South Africa - Running Diary - Part IV

I lazily attempted to keep a running diary of my daily events during our trip to South Africa. What follows below is that lazy attempt. The words in quotes are the actual things I wrote in my journal, followed by a brief description (if necessary) to describe the words I wrote and the significance behind them. Whenever possible, I tried to document the time (local time depending on what time zone I was in) at which these events occurred. Hope that makes at least some sense…enjoy.

Wednesday, January 20th – 7:50 am: “Elementary school – Smart Kids – Sin” A small child answered ‘Sin is when we disappoint God’, to the question, ‘What is sin?’ Another child said ‘Sin is what separates us from God’. These children were no more than 9 years old, but already they understood the consequences for their actions…this just blew me away…Katy was near tears after hearing there little voices speak such big words. In a school that wasn’t even able to afford to pay their phone bill, a drive-way that was solid mud and potholes, in an old building we all stood with the lights off, most likely because it was a cost savings they could desperately use somewhere else, we listened to these children explain their understanding of God’s love for them…and we saw that they understood what that meant, even through their less than stellar living situations. Again, these small children have so much to teach us…

Wednesday, January 20th – 10:15 am: “Traveled 10,000 miles to meet myself”. In the Joburg Prison – Section F, stood a man who was no different than me. I was given the opportunity again to share my story to all the men who showed up to see us that day. It was an odd morning there, to say the least. We set up our equipment in an outdoor courtyard…a courtyard that was still very wet from a rain shower that had soaked the area just hours before. Due to this, there was standing water everywhere…there was a disconnect between us and the inmates…and it created this ‘less than intimate’ setting for us to worship with and speak with these men. There was this uncomfortable and forced feeling throughout the worship music, then it was my turn to speak. I grabbed the microphone and began to share a bit of what God had done in my life and could do in theirs. Through the awkwardness of the setting, I completely left out the main point I wanted to share…that I tried over and over to quit drinking, but every time I tried, I failed. Ultimately, it was God who changed me…put people and things in my life that would help rid me of my addiction. Forgetting this and wrapping up, I handed the microphone off to the next person, went and stood with the rest of our group against a brick wall, and immediately felt disappointment; anger and sadness fill me as I realized that through all the confusion, I had left out the primary point I wanted to discuss. I leaned against that wall and sulked, felt I had ruined a great opportunity to share something that perhaps a few of these men needed to hear…I missed a great opportunity to show how great, powerful and redeeming God really is. I had an obligation, and I ruined it, I felt. It wasn’t until later that I reminded yet again just how redeeming God could be. After singing another song with these men, we went out and met with them, talking with them about life, prison, and ultimately, Jesus. Katy and I came up to one man who greeted us with a huge smile…he was so thankful that we traveled so far to meet with them…to meet with him. His name was Alex. He told Katy and I that he was in prison because he has a drinking problem, he’s an alcoholic. This struck my curiosity a bit. He said that over and over again, he tried to quit drinking, but couldn’t do it on his own. He felt that there was now no way he could do it on his own…he knew who he was…he knew he was weak. Needless to say, by now he had my full attention. He went on to tell us that he surrendered his life to Christ, and asked God to take away this horrible addiction of his. It was then that he was thrown in prison for his drinking which led to an assault. The clarity in these events was seen by both Alex and myself…God had put something in his life to keep him from drinking…God had put Alex in prison…to detox. The joy and gratitude Alex had for this was astounding. He was able to see the purpose for the bad things in his life now…he was able to see that God had a plan for him all along…he saw the great things God does in situations most people would classify as bad. God put Alex in prison, and he fell at God’s feet rejoicing Him. We talked for a good 20 minutes, discussed how similar our stories were. Then…it was over. We left. As I exited the prison gates I stopped…I grabbed Katy…and I wept. God had redeemed me yet again. Just 30 minutes earlier I stood against a brick wall and sulked because I felt I had ruined a great opportunity…then God showed me yet again why He’s God. He took me half way around the world to show me a mirror…to have me meet a man who was no different than me…a man who shared a greatly similar story to that of mine. God showed us both why there is hope in this world, why certain things happen in our lives, why nothing in coincidence, why everything is spiritual…

Wednesday, January 20th – 4:10 pm: “The saddest thing I’ve ever seen.” If it wasn’t for complete embarrassment on my part, that photo I would have taken would have been the most fitting image of anything I saw on our trip…the one image that captured the poverty, pain, hurt and anguish in our world, and the urgency to be His hands and feet. A 5-year-old squatted with his pants down, barefoot on a cool, damp afternoon over a tin pan on a dirt path…this was his restroom, and the daily news was his toilet paper. We walked by as he looked at us, and yet we were the ones feeling embarrassment. It was a heartbreaking image, to say the least. I wanted to take a picture of this wrenching moment, but couldn’t bring myself to putting a camera through that sadness. So, that’s why I’m writing about it instead. As Kyle always says to anyone who goes on a mission trip and witnesses these things, “now, we are all responsible”. Yes…yes we are…