Book Review by Sarah

'Generous Justice' by Tim Keller

"In Christ we receive grace, unmerited favour. Nevertheless, in the mind of the Old Testament prophets as well as the teaching of Jesus, an encounter with grace inevitably leads to a life of justice. (p49)"

Oh my gosh, this book has just rocked my world.  Tim Keller is an incredible preacher and pastor in New York City, and we went to a seminar of his on the 'Urban Church' a month ago.  He has an incredible vision for the church, justice, and  unity.  I bought this book at his seminar and have been so excited to read it - and it did not disappoint!  There are so many nuggets of deep Biblical wisdom in this book, but he share and challenges in a way that is inviting and not judgemental.  The read is filled with great and humbling stories of him seeing justice played in his church and world, and what happens when we miss God's call to 'do' justice to those around us.  I am obviously someone that LOVES this subject matter, but I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter and learned so many new things, perspective, and incredible truths from God's word.  I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who cares about justice, doesn't care about justice, or just wants a great read to learn about God's heart for the world.  You won't regret this one!

Overall Grade: A+

"I believe, however, when justice for the poor is connected not to guilt but to grace and the gospel, this ‘pushes the button’ down deep in believers’ souls, and they begin to wake up." (p107)

"It is also impossible to separate word and deed ministry from each other in ministry because human beings are integrated wholes – body and soul. When some Christians say, ‘Caring for physical needs will detract from evangelism’, they must be thinking of only doing evangelism among people who are comfortable and well-off." (p141-142)

Book Review by Sarah

"Ikasi" by Sharlene Swartz

Recently a book was recommended to me, written by a South African author exploring the moral lives of teenagers in townships.  Ughh it was SO GOOD and just really fit me where I am at right now and with all the things I am thinking through.  God is really challenging me lately to reach out to the youth and teenagers of Ocean View and this book helped me to get into the minds and hearts of what they are working through in their lives.  The township teenagers of South Africa are incredibly unique because they are the first generation to be born and grow up in the chaos and horrors of these streets.  It has formed them in unimaginable ways and produced a unique moral landscape for them to work through.  This book was insanely academic and probably would BORE most of you, but really informed my understanding of the moral life of the teenagers around and us and gives me great hopes for the steps we long to make toward them.  Of importance are mentors and space to process and think through who they want to be and what choices they want to make.  The youth are not lost and beyond hope!  I am so thankful for this work that has deeply moved and inspired me!

Overall Grade: A

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is so strange to be around the world for such a special day!  Sad to say, but the South Africans choose not to celebrate our American story of pilgrims, Indians, and food-induced comas.  Shocking!!  We will be getting together with a group of Americans and South Africans on Saturday for a feast of ridiculous proportions.  I am getting together coloring and activities for all the kids and we are bringing Casey's favorite dish - green bean casserole!  Fun!

Today, as we think about all the fun our friends and family are having without us in the States, we are reminded of all we are thankful for.  Most of all we are thankful for our great God, who has gifted us with more than we could ever deserve or imagine.  We love being together as a family, and have a life filled with laughter, joy, and craziness.  Ntokozo has now blessed our family for a season and we are so thankful for the joy she brings into our home.  Living in South Africa is amazing and always full of surprises and we are so thankful to serve our God here!

We are so thankful for all of you and your constant prayer, support, and love!  You all are amazing!!

Love,
Sarah

Image from eyehook.com

Anniversary!

We missed celebrating an important anniversary with you all last week - last week it was one year of having 'Granny' as a part of our lives and hearts!  She reminded us many times as the date came upon us, and we hugged and reminisced on the day.  It's honestly hard to believe that Granny Jacoba has only been a part of our lives for ONLY a year - it seems like we have always known her.  She is truly our family now, and she OFTEN tells us about how Kieren is HER baby.  She says that no matter how many kids we have or are in and out of this house, that Kieren will always be HER baby.  We all like that just fine :)  Granny is such a special person, and I love being able to share all the special and difficult moments of our lives with her.  She is always praying for us, caring for us, laughing with (or at) us, and just a important part of every day.  On Mondays we spend a good time 'debriefing' the weekend and frequently catch up on what is happening in our hearts and relationships.  She is loyal, loving, strong, and Godly.  There is no doubt that God brought her into our lives and WHO KNOWS where we would be without her!  We celebrate Granny and our time with her!!

Love,
Sarah

Young Adults Spiked Desire to Volunteer Article

Check out this interesting article, published in the NonProfit Times, about the recent spike in interest by young adults to volunteer and reach out.

Read article here: http://www.nptimes.com/09Jul/bnews-090728-1.html

“We’re seeing some dramatic volunteer increases in areas experiencing the brunt of economic challenges, perhaps indicating a ‘compassion boom,’” (Robert) Grimm said, in places hit hard by the recession, like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and New Jersey.

We know a place that could use a 'compassion boom' - OCEAN VIEW!  Come work with us!!

Ben Cash (trying to steal the Lankford's adopted daughter, Bristol) and Antony Burton with the Prince's as we said good-bye this weekend.

Saying Goodbye

It's so hard to say goodbye....  these words are on my heart this week as we have had to say see-yah to our good buds Ben Cash and Antony Burton.  Casey and I took Ben to the airport last night and I couldn't believe that our time with them is officially ending.  What is CRAZY is that when they got here they found themselves in a NUT-SO world as Kieren was in the hospital (literally) with her 2nd degree critical burns and Casey left the hospital to go pick up Ben.  NEEDLESS TO SAY, we were a disaster of a family at the time, and that was poor Ben and Antony's welcome to this beautiful country.  They didn't jump back on the next plane, and slowly fell in love with the complexities, issues, beauty, and people of this great nation.  It's been six months since they got off those planes, and they spent their first two months living with families in Ocean View and then completed a semester at the University of Cape Town.  They have always been guys full of laughter and fun, but it was so amazing to see them in THIS place for this time.  Particularly the community of Ocean View just fell in love with these guys and are SO SAD that they are leaving.  It honestly feels strange that they are going back to the States; like they are supposed to just be here, not there!  We have gotten so use to them coming around, hearing them on the phones, seeing them with Granny and the people of Ocean View, and it's just strange that they won't be a part of our lives here.  It also is a moment of WAIT, we are the crazy ones who live in AFRICA by the way!  We are so thankful for our time with them, all their service in the community of Ocean View, the ways they connected with people we love, and all the ways they opened up and learned about love, race, and justice while living in this fascinating country.  These two are special and will surely be missed.

I can't help now but wonder, WHO IS NEXT to come and live in this crazy place with us?!?  The invitation is here - come and join us!!

Love,
Sarah

Weekend-ish Update

I don't know why I feel the need to be all religious about my weekend updates, but I feel like something is missing when I don't cover our crazy Prince weekends!  This one was a bit blurry because I was shackled in a sinus infection / migraine haze that has only released me fully this (Tuesday) morning.  It's just after 5am, and I have Kieren down AGAIN to sleep for a bit, but now I'm awake.  Little one is battling too right now; we took her to the doctor yesterday and she has another bronchial infection.  Because of her asthma, when she gets a common cold, it produces a bad cough and can turn into infection.  She has gotten much less thanks to our great asthma meds from the States, but this one has hit her hard.  She can barely stay sleeping for long, coughs all the time, and is basically just miserable.  Luckily we have great community and an awesome Granny that help keep her distracted and she is only miserable and sick with us - why does it work that way parents??  So we are all on the mend and Casey is just holding it together.  We have had a guest staying with us for the past week, a new US friend who is doing work here in Masiphumalele and Ocean View and was connected through a ministry partner.  So Greg has been joining in the chaos, along with Ntokozo and it's always a house-full of crazy no matter what.  Ntokozo went with Danielle, a woman who disciples her, to see her aunt and uncle who she lived with before us, yesterday, and it was civil but strained.  They are upset that Ntokozo left them, even though they were horrible to her while she was living there, and the relationship is very strained with much of the family now.  Please pray for Ntokozo as she navigates through this new world of venturing out on her own towards a healthy and happy life, but not losing her family relationships.  Our weekend was filled with church, friends, a music therapy concert hosted by our great friend Kerryn Torrance, and other things I'm sure that I can't remember but I know were wonderfully lovely :)  It feels good to be moving towards health and hopefully I can get the rest of our family on track now - so prayers for us as we hobble along over here!

Lots of love,
Sarah

Hair Did

Weekend update is coming soon, just resting today as I am sick and Kieren is sick too - yuck!  But, wanted to share a picture of Ntokozo from the weekend, and she REQUESTED I take this picture!  On Saturday night she had her hair 'did (relaxed) and walked in this house shaking that hair around like a model!  She was so proud of it :)  Love it.  How beautiful is this girl??  And she keeps opening up inside and out, like a flower.  We love her and are blessed more each day of growing as a new family!

Love,
Sarah

Go USA!!

Just wanted to share some of the pictures from our outing to cheer on the USA national team play some great soccer last Wednesday night!  They played the South African national team (Bafana Bafana) and won 1-0.  Okay, so the game was a little slow, but we had great company to make up for it!  We took some of our friends and even a couple of a 'boys' who had never been to a Bafana game.  It was a great night!!

The boys

 The boys walking up to the game

Proud 'parents' with our boys after the game

 Sarah with our missionary friend, Julie Ostrand

New Steps

I have shared this month about our prayer requests for our parenting workshops at Ocean View Methodist and tonight was our third time to meet, but tonight we had a special guest speaker.  His name is Peter Lovick and he works for a part of the Living Hope ministry called 'Living Grace' (see their website here).  He came to speak to us about the huge topic of substance abuse and what the church can be doing about it.  It was a GREAT message, something that he shares with churches and groups all over Cape Town, and he works right here near us and is a total resource for our community.  Wow, I don't even know how to describe all the knowledge he just gave us, but it was a mix of a call from God to reach out the broken and addicted in our community and just an understanding of addiction and how it affects people.  It was a beautiful call to our church and we were SO ready to receive it.  He is launching a program that was started in the United States called 'Celebrate Recovery' (see the SA site here) and will partner with churches like ours to help communities while he runs a full recovery center.  Wow, it so exciting because our church and community is really ready for this, to be a place of openness and grace and truly see people come to full healing.  I am buzzing with excitement (which is WEIRD huh because it's all about addiction and brokenness!!??) but I really believe God is moving us to a place where we are going to be used in new ways in Ocean View.  Exciting stuff!  Please be praying for us!!

Love,
Sarah

Book Review- Around Africa on My Bicycle

I'm so SAD to finish this book.  I started it way back around June, but didn't read at all while we were back in the States.  When we returned I started reading again, fell all the way into it, and never wanted it to end.  This guy from Cape Town, Riaan Manser (pronounced like Ryan), decided to put his life here on hold and ride a bicycle around the perimeter of Africa!!  Isn't that insane!?!?  He basically hugged the coast, or as close as possible all the way around.  Usually ignoring warnings from many people about the area just ahead that would be too dangerous or rough.  He originally planned to do the trip in one year.  It ends up taking him 2 years and 2 months.  It's amazing to read about his adventures, the way people supported him, and the hospitality that he experienced.  He almost never found people to be nearly as 'scary' or 'dangerous' as he had been warned.  Along the way he is forced to use several different languages, enters different religious contexts, travels through different types of weather, sees tons of amazing sites, and meets incredible people.
There are 2 reasons I love this book.  The first is that I have a sense of adventure like this, but I know I'm too cowardly and coddled to ever do anything like this.  So, as I read, I can experience all the adventure through him.  The 2nd reason is that I love this continent, so it was so incredible to experience it, in all its grandeur, through his stories.  If you're like me with either of these then you will enjoy this book.  Towards the end I avoided reading because I didn't want the story to end.  I think that's a compelling statement about my feelings.  But if you do pick this up, be ready for the investment in time and emotions because it's 700 pages and gripping throughout.
Overall Grade: A

Casey

Ubuntu Sports Update!

Check out a new update from Ubuntu Sports Outreach at www.ubuntusports.blogspot.com.

Hillsong Men's Conference

This weekend Hillsong hosted their 2nd Men's Conference.  It's funny, last year we went to mostly meet people, and by this year we actually know a whole lot of people!  Michael and I were in charge of sports this year, so we even had a job!
Wanted to review a bit of the content and what I learned.  The speaker was an Australian chap named Steve Penny.  The main theme of the weekend was from 1 John 2 where he writes about boys, young men, and fathers; so Steve was moving us from boys to fathers.  The first night was focusing on Isaiah 53 and being despised and rejected by men.  So much of that rejection for men comes from their fathers.  We get it from other places, but you see it most in a man's relationship with his dad.  Well, my dad was no saint, but he was a great father, so I have never experienced that hurt.  But you know that so many men in that room did experience it AND every colored or black man in that room experienced rejection and being despised during apartheid.  So, we have to pray for healing, confess our faults, and move forward.
The Saturday morning was from Proverbs 30:18 and the 4 Faces of Adam.  Last year Steve talked about the 4 Faces of Eve, so this was connected.  The 4 faces of Adam are vision, wisdom, purpose, and passion.    We have to be aware of which face needs to be on at what time and how they relate to the faces of Eve (friend, mother, wife, and lover).  This was encouraging to me and I can see the times that I wear the faces well.
There were 2 other messages by Phil Dooley & Eddie Andrews, but I missed Phil's while I was setting up sports fields.
Steve's final message was about us becoming fathers and showing the father heart of God to those around us.  This was a great message.  A few things he said that I loved were,

You become a father when you take responsibility to shape the hearts of others.

Fathers take responsibility for the fatherless in their nation.

All that we are doing here with boys and now are time with Ntokozo was really affirmed by those statements.  He finished by saying that we need to be growing to have a Father's heart for Social Responsibility.  This is how:

1. Own the domain of forgiveness (Matt 6:14)
2. Add Value to others (Matt 6:26)
3. Provide (Matt 6:31)
4. Give generously of good things (missed the reference) 

I really enjoyed this message and was greatly encouraged by it.  Well, that's my recap.  By the way, we took sports to a whole new level at Hillsong and the guys really enjoyed it.

Deuces,
Casey

Weekend Update

Hello friends and family!

Recovering from another great weekend in the Prince world!  I think there is a new level of crazy around here, and I can't even blame it on Ntokozo, we are just crazy!  Casey spent much of this weekend at Hillsong Cape Town for their annual Men's Conference and had a great time.  I am loving how we continue to meet and get connected to more of the incredible people at Hillsong, and our family there just grows and grows.  We are so grateful for that 'house' and how it builds us up in the life God has chosen for us.  I did some RESTING on Saturday and took TWO naps which was lovely.  Saturday night we had an American missionary family who are new to Cape Town for dinner - complete with their FOUR kids.  It was utter chaos, but they are an incredible family, the Lankfords, and you can check out their awesome blog at www.thesedreamsofmine.blogspot.com.  They are truly an amazing bunch and I can't wait to see what God uses them for over here!  It's going to be epic and entertaining!  Sunday morning, I preached at Ocean View Methodist, and told the congregation at the beginning of my message that I felt like that sermon was a conversation I had been having with them for a week and I couldn't wait to get it out.  It was a pretty heavy semon, especially because I told them that the way the church in the View treats the teenagers is the 'new apartheid.'  They didn't love that, but there was much response verbally and emotionally as I shared.  I know it 'hit' them and they are very excited that Casey and I are going to work with the youth at our church in the coming year.  Much is ahead.  We rested a bit during the day Sunday because Casey ran in a half-marathon while I was preaching (busy guy, hey??) and was pretty worn from the windy race.  Sunday night we went to Hillsong and then out to dinner afterwards.  The guest speaker at Hillsong spoke about the work of the Holy Spirit and Ntokozo was very touched and moved by God, which was incredible to be a part of.

And here we are again for another Monday morning!  These weekly updates seem to happen more quickly these days as time is passing rapidly.  I am noticing Christmas decorations around the 'shops' these days, which feels strange because the weather is gorgeous and blue and sunny and warm.  We are beginning to make our Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, and can't help but feel a bit home-sick knowing how far we are from so many we love.  However, there are new traditions to be made, and our family here continues to grow deeper and wider.  We are thankful and life is rich.

Happy Monday!
Love,
Sarah