Good Friday Bad Friday on the Swakopmund River

Good Friday was yesterday and it was almost Horrible Friday.

The Swakopmund River normally only flows once every 5 or 10 years and has pretty much been just a dry river bed. This year, Namibia has seen more rain than has ever been recorded in history. As a result, the Swakopmund River has been flowing down into the sea and many people are taking advantage of this for fun and recreation. We have done this also, almost to our undoing.

Because of my trip to Windhoek I had so much work to yesterday (Good Friday). Breanna and her friends wanted to go tubing down the swakopmund river which is now flowing into the sea. I had been a couple weeks ago and it was a nice, comfortable ride, so I gave her permission. She went out with 5 of her friends and they took inner tubes with them. Kim dropped them off at the place where the road goes to Walvis Bay.
The road was closed because the river was flowing over the bridge. That should have told us right then and there that the current was too dangerous. I should have really been with them, or at least insisted on life jackets, but I was so busy,having just returned from Windhoek and now having to catch up on emails and other things. I was too busy, and so I didn't give it much thought. I had only thought about the river as it had been when I was on it.
A few hours went by and I received a call from Kim saying that Breanna had almost drowned. They had been going down the river by the pumping station and there is a man made drop off there. When they went over it, they lost their tubes and the water coming over the wall caused a backflow that if you were to get caught in it would be pretty catastrophic. Well, the teenagers did get caught in it. Breanna told me that she couldn't get out and she yelled for help a couple times before going down. She said the force of the water coming down was just too much for her and she couldn't escape. She had actually come to the place where she didn't have any more strength left and had given up and she really thought she was going to die. And then a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up.
When the teens went down the river, there were two rather large Afrikaans guys that had decided to float down the river as well, and they decided to all go together. If it weren't for those two guys, the teens that got stuck in this backflow would have drowned. It was indeed a very, very scary experience, and when I heard about it, I was so upset with myself that I had let them go tubing without actually checking the flow rate or the level of the water myself. Even a couple weeks previous when the river was low and we had come to the pumping station, we decided to get out of the tubes and climb down, instead of going over that man made wall. It was just too dangerous. If I had been there, and had decided that it would be ok to go down the river, I would have never allowed them to go over that pumping station wall.
Sometimes as parents we make mistakes. Huge mistakes. It's a wonder that our kids survive and turn out the way they do in spite of us. It's the grace of God. We can't be there all the time, and sometimes when we are there we make foolish decisions. If it weren't for the grace of God, what a mess our lives would be. It is very important I see then, that we keep a humility about us and maintain a God-fearing, repentant attitude so we can walk in the fullness of this grace.
This will be a very special Easter. I woke up this morning, walked downstairs, and looked at my daughter who was peacefully asleep.

O thank you God.

When dreams turn to nightmares - My Avis Adventure - Windhoek Trip II

I took Marshall with me and we hiked the Avis Dam. When the dam is full of water, the hike is so, so much longer. I didn't realize how long it would take to get around the place with all that water, and three quarters of the way around we took a wrong trail that led us into no man's land. It was starting to get dark, and the clouds were moving in. We could see rain in the distance, heading our way, and with that rain, lightning and then sounds of thunder. We had to get off that koppie we were on and make it back to the truck. However, the further we went on the trail, the more spider webs crossed the trail. Big spider webs with big spiders. We would get a stick and break through the webs so we could proceed, but now it was starting to get difficult to see the spider webs in the twilight. I actually walked through one large web. At first I didn't know what it was. I walked into it head first and because I had a hat on didn't feel it against my face. All I could feel was the tension on my head of pushing through something, and I could hear the stretching and snapping. As I said, these were humongous spiders, and so you could actually feel the tension and hear the webs as they broke. When I had already pushed through and broken webbing fell across my shoulders and arms I kind of panicked. I realized what I had just walked through, and knew what the owner looked like. As I was pulling webbing off my arms and head I yelled to Marshal, "Marshal!! Look, quick! Is there anything crawling on me?!!!" It was quite unnerving. As we continued on, we came across bigger spiders until we reached one web that was just enormous with a very, very large arachnid in it. I was so frustrated. We had bog on one side of us that we couldn't escape through lest we sink, we had storms coming in from the other side, and now we had these giant spiders in front of us that made it impassable. I cried out at the top of my lungs, "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Just an emotional outburst of frustration. Unbeknownst to me, there was a herd of baboons about 40 yards up the trail on the other side of the spiders. And they responded, "ONNNNNNKKKKK." Now, if you are totally unaware that there is a herd of baboons next to you, and all of the sudden, you hear that loud noise, it can be quite startling. And it was. I guess they thought maybe I was challenging them, and they just responded. I told Marshal, "Uhhh, I think we better pick up a couple rocks to defend ourselves."
I asked Marshal, "Bro, have you ever felt like you were in a nightmare." You're trying to escape the bogs and quicksand with a storm bearing down on you, and then you have giant spiders to deal with; and right when you don't think it could get any worse, you come across a herd of barking baboons as it's getting dark." Lovely.
A trail that leads into arachnitopia cannot have been a trail used by many hikers, and therefore it was logical that we were on a trail leading us to somewhere we didn't want to go. So, we turned around and started running with our rocks, keeping our eyes on the lookout for those babboons.. After about 2o minutes of backtracking we found another trail that we followed and it took us down towards our vehicle. But alas, it was not to be without further incident. When we were almost to the parking lot there was only one more obstacle. A very ominous obstacle. The trail had now become a tunnel. A tunnel of spider webs. There was no way out to the right - it was all mud bog and water. To the left was all impassable bushes. We couldn't turn around because it was getting dark and the thunderstorm was almost upon us. We had to go through. Marshal said, "No way, Pastor."
"Just put your head down and hang on to the back of my shirt, Marshal." It's like bungee jumping. Even when everything inside is screaming, "DON'T!", you just go forward. As we went through the tunnel with spiders on every side and above, I just started quoting Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of spiders, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me....."
Well, here I am, writing this, so I did not die. What started as a dream-walk in the beautiful Avis Dam turned into a nightmare with baboons and spiders; but praise God, we came out of it. A couple years ago when I took Kim on a hike around Avis Dam, she asked, "Are you trying to kill me?!!!" As we were running up the hill through spider territory, trying to get back to the truck before it got dark I could hear Marshal huffing and puffing, trying to keep up, and I wonder if he was asking the same thing.

Windhoek trip

Have been very involved in trying to sell two missions houses, and get a place here in Swakopmund to live in. It seems like things have gone through very well for the house in Otjiwarongo, but there have been a few hiccups with the house in Windhoek. The gate was giving problems, the electricity in the house kept shutting off when it rained, the flat lost power to half of it, and the pool didn't stay full. It drained - turned out that there were cracks in it and the water that was used to fill the pool drained out through the cracks. So, a lot of work was involved to get everything going the way it is supposed to be going, and we will have to put in a new pool.
One of the hiccups was also that there is a tree on the property line that is busting through the wall. The purchaser asked that I would deal with the owner of the property next door to take care of that tree and fix the wall. At first it just seemed like one more thing to deal with, but then as I was praying, asking the Lord to give me favor with the neighbor, I sensed that the Lord knew that tree when it was just a seed, and was using it for me to have a witnessing opportunity.
So, I went to talk to the neighbor 3 times, and each time I missed him. Finally, one morning when I looked over the wall and saw his car in the driveway, I parked my truck in front of his gate so he couldn't get out. When the gate opened and he was blocked in, I went over and greeted him. He told me that he had a meeting at 8, but that we could talk for 5 minutes. So, I moved my truck, and got in his Mercedes to talk, and he drove off with me into the city. We talked a little bit in the car, and then he pulled up to a construction site where about 40 workers were waiting for him. He's the owner of a big construction company that was constructing a building.
After he finished speaking to his workers, he introduced me to "Ali," his foreman. This guy has quite a past and was originally from Germany, but then spent time in Rhodesia and South Africa before moving into Namibia. He used to be Pentecostal, but as I spoke to him, I found him to be, let's say, somewhat removed from pentecost.
I had a really good time sharing with him and exhorting him to get his relationship with God in the right place so he can start fulfilling God's purposes in his life. Then when it was time to go, I had another opportunity to talk to the owner, Mr. Yambo. I showed him Song of Solomon where God is saying,
Son 2:10 My Beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:11 For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over; it goes to itself.
Son 2:12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;
Son 2:13 the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:16 My Beloved is mine, and I am His; He feeds among the lilies.

I told him that he had reached the point in his life where his soul was wanting to turn to God. The Winter is past, the rains are gone, and now God was really calling him to follow Him. I spoke with him and told him that God isn't looking at him, waiting for him to die so he can cast him into hell, but instead, God is calling him "his love," and "his beautiful one." That only God can see us this way, for we certainly don't. Mr. Yambo and I then prayed right there in front of his construction site out in the open. We put our heads together and prayed and sought the Lord, to follow in His ways and not in our own anymore. It was a really good meeting and prayer time and I look forward to seeing him again and continuing in this. He is a man who has lived a pretty sinful life, but he is also a man who does not hide that, but is very transparent.

Outreach to Ondangwa with Mark and Jimmy

A couple weeks ago I took a young man with me to go to Ondangwa to do some outreaches there. I met this guy about 1 ½ years ago in a poor settlement area outside of Swakopmund (one of the coastal towns of Namibia). This was a man who had owned a bar, and was involved in all the immoral trappings that go along with owning an establishment like that here in Sub-sahara Africa.
One day this man, Jimmy started feeling sick. As the week progressed the sickness became worse to the point where he was so dizzy he could hardly stand. He went to the hospital and they ran all sorts of tests on him. From one of those tests, he found out that he was HIV+ and that the sickness he was having was a result of that. This scared Jimmy, and so the next week found him in church. Jimmy heard the story of Jesus and His love for sinners, and learned that if he turned from his wicked ways and sought Christ, that he could find forgiveness through the cross.
On that day, Jimmy accepted Christ as his savior. The following week, I was in that church, preaching about the power of the Holy Spirit, and how, if we confess our sins how God not only forgives us, but cleanses us as well. I challenged the people that if anyone were to confess that they were HIV+ and ask God for healing and forgiveness, that God would forgive and heal them. Jimmy was one of the people that came forward to confess and to pray.

November update - TV ministry

The Lord has continued to open doors for us throughout the country and Kiko and I have been privileged to speak in high schools, elementary schools, and everything in between. And we are sharing solid Bible teachings in both public and private school assemblies in creative ways, and capturing everything on digital video so we can use it for discipling children across the country via television
AFRICA’S CHILDREN (A department of A/G World Missions) has been a tremendous help to us with equipment and with the software to do these tv programs. It’s a lot of work, but each time I get frustrated and feel like quitting, I think of the 50 thousand children who live in school hostels. Many of them have just heard an introduction to the gospel, but have never really been discipled.
The T.V. Program that we’re doing also gives the kids who went to camp a ministry outlet as well. We have so many children who were trained at Camp to do ministry who have returned to their homes and churches and they are wanting to use what they learned. So I’ve been taking many of these children around to different churches and outreaches and giving them opportunities to preach, do gospel hip hop, do street evangelism, and pray for people! It’s been great, but what has been the best is seeing this happening in the lives of the kids and other leaders who attended our camp.
As I speak with children’s workers from the different churches, they tell me of how the children still want to do dramas and ministry in the churches and at the outreaches, even months after the camp has been over. And the best part is: these leaders have caught a vision that God uses Kids in ministry, and the churches are providing outlets for the children to minister both on Sundays in church, and at the community outreaches.

November 2010 Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp Update

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp 2010
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE KIDS CAMP was once again an awesome camp experience this year. What first amazed me is the response from the adults to come help out at the camp. There was such a strong desire from both the kids and the adults to come back for this experience again.
When you look at Namibia, you see that the population is so small relative to the land mass which is so extensive. It’s because of the lack of water. Wherever you find an abundance of water supply, you will find a more concentrated populace. I believe this is what we are seeing in the Spirit here. Because of the outpourings of the Heavenly rivers and abundance of the move of the Spirit at the Kids Camp, people wanted to come. Thirsty souls are drawn to living water.
This year as we encouraged the children to seek at the altars for the Holy Spirit, one of the words I spoke to the kids was that being filled with the Holy Spirit was like getting a hug from Heaven. I shouldn’t have been surprised then, when at testimony time we heard several of the children responding that as they were seeking God that someone came up from behind and gave them a hug. Thinking that it was a counselor, they turned around to see who it was and there was nobody (visibly) standing there.
We also heard testimonies of children who were seeking God and they said that someone would come by and lay hands on their heads and the children said, “a wonderful feeling swept through my body from my head to my toes” and when they opened their eyes to see who was praying for them, once again, nobody (visibly) was standing there.
In this prayer-charged environment there were also so many visions of heaven, children who testified of seeing Jesus, and seeing angels, and of forgiveness of sins.
We are so grateful for the vastness of the mercy of God, who with such blazing holiness; chooses to walk amongst us even with all of our faults and shortcomings. As a father has pity on his children, so the Lord has pity upon those who fear Him, for He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust (psalm 103).

One of the Children, McG open air evangelism

For the Love of Christ

There really has been a lot going on here. Training of Children’s Workers, School Assemblies, and now Missy Garvey from Reading, PA is here helping me produce this National Children’s Weekly TV program to reach out to the kids in the school hostels. I have chosen this last bit of space in my newsletter, however, to share with you something else that really touched my heart (and I’m sure God’s heart) last week.
It was during our Kids Choir Outreach. There was a communications fail with the school we use, and the hall was locked. It was very cold that day, but we still decided to have praise and worship - outside. The kids didn’t come prepared for the cold weather, but wanted to worship anyways. We had our new choir t-shirts, so I just told some of them to put on two or three t-shirts each to stay warm.
As we were outside worshiping, kids from the neighborhood started throwing rocks at us from behind a wall. We couldn’t really do anything to stop them.
I looked at the shivering kids and said, “Y’know, you can read about in the Bible where the Christians in the early church were persecuted. Now here’s your chance; here’s your opportunity. Are you still going to worship Jesus even though people are throwing rocks at you?
Those kids responded, “YES!” and we stayed out in the cold, singing that song, “He loves us, oh, How He loves us, Oh, . how He loves us, Oh, How He loves us ALL.”

These Signs Shall Follow

I am consistently amazed by the grace that we are seeing over here. Word of knowledge, healing, visions; it’s all grace. But the most amazing grace is the wonderful touch of the love of the Holy Spirit, showing His longsuffering, faithful love and forgiveness.
Here’s just some tidbits of what I’m writing about. In the Kids Choir community outreach I’m doing, I had heard about one of the children who was having some real physical problems. Along with severe abdominal pains, this young boy was vomiting blood and the doctors at the hospital were not able to help him. This condition was causing him to miss church, school, and kids’ choir.
One day as I drove through his neighborhood, I saw him by his house and I told him to come to the next choir practice so we could pray over him for healing.
The day that this boy came to choir, we had a wonderful worship experience and the kids laid hands on him and prayed over him. Two of them had visions and gave prophetic words and there was just a wonderful anointing in the place. The young boy, Mcdonald knew that the Lord had healed him and has not had a problem with the ailment since.
One of those kids who had a vision and prayed for the healing also had another vision at last night’s prayer meeting. He said that he felt like within two weeks that there is going to be an earthquake here in Namibia along the coast. Several other Christians have also had this same vision, so we’re expecting the ground to be shaking around here pretty soon. Pentecost Sunday is right around the corner, so it’ll be right on time. Ummm, maybe a prayer for God’s protection and grace on our lives over the next couple weeks should be in order?!!! Thanks. : - )
It’s not often when I get to be used in a Word of Knowledge, but when it happens, it sure is fun. On that Easter outreach I met some guy who was out on the street trying to sell his guitar. I told him I was on the way to a crusade and to get into the truck with me. When he got in I said, “Jabulani, This is your day to stop going your own way and give your heart to the Lord.”
He said, “Hey, how do you know my name?”
Now, I had no idea “Jabulani” was the guy’s name; I just felt like I should say that. So I told him, “I didn’t’ know your name, but God does, and when a stranger who doesn’t know you comes up to you and calls you by name and tells you it’s time to follow Jesus, I think you should listen.”
He responded, “You must have heard me playing in Germany while I was touring there. Are you German?”
“Never been to Germany in my life.” I told him, “and don’t even speak German. This is your day of Salvation, man.”
Jabulani accompanied us to the evangelistic film outreach we were doing that evening and I lost sight of him, but praise the Lord, what an experience. I’m just still so thrilled to be a part of the Lord reaching out to someone in a supernatural way, calling them by name.

Opposing Sunset

Easter Outreach in Omaruru

It’s better to do a little with the anointing, than much activity without it. Over these last few months, I have seen so much more accomplished when accompanied by prayer; than when we haven’t had time to ADEQUATELY pray. Bottom line: We don’t have time not to pray.
Our Easter outreach to Omaruru saw wonderful success due to the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit, which was, I believe, proportionate to the emphasis on prayer and the cooperative efforts of Christians from different churches.
The first night we were in Omaruru, I preached. The second night, we were going to show a movie out on the big soccer field where we had done our afternoon children’s program. (We do the afternoon outreaches, and invite the people to come back in the evening for a movie).
As the evening approached, the clouds moved in and people started asking, “What are we going to do? It’s rained here the last few evenings and it looks like it’s getting ready to do it again.”
“Let’s just go to the field and set-up,” I said. “Let’s just step out in faith.”
When we arrived at the field and started to set up, we could see the clouds moving in and the heavy rains falling just to the North of us.
Someone arrived and said, “Guys, it doesn’t look good. We just came from Otjiwarongo, and it was raining on the way. It looks like it’s headed this way.”
“Let’s all join hands, form a circle, and pray,” I said. Everyone got together and started praying. We just prayed that the Lord would give us a canopy of angels and that not one drop would fall on us that evening. Not one drop.
Then the strangest thing happened. I’ve never seen it before or since. It looked like the sun was rising in the East, but it was around 6pm in the evening and the sun was actually setting in the West. Wow. The reins of the oncoming clouds were pulled back and they came no closer. The sound system, projector, and screen were set up; the crowds gathered, the movie played, the altar call was given, and the people responded. Once again, we don’t have time not to pray!

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp 3rd video

Here's the third video of our kids camp

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp

This is the second part of the kids' camp video

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp

Here's some videos of our last kids camp in Otjiwarongo, Namibia

shackles

Here's a couple of the youth doing a dance they made up to "Shackles" by Mary Mary. The video wasn't set up, and the camera wouldn't zoom out, so the fist part of the video isn't that great, but the youth did a good job, and it gives you an idea of some of the potential.

The tragedy of Tommy Tomato

Here's a special something that Kim's husband, Mark added. Great for teens and children's ministry! A special thanks to Breanna for her recorder music in the background!

Cooking with Kim Tomato garnish

Heres' another thing you can do with a tomato

Cooking with Kim Rosy tomato garnish

Here's how to make a tomato look like a rose

Cooking With Kim Pineapples 2

Here's the second part for making a pineapple boat garnish

Cooking with Kim Pineapples 1

Here's how to make a pineapple boat