South Africa: Lost in Translation

A few things we are learning in this culture:

Tomato sauce= ketchup (sort of . .)

Napkins= diapers

Serviettes= napkins

Coke Light= Diet Coke

Robots= stoplights

Chips= French Fries (sometimes)

Braai (sp?)= Barbecue

Today, we got to sightsee around Capetown! This is truly an amazing country. We spent most of our time in Table Mountain National Park. Here are some of what we’ve seen:

We rode a cable car up to the top of Table Mountain. It overlooks the entire city on all sides!

We drove around the coast viewing both the Atlantic Ocean side as well as the Indian Ocean side.

We all paid the fare for a boat which took us to out to a seal colony on a small island. We saw families of jellyfish off the side of the boat on our way out. The captain also mentioned that this area is the only place in the world where Great White sharks actually jump out of the water while feeding. So, the guys got excited about seeing some carnage! Fortunately, the seals were only playing and sunning themselves. No danger or carnage . . . too bad.

We ate at the Mariner’s Wharf right on the ocean. We had the best calamari we’ve ever eaten. In fact, we loved them so much, we ordered a second appetizer of them for dessert.

We ended the day with a visit to a penguin colony near the southern tip of the country. We saw literally thousands of penguins nesting and standing out on the rocks. Penguins in Africa? Sounds crazy . . but they are there!

In the midst of all this, I got this picture in my head. Being a new father, I revel in seeing my daughter play with a new toy we brought home for her. As we were gawking at the penguins or snapping pictures of seals or standing in awe at the mountains, I thought about what God must feel as He sees His children delighting in the things he made for us. I can only imagine that He smiles with a twinkle in his eye as He watches His children opening these gifts given to us.

Though hard with pictures, I hope we can share these gifts with you.

Keep praying for us. We fly to Durban tomorrow to do a concert or two as well as sing at an orphanage and a school.

Love you guys,

-chris

NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

This being our first blog and also our first shot on the internet since we arrived, we’ve got a lot of information to squeeze in. Short and sweet… our trip over was mostly problem-free with the exception of some lost luggage, and our layover in London was fantastic! (More on this later…now on to the mission work!)

Our first few days here have been busy! We started off the trip with a weekend retreat consisting of many of the local churches. We took a charter bus an hour and a half out into the mountains at a camp just outside of Capetown. The ride was absolutely breathtaking- this is such a beautiful country.

Since it is winter in South Africa, they warned us to bring jackets for the evenings. Of course, we’re thinking, “We’re in Africa, how cold can it really get?” We found out the hard way. Every night, it got down near 0 degrees Celcius (around 30 degrees). We froze every night since there was no heating in any of the cabins, but we persevered.

The singing was awesome. Each of the groups (Watershed, Free Indeed, One Spirit, VHF) took turns leading worship for each session. For the main night sessions, all of the groups would come out together and close out each evening with high-energy worship. With so many people who can truly sing, the music was moving and powerful! I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting the local churches and South Africans to know many of the songs we do. (You know, we’d have to sing the older “throwback” devotional songs) But my expectations were blown right out of the water as they sang “Lord, Reign In Me” at the top of their lungs and “How Great Is Our God” with hands raised! It was so cool do see how many songs they DID know and how passionate they sing.

Last night, all the groups got together and we sang a medley I had done with at Friday Night Lights a month or so back at Rochester. I had never done it a cappella before, but everyone filled in the parts easily. So, to close out the evening, we sang “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Open the Eyes Of My Heart”. To sing a cover of a U2 song has been somewhat of a dream of mine, but to do it in South Africa . . . . WOW.

One of the verses in the song says, “I believe in the Kingdom come, then all the colors will bleed into one. You know I believe it . . “ Powerful stuff. Especially to sing those words in a country who has had such a history with apartheid and racism. In South Africa, the churches are small and diverse. It is difficult for them to come together. It is our hope that we are able to bring a message of hope and unity to these churches. That Jesus is reason enough to be unified.

Another song the South Africans love is “Jabulani”. I was a little apprehensive about singing a South African song in SOUTH AFRICA, but they absolutely loved it. We’ve had to sing it everyday so far- a trend I expect to continue throughout our stay here.

We’ve got the next day to enjoy some of the sights in South Africa…we’ll definitely update you on that soon, but we are ecstatic about the upcoming week. We’ve been informed that the two concerts they had set up and opened to the public have way exceeded their expectations. In Durban, they have sold over 1000 tickets and in Empangani over 600! In both places, they are expecting around 75% of the audiences to be non-Christian . . . so a great opportunity for outreach!

A BIG thank you to all who’ve been praying for us! Keep them going this week as we share the gospel through music! More to come soon . . . .

A Heavy Word

As many of you know, a few weeks ago I turned 30. It’s somewhat of a milestone in my life. 30’s a big number. While in my 20’s, people could disregard some of my antics and irresponsibility on my age. I was still an adult, but with some forgiveness there when I needed to shirk off my duties and run downstairs to the my Xbox. But 30 strikes me as a little different. You are called to a higher standard in your 30’s. When I pine for a day or two of laziness, the bills on my counter and the Jumperoo in my living room remind me that life will not stop for me to indulge myself. I am a man- like it or not.

So, I got a tattoo for my birthday.

I had been mulling this idea around for a while that I wanted one. But those who know me know of my fear of needles. I can’t even go by myself to the doctor for shots, so how in the world would I be able to get thousands of tiny shots that inject ink into my body?

But I did it. We pulled into a Daytona Beach shop called GenerationX (we did some research online to find a “reputable” shop) and I marched right into the front lobby with my design: “Kadosh” in Hebrew- translated “holy” and “set apart”. I wanted this word on my body to remind myself that God has called me to be this very word. I find it incredibly beautiful.

As I gave my design to the clerk behind the counter he replied, “Hebrew, huh?”

“Yep.”

“You know, we have a couple of guys from Israel who work here.”

“Really?”

The clerk passed the sheet with my future on it to a short guy with a red cap turned around backwards. He had a goatee and no noticeable tattoos on his arms.

“Are you Jewish?” He asked me.

“ Nope. Just a student of Hebrew.”

“Hmm. if you were, I would talk to you about this. I would try to talk you out of doing this.”

So, was this guy a practicing Jew? In a tattoo parlor? I knew what the Old Testament law says about marking your body, but I had to ask.

“Why?”

“Because it’s against the Torah.” Aha! So he’s a Jew of some kind . . . but I’m still kinda wondering why this guy works here, but we keep talking.

“Are you Jewish?” I ask.

“Yes. I am studying to become an Orthodox Jew.” He pulls off his red cap to reveal a yhamika hiding underneath.

“So, do you go to “mikva?”

“Yes, as often as I can, at least a couple of times a week.”

“Do you have any tattoos?”

“Nope.”

Then he changes the discussion back to the tattoo,

“This word that you want to have on your body. This . . . this is a heavy word. It is in all the prayers we pray. You are choosing a serious word. If I was going to tattoo you- I just couldn’t do this.”

A wave hit me. Did I really realize what I was about to do? Did I really think this through? Should I have decided to do something different? Maybe God was reminding me to take this more seriously than I was.

“But you can do what you want. I’ll set you up with one of our artists.”

So, he took my money, and assigned me to a guy who was to put this word on my body forever. Clearly, he wasn’t a full Orthodox Jew, cause he immediately went outside to smoke a cigarette.

Still, it made me think about this experience and what I was about to do. I resolved to do this, but with a new appreciation for this word- HOLY.

Can I live up to this standard?

Vacation!!

So, we got back a couple of weeks ago from a much needed vacation! We haven’t done anything like this since before we moved to Rochester, so it was nice. We hung out in Florida at the New Smyrna Beach (just below Daytona) in a house that we rented with Josh and Kara.

I ended up sitting around and reading through two books ( I highly recommend both, by the way): Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor and Sex God by Rob Bell. Barbara has slways been one of my favorite authors since reading her book The Preaching Life in college. She is truly a master of words, because she doesn't just write, she paints grand tapestries with her stories. Anyone who hasn't read her books should go out and pick up anything she's written. You won't be disappointed! So, I’m now on the search to pick up some new reading before the final Harry Potter comes out- any recommendations?

We also watched the entire second season of The Office! It has become one of my favorite shows. (like I need another one) So if you don't need another show, then don't watch it. You'll be hooked!!!

Also, a couple of interesting things happened on this trip. First, Genna began crawling! As you can see from the previous video, she’s still a little shaky, but has now realized that she can grab that toy, even though it is across the room. This is a bittersweet milestone for her parents, for it is a signal that she is learning and growing up which is exciting, as well as fear that she can get into all sorts of things that she couldn’t before. I’m thinking of investing in one of those prison ankle tracking bracelets . . . .

And Genna also knows her first word! She now proudly greets everyone around her with an emphatic “Hi” while waving her arms around wildly. As much as I would’ve liked her first word to be “dada”, it’s incredibly cute.

More to come. . .

Genna at the beach!

Genna had just learned to crawl only a day or two before this video. She's discovering the sand! I promise, something serious to read will be coming soon!

Day at the Zoo

Genna's first trip to the Zoo. Don't let her face fool you . . . she had a great time! And so did Mommy and Daddy.

She didn't mind the snakes . . .

or a conversation with a lion . . . .

But her favorite animal was Grandpa!