short term relief. We really believe that real solutions are to be found in the local community and especially the local church (Christian people not institutions).

We have selected 9 key community projects to partner with in a more developmental, non-paternalist way that does not perpetuate unhealthy dependence. Our meetings were such a confirmation that we have selected the right projects to work with. Each of them is led by a person or two that have incredible hearts for people in their communities, especially the children. Cornelia, Thabile, Dumisani, Busi & Lindiwe, Pas, Evelyn, Bonisile, Moie, and Amos are names of some of our heroes. While we often get the thanks, these people are the ones doing the hard work of caring for the needy in their communities and sharing Christ's love on an everyday basis, with little or no support at times. We believe in these people. We are privileged to be a part of what they are doing.
Meeting with Sinothando Creche management committee.
Pas is in the center holding the child.

2. Spending the day with the Grace Church short term mission team: The South Africa mission team from Grace Church in St Louis overcame incredible adversity, and I believe attacks of the enemy, in serving God last week. After spending two nights in airport hotels in Mpls and Atalanta due to flight delays, they arrived 2 days late and without their luggage. Having their mission cut from 7 to 5 days just seems to give this team a greater urgency and determination to overcome any and all challenges as they jumped in to serve in schools, creches, churches and communities. They spent one of their precious days in South Africa with Two Tunics and God used that time to bless us all.

Grace Church has partnered with us in supporting Busi & Lindiwe and their Sunnyside Creche in Murchison. We had a great morning at the creche loving on the children (the parachute was a big hit) and making plans together for further improvements to the facility. Then Pastor Amos took the team on several home based care visits. The team got a close up look at the impact of poverty and AIDS on a few of the thousands of affected families in the area. I believe God did a work in hearts of many on the team during those few hours. The team also had a powerful time of worship and prayer with each family. Finally, the afternoon ended with a visit to Pastor Dumisani's feeding project in Gamalakhe township, which included the distribution of shoes to needy children. As always the singing of the children blessed us all. Hearts were stretched, challenged, full and overflowing at the end of the amazing day. Grace Church team visiting poor families outside the shack home.
Grace Church team distributing new shoes to children at Dumisani's feeding project.

3. Having a chance to catch up face to face with our South African friends: Robin and I loved being together again with our South African home cell group on a Thursday evening. Also spending time with dear friends like Sharon Jones, Athena and Dougie, Pauline and Simon, Ami, Pastor Trevor and Helene and so many of our friends at Norwegian church. Meeting with staff at the Genesis Care Centre over tea was special as was being able to meet with Dave at Genesis, Clement at Positive Ray, Chris at Gibela and all our Ugu AIDS Alliance partners.

Having 3 weeks to enjoy times with Debbie and her girls Rachel and Nunus was also very special. They are family to us. It was amazing how the girls had grown in just 4 months! Whether it was going to church at Norwegian's, going out to lunch, swimming and a picnic at the beach or shopping together for Rachel's birthday gift (her birthday is on Easter this year) our time with them was precious. Picnic by the beach with Debbie, Rachel and Nunus.

4. Visiting a Zulu church started by pastor Amos meeting in a shed in the Mkholombe shanty town: As we met with our community partners we began to hear stories of several strange happenings in the communities, especially involving children and the schools. Children are falling down crying in the schools, often saying they are seeing dwarf like creatures. Some schools have had to be closed for the rest of the day. The high school age daughter of one of our partners has been plagued by disturbing appearances and attacks at school. We are convinced that many of these happenings are the result of spiritual warfare. God is doing a work in this area especially through many of our community partners and God's enemy is bringing opposition. This is strange stuff to us and not in the realm of our usual experience. Pastor Amos leader of Jesus' Voice Kingdom Ministries, one of our partners, has been called out with other pastors to pray at the schools and with affected individuals. Pastor Amos has a lot of experience with these things that he says are the results of the activities of demons. Much of this is related to the traditional African religious practices of the culture.

As we met with Amos he shared with us the work God was doing through the church he had started in Mkholombe a shanty town on the outskirts of Port Shepstone. People, many who have been plagued by spiritual attacks are responding to the gospel and experiencing incredible deliverance. The church which meets in a small 3 sided shed has grown to 150 people. They have started building another larger "shed" to meet in but don't have funds for the roof. Amos asked us if we would come and visit the church on Sunday and see the new building. So Sunday after attending nearby Norwegian Settlers church in their large hall with the new even larger church building going up next door, we and our friend Athena followed Amos on the short dirt path-like road to a little shed with sounds of amazing voices singing praises coming from it. We then walked down a narrow path to the site of the new church "building". The wood poles with slats forming walls were already overgrown by tall weeds and could not be used for church meetings in this hot sun (or frequent rain showers) without a roof.

Following the sounds of praise back to the existing "church", space was made for us on the crowded benches under the shade of the roof. Dozens of others crowded around the opening of the shed in the beating sun. For the next hour we were blessed to worship, pray and share from God's word with this incredibly real, vibrant and growing church. God is using Amos in a powerful way to bring light and hope in this incredibly needy, dark and hopeless place. We are convinced that God would have us be partners in this work.

Watch this space for more details to come. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with on the day we visited Amos' church but he did have his and took some photos. I will hopefully get some from him via our South Africa office and post some soon. I also plan to give some more details about my thoughts and impressions as a result of this trip back to South Africa in future posts.

Visit to Eastern Cape

Yesterday was truely an amazing day.

One of the projects Two Tunics has been supporting for a little over one year now is the Jesus Christ Cares Ministry (JCCM) in Holy Cross in the Eastern Cape. As Two Tunics we focus our work in the Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal and JCCM is the one exception being a project outside of our usual catchment area. The reason for this exception is that the chairperson of this project is Cornelia Mgaga, the mother of Onnie our Two Tunics Programs Manager. JCCM is serving orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in a very poor and underserved area. We have been pleased to help with support of the feeding program offering Food4Africa porridge and 500Rands ($70) for groceries each month.


Robin and I visited the project which is run out of Onnie's mother's home in November 2008. At that time we saw the partially finished church on the back of their familie's property.We stood with some of the women from the church that have been meeting in a small flat on their property and prayed that God would supply the funds needed to finish the church. This church had been the vision of Onnie's father who tried for many years to obtain land for it and eventually gave the church a piece of the family's land for the church building. In 1998 the women began to dig the foundations of the church and when Onnie's father died in 2000, her mother committed to use a portion of his pension for the building of the church.

After our visit in November 2008, several people heard about the need to complete the church building and through them God has provided. So on 10 March 2010 a celebration and dedication of the new Taweni AFM Church building was held on the occassion of Robin and my return to visit JCCM again. The original purpose of our visit was to meet with the JCCM committee members to discuss the future of their partnership with Two Tunics. As we sat in the Mgaga home discussing the project we could here the singing voices coming from the church building just behind.

As we closed the meeting the Regional AFM Pastor and other pastors and guests arrived for the church dedication. It was a blessed time of song and dance and celebration.

A digital photobook by Smilebox

During the event I shared a message from God's Word from Luke 4:16-21 where Jesus announces that He is the messiah and is bringing the gospel of good news to the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed. Robin presented orphan sponsorship gifts of shool uniforms and bags to 5 orphans that had been identified as especially needed. The gogos (grandmothers) who care for them wept with gratitude as did Onnie's aunt at seeing the vision of her brother for the church become a reality.



Praise be to our faithful God and thanks for the privilege of being in His service!

Delivery Day

Monday was a long, hot and dusty day. It was delivery day for Two Tunics. Through our partnernship with Food4Africa and Feed the Babies we receive monthly supplies of a nutritional porridge to distribute to our Two Tunics supported creches and other projects. Currently this program is supplying nutritional support to over 950 children in 6 communities.

Normally the deliveries are done over two days at the beginning of each month utlizing Pastor Amos and his van. But since Robin and I are here this month wanting t see all the projects in a short time and we have the use of our vehicle again, we elected to do all of the deliveries in one day. The day started at 8am by sorting the large bags and boxes of porridge into piles on the floor of the office so that each of the 13 projects will receive the needed numbr of packets for the month. Then the separated bags and boxes were loaded into Amos's van and my Subaru in the right order - first in, last out according to the delivery schedule for the day.

Porridge sorting (top)

Debbie stacking porridge in the store room (left)

By a little after 9am Amos, Onnie, Debbie, Robin and I were on the Road to Murchison community with a quick stop at Norwegian Church to pick up Marco. He is a volunteer from Holland working with the Ugu AIDS Alliance who wanted to come along to see what Two Tunics was all about. We made deliveries to our 5 creches in Murchison with the last stop being Sunnyside Creche(Nokukhanya in Zulu). This is the site of one fo the 3 creche classroom buildings provided by Two Tunics last year. It was gratifying to see the creche thriving and the faclity being so well used. It was also encouraging to see a sign posted announcing that the Department of Health was going to utilize the crech in April as a site to provide polio and measles immunizations to children in the community. It has been a vision of Two Tunics Community for Kids program from the beginning to see the creches become projects in the communities that other services could be built around. It was very rewarding to see this becoming a reality in Murchison. As we were leaving "Good by tin house" written with red pain on the door of the tin shack formerly used to house the creche.

New Sunnyside Creche Building; Department of Health Notice at the Creche

Then it was off for deliveries to 6 more creches in Bhobhoyi, Bhomela and Gamalakhe communities. At the Lutheran Church Creche one of the facilitators from TREE was there doing a site visit to the creche.TREE is an organization that trains creche (pre-school) teachers on early childhood education. Two Tunics has sponsored several of our creche teachers to complete level one training. This includes onsite follow-up visits to see how the training is being implemented in the classroom. Again it was gratifying to see the educational material from the curriculum posted on the wall of the creche and the TREE staff person keeping the teachers accountable for using what they are learning to benefit the children.

Finishing up in Gamalakhe we said goodbye to Amos and headed down the coast about 30km and then inland to the final two delivery sites, Masakhane Community project and Khandandlovu Baptisit Church. At Khandandlovu iIt was great to see Pastor Eric's wife Bonisile and her 4 month old son (he looks just like his brothers). This is the site of another of the Two Tunics provideed classtooms. Unfortunately there had been a freak windstorm a couple weeks before that caused sever damage to a small area around the church. The portion of the roof of the church and the new creche classroom was damaged. We will have some discussions with the project next week to see how we can help with some of the repairs needed.

Having completed our deliveries it was back to the office in Port Shepstone, dropping Marco on the way. Delivery day was a full day, a good day, a blessed day.

This digital slideshow created with Smilebox

Returning to South Africa

Well, Robin and I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for the Seattle airport. Thirty some hours later we should arrive on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. This will be a 3+ week Two Tunics working visit. We are definitely not looking forward to the long trip or to the tremendous heat and humidity that everyone in South Africa has been telling us about this summer over there. But this trip is not about the weather and hopefully will be well worth the discomfort of the trip. I plan to use this blog to provide (hopefully) regular updates and insights on the progress of our trip.

The primary purpose of the trip is a little difficult to express concisely in a sentence or two but let me try. The bottom line is that we at Two Tunics want to ensure that the ministries and programs that we are involved with in South Africa are implemented in a way that empowers and equips the communities we are serving. One key way of doing this is to ensure that we are working through local partners in effective partnerships. We want to avoid paternalism ("we know what is best for you") and not create or perpetuate dependence ("we're poor and need your money/resources to meet our community's needs").

We do feel that from the beginning we have been participatory, relational and humble in our approach. We went in as learners and identified what locals were doing that was working and then supported that. But we still have much to learn about serving poor communities in a way that helps and not hurts both the poor, their communities and our witness as followers of Jesus Christ. Our Two Tunics board has recognized certain dangers and potential pitfalls that we need to be sure we avoid in our approach. Therefore we are going back to South Africa now to begin making needed adjustments in our structure and approach.

The decision for us to go back to South Africa at this time (only 3+ months into our "furlough") was made as a result of discussion around these issues during our board meetings in January. Since then I have read a book that moved my thinking about some of these issues to a whole new level. The book is called "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself" by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert. I think it should be required reading for anyone doing or considering doing missions work (short or long term) in a poor community. It has really challenged me but also excited me. This is going to be a really hard road but the rewards will be great as long as we travel the hard road.

I will be commenting some more on this book in upcoming blogs but if you or your church are doing any kind of mission work in poor communities or you are supporting any organizations involved in care of children or the poor, I recommend you read this book. For now stay tuned to this blog for updates and insights on the progress of our journey these next 3-4 weeks.

A Needed Furlough

Robin and I are preparing to return to the US in November for a furlough of at least several months. September was the four year anniversary of our move here to South Africa and together with our board of directors we have decided that now is the time for us to return to US for at least a time. As an organization Two Tunics needs to evaluate its work since it was conceived in 2004. We need to seek God for his plan for both the future of the organization and role of Mike and Robin in the ministry.

As we are preparing to talk with our board, churches and other supporters about the work of the last four years we have been thinking about how to measure and report what has been accomplished. What is success and where have we seen it? What is failure and what have we hopefully learned from it? What lasting impacts have been made in the lives of people? How has God been glorified?

The temptation is to measure success and results as the world does, with numbers. How many AIDS patients accessed ARV treatment? How many children were fed? How many teachers were trained and creches (preschools) built? How many people came to know Jesus as their Lord and savior? How can we effectively communicate to our supporters the value of the investment they have made in the work of Two Tunics these last four years? What was the return on their dollar? How do we justify that all our time and activity and separation from family has been worth it?

Then thankfully, this morning God gave me a fresh perspective on our upcoming furlough. I was re-reading the final chapter called The Goal of the Gospel in Watchman Nee's book "The Normal Christian Life". In it Nee is commenting on the story in Mark 14 of the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume. Nee wrote these words.

"We could labor and be used to the full: but the Lord is not so concerned about our ceaseless occupation in work for him. That is not his first object. The service of the Lord is not measured by tangible results. No, my friends, the Lord's first concern is with our position at his feet and our anointing of his head. ... Often enough the giving to him will be in tireless service, but he reserves to himself the right to suspend service for a time, in order to discover to us whether it is that or himself, that holds us. "

I pray that God will use the time of our furlough to discover to me what it is that holds me. Is it my service for Him or the Lord Himself?

Act Your Way Into Feeling

On Sunday before last I visited Shiloh Church in Port Shepstone. I had been invited to attend their service to receive a gift from their Sunday school class for the needy children and families that we support through our Two Tunics "Communities for Kids" programs (see http://projects.twotunicssa.org/ for more information). As Robin was away back in the US, Onnie Mgaga our Two Tunics programs manager attended with me to accept the gift of food and toys for the creches we support.


Onnie and I receiving the donations from Shiloh Church.






As we were singing during the praise and worship time of the service the worship leader suddenly stopped the music and singing. We were singing the song "The Joy of the Lord is My Strength", but as the leader pointed out we were showing no evidence of the joy of which we were singing. "How can you sing this song with such lack of joy on your faces" the leader asked. She challenged the congregation to sing it again this time with real joy. And so we did and even though the voices may have been a little off tune, both we and God were blessed as we sang with joy. And experienced the joy we were singing about.

That experience brought to mind something I had read a few days earlier. Over the years I have read some of John Maxwell’s material on leadership. Since stepping into the General Manager position at Genesis I have been reading his book “The Maxwell Daily Reader”. The May 7th entry was on enthusiasm and made this statement. “You need to act your way into feeling.” My initial response was that this didn't seem right. Isn't that hypocrisy, when we act in ways we don't really feel? But as I thought about it more I realized the statement was true and in fact a very important truth for me to apply in my life.

I had to ask myself, how much joy have I been experiencing (feeling and demonstrating) recently? I had to honestly answer, not much. Some satisfaction, some contentment, some thankfulness. But joy? Not really. Now obviously joy is not happiness. But often I do not experience joy because my circumstances are not happy. I don't feel happy so I don't experience joy.

In the appendix to his book "The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare" Dr Ed Murphy presents a Daily Affirmation of Faith that I have been meditating on and trying to recite regularly. The opening paragraph concludes, "In this day I will not judge God, His work, myself or others on the basis of feelings or circumstances." As a follower of Christ I should not live my life based on feelings that often are the result of circumstances. Rather I base my life on the truth of God's word which reveals to me who God is, the nature of His works, who I am and who my fellow man is.

Psalm 100 exclaims, "Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth". Why? "The Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Later the psalmist proclaims "For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." This is true even when my circumstances are not happy. Even when I don't feel joy, I need to act based on the truth of God's word. We are instructed by the apostle Paul to "Rejoice always". It's not an option, its an instruction. I need to act my way into feeling, not based on my circumstance but on God's word. As we in the congregation began to act joyful as we sang we felt and experienced joy. God wants us to act joyful when we don't feel joy. He wants us to act loving when we don't feel love. As we obey He blesses with the feelings of joy and love. He fulfills our every desire.

Can't Say No To God

As I mentioned in my last post, there have been big changes at Genesis and with my role there. Just to remind you Genesis is an NGO started by the Norwegian Settler's Church as an HIV/AIDS and community outreach ministry of the church. The flagship ministry of Genesis is the 40 bed inpatient HIV/AIDS palliative care center (Genesis Care Centre or GCC). One of my roles here has been as the Medical Director of the GCC for the last 2.5 years and I feel blessed to be part of the ministry that happens there. Genesis is a big operation now with about 70 employees and many volunteers in several ministries in addition to the GCC.

Some of the patients and staff at the Genesis Care Centre

In late February the Genesis General Mangager submitted his resignation effective the end of March. Genesis asked me to step into the position but there were many issues to work through -I don't have a work permit here, Iam registered as a doctor here only as a volunteer, a major funder PEPFAR had some concerns with the decision as I had been contracted under their grant to provide certain services etc. And most of all I'm a doctor, not a business manager (even a non-profit business).

There are so many issues and challanges with taking on this position that normally I would have quickly said "no thanks, I'm happy doing the ministry we have here as Two Tunics". But then there is the God part of the decision. You see God had been preparing Robin and I for the possibility of my stepping into leadership of Genesis. Several months before there was any hint of change in leadership at Genesis God spoke in a fairly specific way to Robin (she seems to be better at hearing His voice and God often uses her to speak to me). When God tells you He is going to do something and then He does it, is it ok to say "no thank you" and walk away because its going to be messy and its going to be hard and I'm happy serving Him as I am now?

Well obviously I didn't think so. It was something I couldn't walk away from but maybe out of lack of faith what we eventually agreed to was that I would be the Interim Acting General manager for the next 4+ months as a volunteer. PEPFAR is requiring Genesis to have an open competitive hiring process for a permanent GM so I could only be named "Interim" anyway at this time.

The last few weeks have already been hectic as I have been plunged with both feet into the many issues that urgently needed to be dealt with for Genesis to move forward and fulfill its vision to be an effective ministry to the AIDS and poverty affected communities in the area. Already I have found myself asking "why do I want these headaches" and "is this really what I'm supposed to be doing". Then I remember the answer. I am saying "yes" to God. I wouldn't want to give Him any other answer.

Amazing Day

I think this photo journal tells the story.

NBC Mission Team Update

Today was an amazing day for us and the NBC Team as we held Two Tunic's first of a kind "Creche Health Awareness Event" (creche = pre-school). This event was targeted to the creche teachers, helpers and parents but also to the children. Many of the basic child health, safety, hygiene and child development concepts that are common sense to us are not widely appreciated or practiced by the parents and caregivers of the children in the creches we support. The event brought together the teachers, helpers and parents from the 3 creches we support in the Gamalakhe township.

The NBC Team gave talks on hand washing, oral hygiene, child safety, basic first aid and importance of play in child development. some involved the children and others were focused on educating the parents and caregivers. Each child was given a packet with toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and other gifts. Each child also received a T-shirt saying "Jesus Loves Me" in both English and Zulu ("Ujesu uyangithanda").

Here's a few photos of the event.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Pastor Ranjeeth and Donna Seepersad put on a puppet show that the adults enjoyed as much as the children. We are so grateful that the team was here to enable us to put on this program. Tomorrow we will do another full day program in a rural community focusing on HIV/AIDS education. Hopefully we won't wear the team out! But we are putting them to good use and God is blessing us and many others.

NBC Mission Team Day Two & Three

Here's some more photos of the teams activities working with Two Tunics the last 2 days. They have been hectic but a blessing to many.

Northview Bible Church Mission Team Day One

Last night the Northview Bible Church Mission Team arrived in Durban, South Africa. They are such and encouragement to us in the work we are doing. The team of five women will be with Two Tunics doing ministry for about 10 days. This is a quick photo tour of their first 24 hours with us. Check back regularly the next couple weeks for more updates and photos.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Church on the Hill

Today Robin and I had the pleasure and privilege to worship at Norwegian Settler's Church. This is our regular place of worship here in South Africa and our second home church (along with Northview Bible Church in Spokane). When we came to live and serve here in the Port Shepstone area we came on our own on behalf of our small organization Two Tunics. We were not coming to join a team already on the ground and did not have a larger mission organization ready to support, guide and encourage us. We realized one of the first priorities for us needed to be to find a church and a small group for Christian fellowship. God provided for us the Norwegian Church and then a home cell group with in that church. Both have been a blessing to us.

Robin and I with some of the members of our home cell group







The Norwegian Settler's Church is just that, a church started by Norwegian settlers a little over 125 years ago. Today it is a thriving, predominately white interdenominational church. It sits on a hill with a view that in a sense captures life on the South Coast (as this part of KwaZulu-Natal is known). Toward the sea (lets call it east) the church overlooks the beach communities with their hotels, restaurants and shops that are a holiday destination for people from throughout South Africa as well as Europe and further abroad. It is in this community that Robin and I live.

Margate beach on Christmas day

Toward the south the church overlooks rolling hills of sugar cane fields where predominantly white and Indian farmers grow the historical number one cash crop for this area. Toward the north the church overlooks the industrial outskirts of Port Shepstone know as Marburg. Here textile factories, the Coke bottling plant and other light industries offers jobs at salaries that barely cover transport and food costs. This is also a residential area for many "coloreds", an official designation for a mixed race group distinct from blacks. This area is known for its violence, alcohol and drug abuse.

Toward the west the church overlooks an area known as Mkholombe, a shanty town that merges into a slowly expanding government housing area. No one knows how many people live in the sprawling shanty town but is definitely in the many thousands. In this community are the effects of extreme poverty, hunger, AIDS, drug abuse and despair. 40% of pregnant mothers in this community are HIV positive. Young children, many of them orphans roam the dirt paths between tin and mud shacks. Many sick with AIDS lie alone on dirt floors, abandoned by their families because of the stigma associated with AIDS.

Norwegian Settlers' Church sits on a hill overlooking these four communities, realities that together make up a microcosm of this South Coast region of South Africa. Most of the church's members come from the coastal and farm communities. They live, work and relax in a world of one or two of these realities. The other two are often unrealities to them as they have little or no contact with them. A few years ago Pastor Trevor Downham challenged the church regarding whether anyone would notice if the church disappeared. That challenge resulted in the formation of Genesis which today continues to provide care, support and hope to those in communities around the church affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Genesis is fulfilling the desire of the church to be relevant to all of the communities surrounding it. Genesis is one of the key partners of Two Tunics and I am currently acting as the Medical Director of the Genesis Care Centre, a 40 bed HIV palliative care centre run by Genesis as a ministry of the church. Sometimes we think as we walk into our churches on Sunday morning "this is church". But I prefer to think "this is church" as I walk onto the Genesis wards this week helping to care for sick, dying and despairing people who would be without hope were it not for this church choosing to be the church to the pleasure and glory of Jesus Christ.

An Atheist Says Africa Needs God

A couple weeks ago I came across an article on the TimesOnline (London Times) by a columnist named Matthew Parris (click on the title of this post to go to the article). The title of his column definitely got my attention; "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God." Apparently he had been born and spent his boyhood in what is now Malawi and just before Christmas returned for a visit after 45 years.

He states in the article that he is "now a confirmed atheist". But he also says traveling in Malawi refreshed a belief that "confounds" his ideology and "stubbornly refuses to fit" his atheistic worldview. The observation that he can't avoid is that he is "convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa". In contrast to government programs, international aid organizations and secular NGOs which can provide education and training alone, "In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts."

It is important to note that he doesn't say Africa needs Christians or Christian services. He says (as a card carrying atheist) Africa needs God, because only God can change hearts. Wow! He admits he used to try to avoid this truth by applauding the practical good works that churches and missionaries do in Africa. And he would then say "It's a pity ... that salvation is part of the package".

The observation that brought him to this truth, against his ideology, that Africa needs God, was one that was consistent in his boyhood in Africa, later as a young man traveling in Africa and now years later returning to the Africa of his boyhood."The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall. "

As a missionary of Two Tunics working in Africa our work focuses to a large extent on the social needs associated with AIDS - medical treatment, HIV prevention education, support of orphans and vulnerable children. Sometimes I feel a need or have a desire to design our social services in a way that is not necessarily linked to evangelism. I don't want to be appear to be providing our care and support services in order to win converts. I feel at times like I need to justify or even apologize for our Christian evangelism which is counter to much of their African culture. Sometimes I even feel like I am being more true to what it means to really follow Jesus' when I just live the gospel rather than preaching it as well.

I have to thank an atheist for reminding me that what I am doing (bringing hope for the future)is all about changing hearts. That only happens as someone speaks the gospel message of Jesus Christ into the lives of others. Thankfully we have South African partners in our work who have Zulu pastors and staff who are very intentional about speaking the truth that changes hearts into the lives of those we serve. I'm thankful for Abraham, Amos, Joseph, Penny and Edmara among others. What I must do is help these Africans whose hearts have been changed by God to provide Africa with what it really needs.

1,000,000,000 People

During our recent trip to Franschhoek (see my last post "The Winelands") Robin and I enjoyed some of the best meals we have had in a long time. Franschhoek is considered the gourmet capital of South Africa and 8 0r 10 of the 100 best restaurants in the country are in this one small village and the surrounding wineries.

Robin and I have always enjoyed good food and one nice thing about living in South Africa is that eating out is quite reasonable. Even at the best restaurants the prices are a lot cheaper than equivalent restaurants in the US or Europe. And now with the dollar-Rand exchange rate at something over 10 it is a great deal. So we were able to enjoy some wonderful meals at several excellent restaurants during our 3 days in Franschhoek.

Part of the purpose of our trip was to get away from the realities and seemingly never ending needs associated with the work we are doing here in South Africa. Getting away from time to time is quite necessary if one is going to be able to sustain this type of work. In this regard the trip was a success as we were able to get away from phone, internet, emails, people begging at the gate and all the other daily demands that are a regular part of our life here.

However, even as we were enjoying our escape and especially several wonderful restaurants there was one thing I couldn't seem to get away from. It was the title of this post which was also the headline on the second section of the Sunday Independent newspaper on January 4th this year. I couldn't seem to get the number one billion out of my mind. You see as the article explained, that is the number of people that will go hungry in 2009. And this has nothing, or at least very little to do with the worlds current economic crisis.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organizations makes annual estimates of the number of people who will go hungry and is predicting the number to go over one billion for the first time in history. This is despite a second record worldwide harvest in as many years and contradicts the undertaking of world leaders in 2000 to cut in half the number of hungry by the year 2015. The biggest factor in the increasing rates of hunger is the increase in food prices so that more and more of the worlds poor are unable to afford adequate nutrition even if it is available. The Sunday Independent article points out that although "At a special summit in June last year, rich governments pledged $12.3 billion to tackle the food crisis, but so far they have handed over only $1 billion of it, as they have scrambled to provide trillions to bail out failing banks."

I am thankful that I am one of the privileged and becoming few that can afford food. Certainly I am among the privileged elite who can afford to eat in a restaurant. I am not saying that I should have to give up eating as much or even eating out (as I said it is not really a food shortage). But I am convicted that I need to be more intentional about helping in some way to meet the growing hunger in the world.

Robin serving meals to children after school

Two Tunics name comes from Luke 3:11 where John the baptist says "let him who has two tunics share with him who has none and let him who has food do likewise". One of the things we are doing as Two Tunics is giving nutritional support to vulnerable and hungry children. We have established a partnership with Food 4 Africa through which we are providing a nutritional porridge food supplement daily to over 500 children at community based day care and after school feeding projects. We also provide healthy daily snacks (peanut butter, brown bread, milk, fruit etc.) to children at several of the creches (pre-schools) we support. Two Tunics is about sharing and I am proud to a part of this work that is doing something small in the area of the world's hungry children.

Robin feeding Food 4 Africa porridge at a creche

999,999,500 to go. Can any of you take on a few more?

A Visit to Sinothando Creche

Today's post will hopefully be a little lighter and more encouraging than the last. It will also be more of a story of our activities this day and an opportunity to hear about someone with an awfully big heart. More about that later but first a little background.

Since early this year Robin and I have been developing and implementing a Two Tunics' program to help support orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) that are being taken care of in their communities. These communities here in the Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal are being devastated by the AIDS epidemic. 40% of women of childbearing age are HIV+ and as the epidemic matures women in their twenties and men in there thirties are dying at high rates. This is leaving thousands of children (more than 1.2 million in South Africa) without moms and providers.

Orphanages are not an approved or acceptable way to care for orphans in South Africa (as it is not in the US) and nearly all of these children are cared for in their communities by extended family or neighbors. But this often leaves the children vulnerable. Schools provide an important protection and safety net for many of these children. But for those younger pre-school children it is the neighborhood "creche" that provides this support. Many creches are started by women who have a heart to care for the children in their community. They often give sacrificially of themselves and what they have to provide a little something for the children. We have been finding these people and their projects (creches) and coming along-side them with some encouragement and support.

Today we returned to visit one of these women and her project in the township of Gamalakhe. Nomapasika (Pas for short) is a big woman with a huge heart. For about 2 and 1/2 years she has been providing daycare for up to 25-30 children in her shack of a home. Often the children's parents/guardians leave the children with her into the evening and on the weekends. Although she has little, she provides amazing care for the children. Anyone who visits is quickly aware of her love for the children and their love for her.


In the picture Pas is on the left with some of the children. This was taken a couple months ago as Robin gave her a new (used) crib for some of the many babies she cares for. The small shack in the background is the only indoor space she has to care for all of these children. When it rains (often this time of year) the yard turns to mud.



Today we went back to visit her creche to make a plan to provide her with a better facility for the creche. We hope to be able to help her build a 5x3 meter building with attached toilet and wash basin. Our friend Ian went with and has offered to act as the contractor and work with a local builder. Hopefully the work can get underway in January. We also hope to provide some playground equipment so the children have something to do during the day. As you can see in the picture on the right the kids are often quite bored.

In our work we must be very careful about coming into situations and trying to rescue or provide free easy solutions. But over a period of months we have observed Pas and the work she is doing and believe she and her project are the type deserving of Two Tunics help. We believe that our assistance will help provide loving care to many OVCs over the years. It will help Pas sustain the work of her heart to meet a growing need in her community. It is a priviledge to be a part of this work and thank you to Two Tunics donors who are making this possible.

Thread-like Faith

This week I was struck by the analogy of our faith being like "slender wires" used by Charles Spurgeon in his book All of Grace. It is easy for us sometimes to fall into the error of making our faith an idol. The power is not in the faith but in the God upon whom our faith relies. We are saved not by faith but by God's Grace (Eph 2:8). Grace is the fountain and faith is the conduit through which the fountain's living water comes to us. "Great messages can be sent through slender wires, and the peace-giving witness of the Holy Spirit can reach our hearts through thread-like faith." So often my faith seems thread-like. Praise God that "even though a hand may be trembling, it can still receive the golden gift".

These last 3 years in South Africa with Two Tunics have been an incredible faith journey (as well as the nearly 2 years leading up to are being here). At times it felt like I've was drinking from a large pipe as God overwhelmed with his clear and active provision. At other times it has felt like I've been holding on to a slender wire listening for and not hearing that "still small voice". Those were feelings of mine that changed. God, his plan and his faithfulness didn't change. My faith was ever thread-like and yet that was enough for God to pour out his grace.

I wish I had been more faithful over the years in journaling the stories of this faith journey. I am starting this blog as a means of recording my experiences living on a "slender wire" of faith. I hope it will also be a way to keep friends, family and supporters updated on progress and challenges of the work of Two Tunics in South Africa. I hope you will check back from time to time and be blessed as you do.