The Journey: 2007

(L-R me, Anna-RSA intern,Janelle FL intern)

Well, it’s been quite awhile since I last wrote….though the silence has been lengthy it is by no means an indication of how frequently I think of and pray for you.

Things have been quite busy in my little corner of the world; and I found it difficult to keep up with things like letter writing in the midst of all the “action”. Though I know you kind of got left out of the loop your prayers were effective as, over the last several months we have seen some incredible blessings.

South Africa Boot Camp

(registration day)

This past December-January we held the 2006-2007 South Africa Boot Camp. For the first time we had an eight team Boot Camp and had 169 team members and leaders. This being my second boot camp here I wasn’t quite as green as last year but I still have a lot to learn! The addition two teams this year also created more responsibility. We were rather…anxious to see how our recruitment efforts would “pay off” as registration day began on Dec. 9^th. Evangelism isn’t all about numbers but from an administrative side you need a certain number of people per team….that number was not only reached but surpassed…by exactly nine! We were all so excited to see such a huge answer to many many prayers…thank you for praying with us!

And so Boot Camp was off and running…quite literally. We continue to make a few changes to the program every year in an effort to get the camp to the place we believe it can be….for the most part the changes we made this year were accepted quite well. We’re finally getting things disciplined and organized and though it’ll take us a couple more years to really get it all down…it’s great to see God at work.

We were full to capacity and certainly felt the strain in some areas….such as having to run this year without an adequate water supply. The adventures with the river pump continued and two months after the pump first broke down we still remained without water. It was a frustrating ordeal to say the very least. Yet even in this, God provided through a local farmer who allowed us to drive to his property and fill up one of our smaller JoJo tanks (a water storage tank) each morning. It was a blessing that we had the JoJo tank as hauling the minimum amount of water needed (5,000ltrs) would have been a challenge with out it.

Also in December, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Bland, we received a new truck that Teen Missions purchased for the base here. It’s a four ton Toyota Dyna, similar to the ones the base in Zambia use. We are all quite excited at this major answer to prayer! Not a moment too soon I might add. The timing was perfect.

Throughout the entire time of preparation and as the day drew near to start Boot Camp we stood in awe as God answered and met needs exactly when we needed them most. Not a moment earlier…but never late! Thank you so much for praying with us over these requests!

Before we knew it Commissioning Day arrived and Project Time was upon us. Stewart Bailey and I took turns driving the teams out to their various project sites. The Ag/Ev team was by far the most remote. Getting them there was quite the ordeal. I still have not totally adapted to the way directions are given here…I was told to take the road that went up the mountain….road? What road? There was no road! “The road” was this little semi- cleared footpath through a dried up riverbed. Trees, fence posts and cattle corrals on the left and a huge crater-like crack in the earth large enough to swallow tires on the right…going straight up the x mountain…it was….well, let’s just say I was glad my parents weren’t there! Coming down was a whole lot more fun. (In The Picture: The staff and students on BMW Graduation Day)

We had a really amazing response to evangelism this year. In total the teams saw over a thousand decisions made for Christ. The teams all had many stories and experiences to share but there were a couple that really stood out to me and I’d like to share those with you.

Stories from the South African Teams
The first came from the Clown team located in a large village called Shoshanguve. They endured quite a bit of hostility. Every night this lady and some of her friends would chuck large stones and anything else they could find and would yell and curse the team as they tried to have evening devotions. They eventually moved this inside the church building but still the villagers would throw rocks at the tin building and curse…making quite the racket. Finally the head leader for the team and the pastor went to talk to the lady and ask her to leave them alone. It turned out that the lady was involved in witchcraft. While she didn’t accept Christ she did listen whilst the pastor shared the Gospel with her and she left the team alone after that.

(In the Picture: 2006-2007 BC Picture)

The Choir team located in a village called Moloto also had a difficult time. Several times they were physically threatened and were forced out of areas as people refused to listen.

Other teams reported similar experiences of hostility from villagers who were either drunk or involved in witchcraft. A reminder of just how dark some of these villages really are.

The Ag/Ev team had the project of building gardens for a church that runs an AIDS center. The head leader shared the following story with me:

Bhokitso, a little boy who was about 7 years old, orphaned by AIDS, he had huge sores on his legs and was starving. Bhokitso showed up one night long after the center had closed, the head leader found him sleeping, naked on a rock near the building. Team members gave some of their own clothes and shoes to him, the team fed him a meal and invited him to sleep with them as the clinic opened early the next morning. Bhokitso stayed through evening devotions with the team. Apparently he was very interested and asked many questions. One of the team members led him to the Lord. As it neared time for lights Bhokitso didn’t want to sleep in one of the tents with the guys because, he said, he was afraid the clinic people would come and he’d miss them. He had three younger sisters down the mountain who were too sick to come with him and he was trying to get help for them. He resisted every attempt the team made to spend the night with them and stayed instead on the rock by the building. The next morning the head leader found out that when the government worker arrived at the building she found Bhokitso had died in the night.

As heart wrenching as Bhokitso’s story is but one of literally thousands of other children, abandoned either due to AIDS or other illness or simply because the parents lack the means to care for them. Alone, without help, these children, like Bhokitso, rarely live to adulthood. This story renewed a growing sense of great urgency to “do more” to proclaim Christ and reach out to these children. Thankfully, for Bhokitso, his last night on earth lead him to a peaceful, joyous entry into heaven where he is no longer alone, no longer hungry, no longer afraid. I look forward to meeting Bhokitso one day and praising the name of our Father together.

Debrief came and went in sort of a hazy blur. At some point during the two and half week field time I picked up typhoid. As a result…Debrief wasn’t very much fun as I battled being quite ill. Typhoid isn’t much more fun than malaria…I’d just as soon not have a repeat of either! Thankfully the staff members did a good job of stepping in for me and helped hold things together. We had 16 team members bridge the gap this year committing their lives to full time Christian service.

It was an incredible month and though it didn’t all go “perfectly” we saw God work in ways that only He could have.

Lessons Learned

Throughout all the busyness of Boot Camp and the preparations leading up to it I kept returning to II Corinthians 4 in devotions. It’s a passage that’s taken on particular meaning over the last several months.

(In the Picture: The Union Buildings)

“For what we preach is not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves (merely) as your sevants for Jesus’ sake. For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as (to beam forth) the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God (as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ). However, we possess this previous treasure) the divine Light of the Gospel) in (frail, human) vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.” II Cor. 4:5-7

Paul often said in his letters to the churches that he would boast, not in his abilities, but in his weakness. Something I’ve thought a lot about recently and as I put it in to context with these verses realized that the only way for light to shine out through a jar was if it was transparent. Often times there is a tendency to have everything tied up in a perfect package…rather than to be transparent and real. I’ve been really stressed out recently, since Debrief actually, because I’ve been trying to have everything be “perfect”. The long and the short of it is…. perfection is rarely ever reached. And being a perfectionist……well, it isn’t always easy for me to accept the fact that I can always do everything perfectly.

I’d like to think I’ve learned this and have it “down” however I have a feeling this will be a lesson I continue to learn throughout the rest of my life. In understanding this, I realized the humility but also the transparency it took for John the Baptist to say “He must increase, I must decrease”. A mantra that certainly goes against the “grain” of society….yet one that I’m learning holds deep, rich, life altering truth.

When Christ is the center, the source, and the motivating factor .not only will we have all we need to do what He has asked but He will hold it all together and perfect our efforts…establishing the work of our hands. As Hudson Taylor so rightly spoke “God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

So in my anything-but-perfect moments… when it’s all too apparent for everyone to see that I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t have it all together….Christ bridges the gap. “That the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.”

It’s been a rather hard two months as I’ve tried to deal with a couple really disappointing situations and I’ve been rather heartbroken over the ramifications. Although it has been difficult, it’s also been very very good. These difficulties have brought additional depth in my understanding of Christ and a greater realization of just how utterly dependant upon Him I am…and need to be. The Amplified version of the Bible defines the word “trust” as “lean on, depend on, rely on.” A definition that has kind of become my personal challenge.

Future Goals and Prayer Requests

The last two years here in South Africa have been unlike anything I have ever before experienced. Two years ago, I would have told you this was crazy. Now…. whilst my sanity still may be in question….We have seen the undeniable power, provision and protection of an Almighty, All-faithful God….and being in a position to allow His “surpassing power” to shine through and accomplish His will….well folks, I wouldn’t choose to be any where else. To say it’s a privilege to be here seems rather an understatement. Especially when we look ahead to what lies in store for the work here over the next two years.

The ministry here has grown so much over the last few months…in spite and often as a result of the difficulties, challenges and trials. We are blessed with a solid core group of young staff members who are willing to learn and grow right along with the ministry. Daily I am thankful for each one and for the gifts, talents and determination they bring. Throughout these long months as we have worked side by side; it has been incredible to see growth and maturity come, not only in my own life but in theirs as well. Each obstacle has only served to strength and refine and prepare us for the opportunities that lie ahead.

To share a few goals for the next several months with you….

Opportunities to “do more” are coming up and the next couple years will be very exciting ones as we see the Lord lead us into new avenues of ministry through the AIDS Orphans and Street Children program. We have also begun training with Child Evangelism Fellowship and are excited about having these new skills to use as a part of the out reaches the BMW students do each term.

Partnerships with local churches and like-minded ministries are growing: opening up opportunities for further recruitment for the BMW school as well as for next year’s Boot Camp.

This year we hope to see the enrollment for the school increase and to lay the foundation for future Orphan Rescue Units- which we hope to possibly begin establishing in 2008, Lord willing. We are also going to organize a foot washing out reach to a local village in April. The details are still being worked out and the location isn’t yet final as the area we are wanting to target is a largely Islamic and getting in there for a whole week isn’t exactly easy. If we can get in for that length of time and work however, it will open doors for future outreaches to the area and those surrounding it.

As we move forward in expanding and establishing the work of the Lord here in South it is my prayer that it will be said of us that we are leaning on, depending on, and relying on “the surpassing greatness of the power” of God to work in and through us to accomplish His will here.

Obviously your continued partnership with us in the work here is coveted and valued highly. We look forward to the great things God will do here…and in sharing it all with you!

US Team

I will be returning to the United States in early June of this year to lead the Safari Choir Team which will be here in South Africa. Currently I’m working to set up all the locations to which this American team will travel.

I’m so excited about the US team and the impact that they will have here. Please lift the team members and leaders up in prayer.

Deputation
I’ll be in the US from August 25^th until October 1^st. My brother Matt is getting married on September 29^th so I’ll be in Indiana for the wedding. I am scheduling trips to Iowa, Merritt Island, South Carolina and other states. So if you’re interested in getting together and catching up or in having me share with your church youth group, Sunday school etc. please feel free to contact me.

Please use the following information to contact me regarding setting up time during my deputation time:

Phone (812) 579-9115

Email andrea4him@gmail.com

Please also pray for the staff and students here at the base whilst I’m away traveling with the team and then in the US.

It has been an incredible two years here in South Africa and we expect the next two years and on to hold much more. It is a privilege to labor alongside you as we partner together in the work here in South Africa and I remain humbled by your continual prayer on our behalf. Thank you for being so willing to invest your time and resources into the work here. I look forward to seeing you and being able to share with you more of what the Lord is doing here through you.

Thanks again for all that you have done and continue to do.

A Soldier of the Cross;

Andrea Barbour

The Journey

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Check out my Slide Show!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Time is Flying!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Pictures from Hartbeesport ...My new favorite spot!

Saturday, March 17, 2007

March 2007

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Trying to catch up....

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