Pangani Blog

I just wanted to let you all know our Pangani blog is up and running. It's a continuous blog from the previous years of Nieucommunities up to today, where staff and apprentices will take turns writing entries. I think if would be really cool if you all checked that out periodically as well (it's listed in my blogs to check out section on the left) so you can see what life here is like from the perspectives of the rest of my community!

Go Conservatives!

see more crazy cat pics

Just thought I should share.

Good start to the day!

So I just wanted to talk about my morning. I'm sitting here in the coffee shop at Pangani with some of my friends and I am feeling very whole.

I went to breakfast with my amazing roommate who really asked me about my heart and my time here. He's leaving on an amazing journey in a week so I think God set aside this morning for us to hang.


And I know he's going to read this so I can say that our relationship has always felt a little distant. We've been working on it, trying to break down the walls, but this morning I really felt like God was doing something. God has been speaking to me about becoming who he's always made me to be, about being a whole person in his perfect plan. It's hard because for the longest time I've listened to the lies of Satan in telling me I'd always be inadequate and a failure so I started to believe it. When I look around this room I see people who've graduated from college, had careers, and in my eyes lived a better life than me so I feel like I am somehow less than them at times. The reality is that they've all left that in the same way I left a progressive church plant where I could have launched some form of formal church career to come here and find ourselves in God. We are all here to find Gods purpose for our lives and to learn to love each other in the good times and the bad times.

It's these moments I need to hold on to as small victories and cherish them in my heart so when things get rough I can go back and remember that I do have love for the people here, even if it isn't full yet. I can remember that through our journeys we can uplift and encourage, even when that is the last thing I want to do.

Lovin' the Music

I love these guys, you should really check them out!

Becoming the Beloved

So it's been little while. Our internet here has been a little screwy the past few weeks, but it's probably been for the best. It's really allowed me to focus on what God is trying to say right now as opposed to checking email and worrying about updating this and that. I've had little glimpses of internet here and there so I have been able to get some emails and comments which have been very encouraging to me.

Part of our focus in the last couple of weeks has been listening to God in our relationship with him. Three aspect of that we've focused on are being the beloved, the child, or the loyal subject. We all picked one that we want to hear God speak about the most. Mine was the beloved. I just feel that due to certain events and actions that have taken place in my life that I struggle with that area the most. There is sort of a fear that if I let God that close, what will he say to me? I'm somehow bound to the guilt of the things that I have done in my past, as if God is a lover that forgives but doesn't forget. In the times of greatest needs I fear that he will just wave those memories in front of my face and I will have to live those moments all over again. But that's not who God is. God is someone who's beauty surrounds us and fulfills all of our intimate needs. I'm still exploring this and allowing God to speak to my heart and soul while letting the community in on my struggles in hopes that my vulnerability will bring healing.

Two weeks ago we got to go and check out so ministries of TLF and see what they are all about. Some of the ministries were heartbreaking. One place we went to was a drop in centre for teenager girls who have been sold into or lured into prostitution. Another we got to visit (at least the outside) was a hospice for people dying of AIDS. The idea is that even though these people may be dying we can still love them with the love of Christ and give them some dignity back as they pass from this world to the next, hopefully having given them the chance to enter into the loving arms of Jesus.


The picture above is a school of the Preforming Arts that is affiliated with TLF. They believe that in helping to restore the community the arts play a vital role. To offer a child who has never had the opportunity to dance, play music, or create visual art the chance to to that can bring restoration and healing to the soul.




The above pictures are from the Inkululeko Community Centre. It's located in a housing area called Salvakop in the inner city of Pretoria. The parents can't afford daycare or after school care so the community centre provides all those services including children's clubs and a homework centre for after school care. We had a chance at the end of the day just to play with them and love on them. The video below shows some of our apprentices enjoying a little organized recreation.

So we did take a little camping weekend to a game reserve called Pilanesberg. Now, there wasn't a whole lot of game to be seen, but it was still a good time. We got up close and personal with some giraffe and one very aggravated Wildebeest, and one bird that reminds me a lot of Zazu from the Lion King... Here are some of those pictures.

This week we are taking a break from our regular rhythm to host the Nieucommunities conference. Everyone who is on staff at Nieucommunities from all over the world are coming to our site for the next week. It's pretty exciting to get to see some familiar faces and meet a whole lot of new ones. It's like a big family reunion! All the apprentices are helping to get this thing going. They've put me in charge of basic programming stuff for the sessions. It's nothing exciting but it's fun to help out. It's going to be an exciting and challenging time where we get a chance to talk about where Nieucommunities has been and where it is going. As a pioneering ministry they have seen success and failure which is a natural part of the process. You all can be praying for our time that it is fruitful and most of all fun.

So I'm going to go ahead and leave this one to a close. I'm probably going to start blogging smaller entries more often, so I might not be sending out reminders every time I blog, but I'll send out probably two email reminders a month.

Other things you can be praying for:
- Our team; that we continue to become a family even through the hard times.
- Our ministries; we're coming to the end of our listening posture and soon it will be time to pick the ministry (or ministries) that we will be working with. There are a couple of choices that I am looking at so you can pray for wisdom and discernment for me and for our team.

Thanks so much for your continued support and I hope to hear back from all of you!