Re-entry

Our bodies may not know which continent they are on, but we are at least physically located in the States!

We always wonder whether the “culture shock” of reentry will surprise us, but for the moment we are just enjoying all things American. Golden Grahams… Cranberry Sauce from the can… oh, AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

We can’t believe how much we have missed all you guys! Working in the bizarre world of South Africa’s prisons makes us forget just how much we love being home. As you can see, Andrew is reunited with his first love (the old Jeep Cherokee!), so we are willing to drive just about anywhere to see you guys!

Our email addresses remain the same, but we have a US cell number: 781-656-2081. Give us a call to set up coffee, or just say hi! We will be in the Boston area until just after New Year's.

SPECIAL NOTE TO ALL VERMONT FRIENDS! We are driving to Vermont late today (Monday the 29^th) and staying until next Monday. Get ready for us to invite ourselves over! hehehe

Andrew comes to terms with 'emotional energy'

Being separated from friends and family by an ocean has taught me a few things about communication!

When we left the States we really were not expecting to be here very long… I had a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, and aside from a free master’s degree and some volunteer work the plan was just to enjoy South Africa for a year, then go home. It was only going to be a short trip, so I never made a deliberate plan on how I was going to stay in touch. Since now I am well into my third year in South Africa, this hurt my communication with many dear friends and family.

My communication was doubly hurt, because I did not realize the emotional energy that is required for a real connection (insert joke here about being a stereotypical male!). After an intense day in prison—which is probably the most cross-cultural experience imaginable!—the last thing I had energy for was more communication!

Within the past six months I have come to terms with the fact that prison ministry is a spiritual battlefield, and it would be arrogant for me to step into a prison without your prayers for my protection. Our commitment is to keep updating you regularly, but we will probably be apologizing to you again! Blogs are a flawed medium, and sometimes we are in the middle of something too raw to be processed in such an open manner. Our stories are tied up with other people, but we can only share our own. At the end of the day, maybe this blog is just about holding me accountable! If I am going to challenge gangsters to speak openly about their lives—even when it is messy—I owe it to them to hold myself to the same standard.

(P.S. from Anne: over the next few weeks we will be highlighting some of the ways you can be involved in our ministry, including joining a team that will commit to praying for us regularly. For a sneak preview, click here.)

"Strange Company"

What could a man from the Congo, an Afrikaaner, a couple from Australia, a Xhosa, a German, a couple from America and a man from Switzerland all have in common?

Just another Thursday afternoon in prison ministry!

The Andrew Murray Centre is called to be a bridge between the churches and the prisons, and that mission brings a strange crew of people together in a single purpose. We are a non-denominational Christian ministry with a leadership team that draws from the full spectrum of South Africa’s racial diversity. Despite coming from radically different backgrounds, we are united in our mission:

“Raising up a new generation of Christian leaders from South Africa’s prisons—a discipleship journey that will return the churches to those they have forgotten and rejoin the prisoners with those they have harmed.

It is strange, but prison ministry is remarkably similar across social and racial barriers. On the surface a Latino gangster from Southern California would have literally nothing in common with a Xhosa ganster from Mbekweni. Unfortunately prison acts like a sociological meat-grinder! No matter where these men come from they are subjected to a similar range of isolation, bitterness, prejudice, racism and violent trauma. It is impossible to predict all the factors that will bring someone to prison, but it is easy to predict the challenges they will face as they try to make it out of the system. It’s bittersweet, but this is one of the reasons I have been successful in ministry here—even as a foreigner. My work in South Africa is very similar to prison ministry that I began doing in the States back in 2001.

The challenges we face in prison ministry cut across cultural lines, and our ministry team also defies cultural expectations. However, there is something even more important that ties everything together. The God we serve has the same loving character -- whether it is a "C-Max" in Johannesburg or death row in Texas.

We're Back!

(This is a long one, but hey… it’s been two years!)

This blog has purpose now! When Anne and I came to South Africa, we were excited for a break. We were leaving stressful jobs to pursue interesting graduate studies on a Rotary scholarship, explore South Africa and do prison rehabilitation work on the side for fun (maybe that makes us strange… heh). This blog began with a string of hiking vacations and interesting cultural anecdotes. There was never a sense of urgency other than my mother demanding new pictures!

We couldn’t help ourselves! There is too much potential in South Africa to go through as a tourist or even just as a student. Without always making a conscious decision, we gravitated more and more into our volunteer work. Maybe it’s the confessions of an adrenalin junkie—prison ministry is even more exciting than surfing! I like to think we found our purpose.

As our days shifted from Table Mountain to Pollsmoor prison, this blog stopped working. How do you turn the intensity of a counseling session in a maximum-security prison into a clever anecdote? Especially with no pictures! (it seems the gold standard of a blog is pictures… if it’s not pretty, who wants to read it!). It was challenging enough to work in this context, let alone write about it.

Basically we did the missionary thing backwards! I always thought missions involved raising support, building a team and then staging a big farewell sendoff… whoops! Suddenly we found ourselves volunteering in intense cross-cultural ministry and development work, but with very little support.

Now blogging has a purpose again! We cannot do what we are doing—what God has called us to do—without your support. This isn’t “christian-ese” for “give us your money!” If we think about our lives here in South Africa, we have been able to participate in some incredible, life-changing events. We have experienced more success than two random Americans dropped into the middle of the South African prison system could ever hope for.

If I reflect honestly on what we have accomplished, everything could just have easily ended in disaster. We have experience, advanced degrees and a team of volunteers behind us. Not to be melodramatic, but that doesn’t mean much against a homemade knife! South Africa continually receives bad press for its crime problems, and yet we have always had perfect safety even in the midst of some pretty scary places. Prayer works! There has been a small team of people from around the country who have continually been praying for us, even when they had no idea where we were. It would be arrogant for us to continue in our work here without building on this foundation of prayer. This rejuvenated blog will form the backbone of our prayer network, and we would be honored if you would join us.