Ekhaya.......

Yes, home.......

Back amongst bitter winter chills, whirling cyclones of icycle stalagmites, tight jaws raw gusts impaling your jacket on your body like flags clinging to patriots, safely mitts, scarves and balaclavas make the impassible possible............

all but worth it if not for family ties that hold you down when you lost floundering, warmth of a hug, of a well placed smile, of a dap, of a hand gripped in brotherly solidarity, of a prayer offered in your behalf, of a love that unfailingly surrounds you > this is the sun in an existence that is thirsty for heat, this is my heart, this is family

Blessd

Greetings I bring from Jah....

Hey Famz,

how r u? TIngs here are kool. Very busy right now because i depart for the land of the frozen sun soon - Dec 16th. Before then there's lots to do here - connect with peoples (esp my church famz), set things in motion for Interns coming and going and i'm helping out at a 4 day conference here called the Gospel and the Arts. One of the tracks for it is Poetry and there has been space made for me to facilitate it - nuff prayer for guidance in my preparation would be nuff appreciated! Any recommendations in terms of poetry to share with the people is also welcomed.

Ya, life is nice right now by God's grace.....although i find myself wishing i wasn't leaving so soon because there's still so much going here that i don't really want to put on hold......yet i can't wait to be at home again! that's what happens when you develop more than one home i guess. It's all good, God's timing is PERFECT!

Just a little aside:

That picture is from Hillbrow, Jozi. That's one of the most hectic places on this planet! I was actually luvin the joint - there's so much life, so much vibrancy and activity. It's an innercity suburb with a high immigrant population and was there because........one of my friends insisted i buy some sausages from a store she last visited 6 years ago (it was apparently under an Indian restaurant - there are no Indian restaurants within a 6 mile radius of Hillbrow......didn't find the sausages).

Well that building has a sign in the windows reading "Afro Kombs College....." - thought that was funked up. On my way out though i rolled up on a car from which 4 gunmans spontaneously jumped out and booked down the road after which 2 nex mans jumped in the whip and bimmed - all in front of a police cab at 12 noon. I made the block in probably 7 mins and by the time i came back everything was normal - you wouldn't know something jus happend. Was high drama - but this is what Hillbrow is known for.

Anyways Family, we don't glorify the brokeness, violence, anger and sin in this world; we give glory to the One who is the Answer, the Messiah full of grace and truth.

In Jesus,

Luv

Durbz and back again....

From last Thursday through to Sunday we had an outreach happening in Durban.....it was incredible.

We have a church plant that was essentially started by 3 women who attended our Easter Convention and decided they wanted some of what we have out here in PMB, out there in Durbz. Those three women have been amazing in how they have mobilized their communities and been the channels through which so much has taken place out there.

The outreach was in a set of flats called Kenneth Gardens (flats are like apartment buildings to us, but only 3 levels high). We did tent style evangelism which had never been done in that community. We typically had a healing clinic (prayer for the sick, etc.) in the mornings, a children's program in the afternoon then an evangelistic meeting in the evenings. There was quite a bit of time between each of these things which was time used interacting with the community one-on-one, prayer walking, etc.

This was unlike any other mission i'd been on because God began to really open my eyes to the brokeness of the people we met. There was such a deep, deep hunger for God; so many were in crisis experiences and didn't know where to turn. So many were desperate for help; i personally counselled quite a few people who were begging us to stay in the community longer because of the need. There is a lot of work to be done there in following up; we actually had 70 people make commitments to the Lord over the 4 days and we're already challenged with the capacity to nurture them. We could really, really use y'alls prayer support for that.

Yup, back in PMB now at my desk trying to create some good infrastructure for the Intern Programme. There is also going to be a workshop here in Dec just before i come home called the Gospel and Arts which i'm really looking forward to. I'm actually helping facilitate part of it, i'm grateful for that opportunity. Gotta come strong wit it......

Wunluv in our 1stLuv

Ndiepi famz!

Ya, doin well by God’s marvelous grace – it’s like.…the beginning and end as far as life go it’s only natural I explain my plateau and also what defines my name… Tings been healthy. Wanna let y’all know that there have been a few rocky days though, but those are the spice of life.

Last week Thursday was a day that I won’t forget. The night before I had cleaned my shoes so thorough I could see myself reflected in the canvas material. They were still a likkle wet in the am so I decided to do what I know you would’ve too – lean them up on my space heater for a few. I did that and checked to see if they were burning – no problems. Why is it a few minutes later Rick (a housemate) called my attention to smoke rising to the ceiling……. Needless to say I was bummed.

Well I headed down to the office and everything was cris, I told people it was a great day and as I stepped out of my house a meteor landed on my foot – like a blessing. I had to make a quick dash out and when I returned attempted to park where I usually do, on a narrow strip of grass overlooking a ravine/gorge arrangement. Little was I aware that wet grass is like ice….to my surprise when I jammed my breaks (at a slow speed) my car continued…..directly towards the edge of the ravine/gorge arrangement. Well I was a little shocked and made a decision to try a few things before bailing. Man, I was going for the edge when all of a sudden the car came to a sudden halt – there was a stump/rock joint that the car got caught on. Praise God for that stump/rock joint > wasn’t my time to head home yet. After many attempts to tow it off, we finally settled on about 10 dudes lifting it off and pushing it back……

That's a nice ravine behind those bushes

A day i won't forget.......


The next am i drove out to Joburg - a blessed time i had there. I bucked my cousins and we hit an Oliver Mtukudzi concert which was amaaaaazin!!! I just rocked to it all night long - been a while since i had a dance you know? I really feel his music, especially cuz of how his faith in Jesus is a big part of his music. The weekend there was refreshing, mainly being with famz, having no responsibilities and having fun. During Mon and Tues i made some connections with other NGO's that may be able to help me with expanding the Intern Programme.

Yes, that's it for now. Stay Bless, wunLuv

<<<<<<.........>>>>>>

Hearts broken are open mended, ended, me, she, it was us not no more...

Bangin it out....

Yo famz,

wuts gud? past few weeks have been pretty eventful....there is a young dude from Sydney, Australia who came through and i toured him around AE. Turns out he's into film and produced a film that was nominated (and won) Best International Doc of the Year at a film festival here. It's called Ubuntu: a Street Child Story one of the key interviewees is Stephen Lungu, the CEO of AE. Anyway, in that way AE is connected to the film and we were invited into a partnership with this film festival through it all - madd kool connect, God is good!

What that meant is that last minute we had to send someone to the award dinner and there was no one available except for my colleague Jerry and yours truly (was also hype cuz we're both into independent film and are always talking about it - oh, you should check a SA produced film called Jerusalema if you can).

Jerry and I - hot ta deaf ryt?

So after travelling into the depths of nowhere on dirt, deserted road and in thick fog we end up at the venue. Was a small gathering and they were expecting us.....soon as we reach the director of the festival comes up to us and tells Jerry he's presenting an award....caught him off gaurd. It was a nice scene, as we met producers and directors from all over the world. So we were waiting in tension for the moment of being called up to present the award cuz Jerry didn't wanna do it and neither did i; he was saying they actually had my name in the schedule to announce it so it was a mistake they went to him...whatever, i wasn't sure what it was so was just tryin to stay calm. Well the moment came and my man took it by the........ He actually presented the award to the overall winner of the whole festival, he's actually the dude who directed Pretty Woman and Undersiege! He and his wife produced this film called Jackson which is like a street opera; we saw a clip and it looked pretty hype.

Jerry's moment of fame

There were quite a few hype-looking films there....another one called Machetero out of New York about the Peurto Rican independence struggle. Check out any or all of the above films, especially Ubuntu of course......

yup, that's it for now. Stay bless to be bless!

Ya ya famz,

bak again.......tnx to those of you who were supporting re:touching a mic. It went aight....wasn't totally pleased with it, but "i know i'm my own worst enemy, i make things harder when it's really elementary.........." Basically i had to switch it up right before i stepped on stage (which was massive, highly elevated and plain) cuz there was all this crumping activity right before me (nothing against that artform at all) and then i was supposed to come on some spoken word - howz dat for killing the energy? So i came with something that was more punchline oriented den my sistren, Carmel, joined me for the rhyme joint. That was going okay until i found out after that they couldn't hear us over the instrumental....can't really blame the hosts cuz the dj came set up his equipment.....den boogied. Anyway, it was kool for the fact that i brought some Americano's with me and they got a good look into Kwaito culture and other local music. Big up to most of the musicians, they did a pretty good job.

Americanos - students from Azuza Pacific University

That's how it goes. I've been really thinking though about coming alongside the event organizers (good peoples) and helping them establish this platform they're trying to create. Praying for direction with that.

The two sistrens who organized the event in black, MC in orange, Carmel (singer) and her daughter in white

Peace&Bless

My time to rhyme again...

Yo Famz,

after a long while i'm touching a poetry session this Sat, Oct 4th coming. I'm looking forward to it - gonna hit dem wit a poem and den me and my sistren gonna gi' dem a hip hop joint. Please do keep that in mind and in prayer.......all new stuff flowing out my experiences out here. I'm looking forward to it, will let you know how it goes.

Bless

A Time to Chill......

Wut up Famz!

I'm finally on my week off after an intensive 3 weeks with two different groups of Interns. It was a madd blessed experience - demanding, but blessed. It was also really my first time facilitating big groups as i was in Canada when the first group of 10 came from Australia. The experience really opened my eyes though concerning the parts of the programme that need to be improved and how much potential it has to grow.

In consultation with the groups that have been here i've realized that there needs to be more debriefing built into the programme (esp cuz some of the things people encounter out here hit you hard emotionally, etc.); we need to figure out a way of engaging people (kids esp) without giving them false hopes/expectations; we need to try to engage a wider demographic variety; we're thinking of creating a historical component and making the programme cross-country - bigga tings!

Something else i realized is that i really need to grow a team around me - i can't be managing, directing and touring people around all at the same time! That means working from am til pm and weekends as well; i told my last group i'm like their moms and the pops all in one! It was jokes, but it really is kind of like that.... It worked out okay for the past 2 groups but i was running flat out and as more groups come that will become highly....impossible. Much for y'all to pray into huh?

Much love to Malcolm and his group though as well as Jessy and her group; they're great peoples and i look forward to growing our relationship in the future.

By the way, the pic below was of Samson smiting the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.......nex time Steve, nex time.........

Until then, sometimes life is a like a mural - if you get caught up in the small picture you'll miss the big picture and even the small one, cuz the small picture ain't even relevant til it finds it's place in the big picture......... Bless up

Chek this out.....

Greetings Famz,

i'm now facilitating for the US group of 10 and by God's grace it's going very well so far. Yesterday, we visited a ministry called Zanini Bantwana which is a hospital ministry to children. They're basically engaged kids in hospitals through play, education and just caring. It's an awesome ministry.

Check out the pic below though, this scene blew me away. It's the children's playground for a hospital with now about 900 beds - that's a ball of barbed wire right in the middle of the jungle gym.....no front, the playground looks like a warzone cuz it's so dilapidated. I was really challenged, because part of me didn't really empathize and I really have been asking God to sensitize me afresh to the pain and brokeness of the world around me. Yet, the children are beautiful!


Wunluv

Haylo

Greetings All!

long time still.....been in the Motherland for a few weeks now. It's been good to get back to the community out here, the work and of course my lady! Ya it's good to be back....but I do miss the T-dot summer.....here winter is coming to an end so some nights can get pretty cold but, the days are generally pretty warm.

As for the AE work, I currently have two local Interns: Hloni and Lerissa. They're both very gifted, talented and competent; it's really an honor giving leadership to them. Most recently Lerissa conducted a Needs Assesment Analysis of part of Edendale, a local township. This was done on behalf of a preschool there by the name of Bonginkosi Preschool. It's a small school as it stands now and really needs refurbishing so they are planning on expanding which has been made possible by partnering with other organizations, etc. The kids are precious and the teachers are so committed. There's actually a website which is pretty informative for the initiative and you can even sponsor a child's education, please check it out: http://bonginkosi.wordpress.com/about-bonginkosi/our-story/.

The Preschool

The assessment happened by way of surveys; it was a great experience. My job was to make sure the surveying teams (which had to be fluent in Zulu) were kool, so i was driving up and down in the township on roads that weren't meant to be roads, dodging chickens and people.........it was great as most of my work has been urban thus far. I'd really like to spend a week/end or something out there - please join me in praying for an opportunity to do that.

The Surveying Team (Hloni with back to us, Lerissa holding pillar)

As for the near future, there is a team of 11 coming in from the US this Saturday, then another 4 on Sept 7th. Their schedules have been prepared well in advance and i'm confident that by God's grace it will be a meaningful experience for everyone involved. Those of you who are the praying type, please ask that Jesus would make this experience everything He intends for it to be!


By the way, the trip here was great by God's grace. My layover this time was in London, England. I had a few hours and decided to explore some. I stumbled upon a bunch of free museums and in particular ended up at this one called VA (or sum'n...) and inside saw many interesting sculptures like the one below...... anyone who can figure out what Biblical (dat's a BIG clue) scene it is will win....... something.........from me. Bless up!

Post-Weddingness....

Greetings from the hot land of the T dot!

Amoy and Phil's wedding was an awesome success > so many people got involved and made it happen, but MOST of all the Most High was present in full effect. All praises due to Him who held it all together, gave us so much joy, took care of details we couldn't even imagine and drew people to Himself.

The wedding was hype. We had the ceremony and reception on Friday. Then on Sat we had a more intimate, cultural event for family who had travelled from far; that was hype, people were looking like Queens and Kings in their cultural dress. This last event was at our home, we had a marquee on the front lawn which we then used for fellowship on Sunday afternoon. My Uncle Stephen shared (he's also AE's International Director) and several of us helped lead the singing. It was grand, many of us were touched deeply by the Spirit of God. The amazing thing is that the weekend yielded several people entering into relationship with Jesus for the first time.

The Lovely Newlyweds being escorted by their entourage of Ghanaian dancers

Yes, so it was an amazing time of victory. Now for me there are a few things facing me. I leave on Sat back to South Africa so i've got to get my house in order, na'mean?

Firstly, i lost my backpack with my wallet in it last Wednesday....... so i've cancelled all my cards, ID's, etc. and am in the process of getting new ones. It's amazing though because i usually carry my computer, passport and a lot of other things in my backpack but the day i lost it i had taken out pretty much everything and i even spent pretty much all the $ in my wallet - haha, God is great! Please pray that all this would go smoothly.

Secondly, i've got to start getting my wedding stuff in order now as it seems this is the last time i'll be here before the wedding. Please pray this would work out smoothly too.

Thirdly, can y'all start praying for me that i'd find a car in SA? It needs to be durable, economic, in good condition and affordable. For those who don't know, my last whip was stolen while i was here in Canada. It was a beauty.....1983 Toyota Corolla, orginial paint job and interiors, clean engine, the works.........it was one year younger than me, you could say we grew up together. I basically will need the car come September. Please do pray for me on that tip too.

Well famz, i trust that y'all are well. May the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace!!!!

Shalom!





PS. peep the frohawk that i now rock'''''''''''''''>>>>>>>..................

Greetings, greetings famz!
it's been a little while since my last entry, the fact is.........
I'm back in da Dot dat i luv so much,
Such....a wonderful experience,
Peoples familiar, family in myriads,
only kinda bummed my Queen couldn't come
but with eternal dividends we still make a sum!

yup, i'm back here with my sister's wedding right around the corner! It's been busy so i've been on the low just trying to help out where i can. Mainly helping organize and moving things, cleaning things, etc. around the house. Our house has been like the UN of late - every country rep'd: we got Ghana, England, Zimbabwe, Trinidad........so many accents, so many shades! Lots of people are staying here right now, so it's constant cooking (don't worry, i don't do much in that department - people gotta live right?) and mainly Ghanaian cuisine which has been like a dream come true. It's also been so blessed though to connect with famz i really haven't seen in years.

Well i head back to SA on Aug 2nd, which i'm looking forward to. Got to connect with Carmz again and get to work with the Intern bizness. There are actually 10 Australian Interns there now in the care of AE; it was a bit nerve-wracking to not be there, esp since it's my first big group but God has definitely provided capable people to hold it down in my absence. At the end of Aug there will be another two groups coming from the US (15 in all) not to mention several local Interns who will be with AE for a few months. Please keep me in prayer on that tip; especially for creativity in planning their schedules.

Ya, will that's all for now folks. Oh, and i got a frohawk (as it was dubbed the other day) -> an African man's Mohawk (don't have any good pics yet)...........................................i think it's fantastic.
Shalom

On the ground.....

Greetings Family!

Much thankfulness to those who continue to intercede on behalf of the people of Zim. Regardless of your politics many in Zim are looking for peace and security. Much respek to every man, woman and child out there who stands for justice - God is watching.

This past week has been nuff hectic as i prepare to head back to da Dot; quite a few things to handle before i take off for the month. I have 10 Australian Interns arriving this Sunday and because i won't be here i need to make sure everything is lined up right for their month in SA! It's great though, there are some great peoples out here who will continue with the work while in my absence.

For those who aren't aware i'm heading back home (my other home) for my sister Amoy's wedding. Big things; she's the first one to go! Big up to you and Phil - many on this side are excited about what the Lord has in store for y'all. We're standing with you.

For a quick update an amazing thing happened the other day. As i mentioned, we got involved with some refugees in Durban but didn't think there were any refugees in my city. A man walked into the AE office last week though and informed us that there are over 1000 refugees in the city! In fact, a large number of them are from Zim (mostly straight from there) and there is a Zimbabwean Refugee Association of Kwa-Zulu Natal. Due to the recent "xenophobia", etc. this info has been kept very hidden, many of us in the city didn't even know that such places exist (believe i was doing research). So last Saturday, Carmz and I went to meet the Chairman and check out the situation for ourselves.

It was really eye-opening to say the least.....we went to one auto mechanic workshop where there are 200 people staying, sharing one toilet and one shower - they take turns throughout the whole night using those facilities. The women and men also sleep on separate sides of the workshop, even if they're family; there are no walls and it's the winter season right now so they are exposed to temperatures approaching 0 degrees at night.

The second place was a house that holds 300 people. They also have one toilet and shower; we had the opportunity there to meet a political leader who had to flee Zim because of political persecution.

We didn't go just to see for ourselves, but we went with the intention of serving however/wherever possible. We obtained a needs list: toilets, warm clothing, food, job opportunities, scholarship for youth, counselling for women and children, in particular, who have been traumatized (esp in crossing the border). This was an exploratory visit, we're now getting involved with the Disaster Management Dept of the the local govt; the aim is to create some kind of stability and not to create dependency so we will need much prayer and wisdom on how to proceed! If this is something you're interested in contributing to please let me know and i can help direct your resources to the right channels. Please keep these people in prayer though, again there is so much brokeness BUT i must say that Zimbo's always amaze me! They carry such a beautiful spirit: so resilient and so friendly, even in such hard conditions.

I got permission from a few of the guys to put their pics up>>>(the sunglasses that look like swimming goggles are my addition in an attempt to protect identity anyway)

Aight famz, ngikatele mange (Zulu for i'm tired now).....sleep/be/do blessed!

Tomorrow!!!!!

Family,
please stay praying for Zim - tomorrow is a really important day! As most of you know the MDC has dropped out of the race and Tendai Biti has apparently been released on bail - tomorrow will still be a pivotal day.
Much luv and faith.........

Yo......
the rhyme style stay fresh
a king is getting blessed
cross clutched to chest
cuz the jump that i took
put me far out of the nest
nonetheless.....
da famz connected in the Spirit
transcending customs
and rituals of clerics
...................

jus had to try that
...................

spoke to Gogo last night (my Grandmother in Zim) and it's good to hear that she's maintaining, but the price of things as you already know is exorbitant. I've also recently heard that there is a scheme on the part of the existing regime to take the names of people who aren't attending Zanu-PF rallies; they will be forced to vote with an "assistant" who will actually do the voting for them when they reach the booth because the person voting will be deemed "illiterate". That's what i heard from the ground........"This only have i found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes." Ecclesiastes 7:29
Stay praying!
Shalom.

>>>>>>>>>.....................

Greetings Family,

howz everyone today? Well, i hope. Today i received some news which really shocked me - the founder of the Akrofi-Christaller Institute in Ghana (where i'm planning on doing my Master's in a couple of years), Prof. Kwame Bediako, has been called home as of June 10th. Even though i didn't get to know him very well, we had developed a relationship; he really inspired me and re-stoked so much passion in me for the work of restoring truth and dignity to Africa and her peoples (continental and diasporic). He was also really keen on having Carmz and I study at his school........i've attached a pic of me with him and his wife that was taken last year when he was the keynote speaker at our Consultation on African Traditional Religion and Christianity.

To all who are affected by his passing and especially his family: may the Lord give you the grace to grieve your loss fully and then may He renew you so that you may soar with Him. I rejoice with you in how mightily he was used by God in this life and in how many people he touched eternally! I also rejoice with you that now he rests in the complete splendor of the soon coming King of Kings.

Much love.

Finally.....

Family!

Finally, i got me a blog goin on! Forgive me for taking so long to do this, i've had to explore alternate options because the AE one isn't quite ready yet.......... Much thanks actually to an undisclosed friend whose own blog reminded me to do this.

So much has happened in the time i've been here. I think what i'll do is gradually put y'all on. Things are blessed though. It's been madd nice to be back with Carmz and also to be moving into my calling and passions you know? More on all that later.

But an exciting thing that happened yesterday - God is too amazing. Carmz, myself and a fellow Intern by the name of Hloni were on our way to the nearby city of Durban for a UN conference on "Youth and Crime Prevention" - big things right? Well after the 1hr trip there we're signing in and none of our names are on the list, even though we're holding our confirmation printouts in our hands! So they're checking and checking and finally it comes out that you can't get in except by invitation! Why didn't anybody tell us this? They were advertising the event on the radio and the website had no restrictions neither was it mentioned that you had to be invited. So we were feeling kind of bummy about this, but not too bummy because there's a beach in Durban........was raining though.

Next, I decided to introduce Carmz and Hloni to this Rev Berryl who I'd been working with in setting up an AE mission to DUT (a Durban University). She's a very hospitable lady and her church, St. Aidan's, is very socially responsible i.e. they're involved in some amazing community work, etc. So we get there and she immediately offers us lunch (which was well received) and then she mentioned that they are housing 35 refugees in their church hall! These are refugees from the recent xenophobic attacks here in SA (check out this webpage if you aren't familiar with this http://www.thetimes.co.za/specialreports/Xenophobia/Default.aspx?id=380077&gclid=CODjyoOSgJQCFQaYQAodiR-HWw ) All of these refugees were either from the DRC or Burundi. We all sat in a circle and shared for somewhere around 2hrs - it was such a powerful time! Here we were trying to get into some UN conference that didn't want us and instead God sends us right to "ground 0" to deal with the issues firsthand you know? We shared who we were then spent a good amount of time hearing each of their stories - that was really emotional for a lot of them. There has been so much separation of families; none can repatriate their countries because they were fleeing very dangerous situations; the government hasn't produced solutions for them and has discouraged them from hoping to be relocated to a "safer" country; the UN hasn't produced any solutions; most have no work; some can't send their kids to school; the list goes on - all that to say that these are people who are really suffering. We really tried to encourage them by listening and speaking Psalm 91 over them, praying for them and assuring them (without making empty promises) that we'd do what we could to help. I really carry a burden for these people and more so for God's church to be activated into the doing all that we're called to in this situation. Please pray with me and pray for me....I need wisdom, discernment and creativity to know how I as an individual should respond to these deep needs. Please also share with me any input you may have concerning this.

Apart from that, things continue to move on here. The pic above is of me and my Queen from our engagement celebration; the one below is of a few of the youth Carmz and I been working with from a local community called Happy Valley - left to right: Carmz, Chantelle, Pinky, Jason.

Much love and every blessing in Jesus!