This last week here at our Y.W.A.M. “base” aka home we had an incredible teaching on forgiveness and reconciliation by a man who lives out what he teaches. What a novel concept! J Our weeklong speaker, Wilson, has experienced a great deal of oppression, pain, and just basically had a very rough life. From losing both his parents before age 9, being a victim of apartheid & serious racial discrimination here in South Africa, to being held at gunpoint many times, and many more deeply scarring events, he’s had many circumstances where he’s had to choose whether or not he was going to forgive people. His life is a deeply powerful testimony to the freedom that comes with forgiveness and reconciliation.
A concept that really captivated me throughout the week of teaching was the idea of taking responsibility for my actions or reactions when someone wrongs me. In the past I’ve kind of functioned with the mentality that if someone does something wrong to me then I have the right to react less-than-pleasantly to them. Us Irish don’t do well with letting people get away with screwing us over. We’re bitter and have the right to retaliate however we see fit, correct? Jesus was not vengeful but rather His nature is to extend grace & mercy so as to maintain relationships. God is such a relational God, and unforgiveness really jacks up relationships and prohibits the peace that God intends for us all to have. It’s my goal to develop habits and ultimately a lifestyle of forgiveness so that I’m not bound by bitterness. I think this is going to be a life-giving path and I’m excited!
Not only did Wilson speak about forgiveness between individuals but also between nations. At one point Wilson asked us 25 DTS students to make a big circle and one by one Wilson called the students from each nation (being represented in our class) to enter the middle of the circle and receive a blessing from all of the other nations. So Keith and I were 2 of 5 representatives from the United States of America. We entered the circle as our new buddies from all over the world prayed out blessings and thanksgiving for all of the good that America & it’s citizens bring to the world. The different nations thanked God for: America’s courage to act on behalf of justice, our initiative when needed, our innovative spirit, our generosity, and of course that we’re ridiculously good looking. I thought it was going to be a really cheesy moment, but I was actually very proud to be representing America and just proud of the goodness and blessings that come from America. More so it was just refreshing to be amongst people from nations all over the world and to not see each other as a threat but instead to appreciate each country for what their country and culture brings to the world’s blessings!
In the most important news, Keith has plowed his way from the 23rd spot to the 10th ranked spot in the “Muizenberg International Table Tennis Challenge” that’s occurring here at our base. People are trembling with fear. Secret Ingredient for success: “a lightning fast forehand”- Keith Nelson.
Drum roll please……we finally found out where we are headed on our Outreach for the last 3 months of our trip and the verdict is…….UGANDA! J Our class of 25 students will split into 3 teams that will head to: Uganda, India, and Malawi. Our team of 10, which are headed to Uganda, will meet up this week to begin planning our trip. We will discuss what ministry and service we’d like to do and where we will be headed within Uganda. Keith has already drawn multiple very precise maps of Uganda for us to study and use as references…and he just loves maps and is a big big nerd. But the maps are actually extremely well done! We will be sure to post more details as they unfold regarding what kind of work we’ll be doing in Uganda.
We wanted to thank everyone for your emails, comments, and messages. It’s great to hear from our loved ones back at home…even if it’s just a quick line! J You can become a “follower” of our blog, meaning that you are notified everytime we update the blog, I believe. The details are at the top of this webpage. FYI- we will try to be diligent about updating this blog once a week (every Wednesday-ish).
Much Love from the beautiful country of South Africa!
~Lisa
Photo 1: Township aka ghetto near Muizenberg
Photo 2: The Youth Group girls from township that I volunteer with.
Photo 3: One good looking man and the view from our backyard! We climb that mountain in the background frequently. Great view!
Photo 4: Stadium in Cape Town for World Cup 2010! Whoo!!
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteNice job on the update. I enjoyed hearing all about your speaker. It's fun to see the kids you're working with too. That moment in the circle with the other people blessing you must have been very cool. Thanks for sharing all these neat events. We can't wait to hear what the Uganda trip's agenda is.
love,
mom
I think what also amazes me is that the same Creator,Lord, and God made all those peoples and nations, to know Him, and be loved him, and that all the blessings poored out are ultimately to that end, so that when you recognize that and bless one another for those things you are speaking His words, and thinking His thoughts,and I dare say these words from the Torah "to the Jew first but also and equally to the gentile" not the usual translation. The promises and Blessing from the begining of time when we a wild branch are grafted into the Root!
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