I’m certainly no expert on Africa and I fully recognize that it is quite presumptuous for me to claim to diagnose Africa or to “know” what the solution is. And yet, as someone working here with the desire to make a difference, I have to make judgments somewhere along the line. And I don’t believe that any of my thoughts are unique. They have developed over long conversations with young Africans over newspapers and “Ricoffee,” through books about Africa and economic development, and of course through my relationship with Christ and knowledge of God’s kingdom agenda. So, with those disclaimers out of the way… here it goes.

1. Education
If there was one thing that I believe more time and energy needs to be put into in Africa, it is education. I have seen firsthand how lack of education limits lives of young people. Without a high school diploma, a young South African is severely limited. And there are schools in this country where, last year, not one senior in high school passed their final examination. All around I see victims of a failed education system.  There is a young guy in my running club who is smart and articulate and speaks great English. He is hard working; in fact he works 7 days a week for a small salary. I asked if we could help him to find a better job, the problem is he does not have a high school diploma and so he won’t get hired to do anything other than garden work. In fact, statistics would say that he should be very happy that he has a job as most people with his level of education do not.
Without options in life, young people in South Africa tend toward destructive behavior. Young girls become pregnant in order to get a monthly government grant, and then they effectively give the child over to the grandparents and use the money for themselves. Young men turn to gangs and crime. Statistics show that around the world the more educated a person is, the less children they have. I’m not saying having children is bad. What I’m saying is that as education decreases, children increase, so that the poorest people in our world today are having far more children than they can afford to raise. That means that those children will have less opportunity than their parents had.
Education has an impact a vast number of other issues such as health, the environment, peace and stability. I am very thankful for organizations like Vision and Compassion who promote education. Providing for someone’s education gives them a greater chance of being a positive force in the world, and from my experience, does not lead them to continue to be dependent throughout their lives.

2. Self worth
In South Africa, it is not really taboo to talk about race. It is a regular topic of conversation here, and people deal with it in different ways. I think that Africa and Africans believe that they are capable of less than other continents, that they will always be inferior. I don’t think they are aware that they believe that. They can say things like “It’s good enough for Africa” and go on from there. This inferiority complex leads them to accept mediocre or even oppressive leadership as part of life. It’s like a woman who remains in an abusive relationship because she doesn’t really believe that she deserves better.
There is, however, push back against this. It can take on bad forms (nationalism, African superiority). Sometimes this is done innocently like a church in Zimbabwe longing for the day when they will be coming to the aid of the West (i.e. the hope that positions will be reversed rather than everybody being able to share in God’s provisions on earth).
However, I have come to see one of the roles of Christian youth workers in Africa to instill self-worth and self-belief in young people. A youth pastor that I talked to recently said this: “We took some students from a school we are working with on a camp. And we spent the weekend talking about ‘destiny’. That’s a great charismatic word that my Baptist roots would be ashamed of. But we want to teach these students that God has a real plan for their lives, and that they learn what that is and achieve it.” I got to meet some of those students and they shared with me their ‘destiny.’ Most of it was about helping other people, opening a children’s home, becoming a teacher, spreading the love of God through their actions.
This is the reason why I have been a big supporter of the World Cup. Sure, maybe some of the money used to build the stadiums could have built people shelter or to dig water holes or to feed people in drought stricken areas. But the World Cup sends another message to young Africans. That message is that Africa can offer something to the world. Africa can host one of the world’s biggest events and do a great job at it. And if we can do it for the World Cup, why not in other areas as well? If the World Cup can be excellent, why not our schools, our hospitals, our churches, our banks, our businesses?
Working with J-Life I have seen how (through the training i.e. education) young people are released with self-confidence to start new initiatives and face the future with optimism and confidence.

3. Leadership
I really believe that raising up a new generation of leadership in Africa is the key to securing a better future here. I am thankful to work in an organization that is not about what I can do (as an American with American resources) but it’s about what Africans can do. And we always try to make sure the guys we work with understand that. Of the young people we have trained at J-Life over the past 3 years, many of them are now practicing or studying to be psychologists, teachers, pastors, political scientists, physiotherapists, IT technicians, social workers, doctors, and businessmen. They know that it is up to them to take responsibility their countries and their people. They know that God wants there to be great schools in Africa, great churches, great social services, and great business.
Although the West has caused some of the problems in Africa (the legacy of colonialism, slavery, and exploitation does remain) the accountability for Africa’s failure to progress since independence must rest with its own leaders, and I say that with upmost humility. Africa needs better leaders, people who will stand up and show the masses what it means to be a good African. Perhaps a good question to ask in regard to Africa is “Will the next generation of leaders do things differently?”

4. Trade
I am so thankful that the West gave Africa the chance to host the World Cup. I am so thankful that the skeptics are now quiet. I’m thankful that the majority of soccer fans put up with our vuvuzelas and embraced Africa’s World Cup.
My last point is that Africa needs a chance, an opportunity to be part of the world market. This is absolutely necessary for Africa to thrive without international assistance. What I am about to share is a touchy issue so I want to go into a bit of background.
During the colonial era the Western powers made the most of Africa’s rich natural resources. They would take the resources to their home countries where they were manufactured into products (much of which was sold back to Africans). When colonial powers left Africa, they left it with very little infrastructure which means that to this day Africa is reliant on the export of natural products for economic survival. The problem is that many of these products are “protected” in the West against an influx of African products. For example, to protect cattle farmers in Europe, some countries offer subsidies worth $2 per head of cattle per day. An African farmer cannot compete and therefore has no market outside of his own country for his cattle.
This is one simple example but it means that many African countries cannot gain entrance to the world economy. The West often criticizes Africa for trade restrictions while they themselves impose huge restrictions and create great subsidies which keep Africa out.
If you want to campaign for anything on Africa’s behalf, campaign for the abolishment of these trade restrictions so that Africa can have a chance to be part of the world economy.
So you might be asking: “You’re supposed to be a missionary, so where does God fit into all this?” Well then, I’m glad you asked.

1. Education
The Bible teaches us that what you know is important. Knowledge of God is important - “my people perish for a lack of knowledge.”
Education is not just knowledge but the good application of knowledge: What the Bible would call wisdom. which God’s word has a lot to speak about. I have seen how people’s knowledge of God leads them to seek knowledge and truth in other areas as well. Young people who have come to J-Life start to read books and become more involved in current events.  In fact, where this is not happening we should be concerned as Christians. If there is not a hunger for knowledge our Christian education may be incomplete.

2. Self Worth
The Christian tradition informs my belief that Africans are equal all others. The philosophy that all humans are made in God’s image stands against the philosophy of “survival of the fittest”. The Gospel (as opposed to “karma”) tells us that our need for grace put’s every human being on an equal footing before God.

3. Leadership
At J-Life we believe that if we can transfer the character and priorities of Jesus (discipleship) to the young people who come to us for training we will succeed in helping them to become the better leaders that Africa so desperately need. Jesus is our hero, but he’s also our example. The Bible clearly teaches us to live like Jesus. The life of Christ holds the keys to what it means to be a great leader, and a great African.

4. Trade
This issue is very much linked to the second point. If we claim to believe that before God African’s are equal to any other people, that would naturally lead us to desire to offer them the same opportunities that we have. The least we can do is to allow African’s the chance to part of our world economy so that they can have the dignity of living off their own hard work rather than always receiving from others.
The Soccer World Cup has been a great illustration for this. When Ghana played the US in their second round knockout game it set up the world’s richest nation against one of the world’s poorer nations. The USA could not ask to start 1 goal in the lead because they have a better human rights record than Ghana. They were not allowed an extra player on the field to reward them for their superior infrastructure and military. They couldn’t even have the ref on their side (quite obviously) just because they had a lot more money to bride him with. When they took to the field it was 11 against 11 and the scores were 0 to 0. It was Ghana vs USA. (I was rooting for the Yanks, just so you know)
The world doesn’t usually work like that, so as Christians we work to give the underdog a chance.

Maybe I can paint a hypothetical picture here:
There is a small village in Senegal that lies on prime cotton growing land. They have limited opportunity to sell their produce because of the poor road system connecting them to the main city, and the lack of infrastructure and bureaucracy at the port. Worst of all, trade restrictions and taxes make the prices of their cotton uncompetitive with that of other countries.
NGO’s help the people of theis village stay alive. They ship in food and health supplies from the West and offer primary education to the children. When the children get older, they will realize there is no future for them in the village, some will stay to care for their families but most of them, especially the young men, will leave for the city to try to earn a living. In the city they will lose their culture and along with it their values, causing many societal issues in the city. A few will make a living in the city; many will try to immigrate to Europe to better their lives. Things continue like this from generation to generation.
Here’s another scenario. The trade restrictions on cotton are lifted and the village is able to sell some of their cotton, increasing their output from year to year. The government is happy with the taxes they receive from this new export and they fix the road to the village which gives them even better access to the market. As people in the village have some money, a few small shops open, offering jobs as cashiers, doing phone repairs, and even mechanics for the trucks that travel to and from the village. Women are able to cook food and sell it to the people coming in and out of the village, meaning they are able to educate their children. Less people leave the village permanently to look for other opportunities. A small school opens and some of the young people are sent for teacher training etc etc…

So that’s about what I have so far. And I hope that’s these thoughts will continue to change and grow and be challenged. Feel free to help me with this.

Miah

I’m certainly no expert on Africa and I fully recognize that it is quite presumptuous for me to claim to diagnose Africa or to “know” what the solution is. And yet, as someone working here with the desire to make a difference, I have to make judgments somewhere along the line. And I don’t believe that any of my thoughts are unique. They have developed over long conversations with young Africans over newspapers and “Ricoffee,” through books about Africa and economic development, and of course through my relationship with Christ and knowledge of God’s kingdom agenda. So, with those disclaimers out of the way… here it goes.

1. Education
If there was one thing that I believe more time and energy needs to be put into in Africa, it is education. I have seen firsthand how lack of education limits lives of young people. Without a high school diploma, a young South African is severely limited. And there are schools in this country where, last year, not one senior in high school passed their final examination. All around I see victims of a failed education system.  There is a young guy in my running club who is smart and articulate and speaks great English. He is hard working; in fact he works 7 days a week for a small salary. I asked if we could help him to find a better job, the problem is he does not have a high school diploma and so he won’t get hired to do anything other than garden work. In fact, statistics would say that he should be very happy that he has a job as most people with his level of education do not.
Without options in life, young people in South Africa tend toward destructive behavior. Young girls become pregnant in order to get a monthly government grant, and then they effectively give the child over to the grandparents and use the money for themselves. Young men turn to gangs and crime. Statistics show that around the world the more educated a person is, the less children they have. I’m not saying having children is bad. What I’m saying is that as education decreases, children increase, so that the poorest people in our world today are having far more children than they can afford to raise. That means that those children will have less opportunity than their parents had.
Education has an impact a vast number of other issues such as health, the environment, peace and stability. I am very thankful for organizations like Vision and Compassion who promote education. Providing for someone’s education gives them a greater chance of being a positive force in the world, and from my experience, does not lead them to continue to be dependent throughout their lives.

2. Self worth
In South Africa, it is not really taboo to talk about race. It is a regular topic of conversation here, and people deal with it in different ways. I think that Africa and Africans believe that they are capable of less than other continents, that they will always be inferior. I don’t think they are aware that they believe that. They can say things like “It’s good enough for Africa” and go on from there. This inferiority complex leads them to accept mediocre or even oppressive leadership as part of life. It’s like a woman who remains in an abusive relationship because she doesn’t really believe that she deserves better.
There is, however, push back against this. It can take on bad forms (nationalism, African superiority). Sometimes this is done innocently like a church in Zimbabwe longing for the day when they will be coming to the aid of the West (i.e. the hope that positions will be reversed rather than everybody being able to share in God’s provisions on earth).
However, I have come to see one of the roles of Christian youth workers in Africa to instill self-worth and self-belief in young people. A youth pastor that I talked to recently said this: “We took some students from a school we are working with on a camp. And we spent the weekend talking about ‘destiny’. That’s a great charismatic word that my Baptist roots would be ashamed of. But we want to teach these students that God has a real plan for their lives, and that they learn what that is and achieve it.” I got to meet some of those students and they shared with me their ‘destiny.’ Most of it was about helping other people, opening a children’s home, becoming a teacher, spreading the love of God through their actions.
This is the reason why I have been a big supporter of the World Cup. Sure, maybe some of the money used to build the stadiums could have built people shelter or to dig water holes or to feed people in drought stricken areas. But the World Cup sends another message to young Africans. That message is that Africa can offer something to the world. Africa can host one of the world’s biggest events and do a great job at it. And if we can do it for the World Cup, why not in other areas as well? If the World Cup can be excellent, why not our schools, our hospitals, our churches, our banks, our businesses?
Working with J-Life I have seen how (through the training i.e. education) young people are released with self-confidence to start new initiatives and face the future with optimism and confidence.

3. Leadership
I really believe that raising up a new generation of leadership in Africa is the key to securing a better future here. I am thankful to work in an organization that is not about what I can do (as an American with American resources) but it’s about what Africans can do. And we always try to make sure the guys we work with understand that. Of the young people we have trained at J-Life over the past 3 years, many of them are now practicing or studying to be psychologists, teachers, pastors, political scientists, physiotherapists, IT technicians, social workers, doctors, and businessmen. They know that it is up to them to take responsibility their countries and their people. They know that God wants there to be great schools in Africa, great churches, great social services, and great business.
Although the West has caused some of the problems in Africa (the legacy of colonialism, slavery, and exploitation does remain) the accountability for Africa’s failure to progress since independence must rest with its own leaders, and I say that with upmost humility. Africa needs better leaders, people who will stand up and show the masses what it means to be a good African. Perhaps a good question to ask in regard to Africa is “Will the next generation of leaders do things differently?”

4. Trade
I am so thankful that the West gave Africa the chance to host the World Cup. I am so thankful that the skeptics are now quiet. I’m thankful that the majority of soccer fans put up with our vuvuzelas and embraced Africa’s World Cup.
My last point is that Africa needs a chance, an opportunity to be part of the world market. This is absolutely necessary for Africa to thrive without international assistance. What I am about to share is a touchy issue so I want to go into a bit of background.
During the colonial era the Western powers made the most of Africa’s rich natural resources. They would take the resources to their home countries where they were manufactured into products (much of which was sold back to Africans). When colonial powers left Africa, they left it with very little infrastructure which means that to this day Africa is reliant on the export of natural products for economic survival. The problem is that many of these products are “protected” in the West against an influx of African products. For example, to protect cattle farmers in Europe, some countries offer subsidies worth $2 per head of cattle per day. An African farmer cannot compete and therefore has no market outside of his own country for his cattle.
This is one simple example but it means that many African countries cannot gain entrance to the world economy. The West often criticizes Africa for trade restrictions while they themselves impose huge restrictions and create great subsidies which keep Africa out.
If you want to campaign for anything on Africa’s behalf, campaign for the abolishment of these trade restrictions so that Africa can have a chance to be part of the world economy.
So you might be asking: “You’re supposed to be a missionary, so where does God fit into all this?” Well then, I’m glad you asked.

1. Education
The Bible teaches us that what you know is important. Knowledge of God is important - “my people perish for a lack of knowledge.”
Education is not just knowledge but the good application of knowledge: What the Bible would call wisdom. which God’s word has a lot to speak about. I have seen how people’s knowledge of God leads them to seek knowledge and truth in other areas as well. Young people who have come to J-Life start to read books and become more involved in current events.  In fact, where this is not happening we should be concerned as Christians. If there is not a hunger for knowledge our Christian education may be incomplete.

2. Self Worth
The Christian tradition informs my belief that Africans are equal all others. The philosophy that all humans are made in God’s image stands against the philosophy of “survival of the fittest”. The Gospel (as opposed to “karma”) tells us that our need for grace put’s every human being on an equal footing before God.

3. Leadership
At J-Life we believe that if we can transfer the character and priorities of Jesus (discipleship) to the young people who come to us for training we will succeed in helping them to become the better leaders that Africa so desperately need. Jesus is our hero, but he’s also our example. The Bible clearly teaches us to live like Jesus. The life of Christ holds the keys to what it means to be a great leader, and a great African.

4. Trade
This issue is very much linked to the second point. If we claim to believe that before God African’s are equal to any other people, that would naturally lead us to desire to offer them the same opportunities that we have. The least we can do is to allow African’s the chance to part of our world economy so that they can have the dignity of living off their own hard work rather than always receiving from others.
The Soccer World Cup has been a great illustration for this. When Ghana played the US in their second round knockout game it set up the world’s richest nation against one of the world’s poorer nations. The USA could not ask to start 1 goal in the lead because they have a better human rights record than Ghana. They were not allowed an extra player on the field to reward them for their superior infrastructure and military. They couldn’t even have the ref on their side (quite obviously) just because they had a lot more money to bride him with. When they took to the field it was 11 against 11 and the scores were 0 to 0. It was Ghana vs USA. (I was rooting for the Yanks, just so you know)
The world doesn’t usually work like that, so as Christians we work to give the underdog a chance.

Maybe I can paint a hypothetical picture here:
There is a small village in Senegal that lies on prime cotton growing land. They have limited opportunity to sell their produce because of the poor road system connecting them to the main city, and the lack of infrastructure and bureaucracy at the port. Worst of all, trade restrictions and taxes make the prices of their cotton uncompetitive with that of other countries.
NGO’s help the people of theis village stay alive. They ship in food and health supplies from the West and offer primary education to the children. When the children get older, they will realize there is no future for them in the village, some will stay to care for their families but most of them, especially the young men, will leave for the city to try to earn a living. In the city they will lose their culture and along with it their values, causing many societal issues in the city. A few will make a living in the city; many will try to immigrate to Europe to better their lives. Things continue like this from generation to generation.
Here’s another scenario. The trade restrictions on cotton are lifted and the village is able to sell some of their cotton, increasing their output from year to year. The government is happy with the taxes they receive from this new export and they fix the road to the village which gives them even better access to the market. As people in the village have some money, a few small shops open, offering jobs as cashiers, doing phone repairs, and even mechanics for the trucks that travel to and from the village. Women are able to cook food and sell it to the people coming in and out of the village, meaning they are able to educate their children. Less people leave the village permanently to look for other opportunities. A small school opens and some of the young people are sent for teacher training etc etc…

So that’s about what I have so far. And I hope that’s these thoughts will continue to change and grow and be challenged. Feel free to help me with this.

Miah

1.) Why did you run? Was there a central message that you want to convey through running Comrades?

There wasn’t really a central reason. Obviously I grew up watching the race and I got into running last year with the goal to run Comrades, but I have ended up getting really into the running culture. I find it exciting to push your body to extremes that it wasn’t really made for. It proves that as humans we are capable of achieving more than we give ourselves credit for. I love the self-discipline it took to prepare for the race. For me it has parallels to the spiritual journey. It takes discipline to pray: to confess that the spiritual is just as important as the work and activities we do. It takes discipline to observe a Sabbath: confessing that what we achieve is not more important that who we are.

2.) Was there a point in the race when you thought you wouldn’t make it?

No. There was a point where I felt like just taking it easy the rest of the way and finishing with a slower time. Fortunately, I had my colleague, Bhuti, with me. He kept me moving. 

3.) What was the most excruciating section?

The hills just after half way were really tough and took a lot of energy out of me. Also, running through Pinetown and Westville with about 15-20 kilometers left to go was a tough section.

4.) What was the most encouraging thing someone said to you while you were running?

Everybody was really encouraging the whole way. People would even read my name on my race number and encourage me to keep going. I knew that if someone shouted “Miah” they knew me, and if they shouted “Jeremiah” they were just reading my name. It was encouraging to see friends and family on the route and some of the guys from the running club who came down to second us.

5.) What did you think about in the hard parts?

I was thinking about all the unhealthy food I was going to eat when I finished: like pizza and ribs.

6.) Did running with a partner make it easier? Why/ why not?

Ah yes, it was great running with Bhuti the whole way. I had to hold him back at the beginning, then he struggled a bit in the middle with cramps and then I probably held him back towards the end. But it was very helpful!

7.) What was the most emotional point of the race for you?

It was coming through Cowies Hill into Westville, seeing my wife and realizing that I was getting close to the finish. Also, watching people come in at the finish is amazing. You realize that this race is as important to the guys coming in at 12 hours as it is to the winners. That’s something unique about this race. They also say that it’s the only race in the world where the last place runner gets just as big of a cheer as the first runner.

8.) How did it feel to enter into Kingsmead Stadium? What thoughts were going through your head?

I was too tired at that point to be emotional or to soak it all in. But Kingsmead was great and the vibe inside the stadium was awesome.

9.) What was the coolest conversation you had on the run?

I chatted quite a bit to Team World Vision, a lot of them from Chicago. I talked to a guy from Grand Rapids, Michigan! And I met the only Mexican Comrades runner! It’s always great to let someone next to you know how much pain you’re in. And with 18 000 runners on the road, you’re never on your own.

10.) What did you learn from this experience?

Hmmm, I think I understand now why people run this race year after year. I learned that I like to challenge myself. I learned that playing sports and setting athletic goals doesn’t have to be just for high schoolers and professional athletes.

11.) What advice would you give to someone who wants to run Comrades?

The South African running culture is quite unique. This is the only place in the world where marathons are just used as qualifiers and training runs for the real races. The biggest 2 races in SA are Two Oceans (34 miles) and Comrades (56 miles). Every local runner in Comrades must run on behalf of a running club and the club culture is very strong.

It was great watching the last few thousand runners coming in and seeing the emotion on their faces. A few runners actually stopped before the finish, took photos, cried, kissed the grass. There are thousands of people running for all kinds of different reasons. Our club captain, for example, starting running at 30 years old after his lung collapsed and he realized that his smoking was destroying his body. He said it took him weeks just to be able to run to the corner store and back. On Sunday he finished his 14th Comrades. It’s these kind of stories that makes the run special.

I would recommend Comrades to anyone who has functioning knees!

The best part of ministry for me is getting an extended opportunity to build relationships with the young people we work with and to watch God work in their lives in different ways. Over Easter weekend Michelle and I took 3 of our interns to Durban to spend some time with my folks. All the guys get the long weekend off and the local guys go home to be with their families. Unfortunately, those from other countries are not able to go home and so we try to find somewhere for them to go so that they are not stuck on the farm by themselves for 4 days. We took Ezekiel (Zimbabwe), Donel (Malawi) and Trokon (Liberia) with us to Durban. For Eze and Donel it was their first time to see the ocean. We went to the beach every day, checked out the new soccer stadium for the World Cup, and of course they were keen to go to every service that the Church was putting on for the weekend.

Besides the opportunity to just spend time with the guys, it was great to hear all the things they learned over the weekend in the car on the way back home. They were really excited about my family and how hospitable they were. Donel said to me one day “Your dad is very busy. He is always working.” – If you know my dad, I’m sure you enjoyed that! Trokon said “You parents treated us like we were their own children.” They also learned a lot from Grace Church where my parents work. Even for Michelle and myself, it was a spiritually refreshing weekend and an awesome way to cap off the Lent season.

This past weekend I decided to attend a men’s conference/spiritual phenomenon. It was started 7 years ago by a simple farmer who invited men to camp out on his farm for a weekend and talk about what God expects from them as men, husbands, fathers, and community leaders. That first year 240 men came. It grew exponentially and this year somewhere around 300 000 men showed up. It was quite a humbling experience to stand in the midst of that many men, all seeking answers from God. Thousands of men made first time commitments to follow Jesus over the weekend.

I took 3 “X-J’s” (what we call our graduated students) who I have mentored over the past couple of years along with me. It was such an amazing time with those guys. We talked about everything over the weekend including politics, ministry, what it means to be a man, fatherhood, marriage and dating, and reminiscing about what they learned from their time with J-Life. Only God knows, but I feel like it was my most impactful weekend of ministry this whole year.

We will be wrapping up our training next week and moving into the second phase of the year. We have a lot of exciting things coming up but I would like to share the most awesome one with you! I have already mentioned a trainee this year named Trokon who is from Liberia. We are partnering with a church planting organization called OMS to establish youth ministry training in Liberia and Michelle and I have been asked to lead the initiative there with Trokon. The goal of our time there will be to train a number of key young leaders from different denominations over 8 months who will be able to teach what they have learned to others in their circles and denominations. We will also help to establish Trokon as our J-Life leader and help him to coach those other leaders as they implement the training. The process that we will be using has already been implemented in Tanzania last year by a fellow staff member with really encouraging results.

As Michelle and I met with John and Trokon about this opportunity it seemed quite clear that this is where God is leading us. The church planting organization has already raised the money for me to make 4 trips to Liberia, 2 weeks for each trip, which I will make between July 2010 and January 2011. We will need to raise money for Michelle to come along for 2 of those trips (because I really need her to teach some of the courses!) We will need to raise about $4,000 to get Michelle there on the September and November trips.  This is mostly made up of flight costs. Traveling in Africa is not cheap! You can contact us or take a look at the “Donate” section of our blog to find out how to help us.

I have one more story: Henry is one of our students from Zambia. The other day he asked me (and I wish you could hear it with the accent) “Miah, when are we going back to that place with the moving stairs.”
“The mall? Do you mean the escalator?”
“Yes, I love those moving stairs.”
That is awesome stuff!

In other news, I now have 40 days until the Comrades Marathon. That’s the big 90km run that I have been training for. I ran a standard marathon last weekend and it went really well so I’m starting to feel confident about the big race. I’m really enjoying the running culture and getting to know people through the local club that Michelle and I run with. I’m hoping to finish the Comrades in around 9 hours and 30 minutes, but I’ll be happy with anything under 10 hours. And now that you all think I’m crazy…
Grace and peace
Miah

Well, I think that I have made a decision for at least one of those questions.  I have decided that if I study psychology, I will apply to study psychology from a Christian perspective. This decision was not easy and I definitely prayed and thought through it meticulously. But I am excited about my decision and I do believe that it is what God is wanting for me in terms of graduate studies. Some of the thoughts of a man named David Prowlinson have helped me in this area. Here are some of my thoughts on the dilemma of studying psychology from a Christian perspective versus studying at a secular school:

God himself is man’s environment. It is not simply professing Christian people who live in relationship to God, every human being is living in relationship to God (whether conscious of this or not).

The whole movement of the human psyche is through God. Every expression of human anger is with respect to God because it is a demonstration of their worship or non-worship of God, or of their own pride and demands of the universe. The human heart is either facing God or turning towards idols, the human heart is active and not passive.

Therefore, we don’t just simply let the diagnosis of the human dilemma be defined autonomously and then bring in God later, but the human condition exists with respect to God, so we define the human dilemma in light of Him.

And if I believe that everyone living on this earth is radically dependent on and accountable to that God, I want to, and I have to counsel people in light of this.

I can integrate my studies in light of my faith myself, and I have done this and I enjoy this challenge. However, in counseling and psychology, I don’t want to reinvent the wheel when people I respect and look up to have already taken the integration of psychology and theology and formed their own ideas. It seems to me to only waste time to try and do this myself from scratch at a secular school. 

We also have something that the secular world would kill for, and that is the community element of the Church. This is something we cannot overlook when we counsel. I believe in the potential and the power of the community we can have (and were designed to have) in church. This is where real and transformational counseling should happen.

Our model is the only model that has joy at the end. We were created to worship God and to live in relationship with Him. We alone offer a life that has joy at the end of it. And there is no other model that can truly offer hope in the real sense of the word, a hope that is eternal and not temporarily serving a purpose.

Basically, my decision is summed up with the statement in bold above. I don’t want to learn something and then add God into it if I believe that followers of Christ have a viewpoint that people who do not know Jesus will constantly be trying to get at, but will only see from the outside. We who know our Creator and our purpose have a different springboard for the whole discussion of psychology. Others have common grace of being made in God’s likeness and discovering some of His truth as laws of science, but Christians have a deeper and I believe more accurate perspective. I will always want to study what secular psychologists are coming up with, but my focus will be in light of who Christ is. The Word is my measuring stick for the goodness and validity of other systems and models of counseling. We can and must use the laws of science (because everything is spiritual), but we do not stop there. For me, there will be many more steps and much more responsibility as a counselor.  I am not simply dealing with the mind, but also with the healing of the human soul.

My name is Ezekiel and I come from Zimbabwe. I’m part of the J-Life ministry team 2010. It’s a team comprised of people from different parts of Africa going through training from January to April.

One of the exercizes we go through is called African realities. We were placed in teams where we had to go through the hardships that other people in Africa go through. Some were made to live like single mothers, some ex- prisoners, some illegal immigrants. I was assigned the identity of street kid and had to live like this for the next three days.

I was really touched to hear that most people in Africa barely use $1 a day, and I truly believe that. It reminded me of situations that many families went through in Zimbabwe in 2008-2009. In that period, my country was facing a period of political change that left the whole country with a trail of povery that no one could explain. The basic markets people went to could not even keep up with the prices of commodities due to scarcity. The shops in towns were empty, completely empty. If you could find something, it was extremely expensive. Just a can of coke was equivalent to R100, or $12.

With a previous season of doughts and mismanaged Agricultural seasons, the people in the villages were the most severely affected by the situation. They did not have produce and at the same time did not have the money to buy the expensive food that was now being imported. I went to a village called Buhera for a funeral and there I got to see this painful reality firsthand. There, the whole village came to the funeral, not because they knew the person, or to pay their last respects, but to get a decent meal (which was now rare). Life there was now unbearable, and this is one of the many untold stories. In some parts of the village, people were surviving on wild fruit. Chiefs had to take charge of certain areas in order to allocate fruit to families. They would make rosters and take turns to come and pick the fruit from the trees for their families. And families would go for days without eating! Whatever they picked on their turn is what they had to survive on until their next turn to pick from the tree.

This is how harsh life can be here. This is one of the situations in Africa. My experience of African realities made me think again about how I can play a part to bring change in other people’s lives and how I can change. How much effort am I putting in to help people in my country?

I must admit that it felt good to get my phone back and to go back to normal life after three days of this exercise. But other people don’t have that, what they are and how they struggle will remain until someone with a heart intervenes....

Moving on from that, I also have a few things to say about Haiti. Well, not so much Haiti as such, but the kind of questions that come up from a tragedy like that. Everybody, believer or non-believer, needs an explanation for what happened that day. Here’s my take.
When things in the world go really bad, it’s there to remind us that things really do go bad. There is nothing good about hundreds of thousands of people being crushed under buildings. I believe that to write it off as “all in God’s perfect will” is to sidestep the issue. Some take it further and call it divine retribution which is very interesting. I wonder if those people then are against humanitarian response at all, because wouldn’t that then be working against God?
Jesus may give us a hint here as to how we are to react towards tragedy. When Lazarus died, Jesus wept. When John the Baptist died, all Jesus wanted to do was get away from the crowds and be alone. Jesus never said “It doesn’t matter, he went to heaven anyway.” Buddhists believe (if I have this right) that pain and suffering is an illusion. We can escape pain by denying its existence. I can’t imagine anyone continuing to believe that while watching the pictures coming out of Haiti. Jesus recognized pain, he believed that bad things really are bad.
But, the other thing we learn from Jesus is that death and suffering do not have the final word. In the resurrection, Jesus demonstrated that God has the final word. Jesus came to teach this to the world through his words and his actions. As Christians, we must also point the world to these truths. If there is anything we know as Christians, it is these two things: Pain is real; God will have the final word. This can be summed up in the word HOPE. As we respond in love to crises around the world, and as we respond to crises on our street, we are stepping into the world’s pain and pointing them to God’s kingdom. We are reminding our materialistic world that what they see is not all there is and things really are going to change.
By responding in love and compassion rather than judgment and fear, we show the world that we really do believe what Jesus taught: “the kingdom of Heaven is near.”
When life is really swell, there is no need for hope. I have heard people tell me, “I’d love to follow Jesus but life is just too fun right now.” We have to avoid this trap at all costs. Every time we encounter the pain of others, let it remind us where our hope lies.
And I guess that’s it for now.

Over the past week we had our “J-Life Africa Summit” with our country leaders and other guests joining us on the farm as well. We took all the delegates to a local golf course and played a round of mashie (3 par) golf. For most of the guys it was their first experience with golf. I was shocked, not only that they seemed to enjoy it so much, but that they played pretty well. I was beaten by a Swazi playing for the first time! It was kinda fun to watch a bunch of African missionaries enjoy the game of the rich and famous.

Tarisayi shared about the changes which have happened in Zimbabwe over the past year. It hasn’t taken a whole lot of political reform to improve their situation in Zim quite radically and to make Tarisayi much more optimistic about the future. Government control has really eased up and allowed significant ministry to start happening there.

Zambia’s training center is now 90% complete which should really open up some great opportunities in Central Africa.  Florence, the Cameroon country leader who Michelle and I visited in 2008, has been passionate about providing quality J-Life training for French-speaking African countries. The organization she started called “I Care” has been offered land just 15 kilometers from Yaounde for a very reasonable price.  J-Life may redirect funds earmarked for a building project in South Africa to make that happen in Cameroon. Florence is doing such great work there in Cameroon.

Another exciting development is that Christian, a trainee from Nairobi, Kenya, is heading home to work with J-Life after spending more than a year here in South Africa with us. He’s one of the coolest guys ever, but he will need prayer support as he is filling the shoes of Yallo, who passed away in a bus accident last year.

J-Life will also be starting to do some work in Liberia (a country coming out of civil war) and Zanzibar (our first predominately Muslim country) this year.
So, with all the excitement of what’s happening around the continent (and that’s just the start of it), its time to refocus on what’s happening here in South Africa. Michelle has been working on her counseling studies. It’s amazing to see how focused and dedicated she is with it. I don’t know what happened to the scattered, high pressure University of Texas student that I met 6 years ago! She also ran her first half marathon a couple weekends ago. “It was easy,” was her response to me afterwards. I’m also keeping up with my running. The Comrades Marathon (55 miler!) is a mere 3 months away now.

South Africa in general is pretty focused on the World Cup. It’s kind of a big deal here. A common joke is that if anyone talks about plans for 2011 or 2012 someone will say “What? I thought the world was ending in 2010.” So yeah, South Africa is definitely the place to be in 2010. We’re dying to introduce some of you all to this beautiful continent. So why not come see us? Pray about it.

Miah

* 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….

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.

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!

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

Michelle and I have been mentoring a dating couple friends of ours for the past couple of months. The guy, Johannes, was on J-Life last year and started a youth organization in his township (ghetto/shanty town) on his return home. He started dating Donna, who works with him in the organization, and Michelle has been meeting with her as well. This past Sunday we went to visit them and I was chatting to Johannes about how we as men find our purpose in God’s kingdom. We were talking about how we all have to find those things we see in the world that fill us with a sense of holy rage and that compel us to respond with the ways of Jesus. So I asked Johannes what that was in his life and he responded with 2 things that were not only profound, but are things that Joe is already living out.

He talked about his frustration when people abandon some of the simple truths of the gospel and try to add extra bits or to make things which Scripture is clear about more obscure. Johannes has a passion to live out the gospel through the great commandment (love God, love your neighbor) and the great commission (make disciples). He has been able to direct a lot of people towards God by boldly speaking out, even when it could get him in trouble.

The second thing that Joe talked about was his frustration with people in authority who abuse their positions at the expense of the innocent, especially the poor. One of the things Joe’s organization does is help with legal cases of the young people who would otherwise have little chance of receiving just treatment from the police or the courts. He is intent on sending the message in the community that people who sexually abuse young girls will be punished. He has even befriended the police chief who told him that if any of the cops are not doing their jobs in one of the cases that he is working on, Joe can let him know so that he can discipline them appropriately. So Johannes is out there making sure these girls get fair trials, and that edivence is properly collected and documented. He also tries to make sure they stay in school, and that they hear the gospel as well (it’s a whole nice package).

Anyway, its cool for us to be involved with people like Johannes and Donna. They are the whole reason we are here, and J-Life has impacted Joe hugely, giving him confidence and and steering towards fulfilling his dreams. Oh, Joe is also studying theology. In a couple years he will be an ordained Anglican Priest, and I’ll have to call him Father Joe

I recently participated in the Harrismith Mountain Race, the most difficult 15km race in the world (self-acclaimed). I’m still in pain 5 days later. I put a couple of pics in the photo section of the day. It was really fun because we had a big group of friends there running together. I was feeling really good at about the 10km mark and then I got really sick, threw up everything in me, and then finished really slowly. So I was a bit bummed, but there’s always next year.

We are getting very excited about coming to the States. Our calendar has been filling up with a lot of great friends and family. The other good thing is that we are really busy right on either side of our trip which I think makes it better, especially for Michelle, since she will have to do the whole leaving the family thing again. I’m also excited about having uncapped Internet bandwidth and I’m looking forward to perhaps splurging on a few books and maybe even some music. I’ll probably get Ed Dobson’s book “A Year of Living Like Jesus” which was inspired by the agnostic Jew who wrote “A Year of Living Biblically” where he followed strict Jewish law for a year. I’ll also check out Don Miller’s “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” On the music side I’m keen to hear Avett Brothers’ latest album, and we’ll just have to see what else is good. We’ll also be running a half marathon in Houston on October 26th I think it is. That should be fun.
Well, we’re off to Durban now. We are attending Willow Creek’s “Global Leadership Conference.” Looking forward to hearing from Bono and the speaker from Uganda. There’s always a few surprises as well.

By the way, we don’t think we’re more interesting than y’all just because we’re missionaries. We’d love to hear what’s been going on in your lives as well.
jeremiahdcollins@hotmail.com

Grace and Peace
Miah

Zimbabwe is in one of the worst economic crises in history right now and many people are suffering and starving because of the exorbitant inflation rates daily. We have a country leader named Tarisayi who is a passionate incredible man of God, on fire for Jesus and his country. He has been trying to start a J-Life training center, but it is very difficult to set up any sort of organization in his political climate. So, Tarisayi got the vision from the Lord instead to run a short term mission training and he has been preparing leaders and has brought them to the South African version of this mission training and finally, he set up and directed this training two weeks ago. The training consisted of 4 days at a training center and then 4 days in communities and then one last day for an evaluation of the trip.

They had around 15 Zimbabweans attend this training and it was led by a group of 5 Zimbabweans ( we also had 5 South African staff there just to help out when needed). They went to many different areas around Zim., and shared the Gospel and served the people there. One of the most dangerous was a Zanu PF repossessed farm. This is the political party of Robert Mugabe, and what used to be a vast functioning farm, was now a complete waste where people are trying to live off less than $1 a day (if you have not been following this country’s story, e-mail Miah if you want more details).

But the most exciting part of this story is one of African disciples making other African disciples. I cannot tell you how stoked we get when we hear about leaders starting their own initiatives and changing their own countries for Christ! That is what we are all about!

We had two of our Malawian country leaders, who spent the four months with us, come down from Malawi to help Tarisayi with this short term mission training. And after seeing what Tarisayi is doing in his country, they are now wanting to do a short-term missions training in Malawi! The best part of that is that they have asked Tarisayi to come help them run their own training!

And to drive home the fact that these leaders now own the vision of making disciples, I have one last story. Our boss, Tara, the South African director of J-Life was giving the Malawians the ministry money that they needed to get transport back to Malawi. As she gave it to them, she said to them, “ I hope this is enough for you to pay for the bus”, and their response was, “ Tara, if it is not enough, it is not J-Life South Africa’s problem, it is our problem and we will make it work.” She says that this stunned her as she realized that even the financial help that these guys might need to get started is becoming their own problem and not our issue. It is this idea of independence that might seem a little strange at first, but if anyone has ever spent time in Africa, this mentality is something extremely hard to come by and it is something that I believe is the key to many of the problems the people here face. Our leaders are owning the vision! They are taking it and making it their own, contextualizing it, and taking their own initiatives from it. We are always there for them and are constantly encouraging them, but this independence and self confidence is something that words cannot describe. Praise the Lord for He is taking His children and empowering them and showing them the purposes He has for them in His Kingdom!

on another note I want to thank you again, the course opened my eyes to the truth and I feel I know why and what i’m here to do. Make disciples. i’m very involved in missions and we plan on going into all Africa in the future but for now we just been to Zimbabwe 3 times. My aim was always to see miracles and healing, which we have seen, but that is not what its all about. its about making those people we meet disciples who make disciples. its such a simple instruction yet it has not been my sole focus. now it is, and it has rekindled something in me.