Why Madagascar?

Why Madagascar?

Salama, bonjour, good day everyone!

Many people have been asking for more details about my recent mission trip to Madagascar, so I decided to write a blog series about my experiences. I hope you will enjoy these stories over the weeks to come.

Stewart Wicker, President and Mission Director of SAMS – USA, which is our mission agency, contacted Father Trevor Pearce, the Director of Growing the Church (GtC) and our boss in South Africa, about a possible mission trip to Madagascar. Father Trevor then contacted Nicole and me since we were in the USA on furlough. We were fortunate to be able to speak to Bishop Todd (Bishop of Toliara, Madagascar), who had requested the mission, in person at our SAMS Retreat and the New Wineskins Global Missions Conference in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. Bishop Todd and his wife Patsy are SAMS missionaries like the two of us. Growing the Church was happy to assist with this mission because mission engagement is one of the main principals of GtC, and special emphasis was placed on people to form teams and to go on mission before our International Anglicans Ablaze Conference, as mission engagement played a focal role in the conference.

img_2110When Nicole and I returned to Cape Town, we had less than four months to prepare the mission. But within a matter of weeks, a team of six was being formed. Each team member brought unique skills and gifts, and we were thrilled that our best and brightest were going to serve our sister diocese in this way. Our team consisted of Nkosinathi Landingwe, Rethabile Mabusela, Neil Adams, Ryan Baatjies, Zrano Bam, and me. Bishop Todd wanted us to serve at his diocesan youth conference, and we were invited to assist in the areas of teaching, speaking, preaching, ministry and cultivating community and fellowship through games.

For me to be an instrument and effective missionary, I had to leave my comfort zone, dscn0143humble myself and enter God’s zone. The only way to do this was to leave South Africa and to venture out. In my case, God led me to the island known as Madagascar. On this mission, I had to learn how to allow God’s spirit to guide, guard and infuse my whole being. This was not an easy task, since I was on a completely unknown island to me, not being able to speak the language or understand the culture. I had to place my trust in God and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me. When I left home, I took along a new pair of training shoes that my wonderful wife had bought me as a gift. I did not want to take them at first; but with a nudge from my wife, I felt the urge to take them along and I did. Little did I know what God had in store for me and the rest of the team. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. I shall connect the dots a bit later so that you may see the awesome wonder and sense of humour of God.

–Wayne Curtis
#Madagascar4Jesus blog series: 1

 

Leaving Gambela…

Leaving Gambela…

We have now left Gambela…for good. Saying goodbye to the folks we have come to love dearly ranks as one of the most difficult things we have ever done in our lives up to this point…but we knew we simply could not stay any longer. My heart and my head just could not cope with the extreme weather.
We are in Cape Town for the present time staying with family. While this is meant to be a time of rest, relaxation, and recovery, it is also a time of prayerful discernment as we seek the Lord’s will regarding our future.
I simply have to get my health back on track again…that is priority…otherwise I won’t mean much to any mission. So, I will be seeing my doctors this week, working on a heart healthy diet, and getting this body back into shape again with an emphasis on cardio-vascular exercises. My sister-in-law has promised keep me true to the exercise challenge as long as I keep her true to the (rather strict) diet! Mike and Marianne are such an encouragement to us…what would do without their very real and tangible support? Of course the Queen is overjoyed that we are here…ah, however did I earn such love from my dear mother-in-law?
We will also be chatting with the “Growing the Church” (see here: http://www.growingthechurch.org.za/site/home.aspx) leadership while we are here to see if we are able to discern a call to work together in the future. SAMS-USA Missionaries Wayne and Nicole Curtis work with them and Fr Trevor Pierce came to the Christian Barnard Hospital to pray with and for us when I had my heart surgery…we have always sensed a strong bond between us, so we just need to find our what the Lord has in mind.
We are trying to read up as much about the Cape Area as possible so that can become reacquainted with it…much has changed since we were here in seminary at George Whitefield College in 1992! One book I am finding very interesting is called “Gang Town” (see here, although they only seem to have the Kindle edition https://www.amazon.com/Gang-Town-Don-Pinnock-ebook/dp/B01DMDBPEG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479109213&sr=1-1&keywords=gang+town) about the two sides of the city of Cape Town. If we are going to grow the church, then the marginalised must surely be part of the equation, right? I am also reading two books by Mark Batterson…The Circle Maker and the Grave Robber…actually I am rereading the latter. Good books to read now as we contemplate the future…we are asking great things from a great God.
Thank you for your on-going prayers and for your unbelievable support! So many have told us that they support us as people and not the project and that has meant so much to us, you cannot even begin to imagine! To know that we are not simply commodities to be spent is so encouraging…ah, but that’s what friends and family are for, right?

We have come through a rather dark valley…but we are sensing the light. Walk with us into His brightness…
Anglicans Ablaze 2016

Anglicans Ablaze 2016

A month ago, the International Anglicans Ablaze Conference was in full swing. It’s hard to believe that this big conference, for which we have been planning for so long, is now over.

The conference is the largest gathering of Anglicans in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. We had 1500 delegates who came from inside and outside the Province. They came from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, the U.S. and several other countries. Wayne and I, with invaluable help from a great team of youth leaders, oversaw the youth track of the conference. We had 350 young people in attendance, and there was standing room only in the youth venue. The young people’s response to the conference was amazing; we kept hearing young people say that this conference really dealt with relevant issues, things they face now. For example, we had topics on sex, gangsterism and drugs besides the traditional topics of prayer, discipleship and leadership. A lot of our youth live in drug-infested environments and gang-riddled areas. The couple who talked about sex gave the best talk on sex that I have ever heard and really created a safe environment for the young people to ask difficult questions. I think God really healed a lot of brokenness during that time, as many young people felt comfortable talking about some of their painful experiences and came up for special prayer.

The Anglican Communion News Service made a couple of videos about the conference that we would like to share with you. We hope you will enjoy them.

 


Working as a Team: Health Education Mission in Uganda

Date:
2016-11-03 00:00:00

Janine LeGrand is a Long-term SAMS Missionary serving in a ministry of health education in Masindi-Kitara, Uganda,  where they face many health challenges. Janine shares this recent story with you:

Usually I tell you about what is happening in the health clinics, but what about the people behind the clinics that help support them? In Uganda I have a Diocesan level Health Board that advises me. This board includes our Diocesan Secretary (the “second in command” after our Bishop) and many of our elders, mostly priests. The lady at left without a white collar is my neighbor Rachael, who is a nurse and local politician. We just had a very good board meeting last week and these people are helpful advisors. We have a new program, Church Health Promoters. I was put to the task of creating the t-shirt logo. I made a design similar to a design often seen on ambulances and medical clinics, a caduceus or the Rod of Asclepius, with mine showing a snake on a cross. I was thinking of the story from Numbers, where Moses is told to have people be healed by looking up to a serpent symbol he made—an early example of the church being involved in healing. The reaction from my board was a bemused, amused “Can you imagine?!” Little did I know that a snake on a pole is a symbol used by witchdoctors here! I have been here more than seven years now, but I am still learning.  It sure wouldn’t have gone well trying to recruit volunteers from our churches with that. They approved the design, minus the snake.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about working together. I work with my board, and I work with my team that does the preparation for the medical teams that visit. 

Sometimes it can be frustrating, especially with those from another culture, but my team is such a blessing. Janie is our newest member from American Peace Corp and helps train church administrators in what needs to be done for an outreach. She helps with cervical cancer screenings and family planning. William works with Village Health Coordinators at each site, and Jimmy, translator extraordinaire, trains and works with our interpreters. We all have a job that helps us get the task done and help others, but it is not just the board, and the support team here in Uganda that help others. You are an integral part of my team, too. Without my supporters I would not be able to help medical teams in Uganda. The longer I am here in Uganda the more I see the wisdom of working together both near and far.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NIV)

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