Letters from Namibia

Reaping what you sow

2007-07-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

Hello again.

Since I last posted incredible things have happened, in the school we were in SP (please pray for!) Jesus had a massive impact, of the 200 or so pupils who attended about 140 of them filled in forms, saying that they'd become a Christian, were interested in becoming a Christian and/or wanted to meet up with someone. During two days i was enabled to share the gospel in front of a class of people four times,
and able to make one altar call. I felt like I was speaking with an authority not my own, at times when i was speaking you could have heard a pin drop. It felt like nothing short of revival!
The path to this impact was an interesting one, Before we came to the school we were warned by our team leader Stanley that this school, had a number of Muslim parents who had lodged complaints against unbalanced religious influence in the school. He said to expect to be the last group in the school. This led me to believe at the start of the week that our impact was going to be limited, my first few days gave me the same impression.
Wednesday night was arguably the turning point, nobody before this had wanted to speak to me on any topic of greater depth than whether or not I knew Wayne Rooney or David Beckham, however on the Wednesday night I felt challenged to pray that God would bring an impact on that school beyond which I could possibly imagine, and bring freedom to this school.
I should explain that, i learned that in this school and the school we visited last week Moshipandeka, it was common place for teachers to take sexual advantage of their pupils, something seemingly the senior members of staff turned a blind eye to.

This all turned however on the Thursday God brought our team the words that he was our banner, and we were working underneath his power and also most pertinently for me that we would reap what we sowed.
This came to me in a time I was spending reading the bible, in 2 corinthians 9 Ïf you sow generously you also reap generously, in which I felt God saying to our team and myself that the more of yourself you give, the more you are open about your problems and past as well as your hopes and feelings the more of a response we would see from the kids.
The team were all so obedient to this, one girl even sharing the story of being raped, with great courage and dignity.
That day God answered my prayers and then some. In the first class I entered into I sensed God telling me to let the kids dictate what we would do in the lesson, so I asked what they would like to talk about, to which one girl replied, we want to know about the "knowing Gods", these are an evangelistic leaflet which explain how to enter into a relationship with Jesus, this meant I had a platform to speak for thirty minutes about the good news of Jesus! I had a further opportunity the same day.
That afternoon, we ran out of knowing God leaflets! Indeed in one class I had only three left for a class of 20 and when i said who really desperately wants one of these three quarters of the class raised their hands as if I was offering ten pound notes!
On the Friday we were able to reap the harvest that God had given, Fresh with more knowing Gods our classes and break times were filled with the sound of talking about the incredible love and sacrifice of my Saviour and the scribbling of pens of girls and boys filling in addresses to receive Christian literature and to declare either their new found or rediscovered faith.
One of the highlights for this day was running an assembly for the school outside in the playground/ car park because the school did not have an assembly hall. During one of the songs our Namibian team mates were dancing to, the teachers all began dancing as well as well as most of the pupils on the front row, it just felt like the holy spirit was bringing his joy.

The highlight however for me was how incredibly faithful God was to my prayers, I prayed once again on the Friday morning not just to be excited by What Jesus was doing in the School but astounded, For some reason seeing swarms of children clammering for knowing God leaflets and the smallest amount of our time did not do this for me. It was only in the afternoon when somewhat reluctantly I forwent my customary afternoon nap to collect some knowing God's from a school we had not taught in. On our way out, we (Joey the American Brit, Francis the former pastor and I) saw one girl standing on her own outside the school gates after giving her a knowing God we asked if she would like it explained to her, and after two minutes of explanation most of the time reading out the leaflet word to word, she agreed to praying the prayer and giving her life to Jesus. This left me in the place of being astounded, the first person i led to Christ using none of the intelligence, or hours of evidence or examples I have compiled over 5 years of Christianity, i usually employ in the past fruitlessly. My role was minimal, but Christ was at work in her heart and her barriers of unbelief were down. She prayed the prayer and began her life with Jesus. So in summary this week has been one of them sot amazing of my life (though i might simply have inherited the American spirit of over enthusiasm and hyperbole in saying this though i do not think so!)
In terms of prayer the outreach is all but over we are spending the next couple of days in a safari park called Etosha, then back to Youth for Christ head quarters in Odeygos and then off to Cape Town!
But the work here in Oshakati schools has only just begun. Please would you pray that the amazing work that God has done in the schools would be built upon by the guys left up here Fanny and Eristo, that those who want to be met up with are and those who want literature recieve it. The ministry has started now it must go on, and it won't without prayer!

We are also heading into another orphanage so could you pray that God would use us there!

Thanks so much for reading

Love Nathan x

trip to an orphanage

2007-07-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hello again.

I have to say first off i just checked my facebook and to see 52 pople having joined my blog was so encouraging so thank you so much. Since I last posted I visited an orphanage for kids whose parents had died of aids. This was the hardest part of the trip by far. The children there were playing on a football pitch absolutely covered in broken glass half of which did not have shoes. this made especially angry. Just walking 4 steps I had already picked up a handfuls worth of glass. What was especially hard was to find out most of the orphans had less than 2 meals week. Again though the way these kids played football and ran around you would not know it, they seemed in far better shape than me! I am glad that I saw this place but at the same time wish I had not.
By contrast the next day I visited a fish shop which had government funding. Proof that misappropriation of funding is still alive and well in Africa. These last three days haved been espeically hard for all of us. We hve been exhausted, and this has started to come out in misunderstandings and in being easily irritable, this has been much better today, however, I think we have recovered and are ready to face what is next. The new school is fun and reasonably receptive to what we are dfonig but it is too early to tell whether we are having any impact. But God is good, he has restored the team he has dealt with my problems and I am feeling close to him once more excited about doing his will. But I must go and let anthony get on the internet he's a namibian and looks likel a backnig memeber from east 17

Love Nathan!

MY first post 2 weeeks in!

2007-07-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hello There!

THis is the first time i've been able to gt any time on the internet here in Namibia. It's taken us 2 weeks to find an internet cafe that had more than one computer... and that was dial up! So how do i condense 2 of the most eventful and life changing weeks of my life into one blog. The answer is I can't, it'll take me probably many years to realise the significance of this trip. But i can certainly try to give you a flavour. Namibia is a small little country next to South Africa, small in people that is, with only 1.9 million people. It still took us 9 hours to get from the capital Windhoek, where we arrived to Oshakati up in the North!
So far we have taught for a week in schools children from the ages of 11-18 (though some are 21) about the need fo sexual abstinance before Marriage. This might seem like a peculiar way to spend a month and perhaps a old fashioned one, however it is one which is so neccessary in this country with 2 out of 5 of the people HIV posiitive and this is only the guys who have been checked.
But it has been an experience that has radically changed me. At the start of my week I questioned the receptiveness of these kids to what we were telling them. Telling teenage boys not to have sex is kind of like telling elvis not to eat cheeseburgers. But these kids are bright kids they know the risks, they know all the answers, they know the physical dangers and many of them listened extremely carefully to what we had to say to them.

I should probably explain the we. I am part of a team of about 20 guys half British and american and half namibian and when i say half British and amierican i mean one englishman (me!) and one scot and the rest americans! THis has however been far more enjoyable and valuable than i thought it would be. I have particularly made good friends with a guy called Joey who although had the misfortune to be born in America to American parents is actually British, he loves British music and culture and is a particularly good guitarist so we have had some fun playin songs together.
Amongst us foreigners, I have found most of our conversations revolving around the differences between our languages and cultures which seeing we are gonig on two weeks now i find suprising. I have also had considerable mockery made of my accent good natured mostly!
Of the Namibians, I don't think i have ever met a group of 20 something young people as mature or godly in my life. People have to grow up quickly in Africa, with alcoholic and abusive parents commonplace, so too parents dying early.
It has really broken me to have to face some of the realities of HIV, specially knowing that if current statistics hold which i Pray desperately that they wont, 2 in 5 of them will be or already are HIV positive. This is only also those who have been tested, which 75% of which are women. My leader Stanley explained to me that so few men gt tested because if they know that they are HIV positive they must then become sexually responsible. Which is a hideous thought however who wants to know that they are effectively the living dead. Such a thought led me to write the lyrics How can you tell me to open my eyes/ when all i want is to be blind/ to stumble and fall than realise/that i'm death walking as life

AS well as being deeply challenged and heartbroken i have also been incredibly encouraged both by the kids at the school and just the Namibian spirit in general. THe kids i spoke to all wanted to be doctors and lawyers, and businessmen and pop stars and "soccer" players. in the face of the potential for a future with such a real chance of such a debilitating disease as
Aids; this i found striking. THere is such joy and generousity in this country also! Church has no stand up to sing the hymn mentality every church service is a wild party of unashamed love offered to god, I went to a wedding which was effectively a church service with a wedding tacked on the end. It was amazing though the bride and groom both danced down the aisle! And afterwards were set upon by old ladies with sticks with cow hair tacked on the end shreiking like a marriachi band on speed!
I was also invited to the reception afterwards despite the fact i had never even met the bride and groom! Here i sampled for my first time goat and the insides of a sheeps stomach! It has made me see why nutters like Bono and Bob Geldof rant and rave about this continent. We in the western world need to bottle what these guys have and sell it. Counsellors would go out of business so too would prozac makers!
In terms of my faith in God this has come on leaps and bounds here. I have learnt so much mor the joy it is to serve others and really give myself to those I am around. God really hit me with the verse in 2 corinthians 9 those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly whereas those who sow generously will reap generously. The more I have invested in the kid in the school I am in the more i have seen in return in my own life.As i have prayed for these school kids, and made a effort to get to know them genuinely, putting there interests and agendas before my own the greater connection I have felt with them and the happier in my self I have been by a clear mile!
Ithas been a brilliant place to consolidate what God has been teaching me about my happiness, joy, and growth in Christ being inextricably linked with the needs of others and the will of God he has been so faithful looknig after me in this trip I feel so close to him now.
Everybody warned me that would get under the namibians feet but have a life changing experience and develop a love and committment to Africa, and that I certainly have, but i feel like have been more use than I was warned I would be, I have had some great chats one on one with some of the kids and some wonderful opportunities to share God's love in front of a class of 20-30 kids at a time, and have had a great response from those i have spoken to and so far through our team a good 12 people have become Chrisitans. I give however all the credit to God, he has taken a bunch of well meaning and eager though culturally irrellevant rich westerners and a group of incredibly gifted young namibians and used them to have a significant and for some life changing impact over those we have ministered to. Entering a relatinship with God does not jsut give these guys a nice warm feeling inside, but the strength to resist the potentially deadly desires of sexual temptation, hope and a future, the knowledge that they are hugely valued by the creator of the Universe and adopted into an eternal family where for many their erthly ones have abused and downtrooden them especially the girls.
But it is not through me but the power of Christ that works within me!

THe kids at the school have made me feel so welcome also! One kid today told me that he would put his hand in a frame having just shaken hands with an Englishman, we are also gawped at and waved at as if we were celebrities, often having people chasing after the trucks we ride in the back of. In terms of prayer requests-

We are visting another school next weeek and doing the same there. Could ou please pray for God to have his way there and to have even more of an impact than we had this week.

Also for the school we have left that the new christians migt have people to help follow them up and help them to grow in their new faith, that the cHristian union there who have florished over the past years might really make a stand for Christ on their campus and be obedient to gods work in and through them.
Our team is reall tired also so for some good rest and a renewed sense of purpose and desire for God, also that we might treat each other gently and lovingly despite the weariness.
Lastly for me that God mgiht continue what he is doing in me, and that i don'tstand in the way of what he wants to use me for through my selfishness and pride.

Thank you so much for reading, I really value your prayer and support here or just that you loved me enoug to read this.
Love Nathan