I am a Spirit…

A few weeks ago, I left the US and arrived in South Africa with a handful of others. We arrived in Durban and drove ~2 hours away to Margate where we stayed for 2 weeks. We are now currently staying in Ramsgate (just a few km away) at a very nice place that was freely given to us by a friend until we leave for home.

Misconceptions

First of all, in order for you to have the right context, I need to tell you that what you have imagined “Africa” to be is most likely not where we are. I imagined going to the deep jungles or the desolate villages, out in the burning sun, little or no water/electricity. That is mostly untrue (at least in the area we are in).

There are a lot of areas that are just farmland or brush, but for the most part, it’s quite developed just like the US. There are gas stations everywhere, KFC is South Africa’s McDonalds, electricity and air conditioning everywhere… really, the main difference is very, very slow and expensive internet, and the people are much more available to what you have to offer.

Everything Coming Together

Dennis/Maria/I arrived in Durban earlier than the rest of the group. We didn’t have transportation/housing arranged at that point, Dennis was still making calls trying to figure it out. The day that Travis and Sue arrived, our housing was finally arranged. A friend in Margate had also taken a week off to hang out with us, so he drove us around for the first few days.

On the 4th day, a couple who lived 10 minutes away connected with us through our friend Cornel Marais on facebook. We ended up going to their house, ministered to them, and they ended up letting us use their car as we needed it, for free! We were able to use this car for the first few weeks until we sorted out our own transportation.

Around the end of the 2nd week, the guy who is the contact in South Africa for JGLM called us and ended up hooking us up with a very (very) nice villa 10 minutes away for free.

First Week

Dennis/Sue/I spoke on Sunday Morning at the church that Dennis was working with last time. We preached on Eph 1:3, you already have everything, stop trying to get more of what you already have.

During the week, a few of us spent some time in the informal settlement behind the farm we were staying at. So everyone there lives in huts/shacks made from whatever they can find, and the children get all excited when they see a white person. We just walked around from house to house telling them what we were doing and asking them if they needed healing. We saw a few miracles happen after visiting twice, but it wasn’t the most efficient use of our time.

We also spent a few days with the couple who let us borrow their car, got to minister to their cell group and spent some good time with them.

Mighty River Ministries

This is the group that Dennis was working with a lot the last time he was here. The pastor at this church has an amazing heart. The first service we were at, he prophesied over us, introduced us as the healing team. The first sunday, Dennis and I spoke (video will probably go up when we get back to the states, full hd!). Since then, we’ve invested a lot of time pouring into the youth there, discipling them, training them with the principles that we live with.

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We have a very specific idea of what discipleship looks like for us. When we say we are discipling someone, there are some specific things we eventually want to see that person walk out:

• identity issues
• heart issues (dealing with motives, taking offense, confrontation, communication)
• how to have healthy relationships with other people
• how to have healthy relationship with God
• how to walk in power
• how to walk in emotional freedom
• how to take responsibility of the world around them

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There are 2 main people that we have spent a lot of time with. Nixon and Junior (both 17). The other group we’ve been investing a lot in as well is the “godsquad” that Dennis first trained up the first time he came.

We have failed if we have left no one here to continue what we started. If we can successfully disciple one person who solid and can continue to impact everyone around them, we have actually done what Jesus said to do… teach others to do what Jesus told us to do, and then teach them to teach others.

We have empowered Nixon are Junior to start their own church among a very poor rural group in Massenengeh and it will be very interesting how it turns out in the next few weeks.

Massenengeh

We got to visit “Massenengeh” which is pretty close to what people expect “Africa” to be. Little kids running around half-clothed, following you wherever you go. Flies everywhere, chickens and dogs running around, the houses are primitive and packed closely together, about 8000 people packed in this settlement.

Whenever we visited during the first few weeks, we just went from door to door with a few of our friends to translate, bringing healing, deliverance, hope, food, clothing, prayer to anyone and everyone. It’s been an amazing opportunity to heal the sick and bring freedom to people. Usually, people will refer us to other friends/family who are sick.

What’s nice is that we have the opportunity to continually meet up with people and follow up with them to see how they are doing. Every single person we have prayed for and followed up with have seen results. A man who was affected by stroke who used to shake and needed help taking each step now slightly needs a cane and walks very smoothly. We saw some results the first time we prayed for him but we were told that the next morning, he was 80% better. We visit them every single time we go to Massenengeh.

A baby that a few other members of the team had prayed for was paralyzed from the waist down. Since following up, the baby is now kicking.

Another young child that someone prayed for had open sores. Following up just a few days after, the sores had mostly closed up.

What’s cool is, in the context of discipleship, in the most recent visits, most of the miracles happened in the hands of people we’ve trained up like Nixon and Junior.

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That’s the main update!

I wrote a shorter one on my tumblr

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Related Posts:

• Lessons from Africa
• Lesson from Finland
• Thought Management 101
• The Journey – In One Year