This past month we put 2,500 miles of road behind us, and met many new faces we now call friends. Pastor Vincent and Pastor Jonas came from South Africa for 3 weeks, primarily to attend the CCDA conference in Cincinnati, as well as to share what God is doing in their churches and invite others into God’s work in Africa. We also felt that these guys, who give so much all the time, needed a time to receive and be fed, a time to be encouraged and celebrated. And that was accomplished, thanks be to God!
How do we sum up such a great month of adventure, learning and hilarity… both these guys are really funny!

AR organized this whirlwind trip which started off in Chicago with us scouting out the Chicago Marathon for next years first AR marathon team (more on that soon!) Pastor Jonas (our future marathon team Captain), a marathon runner par excellence, loved seeing the runners coming in at the end with such determination and commitment. In Chicago we also met with and visited various ministries, hoping both to learn from them as well as partner with them in ministry. Time was spent with old and new friends whom we were telling for the first time about The Life House Baby Rescue Home of the Powerhouse Church. In Michigan we celebrated Pastor Vincent’s Birthday and challenged the students of Spartan Christian Fellowship at Michigan State University. The CCDA conference was inspiring and deeply challenging. The highlights included getting to meet with Jim Wallis (Sojourners) and Dr. John Perkins (CCDA Founder.) We especially wanted to thank folks from Crossroads Church who hosted and cared for us so well! It was also good to be at the conference with 2 of our board members; Emily Parker and Dave Clark. Abram Dolho flew all the way from South Africa to join our team just for the conference.

Together with the Clendenins (08-09 Interns) and Katherine Donahoe, (09 Vision Trip) whom also attended the conference, we made our way down to Durham, N.C. In N.C. Nate and Becky gave us the new Mamelodi- AR Photo Exhibit that will be available for viewing in various locations in the coming months. Pastor Vincent and Pastor Jonas had opportunities to share at Chapel Hill Bible Church, Grace Community Church and in various other settings. From there we made our way to Atlanta via Ashville N.C. on the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we experienced a little car trouble. Let’s just say our minivan had a near death experience and was healed through prayer and the laying on of hands by Pastor Larry (a God-sent mechanic found in the middle of the mountains!) Once in Atlanta Jenn Ginn threw a wonderful soiree with Atlanta friends and a B/Day celebration for Pastor Jonas. In ATL we visited The World of Coca Cola, the MLK Historic Site and Atlanta Westside Church where the pastors shared in word and song.

That was our time in a nutshell. But it is difficult to share the weighty conversations we had along the road about wealth and poverty, dependence on God in leadership, community transformation, spiritual warfare, and the power of the Gospel to heal deep wounds.

As AR invests in African leadership, we pray that you get a vision for how vitally important it is to empower and support these leaders. God has given them a vision for their community. They want to see their people redeemed and see God’s Kingdom come. Let’s continue to really support and love them. As the leader goes, so goes the church. As the church goes, so goes the community.

Thanks to everyone that housed us, fed us, supported us and dreamed with us about the Kingdom. We invite you into greater places of partnership with us… let’s take this to the next level for the King and His Kingdom.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 11:03 pm and is filed under The AR Ministry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.