Triumphant over Trash

Another victory at Red Hill: On Wednesday we designated our after-school program “Save the Planet Day” and sent the kids out with trash bags to clean up the community. I’ve never seen anyone so excited about picking up rubbish. They took the area by storm, filling near two-dozen bags in less than an hour.

The lesson this week was on Nehemiah and the Israelites working together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Save the Planet was an opportunity for the kids to apply the teamwork lesson, as well as the mandate, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23).

Clearly, litter is a universal practice, so hopefully the effort set an example to the adults in the community as well.

Facing Our Giants

Spending day after day in a poverty-stricken community can be discouraging work. Sometimes one can’t help but wonder: “Are we really making a difference?” But God gives well-timed victories that help keep us going.

Such was the case at Red Hill last week. Attendance had been down at the Children’s Clubs, so on Wednesday we decided to do something special by showing a movie, complete with popcorn. The film was Facing the Giants, the David-vs-Goliath story of a high school football team that overcomes its stronger opponents when it starts trusting and playing for God.

On a day when we typically might have 40 to 50 children, 75 came to see the movie. They paid attention from start to finish. They cheered during the scene where students pray and give their hearts to God. And at the end, when the undersized kicker makes a state championship-winning field goal, they let out a roar that could be heard throughout the community.

That a low-budget movie produced by a church in small-town Georgia (Albany’s Sherwood Baptist) can captivate a group of attention-deficit kids in a South African shantytown – this can only be the work of God. I wanted to shout “Go Dawgs” at UGA coach Mark Richt’s cameo appearance in the film. But the more appropriate cheer for the day would be, “Go God.”

There’s a great lesson woven throughout the movie. By the end, I realized it was as much for me as it was for the kids: Give your very best effort, do it for God, and trust Him to do the rest.

The Faith of a Child

Intercessory prayer is a key component in a missionary’s life. I have no doubt that God hears and acts on the prayers of my family and friends back in the U.S., and I am hugely grateful that these people care enough to remember me in their conversations with the Father.

I want to say a special thank-you to 3-year-old Addison Powell for her prayers. Last spring Addy’s parents, Willy and Janet, graciously allowed me to stay in their bonus room when renters moved into my own house. Now that I’m in South Africa, Willy says I may be the most prayed-for person in the world. In a recent email, he wrote: “Before Addy goes to bed – naps and at night – she always asks to pray for Mr. Al. Considering she makes multiple trips into and out of her room before going to sleep, each with a prayer for you, you ought to be covered.”

How’s that for an encouraging word? Thanks also to Delaney Powell (Addy’s older sister), Hannah and Madison Taylor, and Maggie Faciszewski, all youngsters of great faith who I know are praying for me. I love you all (and anyone else that I haven't mentioned here)! Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as there. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:14-15).

African Warning Sign

A "beware" you won't find in any wilderness in the U.S.

Whale-come Back

The whales have returned to Cape Town. Southern Right Whales migrate to the South African coast around this time each year, and sightings are a daily occurrence. The one pictured here was frolicking in False Bay just off of Fish Hoek Beach on Wednesday.

8 Great Things about Cape Town …

1. 70 degrees, sun, and no humidity
2. The sweet harmonies of African gospel music
3. Antelope – in the wild and on the dinner plate
4. The Cape of Good Hope (pictured above)

5. Movie, popcorn and a Coke for less than $6
6. Lekker, the Afrikaans word for nice. e.g., “Have a lekkah day, my bru!”
7. A passion for rugby that rivals that of college football in the South
8. People of great faith in the Lord Jesus

… and 8 Not-So-Great Things about Cape Town

1. HIV and AIDS
2. Beggars on seemingly every street corner

3. Overcrowded living conditions
4. Puff adders.
5. African time, i.e., nothing ever starts or ends when it's supposed to
6. Bone-chilling cold and sideways rain

7. Crime, crime and more crime
8. People with no hope for a better existence