Calvin Synod Herald, 1987 (87. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1987 / 4. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD-2 REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA African Mission "WOW!” That’s the most concise expression I know that can explain what happened this past summer. It was a time of realization, struggle, evaluation and even actualization. The first two weeks of my summer were spent in intensive training at the Lord’s Boot Camp in Merritt Island, Florida: Teen Mission headquarters. And what I mean by intensive, is tough! The training was rigorous - it included everything from personal devotions and evangelism to ditch digging and block laying. The most exciting part of the two weeks of training was the fellowship of about 800 teens who were on fire for the Lord, and were willing to light that candle on commissioning night, signifying their willingness to go to a different country to serve him. Between Merritt Island and YnondaZulu, where my project site was located in South Africa, there was a week's worth of travel. The Lord really blessed us on our journey. We had no luggage problems, even though we carried an extremely large amount of items, ranging from portable stoves to empty boxes to be used for TMI’s South African Boot Camp. In Israel, where we switched flights, they checked our luggage through for us. EL-AL, our airline, also gave us a royal supper, since we had a layover of about six hours. The Lord really provided! Once in South Africa, we were told our site was moved about 40 km from the planned location. This was because of a 150 year old tribal conflict in the area that had been rejuvinated by the death of the Zulu chief. The day-care center in that area, where we were supposed to have built, was burned to the ground. The missionaries we worked with, through fervent prayer and dedication, were able to find an alternate area for us to build just a month before our arrival. It was interesting to see how God was in control and was planning things out for us well before we arrived. About the project: my team, consisting of 16 teens and 6 leaders, built a 26’ by 44’ concrete block building. The building was to be used as a combination "church - daycare center” We built it next to a day-care center that was already filled to capacity with children from non-caring homes. A word about these children. Since they were constantly around us, they were a major part of our daily habits, so many times they would come and sit in our laps, or try to talk to us, or play with us. Many times they were willing to serve us - 1 will never forget one day, after work, 1 was cleaning a shovel I had used. As 1 lifted the shovel out of the water barrel in which I was washing it, 1 saw two little black hands diligently rubbing the mortar and plaster off my work boots. This little five-year old, whose mother and father had abandoned her, was out to make sure I had the cleanest boots in all the world. She who had no shoes was there serving me by cleaning mine. It was a very humbling moment. Although our building was our priority in serving the Lord in South Africa, we also had a bit of evangelism we were involved in. One weekend we went to the Republic of Transkei, where we ministered to the people (mostly children) of the very rural villages. On these "open-air campaigns" we would sing, put on puppet shows, and give testimony through a tanslator. At one point in our tour we stopped in a small field, and set up our gear. We were told by a missionary that the building just across the field was a Zionist church - a cult that mixed Christianity with spiritualism and witchcraft. As we started singing our songs “Jehoval Jirrel” (Unto the Lord), we could hear the drumbeats of the witchdoctors behind us. But we knew one thing - our Lord is greater, we are on the winning side. With
