The Website of Miah and Michelle Collins

One of the things I’ve learned this year is that I don’t really like journaling very much which is probably a good thing since I’m not very good at it. I would much rather sit with each one of you here in front of our house with a cup of tea as we talk and watch another storm roll in. We have been having really amazing storms and we were glad that Michelle’s parents got to be here for a couple of them.

We have had a really great vacation with our parents. It is always a privilege to show South Africa to visitors from the States, but it was a special honor to have my in-laws here for the past 2 weeks. We took them to an African themed restaurant right on the beach with a live Afro-fusion jazz band and various other entertaining delights, not least the unisex toilets. They actually have to employ someone to stand there and warn you when you’re walking in so that you don’t freak out when a lady comes out of the stall. But I guess it all just added to the vibe, and the food was really good.

We spent some good time at the beach, got to enjoy Christmas with my folks and New Years with some old Durban friends, and watch a lot of cricket. Its great because the whole country seems to shut down from about December 23 until January 5. And if every one in the whole country is on vacation, you can’t really feel guilty about taking it easy for a while.

With that said, we are definitely ready to get started with the new year. We are going to be getting things set up next week for the new batch of interns to arrive on the 11th. We are also looking forward to our African summit here in February. It will be great to see our country leaders like Amos from Ghana who we spent time with in Israel last year and Tarisayi who we visited in Zimbabwe last September. Mostly, it will be great to continue to vision what God has in store for J-Life around the continent.

Of course, Michelle and I could not be without your support and we rarely go a day without remembering that and how faithful and awesome y’all have been over the past year. We just got an awesome care package from our community group in Austin and its great to know that y’all haven’t forgotten us.

We have plans this year to become more involved in our church and community. This might mean we need to move from where we are staying to a nearby city called Vereeniging. Please pray for us as we work out how to make these adjustments and prepare for an awesome year ahead!

He gives us Purpose

Today God put some things together for me, or He finally made the pieces come together. I have been reading Proverbs and there are so many nuggets of “wisdom” that I am learning. Some repeating themes in Proverbs: 1.) humility comes before honor 2.) the wise man heeds discipline and seeks counsel 3.) In a man’s heart are many plans, but it is from the Lord that the tongue speaks...there are many more but I just wanted to put a few that have been standing out to me right now.

So, I have been learning some wisdom from the wisest man that ever lived, King Solomon. I have also been learning a lot from the women here in Cameroon who are incredibly revolutionary. These women are very unconventional for their culture, for their positions, and for women in general. I have two examples here that really challenge and encourage me:
1.) Adele- Adele is a mother of 5, a journalist, a teacher, a business owner, and a manager. She makes her own grocery lists every day, and goes to buy groceries everyday. She is on the Cameroonian National Television, as a reporter for the news every night. She runs a training center which she started herself for raising up journalists, audio visual professionals, etc. And she does a lot of the training that happens everyday in this school. Then, she also started her own hairdressing business and gym. There is an upstairs for hair, where she gets her hair done everyday for the news in the evening, and a manicure/pedicure/ massage parlor on the bottom, with a gym in back. Then she also created jobs for 5 young people at her house, cooking, cleaning, driving, etc. She just finished building her own house, where she came on site every morning from 5-10am to make sure they finished on time. She speaks 10 of the tribal languages, plus English, and French and she travels almost once a month to teach in other African countries about news reporting, etc.
Example 2.) Florence- I have already talked a little about Florence. But I want to elaborate a little on what she does. Florence is the J-Life representative in Cameroon, and she does J-Life seminars about once every two months. She is the youth pastor of probably the most flourishing youth ministry in Cameroon. Her youth are all running projects in their neighborhoods themselves, they are creating rap groups for Jesus, they are making dance teams that dance to hip hop songs for worship, and they are making their own evangelism projects such as picnics, or jogging groups. Florence also has her own ministry called I Care, where she does training seminars, intensive training periods, and raises up leaders with missional hearts who understand their strengths and giftedness. She started a radio program for young women, that airs every Saturday morning where they discuss honestly about issues of young women in Cameroon. Florence has organized 5 trainings for us while we are here with other pastors she has created a network with all over Yaounde in order to spread the impact of youth ministry. She has sleep overs at her house (we’re talking about a born and raised Cameroonian woman breaking all kinds of cultural norms) for the youth, and she is personally housing two young people to help them in their lives and to make sure they go to school and stay out of trouble. She is a student now, studying Psychology at the University here in Yaounde, to help her understand youth mindsets and human thinking better. She is a wife, and a mother of two, 5 and 7 years old.

After speaking to God, asking for wisdom in my life, and living with these two women, watching their lives and what they are doing with their time, I have been incredibly inspired. I have realized that the reason I have not been completely satisfied with the idea of doing what I am doing now for the rest of my life is because I felt like there needs to be more, more impact, more people being affected, a wider reach of my ministry. And as I have watched these women who are always learning, always innovating, always wanting to go further and broader in their thinking and their influence, I am encouraged that God wants me to be doing the same thing with my mind.
One thing I have realized that I love to do, something I do naturally and something I am good at is counseling. And God has shown me that I can use this gifting so much in mission work. But the reality is that I have very little background in studying this profession. And I also have realized that people in Africa have very deep issues, many that cannot be fully helped without professional help, and even then, it would take a mighty act of God. The statistic in South Africa are that 1 out of 4 women have been raped. And I do not have the skills yet to help someone deal with that type of a past. So, I am praying about what it might look like for me to study counseling, and how God might want that to fit in with everything.

I am also realizing that my past, my area of study at the University of Texas is very useful to me now. I can also see how my experiences now could help to benefit the UTeach program in general and I am learning some incredible truths about education that I think every teacher would benefit from. So I am also thinking about how we can use what we are learning and doing now to pour back into the programs and universities that gave us the minds that we are using in our work now. I am thinking about how much future teachers could benefit from seeing underdeveloped countries and from seeing what potential education has in the growth of a nation. Future teachers need to see how integral the profession of teaching is to an entire society and culture. They need to realize that they are not just teaching a subject, but they are shaping the minds of the future generations. And they need to be reminded of this all the time, because this is a purpose and a vision that can motivate anyone for a lifetime. Teaching is one of the most under rated professions and I believe that it need to be recognized for how crucial it is to societies as a whole. After traveling to 6 Africans countries this year, I am able to have a visual image and personified examples of what education has the power to do in a country, and it is astounding!

So, God is encouraging me, and giving me visions and ideas of what He might be wanting me to do with my life. I am starting to realize how important it is to never get caught up in just doing your job. But I always want to be thinking about how I can make a bigger impact, what God is doing and how He wants me to use my past, present, and future, to increase the scope of His Kingdom.  I know that this will always be moving and changing but I am ready to do whatever He asks of me. 

Today, we did interviews with two South Africans for the one year program next year. I have gotten to interview 7 people so far, and I really enjoy this aspect of our ministry. It is so exciting to meet young people from all over Africa and ask them really personal questions about their lives their ministries, their motivation, their passion, their theology, etc. But my favorite question that I asked today was, “ if you could change one thing about Africa, what would it be?”.  I love this question because it is very open, and you get to see this little window into their lives and into their identity as an African. This deep ingrained identity is something that I will never be able to fully grasp no matter how long I live here and how much my identity molds to this culture. The people we have interviewed have a profound connection to this continent. And today, my one interview amazed me with his response.

Sifiso is his name, and he is 18 years old from a township in South Africa called Duduza. The exciting thing about Sifiso is that he is being discipled by a young man on our J-Life team that we have doing ministry in that township. So, not only is he an incredible example of leadership in a community that needs it, but he is also a result of what intentional discipleship can create.  After the first few questions in this interview, I am already inspired by Sifiso’s passion and commitment to Jesus and making His name known wherever he is. If you hear Sifiso talking, with his eyes lit up and his face smiling the biggest smile, about the transformational power of a relationship with Jesus, you would want to get saved all over again!  I could see that this 18 year old African is very influential.

Now, when I asked Sifiso what he would change about Africa if he could, his answer was not the typical “make Jesus known” response. Sifiso first said that he would change two things: 1.) the way other people view Africa and 2.) how Africans view themselves. He then proceeds to tell us about the seriousness of the lack of desire in Africans to do something about their situations. After that, he talked about changing the way other people view Africans saying, “ there is a joke that says, if you want to hide something from an African, put it in a book.” That joke struck me very hard as I am extremely passionate about education, yet I know how hard it is to teach someone who does not have the desire to learn. And Sifiso put a light onto the harsh reality of what other people’s opinions can do to someone’s identity. It’s the classic idea:  if someone tells you you are not good enough all the time, eventually, you believe them and stop trying.  Amazingly enough, in our other interview, the answer was the same, “ I would change the way people view Africa”. 

This is just a tiny glimpse into the struggles that plague us everyday in Africa. And struggles these young men and women face as they try to make a difference.  But is there any light at the end of the tunnel? What can we do to start creating paradigm shifts in people’s thinking? Where do you even begin?

I would like to suggest that Sifiso is the answer to all of those questions. To change an entire culture’s attitude, you start with one influential life that has been transformed by Jesus Christ. And you disciple him, and give him the tools he needs to disciple others. Just like any challenge, you take every victory you get and you build on it. He is a shining example of the future of Africa. And that gives me more purpose and gets me more excited than anything else this world has to offer.

Another great thing about these interviews is the direction these two young people already have from the Lord on what they want to do with their lives after the year of training. Sam, a girl who just finished studying, is applying to medical school and wants more than anything to be a missional doctor here in Africa. And Sifiso has a deep passion to go into politics and affect change in the South African government.
So, I want to challenge you. In your life, are you using your words or actions to categorize someone or put them down instead of trying to get to know them? How are you inspiring and empowering people around you to be leaders?

Hello all.

We have some great news! Yesterday Michelle and I finalized everything for our trip to Cameroon. It was the most laborious process I have ever taken to get into a country but it seems like we finally have everything sorted out.
We leave this Thursday, October 23rd and will return to Joburg on November 18th.  We will be involved with a youth conference over the first week and then will spend time in Yaounde with Florance, who is driving J-Life in Cameroon. Michelle went to Cameroon a few years back and she is excited to connect with some old friends there. I am excited to unleash the French that Michelle has been teaching me over the past few weeks.

Here are some prayers we have for this trip. Feel free to join us in prayer that:
We would understand the needs of the church and youth in Cameroon and that we would start to visualize how J-Life might work there
We would connect with the people who we will stay with and meet there
That we would start to get a clear picture of what our role might be in Cameroon in the future
That I would be able to get a good grasp of French while I am there

Finally, if anyone knows of any Americans or South Africans living in Yaounde, please let us know so that we could try to connect with them and talk to them about living in Cameroon.

Thanks y’all
Miah