The Website of Miah and Michelle Collins

I am challenged all the time by the disparity between the rich and the poor. Just yesterday, we were driving home from Port Shepstone and on the side of the highway, I see hundreds of tin shacks ligned up right next to eachother, kids running almost naked, you know, what Americans would view as the typical African scene. But then, about literally 100 feet away (I was seeing Chatswick), over a little hill, or accross the highway, or down the valley are these huge houses almost identical to the houses I grew up in in Houston Texas. There is a vivid image of the have’s and the have not’s here in South Africa that makes me somewhat understand why theft, robbery, and assaults happen every single day in each of these communities. Yes, there is potential for this place to be an oasis of beauty, relaxation, a hotspot of tourism for the entire world. And then accross the hill, there is potential for this place to be forgotten, cast aside, ignored, despised, and perverted by satan, as much of Africa is today. When two worlds collide as harshly as they do here in South Africa, inevitably problems arise that must be dealt with, and last week we met many people who deal with these problems everday.

This past week has been a great experience for me. We are visiting Miah’s family in Durban and catching up with everyone here on the coast. The first few days of this week, we got to go to a conference for Miah’s parents’ new church. The conference was on “extension ministries”, and the main ministry that was highlighted was a ministry called the container ministry. What the Container Ministry does is deliver several tons of food in huge containers to missionaries in rural and poverty stricken areas.

Occasionally, God gives us opportunities to interact with people who are literally changing our world as we know it. This past week we got to meet hundreds of these heroes and heroins. We met people who are on the frontlines of the kingdom of God in South Africa, ministering to the unwanted, to the sick, to the infected, to the spiritually needy. These people are feeding Jesus everday, they are clothing Jesus everyday, and ultimately they are loving Jesus radically everyday. We get these small glimpses of these people at conferences like this, but the reality of their lives that are completely spent for the Lord, is that day in and day out, they NEVER stop giving.

Another hero we got to hang out with was our friend Jason Price. Now, I’ve always known Jason to be a guy who has a deep need to make a difference in this world, but when you get to see him actually doing it, you get to experience the thrill of the victory of Jesus’ life and resurrection on this side of heaven. That thrill is something that I think every single follower of Christ desperately needs. But getting back to the point, Jason is changing the world right now in a ministry to communities on the South Coast of South Africa that are over 40% stricken with HIV/AIDS. He runs a gym for these guys, and he stops and has a bible study, and prays with them before they head out for the day. He also visits an HIV/ AIDS hospice that the church runs and hangs out with them, loves them, and helps them to die with the dignity, forgiveness, and love that Jesus pours into them through Jason.

God has been challenging me constantly that I am the church. Jesus left (sent the Holy Spirit and left) with the challenge and the commission for us to show Him to the world. And I am in a stage where the most dominant characteristic of Jesus in my mind and my heart right now is His radical love. I keep seeing this image of Jesus in my mind, bleeding, sleepless, persecuted, poor, saying “ The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” When we can go around the corner, over the hill, or wherever it is He leads and radically love people, why isn’t His church doing it?

There’s a song that I love by Nick Drake that has a message about a question that I believe is a question everyone asks at some point in their lives.....

“ I could’ve been a sailor, could’ve been a cook,
a real live lover, I could’ve been a book.
I could’ve been a signpost, could’ve been a clock,
As simple as a cat, or steady as a rock...... I could’ve been one of these things first.”

And the song goes on to talk about all the things in life he could’ve been. As a follower of Jesus, I don’t have to ask the question of what I could’ve been as much as I ask the question what it would’ve been like to have been raised in a different culture.

John and Lorna’s little 3 year old son Nathan was talking to me the other day and he asked me a question. We were just getting up in the morning and drinking some tea and Nathan came in with his little toy train. We started talking and he was wondering why I was so tired. So, I began to tell him how I had been through a really long trip and through leaving my home country, etc. Then he asked, “ Why did you grow up in the United States?”. Wow. How do you answer a question like that?

If you read the Bible, you might recall this passage from the book of Acts that came to my mind as I told him, “ You know Nate, I don’t really know, I just know that God set me there, like you were born here, so we might reach out and find Him, even though He’s not very far from any of us.”

The truth is that this question that Nate, in all his 3 year old brilliance asked, is a question that I still consider today and that I think I will consider for the rest of my life. In fact, this is a question I think most people who begin to live in another question will ask. How do we minister, teach, and demonstrate love to people who grew up with completely different value systems and completely different ways of life? What do we have to offer these people?

Another reality that I have been facing is what being American means to people here. In all my travels, I’ve found that being American generally brings one of two responses: 1.) people absolutely love you and want to be like you, basically worshipping the American culture or 2.) people hate Americans and think they are all just ignorant, prideful, and demanding.  Obviously, there are many exceptions to these two ways of thinking, but generally people will have some sort of strong opinion of Americans. This reaction never used to bother me as I was traveling, because I thought of it as a challenge to prove to people that Americans had flaws but we can be kind and loving and polite. The stakes are a little bit different now, however, as I realize that this is a reaction that I will have to face almost daily as I meet new people here.

As I go through a period of seeking how God wants to use my background, my faith, and my perspectives to benefit His body as a whole, I am often asking this question, “ God, why did you raise me in the United States?”

Hey everyone. Welcome to our new home on the internet. Thanks to our friend Adam Beaugh in Austin for designing this for us!

It’s been a great first week of meeting people, trying to get organized, and getting used to running in the altitude. I’m thankful that both Michelle and I have been able to connect to the staff and students here very well. There are 10 different countries represented amongst the 35 students here including Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, England, USA and Peru! You can’t really come here are feel culturally “out” because nobody is really “in”. It’s fun to learn and to watch people learn from each other. And there is always hot water boiled for tea which, of course, I have been taking full advantage of.

Besides drinking tea, Michelle and I have been sitting in on lectures to get a feel for exactly what the guys are learning here. I’ve also been playing lots of cricket and soccer and learning the full scope of the ministry here and around Africa.

Michelle and I took the day off yeasturday and went to Johannasburg to hang out with our friends Warren and Kaylee. We were able to see their new home and visit their church. They also treated us to some great pizza.

Soon we will be buying a car that will be navigating a lot of dirt roads. We don’t want to choose the wrong one so if you would like to pray for that we would appreciate it.

We will hopefully add some pictures to the sight when we are with my parents in Durban next week as the internet connection here on the farm is very limited.

Miah

Hey guys! Mulibwanji! Sawubona! Bonjour! Howsit!

Well, we are settling in here and really starting to build relationships fast with these J-lifers. When we arrived, we sort of hit the ground running (which we were expecting). We arrived Thursday morning, and John took us from the airport, to run some errands in Jo-burg, and then we went over to the campsite that we will be staying at. The camp is beautiful! There’s a row of houses that people pay to live on, which financially supports the grounds there, and then there are dorms and some other little cottage-like houses kind of in the centre area. They also have a huge gym, huge bathroom facilities, a very run down squash court and a pool. So, we are staying in one of the cottage-like houses. It’s really nice and is two bedrooms with a living room and kitchen. It has a great view of the farm as well.  However, right now, we are staying in John and Lorna’s guesthouse while we get what we need.  The cool thing is that on both farms, they have so many animals! There are horses just hangin out around the campsite, and of course cows, and goats, and dogs, etc. So, you can imagine how much I love it!

After we saw our place, we went to the main camp, which they call Camp Eden. There is a reason why they call it Camp Eden… it is beautiful! There are incredibly huge hills all around, and you can see for miles into this green landscape that contrasts amazingly with the bright blue sky. Another beautiful part of this camp is the life here. I have never been in a place that is such a harmonious blend of young and old, rich and poor, loud and quiet, peaceful and boisterous, black and white, etc. Right now I am looking out onto this green hill and I’m seeing Denise, a coastal white South African, playing guitar and teaching John and Lorna’s little son Nathan who is 3 years old. We have so much to learn from each other!

So, the second day we got here, the men took off and headed to the other campsite so we could have a girls weekend here at the campsite. The whole weekend was amazingly deep and emotional. We dealt with wounds that we have received throughout our lives that are affecting us still, and crippling us in our ministry to the Lord. I got to know my group so well, and God was amazing in how He started using me here right away. Let me just say that there is no other place I would rather be to work for God’s kingdom than here! We had a wrap up session with the boys and girls together sharing what God had healed them from this weekend, or what He has started to heal them from.

Just a couple quick testimonies: There was a girl who had been raped every night by her cousin from when she was 13 until 15, and Satan had been telling her for so long that she was not beautiful at all, and that she was worthless. Saturday, she finally felt beautiful for the first time in many years, and that she could combat the lies that Satan tells her. Hallelujah!!!  The second young man was involved in a gang, and at the age of 9, he killed his first man. Then at 12 years old, he killed another man. The gang life continued with drugs and alcohol, etc. Finally, at 15, because he was worrying his mother, he told the gang he needed to focus on education, and he left. Since then he has met Jesus and he has transformed his life. But yesterday, he finally dealt with those feelings of guilt and worthlessness to God, and he yelled out, “ I am a MAN!” Praise the Lord that he is continuing to take wounded broken sinner like me, and speaking His love and forgiveness to them, giving them value and a purpose!!

After these testimonies, John got up and spoke that these are not the last wounds they will receive. As Satan is waging war against our souls, he is constantly trying to cripple us and rub salt in the wounds that he reopens. But we combat lies with truth, we fight hatred with the love of Christ, and we will always be victorious! We went straight into worship again, one song in four languages singing, “ There’s no one there’s no one like Jesus!” over and over. And this is the truth that I am here for. How many times have you seen a murder on TV and just longed to be able to love the murderer and convince him not to do what he just did. How many times have we heard stories of women being raped and feeling worthless and dirty, and we just want to speak God’s love and value into her life? I went to bed thanking the Lord for putting me in this place where I am interacting with these things daily, and He is allowing me to show his tangible love to these young men and women. And this was just the first two days! What a revolutionary place. I just have to sit back for one second to see the Lord’s hand visibly moving in these people’s lives. He is at work and He is accomplishing good things! So, let’s give Him praise and glory for what He is doing in this world and let’s trust Him for even bigger things.

We love you guys so much and we are so excited to share these times with you.

Love,
Michelle