South Africa Reflections (#1)

After 35 hours of traveling with very little, incremental sleep, we finally arrived in Johannesburg. Driving out of Johannesburg into Pretoria, the highways and cities didn’t look too much different from the U.S. We learned that the highways were in such good condition because of the World Cup last year. Much of the city of Pretoria is well-developed with really nice malls, coffee shops and restaurants. It was not exactly what I was expecting to see, even though I was aware of the economic disparity in South Africa (lots of wealth, but very unevenly distributed). One of the craziest things was going to the church that Pure Hope is connected with, called Moreletapark. It is about the size of Willow Creek Church in Chicago, can hold thousands of people and is basically really beautiful. Right next to the church is about 800 families living in plastic shacks with no electricity, running water, etc. Some of them are international refugees from Zimbabwe and Lesotho, but most are South Africans. The government controls who comes out of this group of shacks and has been saying for years that they will do something to help these people, but they are still there. Pure Hope has built some better shacks for some of these people when there shacks burnt down, but the government support for helping these people is minimal. At the church, we listened to a service through headphones that translated from Afrikaans into English, although the music was in English. They did songs such as ‘God of the City’ and Hillsong songs. They also had a children’s choir of orphaned kids from Uganda called the Watoto choir. A church in Uganda started this choir as a way to care for all the children orphaned by AIDs, and now care for around 4000 orphans. Those kids can dance too. The sermon itself was incredible. It was a simple message, but very true and relevant to the congregation. He brought up how many orphans are in South Africa, along with the poor who live in shanty towns outside of the wealthy cities and how it is our duty and responsibility as the church to be the hands and feet of God that reach out to the distressed and give them hope. We all have the capability to do something, and it is God’s commission to us to use whatever we are given to help others and share the gospel through words and action.

Joe is now quoting Shakespeare quite seriously to us, so I’m going to go. We are leaving soon to spend the day in Mabopane with a ton of kids. Should be great!
 - Julie

South Africa Team Update

Our team of 6 arrived here in safely in South Africa last night around 10:30 (South Africa time).  By the time we settled in to our apartment it was near midnight and we were all ready for bed.  It's cool here, which is a welcome change from the heat that we have been experiencing back home.  I'll post more later, but wanted everyone to know we are here and doing well!
- joe

GCC Guatemala Photos - Volume 2

 Paint Crew.

 Dirt Crew.

GCC Guatemala Photos - Volume 1

 On the work site.

 On the bus.

 Playing with the kids at Pinito.

 at Pinito.

 Setting up the goal for the Alemada academy.

 Boys playing Trumpo's.

 Getting ready for the game.

 Making friends.

 Working!

 Playing!

 Heather sharing a testimony with the kids after the game.

Passing out copies of the Gospel of John to the kids.

GCC Guatemala Update #2

Guatemala is such an amazing place, I’m so happy for the opportunity to come here with my mom and sister and the rest of our Guatemala team! You can see how God is working through the Banta’s and the members of their crew, especially Charlie! So far we have visited the market and purchased food for families in need, and the family that I got to distribute our team’s food basket to was an older man and his granddaughter, who was special needs, and they lived in a house with a small table, 2 small beds, and dirt floors. When we gave them the basket, the man immediately knew it was from God, because he prays every night for things like that. When we prayed with them, they got down on their knees before the Lord, and we put our hands on them and prayed that the man would find work. We have also been working on painting a building on the land of the soccer field, which has been hard work, but very rewarding. We have cheered on the soccer teams, and held a carnival for them also, and its so awesome to see how God is using us to help the people of Guatemala get to know Him better. Given the opportunity, I would definitely come back and help with Global Soccer Ministries again.

–Kiersten

Every time I go on a short term missions trip, I am continually amazed by the contrast between my life and the life that the people in these different countries live. These people live in homes we wouldn’t even call shacks, they work day in and day out just to struggle by, they go to bed hungry, but they are thankful and they are grateful for what they do have. This is one of the biggest things that I see in people here in Guatemala. They have so little but they don’t worry on what they don’t have but they focus on what they do have. We took a food basket to a man who was living with his special needs granddaughter and the people that knew him said that he was going to share everything he got with others. That just blows my mind. The people that have the least are so willing to share what they have with others. GSM has such a great ministry going and I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to be a part of it. You can see God’s love radiated through all the people working here in Guatemala. This has been such a great experience and I am really looking forward to going on another missions trip. God bless GSM and their ministry, the Bantas, Charly, and everyone spreading the love of God.

–Abi

I love Guatemala and the people here. I have had such an amazing opportunity to come here. Now that I am actually here and I made it alive, I have noticed how different it is here than Michigan. In Guatemala I have noticed that the people live in tin houses and some of the people have diseases. Most of the people here don’t have the money to cure it. They most of the time just have to deal with the pain and do what they can. Most of the people also need god in there life. Some of the little children don’t have dads or don’t have the education they need. The girls help there mothers in the markets with either making tortilla’s or fixing up there little area. The people have cars but no traffic lights. The children here have great hearts and just want to be loved. The kids also love having there pictures taken. While we are down here I have thought about how lucky we are to live in America. But saying that, we also aren’t so lucky. The people here are very good at soccer and some of the little kids can beat me. (Almost beat me) I also took a food basket to this couple and they were an elderly couple with a daughter that has migrates everyday almost all day. The mother has asthma and she has an inhaler. The father has fallen and hurt his hip and a little later he fell and hurt his knee. With those injures, he kept working and he continued to help the family. That just made me think of how loving

they are to step out of being hurt just to help there family. These people were so loving and we prayed with the daughter and the couple. They were just a great family to be with. I just hope that most of the kids and the adults just to get to know god better and let him lead there life. They need to know that he loves them, and that he wants to be their fathers. I want to thank the GSM for letting us paint over there and help them grow bigger. I also want to thank Charly for helping us and I saw God through him a couple of times this week. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity and God Bless You.

~Madi

Eye-opener is an Understatement…

The sights, smells, and sounds that I have experienced this week can not be described accurately using vocabulary known to you and me. To say imagine a family that lives beneath a multitude of tin sheets molded together, or children roaming the streets while their parents are at the market, does not do justice. Even an array of photographs would not come close to being immersed in it all. This week has opened my eyes, not simply to the very real poverty present in Guatemala but God’s presence regardless of it. One moment that truly moved me was when we delivered a basket of food to a grandfather and granddaughter. Despite the roughness of the neighborhood, where shootings take place on a nightly basis, the family graciously welcomed us into their home. This touched me greatly for in an area where it seems no one can be trusted they had evident trust in God and thus let us in with open arms. Among many other incidents this one in particular will stay with me. I am eternally grateful for being given the opportunity, especially being able to share it with my grandpa; I know it is one I will never forget.

- Tiff 

GCC Guatemala Team - Update

The GCC Team arrived safely in Guatemala on Sunday afternoon.  We had great flights and smooth connections along the way.  Everyone was tired from the journey but also energized by the excitement of the week ahead.  We settled in to the seminary on Sunday afternoon and received a brief orientation from John & Amy Banta, Missionaries with GSM Guatemala.  

On Monday morning we went to "The Terminal", a market that is typical Guatemala.  We broke into teams and each group had to purchase items that we would give away to families in need throughout the week.  It was a unique cultural experience.  Next, we drove about 12 blocks to visit Oakland Mall, one of the nicest shopping complexes in all of Guatemala.  It rivals many of the nice malls in the U.S.  We at in the food court there and experienced the culture shock between that environment and where we spent the morning.  Later that afternoon, we delivered our first food basket to a needy family in a small community called, Pinito.  My family and I were on the team that delivered that basket, and it was great for me to see my kids experience the reality of Guatemala in that way.

On Tuesday we headed over to the future site of the GSM soccer facility and we spent the day painting the bathrooms and removing some dirt from around the field.  It was a hard day of work, but much was accomplished.  

Today, we spent the morning getting a closer look at the way GSM uses soccer to minister to the kids of the city. We cheered on two teams at a tournament in Alemada.  After the games, some of the team had an opportunity to share about why they came to serve here in Guatemala.  My kids enjoyed paying with the Guatemalan boys, and observing their "Trumpo" skills (Trumpo's are old-school tops that spin with strings and the Guatemalan boys can get pretty fancy with them!).  In the afternoon, we went back to the GSM facility and resumed our painting project.  We were doing well until the rains came.  We are hoping that we can finish the painting project tomorrow (during our last work day).   

The week is going fast, and everyone seems to be enjoying their time here.  For me, it is exciting to see my family get the chance to participate in what I do with teams all summer.  Some of the team members spent some time reflecting this morning about their experiences here thus far.  I've included those reflections below.  Please keep praying for our team.  I can definitely feel the prayers from all of you.

Peace,

joe neill

TEAM REFLECTIONS:

What an awesome experience!  I never imagined how this would impact me and my daughters!  We have seen so many new and unimaginable things I don’t even know where to start.  From the market to the tin shacks that multiple families live in with 10 dogs, it is just startling.  The contrast between the rich and the poor Guatemalans just blows your mind.  There is despair in this city and we are only a little bit of the solution.  There are other groups here who are doing the same things and with all of us working together I hope we can make a difference.     

–KIM

Guatemala is an amazing place! It’s so great to see all the different ways that God works. Even on day one, when we first arrived you could see God working through the GSM crew. They were all so welcoming and it touched me. Even on my first night God was already laying a lot on my heart. So far it’s been amazing and I hope that we can do a lot more in our time here. It’s really great that I am able to share the experience with my dad especially since it’s my first mission trip and time out of the country! I hope the rest of the week is just as amazing as the past few days have been! 

–Kirsten

Not enough words to possibly express what I am feeling! I came here expecting to bring and shine Gods Love here, but God doesn’t need me to do this, God is here, these are his people.  Even though they have so much less then me and much of America they are content, happy and taking each day as it comes.  There is an overwhelming amount of despair, but yet there are smiles and thank-you’s at every encounter that we have. My prayer is that we can assist and help the Banta family to further their ministry in anyway that the Lord wants. I am so grateful to be here and to be a part of this wonderful experience! I pray for more mission trips! 

– Heather 

Well... the Westwinds team has been back home from Guatemala for 13 days now, and I'm preparing to leave tomorrow morning with a team from Gingellville Community Church.  Before I leave though, I feel the Westwinds team deserves one last post.

I picked up my mission trip journal tonight and glanced through to the page from our last debrief/worship session.  That night I asked each participant to say one word that encapsulated the essence of how the saw God moving in them through the trip.  It's a cool list of words, and I wanted to share it here both as a memory and as a memorial to the work God did.

So here's the list:

Dependency
Presence
Growth
New (Renewed)
Enlightening
Emotional
Colorful
Perspective
Vulnerability
Peaceful
Family
Unity
Joy
Weakness
Change
Reprieve
Sincerity
Suspenseful
Strength
Encouragement
Purpose
Craving
Spiritual
Thankful
Journey
Community

May God continue to develop these themes in the lives of each of the Westwinds team.  I look forward to serving alongside any of you, any time!

- joe