Baboons!

Jeff Boggess (from Atlee Community Church) and I were walking on Monday in the wilderness. That's a slight exaggeration, but not much. In fact, I was a little worried about being eaten by a lion or some other predator type creature. I figured that I could probably outrun Jeff. :-)

Anyway, we came around the corner and there was a family of baboons! It was so cool! They kept their distance, climbed a small rock ledge, climbed a tree and watched us from a safe distance.

We get to go on a safari at the end of the trip, and I'm looking forward to that.

Orphans

I've got about 5 minutes, so this won't be the normal mini-novel post. I know you are devastated.

We toured one of the most innovative orphanages I've ever seen yesterday and was able to have a meal with the founder and a member of the board. 150,000 children are in 'child led households' here in South Africa. 1/3 of the population of 44million people is HIV positive. We also looked at some other areas of great potential for care.

I'm leaving now to go to a remote church where we'll stay the night with their pastor. Susan will lead a group of ladies today and I will speak at that church tomorrow and have lunch with the congregation.

We are doing well, meeting with a lot of key people here in South Africa. It's all very exciting. But we're also quite homesick. I'll be very excited to be back in Powhatan.

Lanette Boggess is doing better and probably won't have to have surgery. Keep praying for her. She might get out of the hospital tomorrow or Monday!

Thanks to everyone who is stepping up with extra responsibilities while we are away.

My experience from last Sunday

The church we worshiped in last Sunday was so awesome. Very African, lively music. The drummer was a teenager who kept PERFECT time and was incredible. They had electricity, but it was their only amenity. We were in a room about the size of the living room at my home with about 40 people. Very crowded. The music lasted about an hour. It was all in Afrikans (one of the two prominent languages), so I couldn't understand it...but worship is universal, so it was cool to be with kindred hearts. One of our team preached, so that was cool. There were little kids up front singing, too. They were extremely poor, but, they had a dignity about them.

Speaking of poverty, there are both extremes here. The family we stayed with on Saturday night was quite comfortable. The

Boggess' stayed with a family that was downright wealthy! But then there are people begging everywhere. They stand in the street - NOT THE MEDIAN, BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD and you either have to stop or run them over. There are parents with their kids - the whole family begging. Very sad.

I think about the Bible speaking about Paul going around the world. It says that 'He went around strengthening the churches'. I feel like I'm doing that here.

I'm so grateful for PCC and for our country and that God is the God of the whole world, not just the United States. Tomorrow I'll share about a cool wildlife experience we had.

News from South Africa

I honestly cannot believe it’s Thursday already. This is the first time we’ve had internet access since Saturday.

For the past 3 days (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday), we have been meeting with about a dozen pastors and leaders from some of the most influential churches in South Africa. They were intrigued about our Innovative Church Network. So, we led and trained them on our experience, what we’ve learned, and also had a chance to dialogue about leadership and the future of the church.

It was truly a remarkable experience. They flew in from as far as 800 miles away to be here with Hank, Jeff, Mike, Mark and me. Most were senior pastors of churches. All of them are passionate about reaching unchurched, non-christian people. Their churches are that way because these guys have that heart and passion. Most were educated, well read, and relatively well resourced (for South Africa). They were the sharpest minds and most passionate about The Church.

We talked about ICN a lot, but it only took a few minutes for the S.A. pastors to see the value of coming together, and why it would make them more effective. So, after half a day of introductions, I told the story of ICN, Jeff shared about a typical monthly meeting format, etc. And then, on Tuesday morning, I led a case study I had developed that was pretty effective, and received a good bit of affirmation at the end of our 3 days when each person shared about their take-aways.

Some of these pastors are people with whom I could be good friends. They told stories that broke my heart. ‘Apartheid’ is basically South Africa’s version of ‘separate but equal’. Of course, both are simply racism with a thin veil over them. But Apartheid only ended in the 90’s here. So, they are still trying to figure out what it means to have racial and cultural equality.

And cultural is a key word. There are 11 different languages spoken here, and it is much more culturally diverse than where we live (at least in Virginia, but I think in the States altogether). So, figuring out what it means to be culturally equal is as important as working through issues of color. Some of the pastors said things like, “White people (they call them ‘whities’ and it’s not a derogatory term) are used to being in charge. We don’t know how to be a minority.” There were black and white men at the table, and there was a genuine spirit of love and mutual respect. There was a huge chasm in terms of economics, too. But there was also a great passion for unity. God is working here in South Africa.

At the end, one of the pastors said, “I feel the freedom for the first time in my life to take my church and just go for it! You have inspired me to do that.”

Another said, “These three days have been a blessing for me – not because of what I take away, but because of what I’ve been able to leave: my struggle and my pain.” Wow.

Another one sends you a message: “You can go back to your churches and say that you’ve been a great blessing to us!”

I’m missing PCC and my family. Susan and I are so grateful to Mary Ashleigh and our parents and some of you, our friends, who have cared for our family while we’ve been gone. It’s been the trip of a lifetime!

Looking forward to coming home. Thanks for continuing to pray for us. I’ll blog again when I can.
Love to all of you.

A message from South Africa

Well, we made it to South Africa. From the time I left my driveway to the time we got to the retreat center where we would stay took a whopping 30 hours. Frankly, I had no idea! It was the most grueling day of travel I’ve ever experienced.

Often, when we go on mission, we have a project that we’re working on – building a church or doing a Bible School in a village or repairing homes. Other trips have a more nebulous intent. I spent 3 weeks in Cuba a few years ago and the purpose of that mission was to make some important networking connections in what we called a ‘mission immersion experience’, or MIE. It sounds boring or relaxed, but it was actually a packed schedule meeting with church leaders, touring facilities, talking to locals, and interviewing government officials.

Susan and I came to South Africa because I had a distinct sense that God was calling us to come. And while I had a loose idea of what I would be doing, I really wasn’t sure. In Acts 16, Paul has a vision of this guy in Macedonia calling to him asking Paul to come and help them. Well, that’s a little how I felt.

This morning, we had our first debriefing meeting, and it’s becoming increasingly clear why we’ve traveled half way around the world. There are pastors here who are really struggling. They’re out of steam, out of ideas, and out of the will and energy to keep going. So, after hearing about the Innovative Church Network that we formed with three other churches a few years ago, some of their leaders invited us to come and help them dream about how an ICN might come to be here in South Africa.

Riaan Niemand talked this morning about his own journey from traditional church to an innovative church model that is focused on reaching people who don’t go to church. He spoke about the times he wanted to give up, the frustrations along the way with the established denominational bureaucracies, and some of the moments along the way when God reminded Riaan of His purpose. He spoke about his longing for other pastors who are trying to make a difference here to form the kind of support that we’ve been able to find in Virginia. I can relate to all of that – to the difficult seasons, the discouraging moments, the times when I wanted to quit, and the huge blessing that our ICN has been to me. Some of the other guys in the ICN have become some of my closest friends, and our families do things together. I never have to wonder about them leaving the church if I say something that offends them. I never have to ask them for money. I never have to evaluate them for leadership. It’s not just that we can be real – I do that all the time. I’m the same Monday through Saturday as I am on Sunday. It’s that being the Senior Pastor of a large, growing church has a unique set of challenges, requiring a unique set of learned skills. Very few people really understand. These guys do.

Riaan is asking us to help about a dozen high capacity, highly visionary pastors here in South Africa develop the same thing among themselves that we have found for ourselves. And while the context and culture is a little different, the idea is the same. Now I have a greater understanding of what kind of work God has in mind for me and the rest of us here on the team.
Tomorrow, we’ll preach in a couple of churches and then prepare for the inaugural “ICN South Africa” which will happen Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. After that we have some other things to do. For example, we’ll visit an orphanage and learn more about the problem of children raising children because of the AIDS pandemic. On another day, we’ll go to the site of the 2010 Soccer World Cup and talk about the millions of people who will be here and the ministry opportunities and possibilities.

I’ll give you some specific prayer requests on Monday. But for now, thanks for praying that God would show us continued clarity for our reason and purpose on this trip.