Day 4: Xai Xai Sunday “The Dedication Service”

Day 4: Sunday 8/15/2010

The Dedication Service

We arrived at the church at 8am. Gabe and I immediately connected the generators and set up the sound system. After a few minutes the Xai Xai kiddos started showing up in huge numbers. Love these kids! We finished set up early so we had plenty of time to talk and play with the kids. We don’t speak the same language but it really is not hard to communicate with them. We busted out the jumpy jumps again and they went wild on them! So much fun to watch.

As we put the finishing touches on the sound system a group teenagers walked into the sanctuary and started rehearsing for their special song set in today’s service. It was incredible! Very life giving and exciting. You could hear the harmony outside the church and down the valley. It was almost like a dinner bell in that kids and adults started showing up in droves. We filled the sanctuary with several hundred people. I can’t explain how these singers and musicians inspire me. Everyone participates in the songs. They started marching around the room singing their beautiful songs and my heart just melted. Pastor Joe and Lori arrived soon after and ran into the building to see the what was going on. The voices of the kids literally filled the area. God was going to do something powerful today!

We kicked off the service in Celebration style with a Shangaan rendition of Hillsong’s “Mighty To Save” and moved into some Shangaan upbeat songs. Talk about exciting! Marcos and the band were in top form and it was almost impossible not to move to the rhythms of the songs. I had the honor of playing music with these guys! Great time. Then we were treated to our Xai Xai kids and the three special songs they prepared. Songs with motions and movements with a prayer incorporated into it by one of the children. After the Xai Xai kids left the platform some the local youth came and sang a few songs. These were the ones rehearsing before the service. The city secretary and several pastors from local churches and attended and we had a portion of the service to honor them. Pastor Mel came up with a translator after them and talked to the people about how God put Xai Xai in his heart and that it was his privilege to serve the people of Xai Xai. Finally Pastor Joe and Lori came to the platform. Pastor Lori told the people in the room about how her dreams of having a church in Africa are unfolding right before her eyes. It was a very touching moment as she was in tears and several of us in the congregation were as well. Then Pastor Joe begin the dedication sermon. He prayed a moving dedication prayer that really struck a chord with the Xai Xai people and they erupted into spontaneous applause. Then he preached the message of Jacob and how his name meant deceiver but God changed his name to Israel. He explained how we don’t have to be identified by the names people give us. People say we’re ugly, poor, worthless,  and many other hurtful things and before long we start to believe it. But God calls us by name and God alone changes our name. God gives us a future and a hope! Our identity is in Christ!

Nearly 30 Africans gave their lives to Christ when Pastor Joe presented the message of the Gospel. These lives will be forever changed. In celebration of this, we were treated to some more songs and then the band came up and we closed out in a song. There was a ton of music in this service! Just the way I like it. Pastor Isaac announced that food was coming following the service. Chicken and Rice! One thing to note is that these kids will likely only eat chicken once a year so this was a delicacy for them. In the states we order chicken by the bucket…

We all went outside to celebrate what the Lord had done. The kids ran to the inflatables and had a blast (or blast-blast as Paul Mason would say)! We chatted with some of the adults and local leaders. While Gabe and I were filming video footage he heard a rumble and looked up to see all the kids charging in the same direction…lunch was ready! The site of these kids eating with huge smiles on their face was unexpectedly emotional as they were so happy to be eating the chicken…I could not believe how struck I was by this. Thank God that he provides for his children. I know from Pastor Mel that these kids will now eat chicken at least twice a year from Celebration Church. On Christmas and on Easter. My life has been changed by the trip in so many ways I can’t even explain.

Just like that our dedication service and reception was over. Once things were winding down, it was time to head out to try and a get a little rest. We have been at it early morning to late night for the past several days and everyone was feeling the need to chill a bit. We would be meeting with Ben and Isaac later that night as well as Orey who is a missionary in Africa as well.

Upon getting to our room a few of us decided to pass on sleep and hit some four wheelers instead. Our guide took us on a scenic route through Xai Xai showing us some of the small village huts and explaining the culture of the people living in the huts. Our guides names was David and he was born in Xai Xai. He was very informative and we had a better under standing of the Mozambique culture. He took us to see many visually stunning locations. Keep it secret but Pastor Joe actually flipped a his four wheeler, I got stung by a nasty bug and Pastor Lori got stuck in the sand several times. She also appeared to grow in her 5 o’clock shadow due to all the dirt that was hitting us in the face.

After returning to our rooms we met briefly to discuss all the wins of the day. Salvations, kids fed and people we connected with. Celebration Church in Xai Xai is literally going to transform the city. Isaac, Ben, Carol, Dr. Orey and several others joined us for dinner and we had some incredible conversation. Dr. Orey actually speaks 11 languages! He speaks the click languages of Africa and whistle languages also. This man is a true legend and IMO a certified genius! He and Pastor Mel have become good friends in Africa and I’m so glad God put someone like Dr. Orey in Pastor Mel’s life to mentor, encourage and build him up. God always connects to the right people at the right time.

Once everyone left we debriefed about the dedication service one more time and decided to call it a night. Tomorrow we’d be leaving Xai Xai and heading to Swaziland. – Pastor Daniel

Day 3: Saturday in Xai Xai Africa

Day 3: Saturday 8/14/2010

No breakfast this morning. For me sleep was more important than food. My clock was so off and I need to get on African time. 3.5 hour drive to Xai Xai from Maputo. The sites were great but the roads are horrible. It made capturing it on camera or video virtually impossible. Still, it was a beautiful drive.

Halfway to Maputo we met up with Pastor Ben Rogers from HPC in Swaziland and our new pal named “P” who PJ delightfully refers to as “Master P”. Isaac, Carol and Fuel are with us too along with Isaac’s worship team from Maputo and Ben’s ministry team and interns from Swaziland. We made some sandwiches and fellowshipped at a gas stop and then returned to the road to head to Xai Xai.

Xai Xai is definitely more rural than Maputo generally although we went to the poorer parts of Maputo and those are very similar to a lot of Xai Xai’s homes. Cinder blocks homes if you have some money. Reed built homes if your everyone else. We crossed the bridge into Xai Xai, took a left up a long hill and finally came around the last bend to see Celebration Church in Xai Xai. A beautiful building resting on top of a high hill. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

We arrived and were in for a treat. Our Celebration kids in Xai Xai greeted us with a special series of songs. They are so talented! Then they busted out into a song they made specifically for Pastor Joe and Lori (or Lauri as they pronounce it). There’s no way to not respond emotionally to these children. There was such joy and even tears from some of us to see how happy they were that we were there. My first thought was a question from the Bible “Lord, who am I that you would be mindful of me?” God impressed a response on my heart: You are the bringers of Hope. You see, Hope is not in us but in God but God is in us so we ARE the bringers of Hope to hopeless and hurting people all over the world.

It didn’t take long for Pastor Joe and Corey Bell to start jumping into the Celebration w/ the kids. They learned the words and dance moves to their songs and PJ taught them a song of his own…that’s right “You got to move it move it!” The kids loved that. We had a great time with then but also had a surprise for them. Ben and the worship guys came walking up with An Inflatable Bounce House! I like to call them jumpy jumps. The kids went crazy over this! It was like Disneyworld came to Xai Xai. They jumped, played and laughed the rest of the afternoon.

We took the tour of the church. There is still much to be done on the building but it is more than ready to have church and that’s what we will have tomorrow…church with 500 pieces of chicken to give away! That’s how we do it at Celebration Church and this is Celebration Church in Xai Xai. They are about to be exposed to a brand new culture that encourages love, care, education, leadership development, hospitality, worship and the ministering of the good news of Jesus Christ and the future and hope He has for these kids and the local families of Xai Xai. Everything changes from here! Thank you Jesus!

We got the equipment set up and I met up w/ Marcus who will be leading us in worship this wknd. He’s a fantastic guy and the songs are so fun! They are in the Shangaan language and the rhythms are so life giving. Makes you want to dance right out of your seat. It is now night time and minimal light in the building but we made the rehearsal happen and now we are good to go. Sunday morning is going to be incredible! I’m pinching myself that I even have this opportunity.

Heading back to our temporary residence to meet up with the rest of the team. Ben, Isaac, their teams and our team all fellowshipped for a couple of hours and I learned much more detail about the tragedies in Mozambique and Africa all around. Over 1 million girls have been kidnapped and sold into the sex trafficking industry from Mozambique alone. That is sobering to say the least. Sexual assault of little girls under the age of 10 is something that happens often. It is heart breaking. Many girls as young as 5 years old must raise their younger siblings or the younger ones will die. Can you imagine your 5 year old raising another child without adults around to help? I have a 5 year old little girl so these reports were tremendously impacting to me. There are many who feel powerless to do anything about these atrocities but I’m so proud to be a part of a Church that doesn’t stand on the sidelines while such horrible things are happening. We not only send money, people and supplies but we have planted a church campus that visually says to Xai Xai, ”we are here to stay!” We are not going anywhere and the church will be a beacon of hope in this land. Thank you Celebration!

Tomorrow is the dedication service of Celebration Church in Xai Xai.

Prayer Note: Pray for Ben Rogers and his team in Swaziland. They are doing a tremendous work for God over there and have been incredibly supportive of Mel, Diane and Celebration Church in Xai Xai. To the point of bringing his team, generators, equipment and supplies. We love these guys!

Day 2: Celebration Xai Xai Church

Day 2: Friday 8/13/2010

So happy to see Pastor Joe and Lori this morning! They arrived safely last night while we were sleeping. Very cold morning in J’burg but the breakfast was hot and good. Plus three rounds of coffee and we were off to the airport.

Wayne, the owner of the bed/breakfast we ate at, drove us to the airport. Great conversations! He will be hosting the entire Mission of Mercy team who is arriving at his place tonight. He does a ton for the kingdom of God by letting many missionaries stay at his place at discounted rates. Great guy!

Once we arrived at the airport we got in line to check in. After a lengthy conversation with Nathan, the clerk, we found out that Mel didn’t have his passport and the currency exchange has it! We fly out in an hour and still have to go through security. Our troop of 6 was now down to 5 and Mel would likely have to get on the next flight. Security was a process but we made it through with our carryon bags. Then were transported to a terminal where they then transport us by vehicle to the plane. That whole process was about 45 min and while we were sitting on the plane (lo and behold) Mel walks in. By the grace of God he made it all the way to the exchange, drove back, got thru security, got transported to the plane and was able to fly out w/ us! Crazy

Landing in Maputo we get our visas and start going thru screening. We round the corner and there are our 11 Bags that have eluded us since we’ve been in Africa! We load the bags and head to the last hurdle: customs. When we got there they began opening bags. Since none of us speak Portuguese we were even more relieved that Pastor Mel made it on the flight. Mel worked and worked at fighting off bribe requests and exhausting the energy of the officials until they were finally so frustrated that they wanted to get rid of us . So they told us to go through and take our stuff w/ us! Praise God! We checked the bags and nothing had been touched. We have tons of supplies and equipment to launch Celebration Church in Xai Xai and now we are free and clear.

Outside the airport we see a familiar face, Diane Stauber! She and her kids and a great guy named Fuel helped us get all 11 bags and all 10 bodies in a van. From there we hit the hotel to drop off some stuff and then headed to the restaurant for lunch.

Driving down the streets of Maputo gave us a real glimpse into the real Mozambique looks like. Dirt roads, half torn down houses and hawkers desperate to make a dime. This sight soon turned into taller buildings, cars and trendy clothing. It is amazing to see the difference from one block to the other and how money in Mozambique is the great divider between social classes. Maputo is a city and one of the bigger ones in Mozambique so there are plenty of buildings and cars but still much poverty. Walking into the restaurant we were aggressively greeted by men trying to sell us trinkets and fabrics. So aggressive that we had to physically force them back. It was frustrating but when you realize that this is the only way they can make some money to live off of then you understand the desperation. There is great need and this is the bustling city of Mozambique…we haven’t even been to Xai Xai yet.

Beautiful Kids!

Fuel has been so gracious and has been driving us all over. He has 2 kids. 1 of each and three years apart just like my kids. In conversation w/ Fuel we found out that in Maputo an architect is the most respected profession but accountants make the most money not doctors or lawyers. We also learned that being pulled over by the police and being forced to pay them off is normal. Fuel laughed at us for even asking the question, that’s how normal it is. We are on our way to meet Pastor Isaac and see his Maputo church campus.

The road to Pastor Isaac’s church takes us to the more rural parts of Maputo. Cinder block homes w/ tin roofs if you are blessed but many home with reed roofs. It gets so cold at night and the cold stone walls and floors are their only comfort.

We arrived at the church site and a throng of kids awaited us. They are soooo beautiful! So small and very curious about us. Still, it didn’t take long for them to start warming up to us. Giving hugs, dancing, laughing, communicating and playing chase. It wasn’t long before Pastor Joe taught them a brand new song…”I like to move it move it, I like to move it move it!” So much fun! It was both joyful and sobering at the same time. Joyful in that these kids brought instant joy to all of us (and us to them) but sobering in the realization that they don’t have enough food, clothes, shelter. Most of them own one play outfit and one dress outfit. They’re clothes are torn and stained. There were four year olds no bigger than my two year old son due to being deprived of the nutrients they need to grow.

Thank God for these care points that do whatever they can to help these kids have daily meals! Our church (Celebration Church) provides meals for hundreds of kids daily but we can do more and feed more and we will. There are more kids than adults due to their parents being dead or enslaved by working the mines or round the clock jobs. One young boy who sat on my lap smelled of feces and it breaks my heart. I sometimes can’t even convince my own kids to take a bath and these kids don’t even have the luxury. Still, they are so full of love and life and were thrilled to make us laugh as were we to make them laugh. Sun was going down and we had to leave. I know that none of us wanted to.

The conversation following gave us some enlightenment on the spiritual condition of Mozambique. 30% muslim, 69% ancestral worship/paganism, 1% Christian. If that doesn’t say it all then I don’t know what else to say. Mozambique needs Jesus in a huge way! We can and will do something about it. For Celebration Church it starts in Xai Xai. We head there tomorrow. – Pastor Daniel

Prayer Note: Pray for Pastor Isaac and Carol in Mozambique. They are pouring their lives into these kids at the expense of their money, time and safety. Just a couple of months ago their house was broken into and they lost everything. They have two babies. Pray for provision and protection. Also pray for Fuel. He has a servant’s heart and loves people. He has served us so faithfully but doesn’t know the Lord. Great guy! I hope we made an impact.

Day 1: Celebration Xai Xai Church // Africa

Day 1: Thursday 8/12/2010

Long trip to Africa. I was in Australia this past June and although going from Atlanta to South Africa was only approximately 1.5 hours longer than Australia, it felt like an eternity. God’s way of humbling me long before I even enter Africa. He has a way of doing that.

We landed in South Africa on Thursday 5p or so. Corey Bell and Gabe Soto are my travel mates and I’m very grateful they are here with me. Our bags didn’t show up on the conveyer so a big “?” was evident to which the official told us they were delivered straight to Maputo. I sure hope they are there when we arrive. I’m glad I packed a change of clothes on my carry on. No luck for Corey tho. He was forced to check his carry on back in the states.

Met up w/ Pastor Mel at the airport under a huge Soccer Ball in the airport lobby. The people here are very proud of their team. Soccer stuff everywhere! Our driver Noah got us situated and soon we left for the hotel. On the way we picked up a lady from Botswana named Helen. Sweet lady and has a huge crush on Bill Clinton. I told her we were from Texas to which she replied “I hear bad things about Texas. Black people die there.” We laughed and I replied “Well you are misinformed and my experience is that black people are CEOs of companies in Texas (looking at Corey).” We all had a good laugh and she said if Texans are like us then she wants to come check it out. She isn’t a Christian but hopefully our short conversation about Church, Life and the Xai Xai kids can be a seed. Pray for her if you get a chance.

From there we got to the hotel. Realized our heater doesn’t work in the room. Wouldn’t be a big deal if it wasn’t 46 degrees outside and the door to the room was a glass door! No biggie. Just glad to be off the plane.

We had a fantastic dinner w/ Pastor Mel. Chicken was superb! Mel got us up to speed on the situation in Xai Xai and the other care points we will hit in Mozambique. I asked about the kids. Mel began to talk about them and the atrocities that the kids have experienced to which he began to weep at the dinner table. His compassion for the kids is more than evident and I can’t wait to meet them myself.

We fly out at the crack of dawn to get to Maputo. From there we will meet up w/ the team from Healing Place Church’s African campus and begin hitting care points. The work for us begins Friday. The people so far in south Africa are very sweet and welcoming. Pray that our bags are in Maputo as we have valuable supplies for the kids in those bags. Internet will be spotty the next few days so I hope to update as often as possible but I may not be able to as much as I’d like. Love yall! – Pastor Daniel

AUS – Leaving on a jetplane!

Seeing Limitation As Opportunity

Warning: This is a long one!!

I think everyone who has been attending church for any length of time can identify a few key stories or characters in the Bible that strikes a chord with them. I certainly have my favorites (aside from Jesus) like Moses, Peter and David but recently I have been reading about the apostle: Paul. I find it fascinating that the Lord took this murderer of Christians and turned him into one of the greatest champions that Christendom has ever known.

I recently taught (briefly) on Paul to our full-time interns. The first time we hear about Paul is when Steven was martyred for preaching the gospel. Steven was killed for crimes against Judaism and the city partook in a communal execution of Steven. Just so happens that Paul/Saul was present at this execution [Acts 8:1]. I would not be surprised if it was this experience that drove Paul to lead the early persecution of the church. Paul became the enforcer of Judaic law to the newly formed Christian movement. One day on the road to Damascus a blinding light engulfed Paul and he fell to the ground. He heard the voice of Jesus asking “Saul, why do you persecute me?” When Saul asked you this was Jesus replied “I am Jesus whom you persecute…” [Acts 9:4-5] Saul had a CHRIST encounter on the road to Damascus! Thru a series of events Paul/Saul become a radical follower of Christ.

What’s interesting about this story is that Paul (being now redeemed) went to join the disciples/apostles with the intent to preach in the Jewish community. The bible said that the disciples were scared at first [Acts 9:26] but ultimately it was for religious reason that the apostles did not, initially, accept Paul. Why? To the apostles only one who was a follower of Christ and had direct contact with Christ could be described as an apostle to the Jews but Paul and Barnabas argued that Paul did have direct contact with Christ on the road to Damascus. What a strategic God who would directly intervene in the life of Paul in a very direct and personal way. Not just to save Paul’s life but to ordain him as an apostle but not in the same way as HE did the disciples. You see, the disciples were initially commissioned to reach only the Jewish communities with this life-transforming gospel [Matthew 10:5-10]. 12 apostles for 12 tribes of Israel.  Wow! 12 apostles to reach the religious. In fact, when Paul did finally take to the street with the Gospel the Jewish people tried to kill him. He was seen as a blasphemous Roman citizen and driven out of the community. Paul, however, made the temporary tension between he and the apostles and his run in with the Jewish community a *moot* point in his realization that God called him to witness to the Gentiles who’s numbers by population eclipsed the Jews in Biblical times. There’s so much to take out of this text but two things stick out to me. It takes 12x the amount of people to transform the minds of the religious whereas there was initially only 1 apostle witnessing to atheists, pagans and lost…That blows my mind! Now Paul did train up Timothy/s and eventually the 12 apostles (including Peter) began to preach to all people (Jews and Gentiles alike) but I find it fascinating that most of our battles as “bringers of good news” will be with the religious and not with the lost. The 2^nd thing I take is this: Paul’s perceived limitation (tension from other apostles for bringing the gospel to the Jewish community) became the catalyst for taking the gospel to the rest of the world (Gentiles). Paul didn’t see this situation as a dream killer but rather a temporary setback.

Craig Groeschel is one of the greatest experts on multi-site church strategy in the world today. Lifechurch.tv reaches 10’s of thousands of people all over the world weekly through multi-site campuses and cutting edge web based evangelism strategies. I heard Craig at a conference recently and he said something that reminded me of Paul. Craig said due to circumstances out of his control he could not build a bigger building to facilitate the influx of people. He was limited by his facility in a great way. He asked “God give us a bigger building,” but nothing would happen. One day, through research and revelation Craig decided to not be limited by his facility. He started his first multi-site campus and within a few years expanded it to 13 campuses. His limitation was the catalyst for out of the box vision that spawned one of the most cutting edge approaches to sharing Jesus throughout the nation using the local church and technology as the medium by which to do so.

So when you feel like things just aren’t going your way stop and take a second look at your limitations…maybe they are trying to tell you something . Whatever road you are on today – I pray that Jesus meets you there like He met Paul.