http://africollins.com/index.php/site/index/ en michellejeanea@gmail.com Copyright 2008 2008-11-19T12:27:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/inspiration/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/inspiration/#When:12:27:00Z He gives us Purpose Today, as always, I woke up and began to think about my purpose here and what God might use from this in the future. Now, I have been really struggling lately with this future idea. It just seems like nothing really clicks, nothing makes sense in this as far as a career goes, and I have been feeling quite guilty honestly because I have not been completely satisfied with just this mission that God has given us. And because I didn’t really know what was the root of the problem, I couldn’t articulate it, I just knew there was a problem. Miah and I would discuss things about our future but never really be on the same page. But today, God put some things together for me, or He finally made the pieces come together. I have been reading Proverbs and there are so many nuggets of wisdom that I am learning. Some repeating themes in Proverbs: 1.) humility comes before honor 2.) the wise man heeds discipline and seeks counsel 3.) In a man’s heart are many plans, but it is from the Lord that the tongue speaks...there are many more but I just wanted to put a few that have been standing out to me right now. So, I have been learning some wisdom from the wisest man that ever lived, King Solomon. I have also been learning a lot from the women here in Cameroon who are incredibly revolutionary. These women are very unconventional for their culture, for their positions, and for women in general. I have two examples here that really challenge and encourage me: 1.) Adele- Adele is a mother of 5, a journalist, a teacher, a business owner, and a manager. She makes her own grocery lists every day, and goes to buy groceries everyday. She is on the Cameroonian National Television, as a reporter for the news every night. She runs a training center which she started herself for raising up journalists, audio visual professionals, etc. And she does a lot of the training that happens everyday in this school. Then, she also started her own hairdressing business and gym. There is an upstairs for hair, where she gets her hair done everyday for the news in the evening, and a manicure/pedicure/ massage parlor on the bottom, with a gym in back. Then she also created jobs for 5 young people at her house, cooking, cleaning, driving, etc. She just finished building her own house, where she came on site every morning from 5-10am to make sure they finished on time. She speaks 10 of the tribal languages, plus English, and French and she travels almost once a month to teach in other African countries about news reporting, etc. Example 2.) Florence- I have already talked a little about Florence. But I want to elaborate a little on what she does. Florence is the J-Life representative in Cameroon, and she does J-Life seminars about once every two months. She is the youth pastor of probably the most flourishing youth ministry in Cameroon. Her youth are all running projects in their neighborhoods themselves, they are creating rap groups for Jesus, they are making dance teams that dance to hip hop songs for worship, and they are making their own evangelism projects such as picnics, or jogging groups. Florence also has her own ministry called I Care, where she does training seminars, intensive training periods, and raises up leaders with missional hearts who understand their strengths and giftedness. She started a radio program for young women, that airs every Saturday morning where they discuss honestly about issues of young women in Cameroon. Florence has organized 5 trainings for us while we are here with other pastors she has created a network with all over Yaounde in order to spread the impact of youth ministry. She has sleep overs at her house (we’re talking about a born and raised Cameroonian woman breaking all kinds of cultural norms) for the youth, and she is personally housing two young people to help them in their lives and to make sure they go to school and stay out of trouble. She is a student now, studying Psychology at the University here in Yaounde, to help her understand youth mindsets and human thinking better. She is a wife, and a mother of two, 5 and 7 years old. After speaking to God, asking for wisdom in my life, and living with these two women, watching their lives and what they are doing with their time, I have been incredibly inspired. I have realized that the reason I have not been completely satisfied with the idea of doing what I am doing now for the rest of my life is because I felt like there needs to be more, more impact, more people being affected, a wider reach of my ministry. And as I have watched these women who are always learning, always innovating, always wanting to go further and broader in their thinking and their influence, I am encouraged that God wants me to be doing the same thing with my mind. One thing I have realized that I love to do, something I do naturally and something I am good at is counseling. And God has shown me that I can use this gifting so much in mission work. But the reality is that I have very little background in studying this profession. And I also have realized that people in Africa have very deep issues, many that cannot be fully helped without professional help, and even then, it would take a mighty act of God. The statistic in South Africa are that 1 out of 4 women have been raped. And I do not have the skills yet to help someone deal with that type of a past. So, I am praying about what it might look like for me to study counseling, and how God might want that to fit in with everything. I am also realizing that my past, my area of study at the University of Texas is very useful to me now. I can also see how my experiences now could help to benefit the UTeach program in general and I am learning some incredible truths about education that I think every teacher would benefit from. So I am also thinking about how we can use what we are learning and doing now to pour back into the programs and universities that gave us the minds that we are using in our work now. I am thinking about how much future teachers could benefit from seeing underdeveloped countries and from seeing what potential education has in the growth of a nation. Future teachers need to see how integral the profession of teaching is to an entire society and culture. They need to realize that they are not just teaching a subject, but they are shaping the minds of the future generations. And they need to be reminded of this all the time, because this is a purpose and a vision that can motivate anyone for a lifetime. Teaching is one of the most under rated professions and I believe that it need to be recognized for how crucial it is to societies as a whole. After traveling to 6 Africans countries this year, I am able to have a visual image and personified examples of what education has the power to do in a country, and it is astounding! So, God is encouraging me, and giving me visions and ideas of what He might be wanting me to do with my life. I am starting to realize how important it is to never get caught up in just doing your job. But I always want to be thinking about how I can make a bigger impact, what God is doing and how He wants me to use my past, present, and future, to increase the scope of His Kingdom.  I know that this will always be moving and changing but I am ready to do whatever He asks of me.  2008-11-19T12:27:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/if-you-could-change-one-thing-about-africa/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/if-you-could-change-one-thing-about-africa/#When:10:11:00Z 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? 2008-10-21T10:11:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/est-ce-que-tu-vas-au-cameroun/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/est-ce-que-tu-vas-au-cameroun/#When:10:48:00Z 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 2008-10-17T10:48:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/le-cameroun-et-nouvelles/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/le-cameroun-et-nouvelles/#When:10:03:00Z 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.  2008-10-06T10:03:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/mozambique-and-zimbabwe/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/mozambique-and-zimbabwe/#When:08:56:01Z Mozambique and Zimbabwe Over the past month or so Michelle and I have visited two of South Africa’s neighboring countries, Mozambique, a previously Portuguese colony, and Zimbabwe. Mozambique was a holiday trip. We had two friends from Durban and a college friend of mine from the States join us in a road trip out to the east coast of Africa. We stayed on some beautiful beach campsites and ate lots of wonderful, cheap, fresh fish every night. A highlight for me was connecting with an old friend of mine, Arnaldo, in the capital city of Maputo. He became a follower of Christ when I was there on a mission trip in 2003. This was the first time I was able to see him since then and its amazing to see what an incredible man he has become. He gave us such an awesome tour of the city that by the end we were encouraging him to become a tour guide. He also has a fiancée (they cannot be officially married until he comes up with about $1000 for the “Labola” or dowry) and a one year old son named baby Jesus! Yes, gotta love Portuguese culture! After about a week back at home Michelle and I went out to visit a team we are overseeing in Tzaneen. Check out the picture of us with them at the giant Baobab tree. From there we joined some other J-Life staff for the long trek out to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. We met with the J-Life national director, Tarisayi, who is doing some really great work there. In Harare, we helped him train 40 youth leaders in a course called Strategy, which looks at the process of making disciples based on Jesus’ life. We spent the next week checking out the country, meeting with pastors, and interviewing possible team members for next year. Due the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, none of the Zimbabwean interns will be able to raise the support they need and J-Life will have to find the funds for them. Finally, we drove to another city called Bulawayo for another weekend seminar with youth leaders. I’m sure many of you have heard at least a bit about the political and economic turmoil in Zimbabwe. In the midst of such hardships the people are so calm and hopeful. In a way they seem almost passive and have resigned to riding out this wave of tyranny. Optimists would say this is because they are just great people. But another reason is that they have no choice. There is no freedom of speech in Zimbabwe. You could be detained for treason just for talking politics on the street and being heard by a supporter of the ruling party. Spies are sent to churches to make sure pastors also ignore the pressing issues facing Zimbabweans. There is an eerie calm in Zimbabwe which is hard to describe. Everything is difficult in Zimbabwe. There is a cash crisis so that you are only able to draw about $3 a day from your bank account. To get this money you could wait as long as 6 hours at the bank. Despite it being illegal, trade is done primarily in foreign currency and you would not want to hold on to local currency because you could wake up the next morning with the price of groceries having doubled overnight. There are constant power cuts and water cuts, not due to a lack of water, but because they cannot buy the water treatments to make sure it is safe for drinking. The grocery and department stores are nearly empty. And the stock they do have most people cannot afford (in one store they were selling cans of 7up for $15 each!). We met with a pastor at a restaurant but of course we had no intention of ordering a piece of chicken for $22. It was very depressing when the manager walked around greeting the people sitting at the tables, handing them the photocopied menu with the prices for the day, and not one person in the restaurant ordering anything the entire time we were there. I could tell many more stories about the struggles in Zimbabwe but in reality it was a really great trip for us because of the great people we were able to meet and just how appreciative and excited they were about the training we did there. It was encouraging to see this movement really starting to take root in other countries. We are continuing to beg God to intervene on behalf of the Zimbabwean people and we ask you also to pray earnestly for the Church and the crisis in Zimbabwe. 2008-09-10T08:56:01+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/just-an-update/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/just-an-update/#When:10:48:00Z Hello again from South Africa! We hope you all are doing well and that you haven’t completely forgotten us over here in South Africa. We have had a great couple of weeks with J-life and we are excited about what God is doing. Right now our main job is overseeing three teams that are out doing ministry in different churches in South Africa. We have a team in Durban working on setting up a youth ministry in a Baptist church, a team in Richard’s Bay working with another Baptist church, and a team in Tzaneen working with the Methodist, Anglican, and Baptist churches there. So, we keep in contact with them and make sure they are keeping themselves healthy while also focusing on the right strategic goals. I (Michelle) am now working to set up resources for our new website and I am also dealing with an issue of discipline for one of our teams, in which God has moved in my life in huge ways, teaching me how to rebuke in love and wisdom.  But speaking of the website, if anyone has any youth ministry resources that we could put up on our website for all our African youth ministers, I would greatly appreciate it. Miah has just finished the second of the Intern weeks, where he facilitates and plans all the activities, exams and lecturers. Miah and Jann have also created a policy now for the interns and for the future of this program. They are making many improvements on keeping each student accountable and helping these African guys and girls to get seminary degrees while doing ministry part time (and some are working as well) which is a very difficult process. It was a good week and they got many things accomplished with the interns and have also created more unity among the group which is an incredible thing because they are all working in very different places racially, economically, and spiritually. We are about to take our week of vacation for the year and go with some friends camping in Mozambique. Please pray that God will use this time for us to renew our joy, hope and passion for the people of Africa. 2008-08-03T10:48:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/whoops/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/whoops/#When:09:48:00Z 2008-07-21T09:48:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/you-remind-me-of-home/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/you-remind-me-of-home/#When:08:36:00Z Michelle and I have just finished STeM (Short term equipping missions) which has kept us out of touch with the wider world for the past two and a half weeks. About 100 young people came to the farm in two groups to be trained in short term missions. They were trained in areas such as cultural taboos, how to plan a mission, finding contacts, gaining trust and building relationships in a community, and how to share their own story and the hope they have in Jesus Christ. Michelle taught a seminar about Spiritual gifts which she really enjoyed. After about 4 days with us they were sent in groups to 7 different communities where they could put these things into practice. I’ve always enjoyed short term missions, especially how it forms young people to think outside of themselves and their world and to consider others first. Michelle and I also led a team into Hillbrow, an area in central Johannesburg known for being a melting pot of the entire African continent. The church we worked with there had only about 40 members from 11 different countries! Michelle got many opportunities to speak French and we both got the chance to invest into peoples’ lives. We were in an area known for alcohol and drug abuse amongst so many other social challenges facing the young people. Our team of 19 guys and girls grew tremendously as they shared the hope within them to youth in the parks and homes in the area. Our theme for the week was Romans 15:13 which says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” There were so many great testimonies from the 2 weeks, but also great challenges. One group did the bulk of their ministry in a refugee camp where they encountered embittered people who had fled oppression in their own countries only to find more violence against them here. The team was challenged to follow God’s way by caring for the sojourner. They also spent time washing and clothing Aids sufferers who were too sick to do this themselves. When the teams returned to the farm for their final dinner together and recap a guy named Nini had a powerful reminder: “This was not just an experience. These were real people we have been spending time with and real lives who will face the same challenges tomorrow as they did when we were with them. Don’t let your heart stop hurting with them even though you are gone. Let God grow that passion in you.” And that is my prayer for every person that was here. A big encouragement for me was having my little brother, Jordan, here for STeM. If you know Jordan you won’t be surprised when I tell you that everybody here loved him. He generally leaves quite an impression wherever he goes. He was really challenged and enjoyed his time here (even though he had to sacrifice most of his winter holiday!) Maybe I can get him to write a short message on here about his experience sometime. On a more personal note, Michelle is struggling quite a bit with culture shock. We knew this was something that would come up and that it was going to be a struggle for her more than for myself. Please pray for her, that God would continue to sustain her passion for people and for Africa as she adjusts to the new lifestyle and cultural values. Also pray that we would be humble, seeking to understand other than to be understood, and to be open to new things before we try to change others. We are no longer the only Americans with J-Life! The Evans’ have just arrived from McKinney, Texas. I met Dave, the father, earlier this year, but we will be meeting the rest of the family for the first time tomorrow, showing them around Heidelberg, and helping them with their transition. God is really expanding our team here. Its hard to try to describe what we do here from day to day. Sometimes you may struggle to figure out how everything fits together, and for that I apologize. But instead of being discouraged, let it rather inspire you to start saving up to come and visit us! You are all a gift and encouragement to us. Thanks again for your prayers and support. 2008-07-18T08:36:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/hitchhikers/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/hitchhikers/#When:10:58:00Z So this morning, like many mornings that we drive into the farm, we saw many people on the side of the road trying to get a ride into town, or out of town, or wherever they need to go. Miah and I have a sort of rule, for safety, that we will only pick up women and children on the farm roads or from the farm roads trying to get to Heidelburg. But even then, it is so hard to just drive past these men who can clearly see that we have space in our warm car while they have to stay in the cold and spend half an hour to an hour trying to find someone to take them into town. But this morning, as usual, we saw a woman with a baby and two small kids walking along the 9km dirt road, so we stopped to pick them up.  Most of them don’t speak English too well, so I usually settle on speaking through smiles, laughter, hand motions, or the minuscule amount of Zulu that I know. This morning, I looked back as they settled into the seats and smiled at the little girl behind me. But her face made an impression on my mind that I think will stay with me a long time. She looked at me with what seemed like a look of shame, and confusion. I tried to put myself in her shoes and this questioned burned in my head, I felt like she was questioning in a way that only young innocent minds can question, “What makes you so different that you get this warm car while I have to walk for miles every morning holding my little sister’s hand?” And my only answer to this question was that I had had the privilege of being born in the United States, while she, she had the privilege, yes privilege, of being born here in Africa.  I know that when we look on the physical, immediately we can see that I am the blessed one. But I have had the opportunity to experience more than what we can see and feel. I have experienced the profound, resilient, beautiful spirit of the African people. And when I think about the spiritual, I believe that they are the blessed ones. And I see a freedom in that spirit that Americans rarely experience, if they experience it at all. Now, we could all go into arguments of what is the actual definition of blessing, etc, but at this particular moment in history when I was in the car with this little girl, even though our cultures are worlds apart, I knew that there was a common bond of humanity and womanhood that united us, and that this bond is a powerful connection. Near the end of the car ride, this little girl’s sister just burst out laughing, and then she started laughing as well. I don’t know what she was really laughing about, but by the end of the ride, we were all laughing. Beautiful. 2008-06-25T10:58:00+02:00 http://africollins.com/index.php/site/update/ http://africollins.com/index.php/site/update/#When:10:57:00Z So Miah and I have been away for the last two weeks traveling to Swaziland and the coast to visit teams. It has been such a great experience to see these places and to meet with some incredible people. Along with visiting the teams that are working in churches in Richard’s Bay and Umhlanga, we have been meeting with youth pastors and youth fraternals to see what needs they have for their youth ministries. It was a great thing to get a chance to discuss with such a diverse group of pastors to see what God is doing and what kind of help they need. The crazy thing was the difference we saw in the youth each pastor was trying to reach out to. The youth in Umhlanga (very wealthy predominantly white and Indian) need a very different approach to ministry than the youth from the Bluff (more like the type of kids you would have in inner city Detroit).  It was a little overwhelming to see the needs of around 20 youth pastors who are either just stuck, losing vision, or are trying to reach out to youth who are just not responding. I pray that God starts to refresh the vision of youth ministries throughout this country and that He brings a wave of young leaders into this generation that so desperately needs some kids with integrity to model what it means to follow Christ in the schools and situations youth face today.  Will you pray with me that God will give J-Life discernment on what the Holy Spirit is doing in the youth in this country and that we will be conduits of hope and life to youth ministries throughout South Africa and throughout the continent. It seems like such a lofty prayer because the needs of each region are so different, but I know that God is moving and that He has created this organization with the heart and vision to see youth being reached all over this world, and the beauty of the diversity of each group will be so powerful to this messed up world. So I have to hope in the vision He has given us and I have to believe that He will guide us and lead us to meet the specific needs of these people. 2008-06-25T10:57:00+02:00