Namibia (DTS Part 4)

To conclude the Troubadour DTS outreach, we arrived in Namiba. Two of the students from the class came from Namibia: Marc from Windheok, the capital city where we would be staying and ministering, and Eitienne had spent time on the YWAM base in Windheok!

All ready to go for about 15 hours of driving. Being packing in close quarters continually throughout the outreach forced us to learn to be both a family and team.

Welcome to YWAM Windheok!

YWAM's Windheok base is located in a natural reserve, so the landscape is stunning. Mountains surround the base and lots of animals live in the area. We saw baboons, warthogs (both common sightings), kudus, and a variety of birds. A leopard or two lived in the area, but we thankfully did not have an encounter.

One of the first evenings, we took a hike up one of the smaller peaks and watched the sunset.

Accepted

spikes and all

He felt nails

piercing

My spikes aren't

nothing

but cannot scare

Him off

He is the only

Lord who

will embrace a

cactus

Our first ministry opportunity was performing and teaching the message for the youth group at Marc's church. We were incredibly blessed by this church, which we also attended on Sunday. They welcomed us warmly, celebrated Marc's testimony (which he gave Sunday morning), encouraged their youth to consider DTS and took up an offering as a gift for us. They showed us the meaning of 1 John 5, 8 "Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even thought they are strangers to you... We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth."

Sometimes you just have to make it fun. Our team was too big to return to the base at once, so half of us kept ourselves entertained for a while.

I loved taking prayer walks down the long driveway of the base, seeing God's majesty reflected in His creation. Striking in Namibia is His use of textures. This touches me because I am extremely color-oriented. I notice and appreciate colors. Yet to see God's beauty in textures without a large color palate reminds me that He uses even the parts of myself that I belittle. He created those parts and calls me to surrender them to Him so that He may glorify Himself in ways I don't expect. 

Thorns littered the entire ground and grew on nearly every tree. Shoes needed to have thick soles or you would constantly need to pause and dislodge the thorns to remove the one that had successfully penetrated to your foot.

In complete honesty, Namibia proved the hardest part of outreach for me. I got sick, dealt with continual fatigue, found it hard to get excited for the ministry God allowed us to do, missed my family more than ever, and often felt annoyed with others. I wrestled with God daily in prayer, begging Him for strength, patience, love and joy. He faithfully filled my hungry soul with His word each morning, giving me enough grace for that day. I learned that grace does not mean the day goes well, but that the Holy Spirit reminds me to hang onto Truth. I saw the ugly, gaping limitations and shortfalls within my life and daily brought them before a gracious Father.

Yet in the pain He grew me. He gifted me astounding conversations with a few wise women about His word; He let me preach alongside a friend who had never preached before; He gave me love for the children we worked with; He unified our team with the base's staff; He took me to new depths in His word; and He proved Himself to be more than enough in my weakness. Weak times have a way of proving how desperately we need Him even in "strong" times.

I walked into the kitchen one day to find out how hard it is to mingle pop (a corn flour starch, like super thick hardened grits) on a stove when the floor is slippery. Maybe the act was a bit more fun than exaggeration...

One ministry we got to attend and help with was a parent's support group in Okahanja park, a huge settlement of refugees from other African countries.

Two of us were given the opportunity to share a testimony to the parents. These moms (and one dad) face incredible difficulty in raising their children according to Truth. Setback comes from poverty, lack of education and jobs, no presence/support from husbands, lack of extended family support, harsh living conditions... the list goes on. The Holy Spirit nudged me to share the blessing of my parents who lived out Christ's heart in our home. I told how their faith in action led me to have an intimate, personal relationship with Christ. Additionally, I shared that faith had, at times, been a struggle for me, but God has faithfully revealed Himself. I concluded by encouraging them to live out their faith in front of their children and trust God to reveal Himself to the children, even when they seem to dislike Him.

Another huge project was painting. In exchange for staying on base, our team agreed to repaint the gate and two buildings. The venture proved a meticulous undertaking: chipping open cracks, filling them with cement, sanding down the cement, applying a bonding liquid, then several coats of paint.

Our day we were able to participate in a local after school program for children in a low-income area of town. The leaders of the program do an amazing job worshipping with the kids and relating with them. They invited us to share the Bible message for the day, so we presented a drama of the prodigal son from our local outreach in South Africa.

Serving a late lunch to the kids before they headed home.

The second Sunday a house church asked us to lead the service. I was part of the team of four who planned the service. What a gift it was to meet with this body of the believers, encourage and pray over them. They in turn encouraged us with testimonies of how meaningful our visit was to them.

After church, we had a truly Namibian experience: exploring the kapana. In the most basic sense, a kapana is an open-air market and food court. Let me take you on a tour... Upon entering, there are a few stalls of vendors selling goods you could take home to cook yourself (ei, speices, oils, beans)

Then you pass the area of tables where you will later return to eat.

At the end is the cooking itself. Slaughtering happens on site (heads, hooves and skins remain as evidence). A long line of men grilled meat, calling for you to come taste their cuts. After browsing, you select the man you'd like to buy from. He may even have onions available to grill with the meat. Afterwards, you take your box of meat and add kapana spice, a spicy seasoning after which the market is named.

The kapana is truly an "all in one". Firewood is sold next to the vendors, so they don't have to go far to get a new supply for their grills.

Back by the tables, even more vendors sell pop, vetkeok (like a savory doughnut), drinks and salsa. The salsa is hand made at an impressive speed!

The last two weeks in Namibia, our team was asked to lead two weekend camps. One for children 7-9, and the second for children 10-12. The entire camp plan came from scratch. We began by sitting in the dining hall together and praying, then listening for the Holy Spirit tell us what to do. Together, a theme emerged that was divided into three sections: hope/growth, God's Father love, and transformation. We spent the first week writing dramas, planning games, working out schedules, hammering out logistics and practicing dances.

Day one of camp!

Between 100 and 150 kids came to both camps. Children were separated into five different groups, designated by a colored string tied on the wrist. This proved an amazing way for us leaders to connect more personally with the kids in our group, and to keep the chaos to a minimum.

Lots of singing and Bible verses with motions.

Friday afternoon hope was taught, encouraging the kids to refute negative voices in their lives and believe God gave them skills for a reason.

Saturday morning the Father Love of God was the theme, taught primarily through a drama about a baboon with no friends and unloved by his family, who finds belonging and joy in the Jungle Church where Christ meets with His family.

Saturday afternoon, a butterfly story told of transformation, sharing that in Christ we are new creations, no longer subject to other's condemnation but having hope in Christ.

As color groups we played games and discussed the lessons.

Saturday morning, two guys from the team set up an obstacle course, which proved a highlight for everybody.

Seeing the kids cheering for their team and teammates was amazing, considering their different backgrounds from various countries.

To close the camp, we performed baggage for the kids. Doing makeup was a juggling act in itself, always leaving some people outside to monitor the playful children.

Please pray for the kids who heard the gospel of God's Love. Their lives, in a worldly sense, have no opportunities. But God loves taking what the world deems weak and showing His strength through that person. In fact, one of the YWAM Windheok leaders told us his memory of being a kid at one of these camps. One lady from Switzerland encouraged him and by her speaking God's truth, his life was changed. Now he leads DTS's on the base and oversees the kid's camps.

An image God pressed on my mind that has stuck with me until today had been a clay pot with holes. When the pot has holes, a normal person would declare it defective, unimpressive, even useless. But a light in the pot shines its radiance through those holes. Suddenly, spectators do not look at the pot, but the light. So with God's children. Do not despise rebuke; do not dwell in shame over weakness; do not anger when God prunes or breaks you. His goal is to make each believer into the image of His Son, which means ripping away the flesh to create a bride pure and spotless. Often times our DTS leaders told us, "it's not about you," because God is sovereign and He alone deserves glory! Accepting this means humbling oneself in awe of the greatness of who God is. The same God at whose voice dozens of Bible characters fell to their faces.

The holes are not my identity. My identity is being Christ's. He shines His light through the holes. No longer do people focus on me, but Him. This is my prayer.

Deep within

life

butterfly

yellow bright

stalk alive

in barren land

Apparently being the body of Christ means we paint on each other's shoulders to reach the top :)

One morning, we found the water in the paint trays with a thin layer of ice on the top! I've lived in Uganda my whole life and did not know that any place in Africa, aside from mountaintops, became cold enough to freeze water!

The dam/pond beside the base

A small group of use went for one last hike before the outreach was over. In the photo above, you can see the dam and beyond it are the base buildings.

We climbed up the beacon, the highest and farthest point on YWAM's property. The hike is one of my favorite Namibia memories. We laughed a ton, teased each other, and trekked back home in the dark. And I learned how vicious Namibia's thorns are: one ripped my pant leg open!

The YWAM base had devotions, intercession and swallowship each once a week. They gave us the opportunity to lead several times. Uniting in prayer, laughing a we played games, and sharing with each other what God was teaching us made these times incredible blessings. One lady from the base even hosted a talent show where many of us sang, danced, did comedian acts, or shared poetry.

The last weekend a group of us went on a small hike, where we picked names of the base staff and prayed over them, asking God to give us a word of encouragement for them.

Dimitri, our leader, initiated the idea of doing a love feast on our last night. A couple of use girls spent the afternoon setting everything up. Others cooked, collected firewood or cleaned the patio.

We had such a lovely time hanging out for one last meal. Saying goodbye to the base staff proved hard. God had united us and given us love for each other. The Windheok staff have amazing testimonies, from ex-prisoner to orphan. Yet now they live and are learning to believe their new identity as Christ's child.

"They met in their homes and broke bread toghether"

One last journey: back to South Africa.

Despite hard goodbyes at every outreach location, our team was so excited to be back! It felt like coming home.

The leaders who had not gone with us (or had been with us in Angola) made us feel so loved with their excited welcome! Reuniting like family!

As I reflected on outreach, I realized the immensity of God's faithfulness, provision, protection and answer prayers! A huge testimony was our funds. Before leaving for outreach, we were praying for several students who had nothing for their outreach fee, or were still trying to pay for the lecture phase. Yet by generous contributions by fellow believers and provision along the way, we ended up having enough money left over to bless Projecto Ser, Sabinu and Juliana's family, and YWAM Windheok... and set up a Troubadour scholarship for the students who will come next year!

DTS Outreach Video

For graduation, our leaders took us to a gorgeous restaurant in among the mountains and vineyards of Worcester. We all dressed up to celebrate the formation of a family and completion of a school that only God could bring about.

Thank you, Lorena, for walking with me as a one-on-one mentor. Thank you for challenging me to change my expectations and live by Truth. Thank you for listening to me, being gentle with my pain, and being open about yourself.

All nine of our leaders gave little speeches of celebration and thanksgiving. Then, they handed us our graduation certificates.

I loved getting to know my leader's kids and pouring into their lives as a fellow missionary kid. Their joy, spunk and trust were precious gifts.

Thank you to the best DTS staff I could have ever asked for!

DTS graduate!

Thursday evening, we had our last formal event together: a community service celebrating the graduation of Troubador and Deaf World DTS's!

Saying goodbyes ripped me. Letting go is painful. I admire the Troubadour leaders who do this year after year. In moments of farewell, I rejoice the in promise of Heaven.

In Ethiopia, I had to hurry from one plane the next. Because I was behind schedule (the plane was waiting for me a a few other passengers who didn't show up), I rode a bus all by myself from one terminal to another. I sang worship songs and praised God for His faithfulness to His promises throughout the entire DTS.

Luka and Dad stayed up waiting to pick me up.

What great guys! They had flowers and hugs waiting to receive me!

Back in Uganda and heading home! The first few days felt surreal.

Welcomed home by Emalai, Makai and some missionary friends.

So good to be together again!

On Sunday, I got to share with the church about my time at DTS.

Many people since have asked me, "How was DTS?" How do I answer that?! Amazing, stretching, precious, hard, growing, special... I would do it again in a heartbeat.