Over the past few years, we have found that people have financially supported us for various reasons. Most do it because they personally know us and love us and want to support us in that way. Some do it because a mutual friend came along and encouraged that person to get involved. Still others have a passion for Africa itself and want to see God's Kingdom come in a larger way there. What I want to do with this blog is speak to all of those people (and whatever other category you might find yourself in!) and introduce you to George and Michele Mwanza. Christina and I met George during our first year in Jeffreys Bay and became very close friends over the next few years. Michele came into the picture soon after when she married George in the summer of 2007. She is from Idaho and George grew up in a small village in Zambia. They are amazing people and head up an amazing ministry in Jeffreys Bay.
Below is a little intro to the couple and what God has called them to do in JBay, as written by Michele:
George and I are the
directors of a servant leadership program called The Leadership Experience
(LXP).LXP is an independent
ministry that George originally founded under the auspices and spiritual covering
of South Africa's Uniting Christian Student Association during the time that
their missions department, Mission Expeditions (MXP), was administering the
Beat the Drum program started by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson (author of The Prayer of Jabez).The first LXP intake began in February
2006 with the primary goal of raising up leaders for Beat the Drum, but it has
since become a program with a focus much broader than Beat the Drum alone.The students of 2009 are the fourth
group to take part in LXP.
The founding principle
of The Leadership Experience is discipleship. Due to the way the Gospel was
introduced to Africa by early missionaries and evangelists, the African
continent has been highly evangelized but with little true discipleship. The
result is a missing link between the profession of faith and the living out of
faith in practical, daily life. The effect of this has manifested itself in
corrupt leadership and governance in Africa at both secular and spiritual
levels. LXP seeks to influence change in this crisis of Africa where faith and
lifestyle fail to connect. Africa's biggest spiritual dilemma is a lack of
Godly leadership, and LXP was created to make a difference.
LXP conducts its
discipleship program through morning classroom lessons, study of the
Scriptures, prayer, outreach ministry exposure, mentorship, and the
facilitation of a variety of community-based projects.In all of this, the three main emphases
of the program are character formation,
servanthood, and basic life skills development.
George and I have been married for a year and a half.Prior to our wedding, I had been living
in Zambia (which incidentally, is George's home country), carrying out youth
discipleship programs that focused on sexual purity and HIV prevention.Because of George's leadership in Beat
the Drum-which also focuses on sexual purity-we realized during Beat the Drum
in Zambia that both of our hearts are passionate for the process of true
discipleship in people's lives.It
has been such a joy for me to join him in LXP.Having lived in Zambia for almost 5 years, I observed over
and over that the youth of Africa pray and worship with such fervency and
passion...but there are often so many inconsistencies in the outworking of their
faith in the character issues of life.In LXP we see the lives of our students rocked in so many ways as their
eyes begin to open to the deeper issues of integrity, transparency, honor in
relationships, success of the Kingdom vs. success of the world, etc.As we talk about stewardship, the students
are challenged to take action in trusting the Lord for wisdom in how to invest
into their communities even when they may not have enough personal resource to
buy toothpaste or soap for that week.It is truly a faith-based venture, for the vast majority of the
participants struggle to raise anything toward their tuition fees.But God somehow continues to provide
what is needed, and so many people of other ministries have come to believe in
the program and to support us relationally and materially where they can.
In addition to running LXP (which is now in 2½
bases and has a total volunteer staff of 10 people), we are helping to pastor
the township church called Ithemba, where many AIM volunteers have helped out
during the week with the kids programs.Also through LXP, we started a youth program called the D.o.G.s
(Disciples of God), and God's has been blowing us away by His work in the
hearts of these teenagers who are just now coming to know Him and to take
ownership of their faith.The
Presence of the Holy Spirit at our kick-off for D.o.G.s 2009 was so precious
and humbling as one by one the kids began to lift up prayers on behalf of their
families, their education, their friends, the leaders of the program, and their
relationships with Him.George and
I often feel we have bitten off more than we can chew, but as I sit here today
with a bit more sleep that usual from last night J, I am so, so thankful to be at a place where we
are seeing people really come to know Jesus and to be undergoing the process of
discipleship to ground themselves in Him.
Christina and I have so much respect for George and Michele and believe wholeheartedly in what God has called them do. As we're rolling off support at the end of the month, some of you who have been supporting us might be looking for where else the Lord would be calling you to give financial support to. Without any hesitation, we'd like to recommend George and Michele to you. You can send your tax-deductible donation to:
Boise First Community Center
3852 N. Eagle Road
Boise, Idaho 83713
On the memo line, you'll need to write something like "George and Michele Mwanza support" so that it will go where it needs to go. Thank you so much for you commitment to us, and I know that the Mwanza's will be humbled and grateful for it as well.
When I was in seminary, I fell into the most amazing community I've ever known. It started on my first day of classes when a guy asked if I wanted to come over for a Bible study that night, and continued on as a group of us met every week for the entire three years I spent at Fuller. We laughed together, cried together, had disagreements, worked it out, hung out all the time. Later, these guys were first on the call list in good times and bad, the highlight of a visit to a conference in their area, and groomsmen and ushers in my wedding. This kind of community and fellowship I never thought I'd find again.
Since we've been in CO Springs, however, I have been blown away with how the Lord has blessed me with something very similar. Not only do Christina and I meet with the large group (anywhere from 12-20) weekly, but I meet with all of the guys on Monday mornings so that we can lift each other up in prayer and encouragement. I've been able to have conversations about my marriage, my life, my theology. We've been skiing together, and I've been offered moving help, carpentry work, and basically free car repair.
And while I value this so much, my heart breaks a little when I realize how rare this phenomenon of community truly is. The more I learn about God, the more I am convinced that He desires this for all of His children. He Himself exists solely in community as the Trinity, and cannot possibly exist outside of that. Yet, we, God's own children, insist that we are fine on our own and seem to choose independence over INTERdependence time and time again. Somehow we've been taught that leaning on others for anything is a sign of weakness, and that may be true, but nowhere do I read in Scripture that God has a disdain for weakness. In fact, over and over again, He speaks of weakness as an incredibly positive trait, one that is absolutely necessary in order for us to truly experience life as He intends for us to experience it.
So I'm pretty excited for what the Lord has gifted us with in this new-found community. I'm fully aware that we're still in the honeymoon phase, and that there will be rocky times in our relationships with each other. But I know that's just how community works, and the immense joy and pleasure that comes from this blessing will be more than enough to pull us through. Because this is something worth fighting for, something that I know God desires for us, and something that will be even more amazing than it is now.
Christina and I have been here for three weeks now, and the
Lord has been pouring on blessing after blessing since we arrived.After a whirlwind tour of houses and
townhomes in the first few days, we found an amazing house that was everything we
were looking for - great space, perfect location (which includes an incredible
view of Pike's Peak from our backyard!), not to mention an awesome
landlord.He was more than willing
to work with us on the price, and even held the house for us when someone else
came in with a better offer!Such
a blessing!
Needless to say, we were more than happy to sign a year
lease, which may not seem like a long time, but considering the longest we've
ever been in one consecutive house was our first place in Philly, which was
only nine months.This lack of
stability has been really tough for both of us to deal with for this long, so
knowing that we'll be in one place - one home - is such a huge comfort.
Finally, the community that we've come into has been yet
another amazing blessing from the Lord that we're treasuring.There are a number of other couples
that are here as well that we're already beginning to form some strong bonds
with.There's a desire amongst all
of us to truly see the Kingdom come and it's been really exciting to start down
this road already with them.
We still feel like the Lord is calling us to rest until the
end of March, which means that we're still depending on support through that
time.We're really close to
reaching that mark, but still need about $2000 to be fully supported for the
next six weeks.We've been
astounded that, even in these tough economic times, God has continued to prove
Himself faithful in this area, and we're confident He will not stop now.If you'd like to support us, either
financially or in prayer (or both!), click the link on the left side of the
page and you can do it online.
It has been clear from the beginning that the Lord has led
us here and we are so thrilled that He has!We are sure that when our time here is up, we will have
written about testimony upon testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness, so
stay tuned!
It's the beginning of the end...I think. We've been moving around so much over the past three years, I'm actually afraid to type that. It seems almost too good to be true, and you know what they say about those situations. Nevertheless, we're leaving for CO in a little less than an hour, and going to our new home. While being with our families and seeing some good friends has been truly refreshing and wonderful, we're both looking forward to getting into our own place in a fantastic city with some amazing people.
As we leave for CO Springs, we still don't have a place to live. Thankfully, however, Gary and Lisa Black (the couple that will mentoring us while we're out there), are leaving for Africa on Monday and are allowing us to house-sit for them, being parental stand-ins to their SIX kids (quickie parenthood, here we come!) for the next couple of weeks. This is awesome because it allows us some place to lay our heads for the short-term while we look for a place to lay our heads for the long-term. We would really appreciate your prayers for us in this process, as we look for a home that we can use for the glory of God. We've got some really great choices out there, but we want to be obedient and sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit as we make our decision.
Along the way, we'll be stopping and staying with friends in Nashville and Kansas City, which will be great. It's so wonderful to know that our ever-expanding network of friends affords us the opportunity of seeing people that we love wherever we go. Then we'll be landing in CO Springs on Saturday. Please pray for travel mercies for us. The Lord was so good to us last summer, keeping us from any issues, and we just pray the same for this trip.
Finally, we ask for your prayers for this new phase of our lives. It seems a little unnerving to move into this without much of a clue of what exactly it is that we've moving into. But we're confident that God has gone ahead of us, and is so excited for us to arrive and step into His plans there in CO. We appreciate how each of you walks alongside of us as well in this and can't wait to give you updates from the Rocky Mountains!
We've been back in the States for over two weeks now. Honestly, it's a little surreal. I had my first Starbucks right when we got off the plane and have been frequenting the one closest to my mother-in-law's house here in Bethesda. Since we've gotten back, our lives have consisted of getting cell phones, switching insurances, looking for places to live in Colorado, and seeing family and friends. I must admit, there have been more than a few times that I have been clueless about things going on the States - restaurants, TV shows, whatever - and had to blame it on being in Africa.
We had a great Christmas with my mother-in-law, Carol, and her husband, and rang in the New Year with some friends and their eight-month old twin girls. It has been nice to celebrate the holidays in cold weather, though. Save the cold that I got going from 90 degrees to 17 degrees in a 24-hour span, bundling up for the first time in almost three years has been a more welcome change than I thought it would be.
We head out to Colorado in a few weeks, however, and it's more than a little unnerving. Both Christina and I know for sure that it was time to leave South Africa, and that Colorado is where we need to go next. But that's about all we've got right now. We're not really sure how long Colorado is going to be part of our lives, or what really is next. That's really what this next step is for, to search the heart of God and listen to what He's got for us, but it seems like He's been revealing what He has for us in smaller increments all the time.
I guess this means that the dependence level in that area has to increase from here on out. This requires much more than an occasional "check-in" to make sure that God's still there and we're doing OK. This requires an ongoing, every day, leaning on Him, not just for the small stuff, but for the big stuff as well. Honestly, my flesh isn't such a big fan of this approach, especially when it becomes my reality. Ironically, I remember how many times I've preached that to my FYM students - our infamous "ATL" (Ask The Lord) exercises - so now it seems like it's time to practice what we preach.
When Christina and I started our unbelievably long road trip last summer, pulling away from her mother's house, Christina looked at me and said, "Here we go, babe!" That phrase was repeated at the beginning of our second day, and then again on our third day, our fourth day, and so on. It began to be something we'd say to each other almost jokingly, as we seemed to always be in the car throughout those summer months.
But we leave JBay for the last time Sunday morning, and so the phrase seems more poignant for this occasion than it ever has. We spent today saying goodbye to so many people, turning the page from this chapter in our lives, and a new week brings a completely new thing. We can't begin to describe how excited we are for this new start - time to reconnect with family as we make our way out to Colorado in January, which offers time to rest and process what the Lord has done in our lives while we've been here, and what we do with that moving forward. We also will have some extremely intentional time learning (again, for the first time) what it means to be married, spending a good deal of time working on our relationship with each other. We came here nine months into our marriage, consequently missing out on the value that "normalcy" can bring to a newlywed couple. So there's so much to look forward to, and we are anxious to grab every part of it.
At the same time, leaving here is tougher than either of us thought. The friendships that God has given to us since we arrived here three Septembers ago are precious, and the possibility of seeing any of them ever again this side of heaven is very much up in the air. So the separation, the ending even, of all of these relationships as we've known them, has proven to be extremely difficult.
But the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds that "for everything there is a season." So we walk in that, knowing that the Lord will never desert us, and trusting that He has gone ahead of us, and so our main responsibility is to be obedient. God is calling us out of this season and into a completely and utterly new season. We have little idea of what this new season will be like, but we know that, if nothing else, it will definitely be an adventure. So..."Here we go!"
I got a compliment the other day. It might not be considered a compliment for many people, but I've learned that in this job, "normal" is turned on its head. It's difficult to share much of what goes on in ministry for me, as most of my ministry happens in the personal times with my two guys, Davie and Blair, which aren't exactly appropriate to post in a public context. I've been discipling these guys all semester, and have seen some amazing growth in both of them. It's been so encouraging to see how they have opened themselves up to what the Lord has for them, knowing that they would be led into uncomfortable places and been forced to discard what they might have believed for a long time in order to accept the truth that God presents them with.
Anyway, after a particularly good chat with Davie, he went back and changed his Facebook status to "Davie Ingram is officially screwed up...thanks Chris." He also told me that as he came back onto the UCSA base, where they all stay, he ran into Blair, who asked him how he was doing. "I'm pretty messed up," was Davie's response. "Chris Via strikes again," was Blair's comment back at Davie.
In any other job, I think, this conversation would not be something to pat myself on the back about. If I were in a business setting, and one of my employees mentioned that I really messed him up, there would be a definite problem that would need to be fixed. Or if I were in the service industry, and a customer came away saying the kind of things that Davie and Blair were saying about me, I probably wouldn't have a job for very much longer. Even if I were a normal teacher, I would know that I were doing my job effectively if my pupil was given illumination, not further confusion.
To be honest, though, that's one of the things I love about what I do, and about how God works. Our God is in the business of healing and restoration - the whole of Scripture speaks to it. We are a world broken individuals, and the Lord is on a constant quest to heal us of our brokenness and bring us closer to Him and more into the men and women that He calls us to be. This is rarely an easy thing, as it causes to give up ways that we know, that we find comfortable, that we even cling to. And as the Lord continues His healing process, discomfort inevitably ensues, because we've never come in contact with a love quite like this in our lives - a love that accepts us where we are, but constantly calls us higher, knowing that it's always for our good, and for the glory of God. Consequently, if I'm being faithful to the responsibility that God has given me, I can't allow my guys to be comfortable.
So when I hear Davie and Blair "bemoan" their less than static lives, I can only smile and know that I'm fulfilling the call that God has on my life. And, from my own experience, I know that the lack of stability that these guys are going through right now is bringing them to a deeper understanding of who they are, and, more importantly, who God is.
We leave in less than three weeks. Even as I type that it's difficult to believe. Within 20 days from now we'll have closed a very significant chapter in our lives, both individually and as a couple. And while I'd by lying if I said that I wasn't excited to go home, I know full well that JBay is going to be a very difficult place to leave. I've already started my goodbyes and they haven't been easy in the slightest. Christina and I are beginning to look at things in the context of, "This is the last time we'll do this." We're looking at restaurants to make sure we get out last meal in there. We're making appointments with ministry partners not just to get their feedback on how our students did there, but to give a personal "thank you" for their partnership as well as their friendship for the past two and a half years.
Christina with one of our friends from Ithemba In the center is Jaap, our Joshua Project partner
But as hard as this is, I can take comfort in knowing that long after we are gone, God will remain here. God has amazing plans for this town, I know it, and we have been privileged to be a part of those amazing plans. We can definitely see a change in this town since we arrived over two years, and it's more than just the landscape. We've seen changed lives, changed hearts, and even changed businesses. And we know that what the Lord has started, He will continue on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Php 1:6). And we know also that there's so much more that we can't even see - progression towards the Kingdom of God that will be brought to fruition sometime in the future.
Our good friends, George and Michelle Me with one of my closest friends, Kevin
That's one of the things I love about God. He doesn't need to use us, but He wants to. Would what the Lord want to have happened to JBay have happened whether we had come here or not two years ago? I believe that in some way, shape, or form that it would have. But He chose me and Christina to work alongside of Him in bringing His glory to this place. He knew that what He had planned here was so fantastic and, being God, couldn't keep Himself from wanting to share that fantastic-ness (I know that's not a word, but go with me here) with His children. And during it all, He's blessed us with some amazing friendships, community, and a deeper love for each other than we would have known otherwise.
Until our departure date on the 21st, however, we will continue to work here with the full knowledge that God hasn't finished using us yet. That there's still more for us to do here. As challenging as it is to not look ahead to what's next, we know that we are still called here. So we would appreciate your prayers for perseverance to finish strong, relishing every last moment, acknowledging that it comes from the Lord because of His love for us.
Our week of "Beat the Drum" in Somerset East was fabulous! We were tired at the end of the week, but we saw so much fruit so we know it was worth it. Over 120 volunteers from different ministries in Jeffrey's Bay landed in this small town to bring a message of hope to school students, farm workers and prison inmates. We used the movie "Beat the Drum" to spark conversations about HIV, AIDS and abstinence by using a 5 day curriculum that integrates the truth of the disease and the Gospel. By the end of the week hundreds of students received Jesus in their hearts and made a commitment for abstinence. We also held a free clinic to get tested for HIV and over 300 Somerset residents came to find their status. We praise God that nearly 90% of those that got tested were NEGATIVE! That is impressive considering we were in a neighboring town of the highest HIV rate in the world. God is on the move and is bringing redemption to His people. It was a blessing to be a part of His story, even if just for a week.
The follow pictures and captions give a few highlights and points of interest of our time in Somerset East.
Above is the hall that we showed the movie "Beat the Drum" in for over 1,000 students. We had to "black bag" the room before we showed the movie with trash bags to make the room dark! It was quite a process. The students loved the movie and remembered it the whole week as we were working through the curriculum book. We know it made a significant impact on their lives by the questions they asked and the commitments they made in the end of the week for abstinence and salvation.
These are some of the students from Aeroville High School that watched the movie and got to work through the curriculum for the week of school we were there! The mountains is the view from the field behind the school. The Aeroville students were intrigued by us coming all the way from America, as volunteers, to bring the truth about HIV, AIDS and Jesus. They said no one has ever done that for them and they were extremely grateful.
These are some of the students that we showed the movie to at a Jr. High School grades 6,7. Sadly these are the chairs, if you can call them that, they had to sit on if they got to sit at all. The room was packed tight with sweaty bodies, but their eyes were locked on the movie. Afterwards several students made decisions to receive Jesus in their hearts and abstain from sex until marriage.
This is the view of Somerset East where over 120 volunteers descended to present the movie and curriculum of
Beat the Drum. It was a beautiful town where the people welcomed us with open arms and were extremely receptive the message of abstinence, the Gospel, and the truth about HIV and AIDS. Each volunteer stayed in host families homes which was such a blessing to get to know the culture and understand the real need in Somerset East.
One day there was a water main break so this truck full of water came out to the township we were working in to provide water for the community. The residents walked about 30 minutes towards the center of town, lined up with their buckets and bowls to carry water back to their home for who knows how many more days until the pipeline was fixed. Each person was only allowed 1 bucket of water. Even then, the residents in the township don't have running water in their own homes. Their water supply is from a local tap in which the whole community has to share.
On the left is the church that became our "Beat the Drum base" for the week. On the right is our team that volunteered for the week. Chris and I are in there somewhere, promise! We had morning prayer, evening worship sessions, afternoon debrief meetings and many meals inside the hall of this church. We are so thankful for the many people that allowed us to serve in Somerset East for the week and provided housing, meals, contacts, transportation, schools to minister in, and amazing support for the message of the program. Many of the students are hoping to go back to Somerset East next semester for a follow-up trip to see how the school students are doing with their commitments to Jesus and to purity. Thank you to ALL who made this trip possible.
An estimated
24.5 million adults and children were living with HIV or AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2005. Since then, an estimated 2.7 million additional persons have acquired HIV.
During 2005, an estimated
2 million people died from AIDS. The epidemic has left behind some
12 million orphaned African children.
In South Africa alone, an estimated 5,500,000 people are living with HIV or AIDS.
The most devastating part of these statistics is that the majority
of people living with HIV don't even know it. Therefore they continue
living out a normal lifestyle and thus infecting even more people.
In
Africa, if someone does know they are infected with HIV, they don't
admit it. They will blame their sickness on TB, pneumonia, or even a
curse from witchcraft. Worse yet, if they do admit they have HIV or
AIDS, they will be totally ostracized by friends, family, neighbors and
even churches.
This epidemic is killing our brothers and sisters in Christ but is kept
a secret. It's time for this generation to rise up and reveal the
secret that is breaking God's heart and breaking apart Africa. That's
why Beat the Drum was implemented.
"Beat the Drum" is a movie created in 2004 by
Dr. Bruce Wilkinson that illustrates the many misconceptions about
AIDS. It is a deeply moving film and has won many international awards.
After the movie was finished,
Wilkinson began a massive campaign to teach and train African young people about
HIV and AIDS. With the help of many US and African college students,
the message of AIDS prevention and the gospel was shared in every high
school in Swaziland. The volunteers spent a week in the schools, using
the movie as a ministry tool, teaching and training young people about
the truth of AIDS. The results were dramatic. Young people all over
were committing their lives to Christ and committing to abstinence
until marriage.
This week the Beat the Drum movement is going to Somerset East, a small town about 3 hours northeast of JBay. Our whole team is committed to volunteer. Over 120
volunteers will descend upon this town with the message of the gospel
and the truth about HIV and AIDS. We too will use the movie to teach
young people that this epidemic is real but can also be controlled. We
have an opportunity to go into schools, health clinics, hospitals, prisons, farms, and even
peoples' homes in which we'll be staying to share two very powerful messages. We are blessed and
excited, but we need your help.
We need you to pray for this campaign that it would be
received and effective. Pray for us that we would communicate clearly
and speak in love. Pray that hearts will be committed to Christ and
behavior to abstinence. Pray that God's glory and love will be shown.
Please join with us in this daunting, yet
exciting, effort by praying for us this week of Oct 10-Oct 18. If
you want to know more about Beat the Drum, please visit the web site, www.beatthedrum.net or go rent the movie, "Beat the Drum" which should be at a Blockbuster near you.
Tomorrow we are leaving for this "Beat the Drum" outreach to Somerset East. Please be in prayer for us and thank you for all your support for us in this effort and for this ministry.
