A Love that Saves

Our Next Step summer interns spent their first week of ministry doing Relationship Evangelism and Children’s Ministry at one of our partner churches in Mangaung Village.

Here are just two of the many highlights from the week:

Relationship Evangelism is about building relationships to show the love of Christ. As our interns built a relationship with a young man named Thabo, he really opened up about the struggles he was facing - many the consequences of his own poor choices. He seemed to be searching for the right path, a better way to live. As they shared from their own lives and prayed with him, he was encouraged. And when they invited him to church the following Sunday, he came and accepted Christ as his Savior. Who knew that simply building a relationship could save the life of another? I guess Jesus knows, and we’re all reminded too…

Children’s Ministry is about sharing the love and Good News of Christ with kids who might not experience it otherwise. And often times, Children’s Ministry reaches even further – this was one of those times. A few days after a children’s lesson, our interns met a woman happy to tell them how much her grandson enjoyed the story of Daniel. He ran home, excitedly told her all about it, and asked her to read the story again from the Bible. And our interns were blessed to see how as they pour into these young ones, they in turn share it with others.

Hullaballoo

It has been pretty exciting to have the World Cup here in South Africa! And even more exciting - June, Amanda, Matt and I got to go to a game over the weekend. Decked out in South African Bafana Bafana gear, we made the 4 hour trek to Bloemfontein to watch Paraguay and Slovakia. It was so much fun to be part of the hullaballoo!

(…I’m surprised that hullaballoo was in my spell check. Does anyone say that anymore? Other than me?...)

I was actually surprised at the turnout for each team – so many people with painted faces, crazy outfits, waving banners and flags, cheering and singing. One guy was dressed in a spandex, hooded jumpsuit that looked like a cross between Elvis and a giant rooster – wings and all. That’s a fan! And if you’ve caught any of the games on TV you know how relentless those vuvuzelas are – Yikes! I’m so glad that I remembered earplugs. What a great day!!

Too bad that South Africa is out of the running - they played with such skill and heart. But how awesome is it that the US is moving on to the next round? Go USA!

Priceless

Snacks during the 6(+/-) hour layover at the Washington DC airport - $9. More snacks during the 12 hour layover in the Paris airport - $17. Spending 2 months in South Africa serving the poor and getting a taste of full time missions – PRICELESS!!

Whether a student is interested in full-time missions, full-time ministry, or just some awesome experience and growth over a summer break, our Next Step program is a great next step. Hence the name…good, huh?

Next Step is our summer internship where high school and college age “kids” join us to learn about missions, gain priceless cross-cultural ministry experience, and even get a taste of the “glamorous” behind-the-scenes work that goes on here at Thrive Africa. 11 interns arrived on Tuesday and we’re so excited that they’re here! Each hand-selected, uniquely gifted, and intentionally called by God Himself.

At Thrive Church this week Amy gave a powerful message commissioning this very special team. Commissioning is the intentional act of granting authority, casting vision and sending others out for a specific purpose. We learned so much as we dug deep into Matthew 9:35 – 10:42 – how Jesus sent out his disciples, instructed them, equipped them, and even warned them of what was to come.

And even more amazing is what Jesus tells us in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (NIV) So often we think we can’t measure up to Christ’s example because he’s God after all…but here we were challenged to rethink that. Jesus is not the exception of what ministry should look like – he’s the standard.

Please pray with us that our summer interns step out to serve in bold ways modeling the example of Christ.

World Cup Buzz

Wikipedia is pretty amazing…I hope it’s accurate too because I spent the afternoon learning about the 2010 FIFA World Cup given that it kicks-off here in South Africa on June 11th. Here are some interesting tidbits…

2010 is the 19th FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) World Cup. It began in 1930 and is every 4 years. The only exceptions were 1942 and 1946 due to WWII.

There are 208 national teams, 204 of which competed to qualify for 2010. Qualifications began in August 2007, and now 32 teams are in the final tournament. Checkout Wikipedia for who plays who, where and when.

With this many nations involved, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.

Italy is the current champion, and has had 4 titles. Brazil has had the most with 5.

South Africa is the first African nation to host, winning the bid against Morocco and Egypt. Libya and Tunisia were also interested, but it was decided countries couldn’t co-host the tournament.

South Africa has 10 venues, 5 newly built and 5 upgraded. Some estimate construction costs at R8.4 billion (Rand) and which is about $1.1 billion.

If I understand Wikipedia correctly, prize money is $420 million. Wow! Losing teams get $8M each, and then the rest of the money gets distributed depending on the bracket level. The overall winner gets $30M.

Zakumi, this cute little leopard, is the 2010 mascot. “Za” for the international abbreviation for South Africa, and “kumi” which is “ten” in many different African languages.

The official song is “Waka Waka” based on a traditional African soldiers’ song, will be performed by Shakira and the South Africa band Freshlyground.

And the official ball is the Adidas “Jubalani” which means “bringing joy to everyone” in isiZulu.

Let the games begin!