The Website of Miah and Michelle Collins

As a precursor to this entry, I thought this is very interesting. I am studying for a certificate in Christian counseling right now, and this is one of the defense mechanisms that people can use to prevent awareness of anxiety arousing instincts. I believe that projection is a deep issue in our society here, and it is a main way of sort of continuing fear/ hatred of other races, and creating a paralysis towards action or change.

* Projection
People rid themselves of threatening desires or thoughts by attributing them to others.  They may blame their mistakes or shortcomings on an external source, or they may form a delusional system, in which they believe that enemies are disrupting their lives.

As I return to our place in the Vaal, I am faced again with the completely different culture we face up here as compared to the coastal regions where we just spent our holiday. And although I have a great church family here and people who are ready to accept us back into our community, there is still an attitude and mindset of people living here that I struggle to connect with having been raised in an extremely safe, white, community.

Here in Vereeniging, there is still so much fear of any other race besides your own. Now, my biggest culture shock when coming here was the way people can joke and stereotype each other in negative ways and how that is completely normal, even for Christians to do. I came from Austin, TX, where political correctness and respect for people who are different from you was the beginning of understanding and was just standard of interaction. So, for about 7 months, I battled in my mind whether or not I can point out to people that this form of humor deeply offends me. Now, I am not a Nazi when it comes to jokes, and I can appreciate some crude jokes every once in a while, but I always draw a line when the sarcasm and negative joking starts to infiltrate my way of thinking and my attitude in general. Coming to South Africa, I was faced constantly with people going to far in my perspective in joking about another race or culture.

For example: we have a coloured lady on staff with us at J-Life who works in the kitchen. She is loud and funny and can tell great stories. One white guy from our staff made a joke to her, saying, “ Watch out, Chevonne’s a coloured and she’s got a knife!”, which was a joke about how coloured people from the Cape are notorious for stabbings. Now everyone in the room laughed hysterically including Chevonne. In my perspective, that was a really rude joke and it put her in a horribly negative category that, even if it was meant in jest, subconsciously, I believe it affects her. (I still believe this even though God has brought me to a place of better understanding of the culture here)

My other examples are more personal, which is why I believe that this issue is so important to me. There were constant jokes in the staff members about Americans and of course these were 99% of the time negative stereotypes. At the time when we joined, I was the only American, and I was struggling to be away from my family, to start this new job in a new culture and to try and fit in and build relationships. But the constant bashing of American culture and politics and attitudes made me stay in a state of defense, which probably lasted for those 7 months before I confronted people about this.

So, for my first 8 months of living here, I was deeply offended about half the time, wondering if the people I worked with were truly serious about following God and being the bride of Christ. I know this sounds extreme, but feelings eventually create a stigma in your brain, and when this stigma is constantly associated with a person or group of people it becomes easy to judge things as sin, when it might just be misunderstandings. But finally, after much discussion with Miah and much heartache of having to confront something that to everyone else was not a problem, I spoke to our boss about this type of humor. I brought in scripture and my own stories of offense, and my boss understood.

He did defend the humor, as most South Africans do because they see nothing wrong with it if it is in a friendship relationship. But what I have realized after studying this issue for the last two years is that political correctness is not always the key to creating a relationship of respect among different races and cultures. Here in Jo-burg, people are constantly confronted everyday with other value systems and other ways of doing things. This is not an easy psychological feat and it can take a toll on someone very easily. So, I have realized that humor is a coping mechanism for people here. Instead of getting angry or offended, they can bring the issue up in a joke and everyone can have a good laugh at it.

However, I still believe that as Christians, we should be setting a different example. We should be set apart, striving for holiness and to look more like Christ. We should be encouraging and building each other up constantly. We should take the negative aspects of someone’s background and give them the support to bring change to that background. So, I still don’t participate in these jokes as much as possible, and I try to speak positive things into people’s lives in order to break stereotypes and strongholds. But I have more grace and more freedom to accept people who make these jokes and I am not as deeply offended by them as I used to be. God has given me understanding.

I honestly don’t know what the future holds for South Africa in terms of the integration of all races here. I do know, however, that my job as a follower of Christ is to show people on earth a little bit of what heaven will be like. And I know that every tribe, tongue, and nation will be there, and we will be together, and we will love each other deeply and enjoy our Father together. So as much as I can bring peace and understanding in my lifetime between races, I will strive to do so, not for the cause in itself, but as a taste of what is to come….

This year’s J-Life trainees returned to the training center with some real energy and passion. They had allowed God to shape them this year and He returned the favor by using them hugely in the lives of young people. One pastor who hosted a team in Secunda this year said to me “You guys have a wonderful thing going here. I’m sure all the teams aren’t as outstanding as the one we had, but the quality of the young guys you sent to us was just amazing.” I am mostly excited about the growth that happens in the lives of the trainees themselves, and though they recognize the good work they have done, they are carrying a spirit of humility and service into their next phase of life.

Michelle and I will be spending Christmas and New Years with my parents in Durban. My older brother, Josh and his wife Heidi will be coming out from Nashville as well which will make it extra special. We are celebrating a number of special occasions, including my parents’ 30th anniversary, their 20th year in South Africa, Jordan’s graduation from high school, and Josh and Heidi’s 5 year anniversary. I am also looking forward to couple of days on the beach, and maybe a couple of days watching cricket.

We have met some of the young people who will be joining us on January 10th, and we can’t wait to start all over again with a brand new group. J-Life will also have some new oppertunities and challenges next year, including starting some work in Liberia and in a predominately Muslim nation. Its great to be part of an organization where it always seems like something is happening, and that God is doing something that hasn’t happened before on the continent of Africa.

Thank you for your support and prayer. We hope you have a wonderful and safe Christmas.

Hey guys, this is Michelle. So, I entitled this entry a tribute to the Holy Spirit because we have just experienced His power in some incredible ways and we really want to share.
We have a summer camp every year for young people to come and have a great time and experience God. This year our theme was POWER and our theme verse was Acts 1:8 “ But you WILL receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth”. And I cannot tell you how much God took us up on the challenge.
Throughout the planning of this camp, we were all extremely expectant upon the Lord to do some crazy big things in the young people’s lives who attended, but we could never have expected what was to come.
This camp is attended by different denominations and churches from all over the Johannesburg area, as well as having a diverse group of races and SES backgrounds. We have a staff that is a mixture of all of these churchs’ leaders and J-Life staff as well, so it is wide range of people trying to run a camp from a lot of different perspectives.
By the second night, we had an invitation to allow the Holy Spirit to free them from the bondage of addictions, sins, and whatever was preventing them from living life fully, and almost half of the 240 campers came forward to be prayed for. The entire camp there was a sense of vulnerability and opennes in the youth as well as a deep attitude of service among the staff members. I’ve never been a part of a staff team who worked so well together.
I was in charge of the counseling of the camp, and I have never been used so much by God to bring healing and restoration in so many young girl’s lives! It was such an incredible thing to watch the Spirit move in the ministry periods and see all the counselors naturally connecting with different young people to talk and pray with them with earnest compassion. I specifically connected with two young girls:
The first girl is Zanele, from a township close to the farm, who was tired of partying and getting drunk with her friends and wanted to make a serious change in her life. She asked for prayer the second night of camp, so I was able to keep challenging her and praying with her throughout the next three days, as well as connecting her with amazing Christian people from her township.
The second girl was Joy, coming from an affluent community here. She has struggled a lot with eating disorders and drug addictions and was finally able to tell someone about her struggles. I believe that the Holy Spirit really wants to heal her physically from these things she has become used to, and I ask that you all continue to lift her up in prayer. Please beg the Holy Spirit to release her from those lies and to allow her the freedom to be an incredible minister of the gospel of Jesus. Pray that she will find people around her in her community to love and accept her and speak truth into her mind.
There were many many other stories of freedom and healing, both physical and emotional...... the sort of stuff written in Acts that you forget to believe God for in these days. I was also impacted by the messages and the ministry times and I just want to give God all the glory for what He has done!

We believe in a real, powerful, living God! I challenge you to ask Him for big things, to believe the Holy Spirit to do incredible works of transformation and healing in the people in your lives as well. He is able!

To avoid any confusion while reading this post, this is Miah.
Arriving in South Africa at the beginning of summer takes a little bit of the sting out of having to leave family again! We have already had a few beautiful thunderstorms, rainbows, and sunsets. We said goodbye to Michelle’s parents and brother on November 1st and spend a day in London on our way back to Johannesburg. Our trip to the States was so great. Thanks to everyone who made time for us, let us stay in your spare room, and shared meals with us over the past 5 weeks. We were cautioned that going back to the States as missionaries can be tough because people struggle to know what to ask or to understand what you’re going through. But everybody asked really great questions and helped remind us why we are doing what we are doing.  We are so blessed to have y’all as friends and family and we were so encouraged by your lives. 
We were able to get around Texas (Houston, Austin, Dallas, and Kerrville) and also made a short trip to Indiana and Michigan. Sorry for those of you who didn’t get to see us, but you know you could always come visit us in South Africa!
It can be difficult having so many good friends in so many places around the world. And hanging out with good friends one evening every two years or so doesn’t quite satisfy! I found myself tired and discouraged at times, realizing that for many of these friends of mine, we will never live in the same area again or have the same relationship that we once had. But I have to be ok with that. Everybody who I have been close friends with over the years have enriched my life in significant ways, even if we can’t be as close as we were, saying goodbye to a place or a group of friends allows you to make new friends so that they too can impact your life. So saying goodbye is not a bad thing. I am so thankful to have crossed paths with my friends from Durban, West Michigan, Austin, and now Johannesburg among others.
Starting up work again has been interesting. You certainly fall out of the loop quickly when you are overseas. It looks like Michelle and I will be remaining in South Africa for the first few months of next year instead of going to Namibia as we had been planning. Our group is coming together quite nicely. We have 18 people being sent to us from around Africa next year, including people from countries who are sending their first students (Liberia, Nigeria, and Tanzania). The purpose for these guys is to take what they have learned from J-Life South Africa, contextualize the material, and return to their home countries and assist their country leaders in establishing a youth disciple-making movement in their homeland. Please pray for these students, that they would be able to raise a significant amount of support, and that they would all get their VISAs!
For those of you in the States, enjoy the college football bowl season for us and keep supporting your local Tex-Mex restaurant. For those in South Africa, keep your braai fires lit and your vuvuzela’s blowing because the World Cup is just around the corner.
Oh yes, and I got a pleasant surprise on my return to South Africa. I made it into the Comrades ultra-Marathon in May. It’s a 55 mile race and the world’s largest and greatest ultra marathon. Next year there will be 22,000 people making the trek from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, and I will be one of them.

Martin Luther King Jr. - Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.