Nick and a small boy named Gift working on a baby room

We have started the renovation of the baby rescue and we are making tremendous progress! We have painted nearly every room and have installed new tile in all three baby rooms. The wall being built around the courtyard has also begun and we have cleared debris from the yard as well. We have also found a name for the baby rescue, it will be called Life House. You see, all through the township there are posters advertising abortions and many women feel like this is the only alternative to an unwanted pregnancy. But we want to give them an alternative and show them that there is a safe place for their babies to go where they will be cared for. After a meeting with the social services office we found out that they only receive about one baby a year into their office but they find a dead baby nearly every week in the trash bins. So we are not only providing a safe place for the babies to live, we are beginning a pro-life campaign across the community to combat the murderers of our children.

An experience last week showed me that even one life is valuable. I was standing in the parking area of the church talking with Humphrey, the co-founder of Powerhouse Church, and I heard terrible screaming and wailing coming from a house next door. I walked toward the fence to investigate and a man came running around the corner carrying the body of a limp baby boy. I opened the gate for him and he handed the baby to me and said the boy had been electrocuted. I immediately laid him on the ground and began breathing into his lifeless body and tried to get his heart beating again. Pastor Vincent came running and he and Humphrey began praying with all their might as I continued to give him CPR. There was a couple of times when the baby seemed to gasp for air and we felt sure he was going to start breathing. But quickly I realized I couldn’t get his heart going so we loaded him into the car and rushed him to the hospital. Friends, let me tell you, this is not a place you want to be sick. As I ran with the boy into the tiny hospital I rushed passed a crowded hallway full of people waiting to be seen. The emergency operating room had half a dozen people sitting on the beds all with different ailments and they slid over on the bed so I could lay the baby down. I continued breathing and giving him compressions until the doctor came. And even though he did everything he could the baby could not be revived, the doctor said he was brain dead.

I was deeply heartbroken, we were all heartbroken. We did everything we knew how to do. I tried as hard as I could, I prayed as hard as I knew how but ultimately it was God’s choice to keep him. His precious, heartbroken mother couldn’t have been more than 18 years old. The beautiful little boy was only about 10 or 11 months old.

It was a humbling experience, to say the least. But it showed us the value of even one baby’s life. And there are thousands being murdered by abortion doctors every month in this township.  So we are even more committed to bringing an end to the killing.

Nick and Cara working on a baby room

But we need your help. The Life House will not only provide a safe place for babies but it will also be a beacon of light in a dark place. A place for women to be accepted, loved, and where they will be given a life choice rather than the alternative. Many will be brought to Christ through this campaign. It is a campaign of action and not cheap talk. The world has heard enough of our talking. The time for action is at hand. This is your chance to make a real impact on the world. The total renovation of the house will only cost about $3,000 and we are seeking out people in the community to donate cribs and other baby items. If you would like to get involved and really make a difference get in touch with us as soon as possible.

What we do for the world…remains through eternity.

Swaziland- We had just walked through the “Welcome Center” where orphans arriving for the first time are transitioned into the Bulembu family. The few staff guiding us just beamed with love while we saw the kids. There was this excitement in the air as they ended the tour of their new rehabbed building. Moved and somewhat emotional I confess I walked away from the group to get some space. Looking into the distance, down the hill at all the orphan homes I wondered what our role was in all this. How are we to serve the King in this part of His vineyard? What does God want to do with Africa Revolution in places of need like this? As the questions kept coming to my mind I heard these few words overpower them all; Raise up an Army!

I confess doubt mixed in with the excitement of those words. Yes if I were one of the 12 disciples I would have been Thomas. I understand that there are many folks willing to hear about God’s Kingdom in Africa and few willing to support the work financially but there are even fewer willing to GO! But like all of those called to walk in faith to accomplish Kingdom things, I fear, and see my own inadequacy first. Believe me, ministry is not all courage and boldness, and like the Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.” (1Cor1:3)

But the words were unmistakable and in my minds eye, I could see this army marching up the road towards me. And besides, I’ve been in this long enough to know this isn’t really about me doing it, it’s an invitation to watch God do it from up close.

I’m not sure how He is going to raise this army but I do know that God is putting Africa in people’s hearts across the world. He is looking for people who will go and give all of themselves for the broken and the needy, people willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus. He’s not just looking for world travelers or the adventuresome type. He’s looking for nervous, trembling Joe Schmos who are simply willing to be obedient.

Join this Army, the Kingdom needs you!

“To obey is better than sacrifice, I don’t need your money I want your life.”

–Song by Keith Green

Hlengani (Butiki) Chauke the day he received Jesus

His name is Hlengani Chauke, but most people call him Butiki. He is very poor. He owns nothing really. And most likely, he never will. He will probably never do much to change the world, or make much of an impact. He has few friends, and very little family. The world does not know him, nor do they care much about him. Nor do they really care whether he lives or dies. So what is he worth? Is he really worth anything to anyone?

He is one of the many untouchables of the world. Though he is a man with a broken heart and a lost soul the world is not willing to reach out to touch him. He’s just not worth it. But what about to God. Is he worth anything to the Father? Would God send someone to touch his life?

Lost and broken is how we found this man when we met him. We were bringing a weekly delivery of food to his blind mother who can no longer take care of herself. She was once a traditional healer practicing witchcraft and calling upon spirits from the dead but had since given that up and received Jesus. Mostly, that is. What I mean is, she kept many of the items she used to call upon the spirits because her son, Butiki, would not let her throw them out. He feared bad things might come upon them. But the many times the Church had delivered food they had never seen Butiki there at the house. But this time would be different.

You see I first met this blind woman several months ago as we were delivering food to her then also. When I walked into her home the terrible smell was so strong that it hit me in the face. She had not been cared for well and was terribly dirty and reeked of odor. Her home was dark and the green walls were covered in dirt and grime and cobwebs. So the Africa Revolution Team, seeing the desperate need, organized a group from the United States to clean her home out and repaint the inside. Every room that is, except for her bedroom that you see her sitting in here. In that room is where she kept the traditional healing items.

His blind mother sitting in her room

So this time as I visited I was amazed at how different it looked and how much cleaner her home was. And there was Butiki, telling us how thankful he was that we had done so much to help his mother. But there was a deep anguish in his eyes. It was undeniable. So we asked him what was on his heart.

As we stood with him in one of the tiny bedrooms of the home, Butiki told us of his depression and brokenness. He told us how he had left his home several months earlier to take his own life. He told us of how he walked to the train station where he would stand in front of an oncoming train to die. He had made sure to take with him his identification papers in his back pocket so his wife could identify him. But as he stood on the train tracks watching the train barrel toward him, he heard a voice calling him by his birth name that no one called him by. The voice cried out “Get out of the way, Hlengani” and then he was shoved off the tracks as he heard the voice say again “Get out of the way, Hlengani.” He looked back in amazement to see who the person was who cared enough for him that they would do such a thing, but the person was gone. They had disappeared.

Now you and I know what happened, but he did not. He wondered how such a thing could happen to him? He asked different people but no one could give him an answer, until today. We told him the beautiful message of the Gospel of Jesus.

“The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”  Isaiah 61

We told him how God cared for him and sent His angel to protect him. We told him how is life had a purpose and how the creator of all things cared whether he lived or died. As tears streamed down his face he prayed with us to receive Jesus into his heart. It was the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever seen.

You see the Bible says in 1 Samuel “the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Do we judge and condemn too soon to death those who the Lord wants to save? The rejected and undesirable of the world may have been forgotten by man but they have not been forgotten by God the Father whose desire is for the hearts of every man and woman, no matter what their status in society.

But who is willing to go for them?

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” – Psalm 68:5

We have been moved this year as we reflect on how God has used us to fulfill His promises. Many times throughout scripture God speaks with strong language about loving widows, caring for them and His deep concern for their plight. Widows in Africa are not much different from those who find themselves the object of God’s compassion in scripture- they are oftentimes destitute and lonely. They cannot care for themselves and are many times taken advantage of by those around them. I strongly believe it is the role of God’s people to step in and care for them. It’s our role to figure out what they need and support them with dignity and respect.

Last Saturday a team from Campus Outreach- Georgia, joined our Powerhouse team and together we worked side by side restoring the homes of three widows whom we dearly love. Two blind widows live in one house and the other by herself, both needed some major fixing, clean up and paint jobs. The team worked hard together. Singing as they worked and putting all their love into action they finished strong. The old ladies were so grateful, the young people energized, and God was glorified. It was a great day for the Kingdom!

Thanks to everyone who rocked it.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – James 1:27

^“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22

View Nathan Clendenin’s pics of our trip to Mozambique in this slideshow above

It’s logically always made sense to me that God would love orphans but I had an experience recently that made me really feel why God loves the “fatherless”.  He in fact calls Himself, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” Psalm 68:5. Throughout scripture we see God’s special concern and fervent love for the fatherless… but speaking to the fatherless face to face here in Africa, God made it really hit home. These boys’ now young men seemed to have an air about them. I sensed they were His and He was their defender. It surprised me how strongly He impressed this on me and how it moved me. He really cares for these guys. Then God kept showing me the privilege and honor He bestows on you and I to be protectors and defenders of His “fatherless”.

For example-

While in Mozambique I studied Job and I wanted to know what kind of man he was that God could place full confidence in him above all others on the earth. It was surprising and relevant. Here is Job’s description of himself as a man who took on God’s righteousness and what this practically looked like;

¹¹ Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
       and those who saw me commended me,

 ¹² because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
       and the fatherless who had none to assist him.

 ¹³ The man who was dying blessed me;
       I made the widow’s heart sing.

 ¹⁴ I put on righteousness as my clothing;
       justice was my robe and my turban.

 ¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind
       and feet to the lame.

 ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy;
       I took up the case of the stranger.

– Job 29:11-16

And then Job goes on to describe sins he did NOT commit and ends with heavy language describing what should happen to him if he were to commit these sins.

¹⁶ “If I have denied the desires of the poor
       or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

 ¹⁷ if I have kept my bread to myself,
       not sharing it with the fatherless-

 ¹⁸ but from my youth I reared him as would a father,
       and from my birth I guided the widow-

 ¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
       or a needy man without a garment,

 ²⁰ and his heart did not bless me
       for warming him with the fleece from my sheep,

 ²¹ if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
       knowing that I had influence in court,

 ²² then let my arm fall from the shoulder;
       let it be broken off at the joint. 

– Job 32: 16-22

 I’m not sure I have the courage to pray the same prayer. Yet I hope that some of the former things could be said of me when it’s all been said and done.

The picture above was taken a few months ago when we first met Nicodemus. He is a 38 yr old man who has been severally handicapped his whole life. When he was born the doctors told his parents to give him up for institutional care. His parents told us they’ve always known that he is their special gift from God, and that they always want him with them. For 38 years this (now elderly) couple has bathed, fed and cared for their son with the very limited resources they have. Nicodemus can’t communicate verbally, but understands much of what is going on around him. He cannot move, not even in a wheel chair. He spends his days lying flat on his back on an old mattress in the garage, set on top of a homemade wooden bed frame, listening to the radio or the neighborhood kids playing around him. To look around the room he strains his neck around. As soon as we met him I knew that he needed a real bed, a mobile hospital bed with wheels. The kind that makes that cool air-brake sound when it lets you sit up or lay down.

A few days after we met Nicodemus I was trying to help lay tiles in the new computer lab (check it out here) and I pulled something in my back. I couldn’t move at all, but only lay on my back in pain. During those uncomfortable hours of seeing the doctor, x-rays and a shot in the butt, I really contemplated what life must be like for Nicodemus.

Life got busy… yet every “to do list” I wrote began with “find a bed.” I can’t afford a hospital bed, yet God was instructing and I needed to pay attention. Speaking with the Doc who helped with my back pains, he put us in touch with a guy he knew in charge of maintenance at a hospital in Pretoria. He had us come down to the hospital. In a few minutes we had the perfect hospital bed and mattress loaded up on our truck. It was pretty surreal how God seemed to have orchestrated all this. Words cannot tell what followed. The pictures in the slide show above show the delivery and celebration that ensued. The joy on Nicodemus’ face was beautiful as he sat propped up in his new bed. His father led with a powerful prayer of deep gratitude to answered prayer.

Stopping and paying attention to God’s voice made a world of difference to our friend Nicodemus. God could have used someone else to answer those prayers, or because of my disobedience, not at all. We have the incredible opportunity to impact people’s lives in major ways. It speaks loudly of the Father’s love. Our grassroots projects list is our way of facilitating that experience for you. So do something, give a scholarship, buy a drum set or give a warm meal. You may not be here in Africa to see the smiles, but you can still share in the joy of joining God in his work. CLICK HERE to see our Projects

Last Words

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Matt 10:42

“Some want to live within the sound of church and chapel bell-
I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” – C.T. Studd

I just finished reading “Living on the Devil’s Doorstep” and was greatly challenged by Floyd McClung’s story. He vividly retells what a life of obedience looked like for him and his family as they lived in, initiated and led a unique work in Kabul, Afghanistan and then the Red Light District in Amsterdam. They poured themselves out to make Jesus and His Love known to drug addicts and dropouts seeking truth along the Trail. They loved on pimps and prostitutes; broken individuals deeply loved by the Father. They trained hundreds of young people for a life of missions throughout the world. Their compassion and faithfulness to the hard places is an indictment on my own life. I wish for that kind of compassion, that steadfastness, that deep vision to actually live out the heart of the Gospel despite myself, despite what’s going on around me and to do it joyfully.

Last week our AR team got to meet Floyd McClung down in Cape Town where he now lives and serves, training African pastors with his wife Sally. Our team sat with him talking about God’s work in his life, what he is currently doing and a little about his friendship with Keith Green. He is a gentle giant and his deep love for Jesus and people bubbles through all the strategy talk of ministry and story telling. He personally challenged our team with a kind fatherly tone on disciple making, doing life with non-believers and horizontal Biblical leadership. We all left feeling refreshed and envisioned.

I don’t mean to “celebratize” Floyd and Sally, and I know they wouldn’t want me to (see quote below) but why are there so few people like them? I confess I feel frustrated as I think how many have run like Jonah, settling for a comfy self-life with a little bit of God on the side. Why do so many Christians drop the ball with obedience, passion, and character the longer they walk with Christ? Where are God’s people who are willing to put it all on the line because they have counted the cost and have found the pearl of great price? In a fractured world in need of God’s love we think loving our neighbor is just a suggestion and we consider the great commission to be a good idea on paper… for other folks. We are not broken bread or poured out wine like we are called to be. We cannot say with Paul, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24. We need more Floyds and Sallys; people ready to fumble around after Jesus at any cost. We need people determined to go to the hard places because they want God to be known to the ends of the earth.

Last Words
“There are no verses in the Bible that say, “Well done good and FAMOUS servant!” We are simply ordinary children of an extraordinary God who are learning, trusting, growing and serving together.” - Floyd McClung, Living on the Devil’s Doorstep

Below are a few pics of our trip down to Cape Town along the Garden Route. Enjoy!

Swaziland was incredible! The abandoned 10,000 person mine town of Bulembu is a picture of God’s redemption like few places I know. Let me attempt to explain, which might be hard as it took us days to digest what this place is. In a nut shell; Bulembu is an old mine town in the mountains of Swaziland. It was abandoned years ago and went up for auction. It was purchased by some Christian business men with the vision of revitalizing it with innovative businesses for the purpose of raising up the next generation of orphans whom will be the future leaders of Swaziland (see a previous post about this). Now that sounds like a noble goal on paper, but it’s quite another to actually see it happening and meet the folks whom are quietly and obediently making it happen.

Lee-Ann McFarlane, an old South African Moody friend of mine lives in Bulembu and runs the community center there. She invited us to come and see, with the idea of possibly sending a team of interns there next year to help out. They need people power! They are under funded, under staffed and sacrificially serving daily. Lee-Ann and Fred, her adopted son, were fantastic hosts. Their obedience and relentless commitment to “just doing it” were challenging. And this is what “the big take home” for me was. This town that died and now is coming back to life is succeeding not because God magically called the A-Team to come and perform a miracle. No, this is all happening because some of God’s people decided to get their hands dirty and are faithfully fumbling around. Too often we want a shaft of light or the writing on the wall or some bizarre act of God to “call” us to the mission field or to the right task. Well, as a missionary I can tell you, there are seldom such things. I’m inclined to believe that God has told us what to do in His Word and that should be enough. The truth is, if you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat. Get going and get your hands dirty. Yes it’s messy; yes it’s a great struggle and yes at times it’s stressful but for goodness sake, DO SOMETHING!

Last Words
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. – Jesus
“We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation.” – Jacob Bronowski

P.S. for an amazing audio visual piece on Abandoned Babies for Christ (one of the ministries in Bulembu, Swaziland) one of our team members put this piece together.
Click on the image below to get to Nathan and Rebecca Clendenin’s Blog.

“If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – Paul

It’s a warm Saturday afternoon here in South Africa and I feel strangely content. Two of our team members (Will and Bex) have taken their business class out on a field trip to Operation Mobilization. Nate is at the church helping volunteers write and run the churches own newsletter.
It seems we have found a rhythm and a place in the church and community. We have good friends with whom we serve and hang out with. We drive down the streets of Mamelodi and people we recognize wave and smile at us. We go house to house and it’s comfortable and no longer strange and new. Conversations go beyond the surface level and people don’t ask us so much about life in America but more just about life; the real stuff. We talk about lessons learned and past mistakes. We talk about common things and about hopes for the future.
It’s good.

Yet in all this there is a temptation to slip into mediocre relationships and dutiful ministry. Even here on the “mission field” there is a danger of letting the days slip by without being present, or more sadly, resisting His presence. It seems like it could be easy to slip into nice-christian-cruise-control and say the right thing, smile at the right time with the right Christianese response…, but people can smell fake a mile away.
Our house is reading through the Gospel of Matthew in our group devotions. Jesus always seems “to be on.” Always responding genuinely, feeling deeply and caring sincerely. He is led by the Holy Spirit, compelled by an incredibly deep compassion and love for the people, even to the point of death.
As we teach classes, visit the sick, play with kids, and do life here in Africa, we want to be the real deal. It’s so hard. Though we grow tired and weak, pray that our love be sincere, our relationships genuine, and our dependence on Him, daily.

Last Words
“It’s not the stretch of a mans life that matters. It’s the depth of life. It’s not how long we live. It’s how we live.”
– Leonard Ravenhill at age 83

“Michael, I realized that we don’t have a lot of time on this earth. We weren’t meant to spend it this way. Human beings weren’t meant to sit in little cubicles, starring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements.” Office Space (the movie)

God has been challenging me with thoughts about eternity, His Kingdom, Heaven and Hell. I am ashamed the urgency of it all is something that escapes me far too often. Contemplating the sheer terror of hell and contrasting the incredible love of God to be reconciled to his creation, I am compelled more and more to invest my life in that which truly matters. Far too often my life has been about selfish me, focused on that which is so temporal. My worries, dreams and energy spent on… well foolishness. Visiting the aged and sick in the community makes me realize how fragile and temporal this life really is. Our lives are a vapor, yet, what we do echoes throughout eternity.

“…What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” -James 4:14

Last Words
“The longest time man has to live, has no more proportion to eternity than a drop of dew has to the ocean.” –D.L. Moody