Monday, July 21, 2014

Looking back and Looking forward

Looking back-
In the last few weeks we have been blessed to be a part of some pretty amazing things.  We were invited to be a part of a community “Sod turning” ceremony for the buildings that we will be working on in Hazyview with the Idaho Falls Work and Witness team and then next year with the Canada Central District.  Some of the people who will be a part of the team from Canada Central were in Swaziland on another trip and were able to come down and be a part of the ceremony.  There were lots of people from the community there, teachers from the surrounding schools, other pastors from the district, as well representatives from the Mayors office, and the Chief from that Village.   It was a privilege to be a part and to see and feel the excitement of what is going to take place and is already taking place in the community.  The Good Hope Church of the Nazarene has already done a lot to prepare for the team that is coming this week and we are excited to work alongside them and continue to work with them.  

The following week we were able to make a trip to Swaziland and meet some amazing brothers and sisters in Christ.  I am still processing everything I saw and heard and was a part of there.  The Church of the Nazarene is a part of some pretty amazing things in Swaziland from helping to care for those with AIDS/HIV; helping to prevent the spread of AIDS/HIV; elementary, high school, college, pastoral/theological and agricultural training/education.   All of this is in addition to the normal events of the local and district activities and outreaches.  It was a great week and a great time spent with some amazing people from Swaziland, South Africa, the US and Canada. 



Looking forward-


Our first Work and Witness Team arrives tomorrow evening.  We will head to the town of Hazyview South Africa until August 4th.  During our time with the team we will be working on building 4 classrooms, which will be used to train young people who have graduated high school but are not able to find jobs.  One of the classrooms will be a computer lab and the others will be used for other types of training that will help the youth find jobs.  We will also be holding a Vacation Bible School on three different afternoon/evenings.  But over and above all the tasks we want to complete is the call to love those we are serving alongside of and to love the people of the community we are going to be a part for the next two weeks.  A part of our role here in South Africa is to coordinate Work & Witness teams, but over and above those responsibilities, there is our responsibility and call to help connect people and help to build and strengthen relationships between different people but more importantly between people and God.  We are excited about the weeks to come.  Join us in prayer for the team and for the relationships that will be built and the lives that will be changed by the outreach and vision of Good Hope Church of the Nazarene. 

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