A Sad Day...

Well…It looks like Anne and I have just developed a new aspect of our ministry—community development if you will.  Our special emphasis is on technology acquisition, and we began a rigorous training program at 4:00 am this morning.  We’re starting small… at the moment we have each “donated” one laptop to the interesting fellow who broke through our security gate.  If our young “student” returns again tonight, my next donation will probably include pepper spray.  We are such giving people…

All humor aside, today was very discouraging.  Early this morning somebody broke into our apartment (It appears whoever installed our security gate fifteen years ago had never encountered a Phillips screwdriver!  I am angry with myself for never checking the frame in detail, but I never could have imagined that the entire door relied on two tiny, exposed screws!) You have all shared some amazing times with us here on our South African adventure, so we felt it would not be honest to keep the difficult times only to ourselves.  It is very discouraging to think that if any number of little things had gone differently, we would not have lost $3,000 worth of electronics.  There was a brief pursuit, and I guess I yelled enough that the intruder dropped a number of smaller items as he fled.  Then I realized I was buck naked, and was forced to admit defeat!  In retrospect, I wish I had gone for it…  people would have been talking about the white lighting all over Wellington for years.  Plus, my indecent exposure charge would allow me to take my prison ministry to the next level!

Most of our data was backed up, but we have both lost a significant amount of work.  Most awkward is the sense of violation knowing that all of our personal information is now floating around somewhere.  Please pray that we would be able to rebound quickly.  There are a number of crucial ministry initiatives that we are fundraising for at the moment, so it feels particularly daunting to watch our efforts sliding in the wrong direction. 

At the same time, we are genuinely thankful that the two of us escaped the situation unharmed.  After eleven years of working in prison, I have heard quite enough stories about violent home invasion.  It is a great blessing that the intruder was not interested in a direct confrontation (However, you can insert a joke here about white lightning!).  We believe God has protected us throughout this incident, and he will guide us in the way forward.  Thank you for your prayers and friendship in the victories and the challenges. 

Love Andrew and Anne

Hillsong Worship Concert: Pollsmoor Prison!

There are hundreds of forgotten inmates at Pollsmoor prison.  They receive no visits.  They are often the victims of post-traumatic stress disorder.  Their churches and communities do not understand them.  Their marriages and families suffer because of their time behind bars...  I'm talking about correctional officers!

(picture: a correctional officers choir at Allendale
sings for an Easter service)

There are 7,000 prisoners at Pollsmoor and hundreds of men and women officers who are "serving a sentence" right alongside them.  They face an intensely difficult job and they receive little training and support.  They also represent an incredible untapped potential!  As the gatekeepers, they set the tone for the entire prison, and when even a handful of officers view their work as a missionary calling, lives will be saved. 

We have coordinated two Hillsong worship concerts behind bars since 2010, and the officers have been asking for our help.  On Thursday 25 October we have a chance to bring light into a forgotten world.  Many officers are trapped in a vicious cycle where they take out the stress and trauma of their job on their families, the prisoners and each other.  We need grace and freedom, and you have a chance to be a 

part of it!

Pray for this even, or contact us if you want to join one of the prayer teams!

To the ends of the earth

Note from Anne: Andrew wrote this late Sunday night and asked me to post it Monday morning after dropping him at the airport, but I have had internet problems since then! He arrives back in Cape Town tomorrow evening, but you can still pray for the team as they travel, as they return home having been grown and stretched in new ways, and for the people they were able to reach that God will water and grow the seeds that have been planted.

I guess I am bad at sightseeing…

I think when you travel to a new country you are supposed to tour historic monuments and sample local cuisine. Call it God’s sense of humor, but when I visit a new country I continually find myself ministering in the local prisons.

Last year it was prisons in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and now this year it is Lesotho. Hillsong Church is sending a team into “the Mountain Kingdom” and they asked me to coordinate a prison visit. Needless to say that the only thing cooler than prison ministry is getting to the prison via a 4X4 truck on mountain roads!

(the Sani Pass -- 4x4 vehicles only! -- connecting

South Africa with the most remote region of Lesotho)

On a serious note, it is always a little humbling (or maybe even frightening) in leading an outreach to a new prison. I do not believe that safety will be an issue, but there are a thousand logistical challenges in arranging security clearance that are beyond my control. Add in the unique challenges of Lesotho’s geography and things are getting interesting! (it has the highest low-point of any country in the world, and some of the villages where we will minister can only be accessed by foot or by pony!)

I have made several connections with local volunteers who are working in the prisons, and I am exploring the possibility of future partnerships. Lesotho is an amazing country, and I look forward to what I will discover about their prisons and about myself. I will be leaving cell phones and email behind, so I am hoping that it will be a time of reflection and growth.

Thank you for being a partner on this adventure!