Postscript

We’re three days into our week long volunteer assignments at the Lausanne Congress.  It’s been very busy so far. My day usually goes from 7:30am to 9pm, whereas Jeff has been busy typically from 8am-5pm.

We both spend time down this non-descript hallway.  Hall 4-B is where all the administrative offices for the Congress were set up.  Jeff’s been down here working on computers.  I come down here periodically to bring files to the communications team.  Yes, I have had to carry my electronic files.  The internet connectivity at the Congress has been so bad, it generated a press release. As you can imagine, the lack of connectivity has kept Jeff and the other techs busy.

My other home this week is the Press Room. Reporters from a variety of Christian and secular media outlets as well as our small Lausanne news team are set up in this room.  We have a screen to watch congress events, and tables for our computers.  This room is also used for a daily press conference with a panel that has been selected to answer questions from reporters on subjects covered during Congress sessions that day.

You can read the articles and news releases that our team has been putting out.

Popularity: 10% [?]

The final count of participants for Lausanne is 4200 from 198 countres.  In any of the meetings with Wycliffe that either of us has attended, we’ve never been in the midst of such a diverse group of people.  In addition to the participants, we’re part of the hundreds of volunteers working behind the scenes.

Each day is structured around a central theme:

Monday: Truth
Tuesday: Reconciliation
Wednesday: World Faiths
Friday: Priorities
Saturday: Integrity
Sunday: Partnership

Participants start each day with a Bible study that reflects on the theme of the day, they listen to various speakers address Church issues related to the theme, and then they have an opportunity to respond.

With a group this big, that may seem hard to coordinate.  However, everyone has been put into tables of six to make discussions easier.  Specific questions are presented for the table groups to discuss, and they fill out a form at the conclusion of their discussions to summarize their thoughts.

Photos courtesy of Lausanne.

Popularity: 8% [?]

The third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, Cape Town 2010, will begin this coming Sunday.  The expectation is that more than 4,000 people from about 200 countries will be present to discuss and respond to some of the world’s major issues and how they are affecting the Church.  You can read a good overview on the Congress here.

Several people from Wycliffe have been selected by committees in their countries to attend. With us being located so close to where this event is being held, I’d really been hoping that we could find a way in, too.  Just two weeks ago we were presented with two open volunteer positions–a spot on the Congress IT team for Jeff and a spot on the Congress communications team for me.  Wycliffe gave us the green light to participate.

Today, I attended the orientation for the communications team.  The team has more than 100 people who will serve as photographers, videographers, writers, designers, researchers, and social media and web site contributors.  I’m working on the news team which includes press release writers, media/press relations workers and someone to distribute stories from the Congress.

This is only the third time this Congress has convened since 1974, so it’s exciting to be part of it.  We begin our week of work with the Congress on Sunday.

Learn more about Cape Town 2010.

Popularity: 6% [?]

This package of tortillas has traveled the world.  Really, it has…and, I’m not talking about its journey to the store shelf.  It traveled from North America to Asia and then to Africa to its final destination in our kitchen.  We really enjoy corn tortillas, and in Kenya and now in South Africa they are pretty much impossible to find.  Getting to eat them is a special treat.  They wouldn’t exactly last in a long trip through the mail, so we’ve had some colleagues bring them to us once in a while.  This time some friends brought them from the US to Singapore where I met up with them for the meetings we all attended there.  Then I brought them back home with me.  Tonight we ate some.  Mmmmm. They were very good.

Mail systems in some countries may be unreliable, non-existent, and in some cases theft is a risk.  Shipping expenses can be high.  Fees for customs can be high or may be less flexible on mail than if something is hand carried, and sometimes mail delivery can take a long time between countries.  For these reasons people living oversees often rely on networks of people to hand-carry items back and forth for them. We learned fast to utilize these networks.

Wonder how it works?  Usually we find out the travel schedule of friends, colleagues, even acquaintances that are either coming from someplace where one of us will be, or going somewhere where we want to send something.  We find out if they are willing to carry some things for us and if they have available space in their luggage. If they are coming to us from the US, we might arrange for our US mail or special treats to be sent to them in the US so they can bring it to us.  If they are leaving from where we are, we might arrange for them to take packages to the US to mail when they get there. These hand-carry networks have been very important to us.

Tortillas haven’t been our only globe trotting items.  My sister recently sent two t-shirts to me via a friend that I met up with in Singapore.  We sent some African clothing to my nephews and niece via a friend that we met up with in Johannesburg who was heading back to the US.  I sent back Christmas presents with my sister who saw us in Kenya. I brought a vuvuzela from South Africa with me to Singapore and gave it to a colleague traveling to Japan who will put it in the mail for our nephew who lives Okinawa, Japan.  We’ve also had people take back our US taxes and bring us banking documents and credit cards.

Considering going on a short-term missions trip to help some missionaries from your home country, are you planning a trip to visit a friend or relative who lives outside their home country, or will you be meeting up with some business associates that live abroad?  Find out if they need you to hand-carry anything for them.  Consider leaving some room in your baggage to carry some things to them or take some things back.  Your willingness to do this can be a blessing.  We have been so grateful to those who have been willing to do this for us.

Popularity: 33% [?]

We finally put up the last pictures on the walls in our office.  I think we can now officially say that our office is fully set up.  Our office is located next door to YWAM Muizenberg. If you look at the photo, you can see that our office is located in a house.  The lower level is occupied by a family.  The upper level is where we share office space with two other ministries: YWAM’s AfriComm team (the media team promoting what God is doing through YWAM’s ministries in Africa) and Justice Acts (a ministry focused on eliminating human trafficking).   AfriComm has their office in the living room.  Justice Acts is in a bedroom.  Another bedroom is used as a conference room.  We are in the third bedroom, and a YWAM student is staying in a fourth bedroom in the back.

Our office has three desks–one for each of us and one for another staff member, volunteer or an intern to work with me in the future.  We have a nice set of built in cabinets that easily fit our equipment and office supplies.  We were also able to get a nice unit that houses our printer/fax/scanner/copier unit, our files and our books.  All but one of the pictures we put up around the office was taken by people who’ve worked for the Africa Communications Network.  The other picture taken by someone else is of one of our volunteers.

The office came empty.  We set everything up ourselves in about three weeks.  South Africa has a great online classifieds service called gumtree, so we found all of our furniture for the office on there.  Buying second-hand helped save Wycliffe on the cost of the set-up.

It’s nice to finally be back to a routine of coming into the office to work instead of working on the road.  In about a month another Wycliffe family will be joining us in Muizenberg.  They may also check to see if they can at some point rent office space in this same facility.

Popularity: 13% [?]

We left Johannesburg this morning at 5am with intentions of only driving to a town called Beaufort West, and then completing our journey to Cape Town on Wednesday.  We arrived in Beaufort West around 3pm.  Cape Town was just another 5-5.5 hours from there, so we though…why not drive the rest of the way!  Well, we called a guest house in Cape Town to see if they had room for us and if they’d let us in after 8pm.  They said yes; we drove the whole way…er, I should say, Jeff drove the whole way while I kept track of where we were on the journey and supplied music and snacks.  The drive took us about 15.5 hours.  We’re exhausted, but we’re looking forward to beginning our apartment search and getting our office here set up.

Popularity: 15% [?]

While Jeff has been busy repairing computers, I’ve been consulting with Wycliffe South Africa on rebranding.  They are wanting to raise their profile in order to involve more people in this part of the world in Bible translation.  My part has been helping them think through what materials they need, how they want them to look, and helping them connect with a design firm that is doing the work.  We started with their logo and then getting them a presence on some social media sites.  Soon they will also be getting a whole new set of basic materials.   We’re all hoping that their new materials will come together in time for a few events they have this fall.

What do you think of their new look?

Wycliffe has many organizations around the world.  Take a look at the list.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Jeff and I had the opportunity to visit a small town about an hour and a half from Durban with a local church ministry team.  This team provides encouragement, spiritual guidance and medical advice to people with HIV/AIDS and those that are in some other way affected by the disease.

It has been reported that millions of people in South Africa are infected, and the infection rate is the highest in the world.  This area has one of the highest infection rates in the country.  One of the pastors of the church we visited said that they wanted to respond, but didn’t know how.  A doctor at the church spearheaded a program to meet the needs of those infected by HIV and AIDS in the community.  It started as a small hospice program.  Soon they found that many patients were not dying but were recovering enough to return to work and daily life.  The ministry changed its focus. While the hospice remains open, each week follow up is done with patients not in the hospice.  Volunteers check on each patient’s well being (including a medical questionnaire) and conduct a Bible study with the patient and anyone else the patient invites to participate. We each went with small groups to check on a few patients.  To us the people we visited did not look ill.  The antiviral drugs that many people take, while not a cure, do allow people to have healthier, longer lives.  People that live longer can continue to care for their families, contribute to the larger society through their work and interact with their communities in a meaningful way.

We were in a Zulu area, so many of the people we visited only spoke Zulu.  The Bible study and much of the rest of the content of our visit was done in the Zulu language.  Seeing the Zulu Bible in use reminded me that this is what we desire to see in all the language communities where Scriptures are being translated.  The Scriptures in a language the community understands best being used not only in church but also to address relevant current needs, even providing encouragement to those struggling with affects of HIV/AIDS.  A woman in the photo above committed her life to Christ after the Bible study was complete.

Zulu is one of the 11 national languages of South Africa.

What about the families where parents have died from AIDS?  The church also responded by starting a ministry for child-headed homes.  They offer child-care for younger siblings and assistance with studies for the child heading the home. This is a critical care component giving children who lead their families the opportunity to complete their education. However, the life of a child who has suddenly been thrust into adulthood, is not easy.  Learn more about child-headed homes.

Learn more about how Wycliffe is addressing HIV/AIDS.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Ruth is conducting a children’s program about missions.
Photo courtesy of Wycliffe South Africa.

We’re on the road with Wycliffe South Africa assisting them with one of several events they are doing around South Africa to raise awareness for Bible translation and missions.  Ruth, a volunteer from Germany, is conducting a children’s program for Wycliffe SA that teaches children about missions.  The church we’re visiting now has additionally invited Wycliffe SA to share with their youth, young adults and share in their Sunday morning service.  We’ll be participating in the activities planned with the youth and young adults.

This is a beautiful part of the country with rolling hills, farms, water falls, and quaint shops and restaurants.  In the early 1900s it was home to a Beor concentration camp.  During the Anglo Beor War, Afrikaans (or Afrikaner) women and children were put in these camps by the British.  Even now some people of Afrikaans decent can tell the stories of their relatives that died or were rescued from one of these camps.

This area is also in the South African province that has the highest percentage of reported HIV/AIDS infections.  We’re planning to visit a community near here where the church has a ministry to those affected by this disease.

We’ll be staying with some church members, and along with helping out Wycliffe South Africa, all this is part of our orientation to South Africa.

Popularity: 8% [?]

In the midst of getting set up for our lives in South Africa, both of us have been busy assisting Wycliffe staff that live in this area.  I’ve been providing consulting help to Wycliffe South Africa on their branding strategy, while Jeff has been helping with computer repairs.

In the last week or so Jeff has worked on three computers in person and completed one remote repair.  Today, he is making a house call at two colleagues’ home office helping them sort out some issues with their email and another software program.  Next week he’ll be doing some long-over-due updates on another colleague’s computer.  The team here seems glad to be getting some assistance from Jeff.

Wycliffe staff based in South Africa serve in a variety of roles from raising awareness of Bible translation and opportunities for involvement, to administrating donated funds, to having direct involvement in Bible translation projects located in other southern African countries.  While Jeff will serve many different offices in Africa, he will be a main source of IT support for this team.

Popularity: 13% [?]