The Website of Miah and Michelle Collins

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

Hello everyone! Just in case you were confused by the title, it means Cameroon and News. We have been super busy these past weeks and wanted to send a little update on what God is doing down here in the S of A.

We just had a really great week with meetings all day for the past 6 days. We reviewed our material that we train and updated it and also made it more relevant and just improved it overall. We also outlined the training for the first 4 months of next year and how we wanted to change that. There’s so much involved with the training, and we literally discussed every activity, why we do it, and why we think we should keep doing it, change it, or do something different. Then we had a full day of interviews with young girls and guys who want to come for the training next year. We spend 2 hours interviewing each candidate on theological background, ministry background, spiritual background and personal background. So, it’s been an intense but very productive week and it got me really excited about next year.

The week before last, we were in Durban and Richard’s Bay encouraging and meeting with our teams doing ministry there. They have all matured so much in such a short period of time and we are extremely proud of the ministry they are doing, what they will leave behind them, and the lessons they have learned that have changed their lives for the better.

We are also planning a trip to Cameroun at the end of the month to work with our key lady there. We will be there for 3 weeks, and will be helping her with training, and networking with other pastors and then really trying to lay out plans for a prospective training center. This center is such a pivotal center for J-Life as a whole because it will mean a center that can specifically cater to French speaking African countries, and it will decentralize the one year training program to accomodate people who cannot afford to come all the way down to South Africa for the 4 months training we are currently doing.

Other exciting news is that J-Life has had a great meeting with the Anglican denominational head here in South Africa, and he really wants to send out leaders from all of their countries in Southern Africa, and in each regional leader from South Africa to do the four month training next year. This would mean a completely different training section for the Anglican guys and we would then do training Jan-April, and Aug- Dec. This is a huge movement from God and an answer to prayer because we are mostly working with Baptists and Methodists here in South Africa, but one of our key values to be an organization for all denominations.

So, we need a lot of prayer and praise. God is doing some great things in this ministry, but at times it seems to be growing faster than we can handle. So, we need God’s wisdom, and we really need direction on how to specifically accomodate all of these needs and interests.

We also are in great need of building more onto the training center that we have if we have a completely new session of training. The center we have now has one hall and one very small dining area that is used for our trainees during the four months and also for the tentmaking business we run at J-Life which is campsite ministry. More staff are joining us as we expand this ministry into all of Africa, and we are running out of places to house them.