Gaining Momentum
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Rebecca Clendenin
Oct 10, 2008, 5:08:58 AM10/10/08
to mamelodi...@googlegroups.com
Friends,
Another month has come and gone here at the Africa Revolution house, and we continue to be challenged and inspired everyday in Mamelodi. The following are some September/early October highlights as well as an update on the projects we're working on:
Weekly Commitment of Donated Food
In our last update, we mentioned that one of our initial projects has been to help grow the scale of the Powerhouse's feeding scheme, aimed at providing food and hope to many families throughout Mamelodi facing dire circumstances. We spent much of early September outreaching to local grocery stores in our area, seeking donations to stock the food pantry that we have started on-site at the church. Good news: one local grocery, Pick-n-Pay, has committed to donating food every Tuesday-- meaning that the last three weeks we have arrived at Pick-n-Pay, the AR Vito van has been filled with cartloads of food for the Powerhouse to distribute! Every Wednesday, the church will be able to outreach to the poor with donated produce, bread and other items, and the church's freezer has been stocked! We're praying for another commitment to come through for donated meat and mealie meal, so keep praying for that. For a glimpse at how much the feeding scheme has meant to people and how it has touched our lives, visit:
Will Has Arrived! Entrepreneurship Class Soon To Start
Will Brown arrived on September 19 and was, of course, made to feel very warmly welcomed by familiar faces at the Powerhouse the following Sunday. Already, Will has adjusted very quickly to all that's going on. In fact, he and I are underway with developing a small business 101 class, which we will co-teach starting next week. Based on materials already adapted to teaching in a township, the course will cover skills assessment, the basics of entrepreneurship and starting your own business, bookkeeping as well as personal finance, marketing/communications and other skills. The course will likely be offered for six weeks and again once the new year starts. We're hoping as well to offer two workshops in early December -- maybe one on personal finance and one on church administration -- so if anyone has any tips to offer, please let us know as we're still figuring it all out. This week Will and I took a small business class offered by Operation Mobilization which involves the two of us having our own little businesses between now and the end of October. For this exercise, I'm selling photographs that I took at Heritage Day to the ladies at the church. Will is going to sell craftwork from the township to the U.S. market via his blog. Be sure the check out Will's blog for more on getting our class going as well as his reflections on his first three weeks in South Africa: www.thewillbrown.com .
Heritage Day Women's Brunch A Huge Success
On September 24, the women of the Powerhouse gathered together to celebrate Heritage Day, a national holiday, as the kick-off event for the newly re-energized women's ministry. More than 120 women came, all dressed in traditional colorful tribal attire. Simply put: the day was awesome! For more on this event and to see photos and a video, visit www.mamelodistories.org/2008/09/27/heritage-day-womens-brunch/ . Annie and I are excited to continue working with the women's leadership at the Powerhouse to get the women's ministry -- and a young adult's women's ministry -- up and running on a bimonthly basis.
Nate's Web Design Class
Nate continues to enjoy teaching and developing a class on web design at the Powerhouse computer school. Here's a recent post on his class:
Orphan Christmas Album
I've been busy the last two weeks working with two children in the church, both orphans, on rehearsing Christmas carols for a Christmas album CD to help fundraise for an organization we've connected with recently, Bridge To Cross (www.bridgetocross.org/ ). Bridge To Cross will work with Africa Revolution and the Powerhouse in the coming months to establish a version of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America adapted to the township and administered by the local church. I've so enjoyed working with Maria (11) and Raymond (15) and seeing how quickly they are learning the tunes and lyrics to such songs as "Amazing Grace," "Jingle Bells," "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and others; they are gaining so much confidence in the voices God has given them. We had field trip yesterday afternoon/evening to record at a studio in Johannesburg, and it was an awesome experience for the kids! We have two more recording sessions next week. Stay tuned for the Christmas album CD, featuring Maria and Raymond as well as orphaned children from another church in Mamelodi, Charity & Faith. Producing this album will be an amazing experience for all the children involved, for sure.
After-School Tutoring
Annie will soon start tutoring English literature. She has connected with a secondary school English teacher and good friend of Vincent's who has expressed a need for tutoring prior to the students' writing exams in November/early December. Annie is busy studying herself in preparation to conduct session reviews starting next week.
Multimedia Storytelling
Nate and I have enjoyed taking photos and recording audio but are rethinking how we want to approach any multimedia storytelling featured on Mamelodi Stories. There are so many stories of how God is at work that we could tell. But instead of thinking "What would be good for the blog?" we're thinking, "What would most benefit the community?" In other words, we are thinking through many story ideas, but are rethinking how we can produce and distribute those stories and testimonies throughout the township first; then to our Mamelodi Stories readership second. We are convinced of the need of the good news spread throughout the township and have faith that God will use that and bless that more than we can imagine or even intended. One thing hasn't changed-- you'll get to see/hear/read many great stories on the blog!
Crusade Week at the Powerhouse
This week at the Powerhouse is a big one. There is an enormous tent set up outside the church, taking up the entirety of the the church land, and every night this week there is a church service featuring a visiting pastor from Zambia, whose expertise is deliverance. On Saturday, the Powerhouse is throwing a huge party -- "a VIP party," everyone has been calling it -- for all the sick, blind and lame people that we can possibly collect and bring on-site. The way the Powerhouse cares lavishly for the poor is impressive.
My Trip Back Home
You might be wondering, how was Rebecca's trip back the U.S.? What was it like to return to Africa? I had a wonderful time in Birmingham and at my friend's wedding in Little Rock, and I had some wonderful conversations with people about all that is going on in Mamelodi; but going home for just 10 days made me realize that returning to the States at the end of our year abroad will be very challenging. In other words, I returned to the U.S. with an appreciation for things I had missed -- the comforts of home, they way things are done like I'm used to, etc. -- but found myself too easily falling back into a world of overabundance and left feeling like my heart was turning crusty and hard again. I returned to Africa with a new and different appreciation for things I had missed and hope now not to take for granted: the bright, wonderful faces of people who demonstrate sacrificial hospitality and praise God despite few resources, for the things of the Spirit that God is teaching and growing within our team, for the beautiful way in which God's glory in the township outshines poverty and brokenness. As always, it feels like such a privilege to be here and learn not to take things for granted, here or back in the U.S.
In general, this second month has been an amazing month of learning. We are figuring out our respective roles on the ground in the township while all the time growing in relationships with people at the Powerhouse and throughout Mamelodi. Also, we have connected with people from the white South African community in Pretoria, making friends at the Nieu Communities Pangani House (http://pangani.wordpress.com/ ) and at a little church called 3rd Place (www.3rdplace.co.za ), which we're excited about; perhaps God is using us as to help connect the black and white South African worlds?
Finally, Prayer Requests:
As always, we appreciate your prayers:
- Please pray for the Powerhouse this week during its Crusade Week.
- Please pray for our humility in all aspects of life. Annie and I ask for your prayers, in particular, re: the young adults' women's ministry and how we approach that, as listeners and learners and friends to these women.
- Please pray for the beginnings of partnerships in the works. Please pray especially for the relationships with whites we are hanging out with on the weekends. We see much potential for Christians and non-Christians in and outside the township to connect, but that must be done wisely and with patience.
- Sometime in October, we are each taking a day of solitude, to be spent on our own however which way we want, in hopes of spending a day by ourselves and with the Lord. Pray that for each of us this time would be precious and fruitful.
- Pray that we won't burn out over tasks, but if anything, pour the bulk of our time and energy into people and relationships while still finding rest and quiet time.
FYI: as we send out these updates every so often, know that all past updates are available to read at http://groups.google.com/group/mamelodi-stories if you're interested in following along month by month. Thanks always for following along and for all your prayers and continued support.
We love you and miss everyone,
Rebecca & Nate
"We are not called to help people. We are called to follow Jesus, in whose service we learn who we are and how we are to help and be helped." --Stanley Hauerwas & William Willimon
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