Lessons Learned

I’d like to say thanks again to everyone who helped make my short-term mission trip to South Africa possible, through financial support, prayer and encouragement. Also, a special shout-out to Crescent Resources for letting me take a leave-of-absence, and to those at Palmetto Bluff who stepped up to help with my work while I was away.

As expected, I learned a lot during my time in Cape Town. Here’s an at-a-glance look at a few of those lessons, some spiritual, some practical and some just random:

· African children are some of the most joyful youngsters I’ve ever met. Just smile at one and they’re your friend for life.
· Africans – children and adult alike – have some of the most beautiful singing voices I’ve ever heard.
· In many instances, people with fewer material possessions display a greater dependence on God.
· Summer can become winter overnight in Cape Town.
· God will equip me for any task He calls me to – including, and especially, those that I am ill-suited for by my own abilities.
· We Americans do not “need” nearly as much as we think we do.
· “Live one day at a time” is a good approach. Tomorrow indeed has enough trouble of its own, so no need to worry about it today.
· Poverty + desperation = high crime rates in southern Africa. When the local police station is protected by an independent security company, you realize you need to watch your back.
· "Good deeds" are no good at all unless they're accompanied by love and compassion.
· Eighteen hours on a jetliner is a long time.
· If I have made a difference in just one person’s life, then the effort has been worthwhile.
· Grilled zebra does not taste good, no matter how you marinate it.
· Regardless of what people think of the Iraq War and other aspects of George W. Bush’s presidency, he is responsible for untold lives saved – more than 10 million have been positively affected by the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Africa and other locations abroad.
· The Bible is right – it really is more blessed to give than receive.
· Finally – and this is not a new revelation for me, but I believe it now more than ever – nothing in this life matters without God as the foundation. Not money, not clothes or shelter, not family and friends, not career, not accomplishments, not good deeds. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:25). We’re only passing through this life, but the next one lasts forever. Are you absolutely sure if your eternal future is secure? It’s wise to find out. Check out http://www.whyhedied.org/ for details.