No Young Men?

This morning at church, the African Mission Team was asked to give a small testimony about our trip.  As many of you know, my youngest Daughter (Corina) became our first missionary to South Africa, specifically the outer parts of Cape Town.  Corina is also attending the Cape Town Baptist Seminary and will complete her first year in November.  Ironically, my oldest Daughter (Breana) is in South America for a month.  Breana is with Dre and his family which does help - especially since I am holding him responsible for her safety.  It is very difficult for me to have both girls on different Continents at the same time.

Our Mission Team returned on July9th and since then I have been struggling emotionally with what happened to me on the trip.  I have had much difficulty talking about it even to my Bride (Carey).  About a week after we got back I attempted to tell Carey something about the trip and began sobbing (not just crying) and out of my mouth came these words; "I can't believe I am going to say this, I want to go back!"

When I found out our Youth Pastor, Scotty Jarrard wanted each of us to speak, I made arraignments to be out of town for this mornings service.  After sharing my intentions to be out of the area to our Music Minister, Tommy Greene whom happens to be one of my closest friends, he made me feel lower than dirt by simply saying; "So your not going to be in church this Sunday?"  He said it with that southern draw of his which had a hint of "your an idiot" woven in there somewhere.  The next day (Wednesday) I told him I would be there because my Bride said so!  What a good "Help Meet".  After speaking with Pastor Scotty, he did say that he would not force me to speak (I don't ever have a problem speaking in public) but wanted me to share if possible.

This morning on the way to church I was messaged by Corina who told me she was praying for me and the service and she wanted me to speak.  JUST GREAT, now I have to do it...

As I listened to the others share, it was difficult to keep my composer, reliving what happened in my mind all over again.  When they finished Pastor Scotty looked at me so I went up and this is a short paraphrase of what I said;

I want to qualify what I am about to say.  I am one of ten people who went on this trip.  Our interpretations of what happened are based on several things like our genders, ages and life experiences to name the biggest ones.  Since I represent only 10% of the team, it is logical that I represent only a small number of the people in our church.  What I am about to say doesn't have anything to do with you, but it has something to do with - you.


When I was told I could go on this trip, I approached Pastor Scotty and said that the main reason i wanted to go was to see Corina.  Like any father, especially with both of my girls, I would do what was in my power to be with them.  Pastor Scotty then wisely said; "Don't you want to work side-by-side with your daughter on the mission field, doing what God called her to do?"  He was right.  I am a teacher and teaching god's Word for the last nine years has been the most rewarding thing for me, UNTIL I was able to work with my Daughter on the Mission Field.  Now my hope is that I will have the opportunity to not only work with Corina again but Lord willing, all my kids doing God's work.


About six months ago, we sent the one God chose as our representative to South Africa.  Six months later, we sent three men (a trinity) and seven women to the same place.  For those of you that are familiar with me, know my thing for numbers - especially significant Biblical numbers.  By the way, the tenth member of our team was a young girl named "Zoe".  Her name means "LIFE"!  The team accurately represents the church.  We had a couple which had no kids (but may have met them there), a couple that had children, a mother with her daughter, a single mother with her young daughter, a father (me) visiting his daughter, and a young lady (22).


There is some thing missing though - young men?  There are no young men.  Where are they?  Sadly this makes up several of the church's I have been in or know about.  Oh, there is young men in the congregation, but absent every where else...

ernie

South African Mission Trip: "Corina's Charge"

I'm praying for you all! This world is so much bigger than Blairsville, Georgia, and the USA. Your eyes have been opened to the reality that is plaguing the world: poverty, abuse, addictions, segregation, and ultimately the hopelessness people have without Christ!  You are now God's mouthpiece and the eyes of many who have not heard of or seen these things.  All the things you've experienced in the past few weeks will forever change you, and I pray that they will never be forgotten.  They aren't just experiences but knowledge of issues that are overtaking parts of the world!  I pray that reality will forever influence your decisions and perspective.... now GO & tell the world about what you've seen!  Speak up for those who have no voices and be Christ's ambassador!

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 
2 Corinthians 5:20


Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 
Proverb 31:8

South African Mission Trip: "First Day Part II"

Written by Youth Pastor Scotty Jarrard;

First Day on the Mission Field Part 2

As we pulled up to Beacon Valley Baptist Church, I looked at the surrounding government built housing and was amazed at the location of the church. “What an awesome location for a Church”, run through my mind as I thought of all of the ministry opportunities for the location. Pastor Greg had shared with me earlier how Beacon Valley Baptist Church almost, well, never existed. When God put the vision in Pastor Greg’s heart to start a church in Beacon Valley, there was not a lot of property to choose from. They searched the area for the perfect place and in Pastor Greg’s words, “God led us to this property.” They went to the City Development Authority and put in the petition. After that, out of faith, they started cleaning up the property and praying over it daily. Pastor Greg told me that he had never been so confident in his life that, “This was the property that God was going to give them for Beacon Valley Baptist Church.” If my memory serves me correctly (and it doesn’t always), about a week later, he received a call from the development authority with some heart breaking news. At the time, there was not any property in the area zoned for a Church to be built. The lady from the development authority said that she would do some more research on the area and see what she could find. Pastor Greg told me that he was in utter disbelief. “I started to wonder if I had heard God right the first time.” In his heart, he knew that this was what he was supposed to do but his mind started to doubt and tell him otherwise. So Pastor Greg started to do the only thing he knew to do. He hit his knees and started to ask God to make a way. The next day he got another call. The lady started to confirm everything she had said previously. She told him there was no property in the area that was zoned for a church but, the area was in desperate need of a “Daycare Center.” She went on to tell Pastor Greg that the property he had put in the petition for would work for the “Daycare Center” and once the building was built, (hush, hush) the building could be used for anything, including a church. “God had made a way!” So, they started the construction of “Kideo Kid Educare Centre.” The center would serve the community as a “Christian Based” daycare center through the week and as a Church on Sundays and Tuesdays. This story still blows me away cause there has been so many times in my life that I have thought that I heard God wrong and sadly, just gave up. It kind of makes me wonder, what may of happened if I would have had more FAITH in God and not listened to the doubt in my head. Now, back to the mission work.

There were about sixty or so kids when we got to the church, and man, were these kids loving. We had kids who had never met us before, running up to us, jumping in our laps and asking us hundreds of questions. When we started the program, my heart leaped from my chest to see the churches older youth taking a lead role in the “Holiday Bible Club” (what we call VBS). As the youth started leading the children in some songs and worship, kids kept filing in through the doors of the Church. By the time the worship was over, we went from around 60 kids to 150+. There are churches here in the U.S. that are much bigger than Beacon Valley and they don’t have half the kids in their VBS’s that they did. It was almost as if God was saying to me at this point that, “I don’t care about the size of the Church, I care about the heart of the Church.” If there is anything that I can say about Beacon Valley Baptist Church it is, This Church Loves God and They Love Kids. This Church was not worried about their size, the curriculum they were going to us, or how they were going to pay to feed all of these kids. The only thing they were worried about was showing the love to others that Christ had showed to them. People, we can learn a lot from this. We think that it is about having the coolest program, the best music, and the biggest “jump houses” we can find to draw in all the kids we can when the kids could really care less about this stuff. Why are we running to all of these things when the best thing that we have to “draw in the crowds” is the “Love of Christ?” Think about it, at the end of most VBS, kids can’t remember half of the activities they did from the week but, they will always remember that teacher who took the time to love on them and open up God’s Word with them. They won’t remember what craft they built last year but, they will remember the people who simply noticed they were there. They won’t remember the songs that they sang on “Commencement Night” but, they will always remember that Deacon who took time off work to pick them up and bring them to church. How did our priorities get so out of whack? When it all comes down to it, these kids just wanted to be loved and know they matter. I think that in the U.S., we have come to the point that people would rather give their money to help fund the program and get someone else to actually do it but I guess you could say the same about missions. Don’t get me wrong, giving your money is important and God tells us to give (and if you don’t believe that, I have a verse for ya!). But, which is more important to you, your money or your time? Here’s how you tell, do you spend more time at work, or more time with your family? (Not trying to get in your business, just trying to tell ya what God showed me.) Two people that really stood out to me at Beacon Valley were Kurt and Morgan. These two men both took time off work just to help run this Holiday Bible Club. (Remember how few jobs I told you there were in the last post.) These two men really knew what mattered in life. Kurt has a job with the government and is going to school to be a social worker. Kurt grew up in the area and he knew the obstacles these kids were going to have to cross in their life, but he also knew they would not be able to do it unless they had someone to encourage them along the way. Morgan was a man, who like many, grew up in church and in his teen years, strayed away. Morgan told me they he got away from church when the world started being a bigger influence in his life than the church (think about that). One of his biggest fears was the kids in the area going down the same path that he had. Both of these men took time off from work to pour their life into these kids. They knew the importance of time because someone had taken the time to show them that they mattered and now it was time to give back. For all of us, it is time to give back. If every one of you will think about it, you can think of someone in your life who took the time to show you that you mattered too. There is a world of children who are hungry for attention and my question to you is, “Will you give your Time?” If the Church does not spend time with these children, the world will and all of the money in the world won’t get them back.

Kinda went off on a rant but thats what God showed me.
More to come (minus the rants)

South African Mission Trip: "First Day on the Mission Field"

Written by Youth Pastor Scotty Jarrard;

First Day on the Mission Field


Our first day on the Mission Field was a lot like well, like a lot of first. The first day of school, the first day of a new job, and even the first date all come with this sense of unknowing, hesitation, and even fear counter acted by excitement and anticipation all wrapped up in one little bundle. I remember that one of my biggist fears was worry that the parents of these kids that we are about to work with would think, “Well here come these Americans to show us everything that we are doing wrong.” (In case you didn’t get it, Heavy Sarcasm) I really did not want these people to think that we thought that we were better than them. While in my heart, there was the excitement of just trying to make a difference in these kid’s world. (Let’s face it; everybody wants to make a difference)


As we started the drive towards Beacon Valley Baptist Church, I Started to see a different side of Cape Town, something that we are just not use to in the U.S.. Men were standing in every intersection that we passed, selling everything from fruit & vegetables to car & cellphone accessories. Without even trying, I caught myself judging these men without even thinking about it. Like a second nature act I remember saying to myself, “I wonder where they stole that stuff from.” (Don’t judge me, I’m just being honest and be honest, you probably would of thought the same thing too.) It was amazing how fast God slapped me up side the head and was quick to remind me, “You don’t know these people.”
As we got further down the road, I started to notice a whole lot more. I saw one “City Work Crew” digging a ditch that looked to be about 500 feet long, by hand, to lay a new power cable between street lights. Another “City Work Crew” was picking up trash that littered the road side as far as the eye could see. I was amazed that these work crews were working in such a way. In the U.S. we have “detainee work crews” who do these jobs or at least, that’s the way we think. Next, we came upon an intersection where what looked to be about 50 men stood waiting with water jugs and tools. About that time, a city work truck pulled up to that intersection and a city employee started handing out reflective vest. Evidently, Pastor Greg noticed me staring at the situation and proceeded to explain to me that the men who were standing at the intersection were day laborers. Every morning, these men will come out to various intersections in hopes that someone would pick them up for a day’s work. I had seen this before when I worked in Atlanta and even used some day laborers before but I have never seen this on such a large scale. Intersection after intersection, men were line up waiting and hoping for work to provide for their families. Thats when I realized that those men who were picking up trash and digging that ditch were not city workers, they were day laborers who had been picked up earlier that morning. These men wanted to work and would do whatever they had to do to make a living. 


Along the way, we noticed dog houses, picnic table, and benches that were for sale on the side of the road. When we looked a little closer, we saw two men disassembling shipping pallets. These two men were taking the wood that they salvaged from these pallets and building those dog houses, picnic tables, and benches. And guys, these were pretty nice items at that. Pastor Greg went on to explain that there was a great shortage of jobs not only in the Cape Town area but also, all of South Africa. He told us that a lot of these people were also very skilled at construction, masonry, and pretty much anything that they could do to earn an honest living. 


Don’t get me wrong, I know that we have a lot of the same situations going on here in the U.S. but, nowhere near the scale that we see in Cape Town. I also know that in Cape Town, there are a lot of people who don’t want to work just like here in the U.S. My point is simply this, before you complain about the job you have to do, the hours you have to work, or even having to go in on your scheduled days off, Thank God for the job that he has richly blessed you with cause, there is ALWAYS someone in this world who has it worse off than you do.


Part Two Coming Soon.

South African Mission Trip: "Transition"

Written by Youth Pastor Scotty Jarrard;

Let’s try this again.


Corina was not the only one there to greet us. Pastor Greg, Dr. Davis (one of Corina’s professors and an IMB Missionary), Bother Lloyd and his wife were also there to give us a very warm and compassionate welcoming to Cape Town. After we got all of our luggage loaded (you would be surprised how much luggage 10 people can accumulate), we headed to the seminary that would be our home for the next 2 weeks. As we were driving down N2 (one of their interstates), Pastor Greg and Brother Lloyd were trying to explain to me the situation of South Africa and why things were the way they were there. All of that time I tried my best to listen to what they were telling me but I found it very hard to concentrate on the conversation due to all of the things that I was seeing. Everywhere I looked alongside the road we were traveling, there were these villages made up of make shift “shacks”. These shacks were made of everything from rusted tin roofing, plastic, pallets and pretty much anything these people could find. I remember saying to myself, “how could anyone live in these things?” Here in the U.S., we put our yard tools in bigger and better sheds than these people were living in. So many things started racing through my mind but the main things that stood out the most were some of the things that people had said to me and a couple of the members of the team. “Why are you going on a mission trip to Cape Town? Isn’t that a vacation spot?” and “Why are you going there when we have so many people in need here?” That is when it really hit me, “We are a spoiled and selfish nation!” I am not trying to down play the situation that our nation is in but the truth is, if you simply live in the United States, you are among the top 15% of the richest people in the world. The U.S. has never seen poverty on the scale that we witnessed in these 2 weeks. The U.S. is up in a whirlwind about 10% unemployment and yet, we were among township where 1,000,000 people lived in an area a quarter the size of the city of Blairsville and the unemployment rate was 92% (and believe me, unlike a lot of the people in the U.S., these people really want to work but I will talk about more of that later). Once again, I know that there are a lot of bad situations in the U.S. but, when it comes to a majority of South Africa, we don’t even come a close second.

When we finally made it to the seminary, it was far from what most of us had expected. The whole place was surrounded by a 7 foot tall fence layered with constantina wire (razor wire) on top of that, with 2 steal gates entering the area. On one side of us was a type of government housing and on the side was a Squatter’s Camp (that’s what they call the villages that I spoke about on the way from the airport) separated by the interstate. (To me, the accommodations were more than I ever expected and I don’t want any of you to think that we were in any great danger or that we are something great for staying in the area we stayed. Compared to some of the other areas in Cape Town, we were in a very safe area. I am just doing my best to paint a picture for you so that you can understand the things we witnessed on the trip.) Pastor Greg asked us to just settle in for the rest of the day and try to rest because he had a very busy time planned for us. 

As we all settled in, we gathered together and tried to make sense of the things that we had seen on the way to the seminary plus, we got to hang out with Corina which was AWESOME. It was really a blessing to have her there in place because she was able to help us make sense of things around us. She amazes me the way she has made herself available to God’s will and is truly be a servant to the people of South Africa. I can remember back a year ago when Corina told me that God was calling her to Africa and I would give anything if I could have told her then, what I know now. Corina was not called to South Africa, God created her for South Africa.


More to come!

South African Mission Trip: "Arrival"

Since I am unable to speak or write about our trip at this time, I am copying writings from our Youth Pastor Scotty Jarrard;

As many of you already know, we returned back home safely late last night. Once again, I want to Thank You All for your prayers and support. Over the next couple of days, we are going to do our best to explain to you everything that God aloud us to experience. There are part that will be hard to talk about and descride but, we will do our best. So, here we go!


The morning that we arrived in Cape Town was a very rainy and dreary day. It was amazing how just a few minutes before we landed how the sun was justs starting to rise above the clouds and all was beautiful. But, as soon as we got off the plane, you could tell that the rest of the day was not going to be as beautiful as the sunrise we had just seen. 

Once we got through 
all the passport checks, costums checks, and the fearce border dog (A Beagle) sniffing around our luggage, we were greeted by one of the most beautiful sites of the whole trip, Corina Anne Spinazzola. When I saw her, it all started to rush back to me. Everything from the first time I met Corina and Colton was making fun of her last name (which I hear is still normal), to the last day that I seen Corina, a young woman determined to do what God had told her to do, as we left the airport. I have never been so proud before in my life. Here is this young woman standing before who has sacrificed everything that she knows as home, to go and take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a area where even though she knew a couple of people, she had no real friends and family there. Then it hit me, "she is doing this, she is really doing this and now, I get the chance to stand side by side with one of my students of 4 years and I get to be a part of her ministry now." I never really understood the role that God aloud me to play in her until this moment. Even though she is not my daughter, at that moment, I knew how it felt to be a dad who had watched his little girl grow up into one of the most Godly women I know.

This is harder than I thought, I will write more a little later.