I was gifted with the priceless opportunity of spending time in Qwa Qwa these past few weeks with our student Thrive Trip, and I’ve tried to describe to people what happened during those 3 weeks, but my mouth can’t seem to fit around the right words. There aren’t any words big enough or deep enough to do it justice, but I’ll try my hardest to get as close as possible.

We spent two full weeks in ministry, but towards the end I could have sworn that no more than two days had passed. I usually struggle to see immediate fruit in relationships. This time, however, it seemed as though every single man and woman we met had been specifically set aside for us. Walking from house to house, we did more than help with chores and share a couple Scriptures; the Holy Spirit took our words and placed them directly in these people’s hearts. In short, we reclaimed souls for the Kingdom. We brought light into places that were drowning in darkness, and hope to homes that were shrouded in despair.

During this whole trip I didn’t just witness Basotho lives change, I watched as every single Thrive Tripper became someone greater than they’d arrived here as. They flew in as timid, nervous students, and left as fierce, powerful warriors for Christ. They changed lives. They conquered. They healed. They changed a little piece of Africa. How many people can say that?

Brian, a member of the Frontline team that worked with us last month, shared some of the moments that have indelibly inked themselves on his heart.

If you ask me what my favorite or most memorable moment was, it would come to a three-way tie. The first was seeing the Word of God alive. All Scriptures are God-breathed and boy, does that give it some oomph. I have witnessed Scriptures wielded like a sword, fighting false teachings and lifting the blindfolds of purposelessness. The second would be the day we took part in Leadership Summit. I had the honor and privilege of working with 20 of Qwa Qwa’s best and brightest. In them was a fire that will fuel the light that is consuming the darkness in South Africa. Lastly, the pediatric ward at Qwa Qwa’s regional hospital broke my heart. When you hold babies whose heads aren’t even as big as your palms and you pray with the only conscious child in isolation who knows he’s been abandoned, how can you walk away without being pierced by their situations?

I admit it was tough—tougher than I could have ever imagined—and it would have all been a fruitless effort without the hope that is in Jesus Christ. To know that there is more, to press onward because there is more—that is what will change South Africa.

While Nathan was here with his team, Frontline, he had a unique opportunity to spend a few days with a South African witchdoctor. His experience is a testament to the power of a few simple words, and how easily they can change lives:

When we arrived (at the witchdoctor’s house), we offered to help out with chores to get a better understanding of the culture, but that offer fell on deaf ears as we found ourselves sitting in the kitchen discussing the differences between the two cultures. It seemed like the first day was more of a spiritual test — an attempt by the witch doctor and her husband to see whether or not we were true Christians and to test our depth of Biblical knowledge.

We returned the next day to open arms. The small talk quickly turned to deep conversation regarding the AIDS pandemic, why God allows the virus to run rampant, and other hard questions. To be completely honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it was by divine intervention that I was able to come back with Biblical examples and answers to each of their difficult questions. By the end of the day, we had built a sincere bond with the family. They understood that we were “disciples of God” and were able to offer them encouragement through the Bible. Although I do not know whether or not the witchdoctor has stopped practicing her ancestral worship, she did swell up when we explained God’s forgiving love and she noted that she “wished she had never been born with such a gift”.

Since it was apparent the family had limited resources, we decided to purchase a Bible for them. But, when we went to present the Bible, we discovered her brother had passed away. She was an emotional wreck. So, after giving her the Bible, we got into group, laid hands on her and prayed for her. I hope that our presence and our conversations have led the family to a new level with God and that the Bible has been able to bless them with a deeper understanding of the true Word of God.

A mission team member from the Cornerstone team we hosted back in April shared this story with us:

At the schoolyard I introduced myself to three women that were watching our team play with the children. I started to have a conversation with them and they told me they were Christians. We talked for about twenty minutes or so and they were asking me questions about America and I was asking them questions about Qwa Qwa. Then I asked them if their church was a Bible-believing church (the women could speak English really well). They said that it was. Then I asked if they believed in witchdoctors or their ancestors. They said, “Yes we believe in our ancestors.”

I began to talk about what the Bible says about those things. I told them that those things aren’t from God! I shared from Deuteronomy, Hebrews, and Joshua, and showed them that God was the only One to put their trust in! “He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!” I took time to minister to them about being deceived by Satan. I could see their faces begin to change and they said that they hadn’t known about all this! I asked if they wanted to surrender their life to God and ask Him to forgive them for believing in other gods. I shared how I was a single mom and that God always provided for me and my children! I encouraged them that He would provide for them, too! They all wanted to pray and I led them to the Lord! Praise God! I told them that I look forward to seeing them again–in Heaven!

We regularly host teams from churches all over the U.S., and often connect with them through various friends or acquaintances, but just recently we experienced a divine connection.

A pastor at a church in California recently contacted us, and was interested in sending a missions team here in the fall. Because our internet crawls along at a snail’s pace, it’s sometimes difficult to keep in frequent contact with people, but this church was patient with our African internet.

Soon after their contact with us, the pastor shared an amazing story about how he’d found out about our ministry. The church itself is large, and has a good-sized missions program. They have missionaries going out all over the world, but recently decided that they all felt like God was calling them to Africa. A couple of the families specifically felt like the church was being drawn towards South Africa. With this exciting knowledge in their minds and hearts, they began looking for organizations with which they could send a short-term missions team to South Africa. For weeks they couldn’t find anything, and all possibilities kept falling through.

A group of them that were involved in this vision of Africa met in the pastor’s office and prayed for a door to be opened and clarity as to where they should go. Immediately afterward, the pastor went to check the church’s mailbox, and the only thing sitting in his box was a mailer from us! This was the very first time we’d ever sent out a mailer to churches that we weren’t connected with, and God utilized the opportunity at once! One line on the mailer stuck out to them instantly: Looking for a mission trip destination?

They contacted us at once with intense excitement and immediately began planning their trip to serve with us. We’re so thankful that God made that connection between the two of us, and are encouraged that there continues to be interest in the evangelization of Africa, even though fuel prices and plane tickets keep creeping upward.

The Frontline team is now gone, but they have left numerous changed lives in their wake. In the weeks to come there will be some incredible testimonies about their ministry in the villages online for you to be encouraged by, but until then I thought I’d explain how they impacted me.

Frontline was a college-aged team that stayed with us for almost 2 weeks, and in that short time span, I saw a powerful God in them. I guess you could characterize them by saying that they were on fire for Him, but that doesn’t do them justice. The one thing I valued most was the fact that they’ve gotten to a place that few others have, and even fewer at their age. Their lives have no boundaries; they haven’t compartmentalized their life to the point where the world and God never intermingles. In fact, God is in every aspect, but not overbearingly. It’s not like they came with something to prove; they just live in a way that reflects Him, that screams His name loudly with every breath, but is so unimposing at the same time.

In them I saw a promising future; something I haven’t been able to wrap my mind around for a long time. Even though the Church is constantly growing and that means that there should be even more people for the mission field, we’re plagued daily by reports of how poorly our youth are growing up. We’ve seen growth in missions, but nothing like the growth in our modern world. But they proved, in a week and a half, that young people do have the potential to change this world. Not only do they have potential, but they are drastically changing the world already.

The team from Cornerstone began their relationship evangelism this past Monday in Qwa Qwa, revisiting the same area that several had worked in the previous year. On the hour-long bus ride into Qwa Qwa, the team was incredibly focused on their preparation. I heard several people quizzing others on certain Sesotho words and others running over lists of questions to ask in the homes if they got stuck. Still others were running through Bible verses that addressed ancestral worship and ones that would encourage and give hope.

When the bus pulled into the courtyard of the school where the church meets, gobs of kids surrounded it almost immediately. As we got off, we had the attention of every child in the yard, and they were all asking for hugs and clamoring for our attention and love.

We then met our interpreters and got to know them through a game. The ministry group that I was with had the opportunity of meeting a young married couple the first morning, and spent the better half of the day simply getting to know them and their culture. We promised them that the next day, Tuesday, we would come back and plant a garden. They were thrilled with the fact that we were willing to do that for them. Tuesday morning we went to their house first thing, and the wife Anna was beaming when she saw us. We planted a small garden in the front of her house, and ended up leading her and a friend of hers to Christ! It was incredible to see the gravity with which God moves in each and every situation, and how a simple vegetable garden can open up priceless opportunities.

The Cornerstone Church missions team will be here in just a few days and preparations for their arrival have been underway for a while now. While they’re here they’ll be involved in relationship evangelism, and a few of them will be speaking at our Leadership Day on April 21st.

It’s exciting to have teams come through because it gives us an opportunity to hear what’s going on back home and to get to know a whole new group of people. A few members of this team are getting the opportunity to speak at our Leadership Day this next Monday. The Leadership Day hosts over 300 students from 17 schools and is focused on building the students’ leadership abilities. While a few of the team are speaking at the event, the others will be going house to house in relationship evangelism.

I’m excited to meet this new team and even more excited to see the fruit that they will not only reap, but have the opportunity to benefit from as well.

We had a team of young people from Willow Creek Community Church (Barrington, IL) spend a few days with us over Easter weekend. They attended a special Easter service in Intabazwe, did some maintenance work at Limakatso Disabled Center, and visited people at the hospital Easter morning.

They painted, replaced windows, and planted a garden at the Disabled Center. The children are on school break right now so they will be very surprised and excited to see the work the team accomplished when they return. Everyone at the hospital was overjoyed to have visitors on Easter Sunday. The team was able to share the hope and joy of the risen Savior.

Although their time with us was very short, their impact will remain forever.

Zion arrived here for a mission trip with his church with the hope of finding his self-worth. But he ended up gaining a truth far more integral to God’s Kingdom than his own self-understanding. He’s realized that it’s not about his worth anymore, but about helping others find their worth in Christ.

Zion came to understand that the desperation he sees in a Mosotho’s eyes is the exact same as what he sees in the girl that walks beside him in school every day—their pain is merely veiled differently. This experience has opened his heart wide to see a hurting world that’s sitting directly in front of him. As he talks about the children and how they exude so much more joy than children anywhere else, his heart still pains at the fact that when you look closely into their eyes, you can still see hopelessness and that when they run to you for love, it’s a run of desperation.

He had the distinct opportunity to teach some of the children part of a song he wrote called “I Belong to You”. The song focuses on belonging solely to Christ and having a distinct place in Christ’s heart. They welcomed him back the second day by flocking to him and singing the chorus of the song he had taught them the previous day. Even though he realizes that they might not entirely understand what they are singing, it’s incredible to hear them speak those words over their lives. They belong to God.

Zion’s team came across Agnes, an elderly woman, on the very first day and began tentatively cultivating a relationship with her. As they discovered more about her, she told them that several years ago she was struck by a car and had been left with knee injuries. Her age and ailment was striking a blow to her Christianity. She spoke about how she was a Christian and that she believed in God, but that her strength in believing in Him was quickly waning. Before they left that first day they prayed with and over her, for both healing and strength. When they revisited the second day, she was thrilled to see them and share the praise that her knees were no longer hurting and that she had found new strength within her to trust God.

Relationship evangelism at first frightened Zion unbearably, but now is nearly natural. He remarked how in America it’s not possible to do door-to-door evangelism because people won’t even answer their door. It takes years to disciple and grow the same relationship with Americans as it does for South Africans in 3 days. Zion summed up his trip so far with this statement: “Each of us came to give as much as we can to these people, and yet we find ourselves receiving so much more than we could have ever imagined or hoped for.”