Eric in Africa

"It is finished!"

2007-11-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

As I end this chapter of my life I want to thank all who were a part of it and prayed me through. I consider this journey to be my rite of passage and I return to America a man. I step away from what is behind and I turn my attention to what is ahead. For the time being, I say good-bye to Africa and hello to my destiny. I will return to school in January and graduate in May. So, in the words of faith sung by Andrew Peterson, "Sarah take me by my arm, tomorrow I am Canaan bound". The Promised Land and a new life are layed out in front of me. With God as my guide, I seek to keep stride with His will and become what was written of me before the dawn of time. God bless you and may God take you on an adventure of faith like He has taken me.
Amen

Turn on the poarch light, Mama, I'm coming home!

2007-11-07T02:01:00.001-08:00

In less than one week, I will be boarding my flight for 26 hours of travelling back to the United States. I am very excited to come home. I miss all my friends, family and beautiful girlfriend. I am looking forward to the conveniences and comforts that only home can bring. I suppose that I will be sharing many stories with all of you reading this blog. I will be writing papers, but I am definately willing to share. If you want to know something, ask questions, it's better than trying to explain six months of Africa in ten minutes. Praise the Lord, it is finished!

Go monate go ya gae

2007-10-11T01:18:00.000-07:00

I have returned to Johannesburg. On Tuesday, I went to the David Livingstone Museum and Victoria Falls. Then, I flew back to South Africa. I had a nice journey, but it is good to be back. I acquired many things on my trip and even had to leave some clothes and my shaving cream because I didn't have room for everything (my host family was not disappointed). I feel completely restored from Malaria and have been enjoying health. I only have one more month until I go home. Thank you for your prayers.

Adventures in Zambia

2007-10-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I am still in Lusaka. I should have been in Livingstone today, but I got Malaria. I am just staying a couple extra days here until I recover in full. I feel fine and the medicine is working well. Fortunately, I was diagnosed the first day and got the medicine right away. The people here are taking care of me and I am just resting while my body recovers. God has really sustained me through your prayers. Thank you.
As for the rest of my time in Zambia, it has been wonderful! I have been preaching, evangelizing, and doing ministry all day here. I used some of the money that was given to me for Bibles to purchase 43 Bibles for the pastor I have been with to give to his people. I've never seen anyone so excited as when I told him that I would help him by Bibles for his people. We got them in English and three of the local languages. I have been greatly inspired by his ministry, humility and faith. He has taught me many things. His name is Pastor Tobias Kafumokache. It has been a real honor to serve with him and his Assemblies of God church. Well, thank you for your prayers and support because God is protecting me here. God bless you all!

Mwauka bwanji?

2007-09-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all from Lusaka, Zambia. The Lilongwe for Jesus mission in Malawi is over. I preached and gave my testimony all over the capital city in markets, townships and bus depots. It was a wonderful time and we saw much fruit as people responded to the Gospel. African Enterprise organized evangelists to come from all over Africa and partner with local churches to bring Jesus to the city. I made many friends and received invitations to come to DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya (my next trip). While I was there, I met a man from Zambia who has a pastor friend here in Lusaka. He gave me the information and got me onto a bus into Lusaka.
The bus ride was 15 hours. I arrived tired. The pastor here (Tobias) has a whole agenda for me while I'm here. We will preach on the streets, in church and in cell groups. I am humbled at the hospitality I have been received with here. I had a room waiting for me at the house of another church member. I slept well and woke up to the first rain I've seen in Africa. The house is on a farm plot so they thanked me for bringing the rain with me, haha. I am just getting used to being in Zambia and the "harmless" huge spiders they have on the wall. It is truly a joy to be here. I am so happy and completely confident that this is where God has planned for me to be at this very moment of my life. He is so good to me! I love you all.

Preparation for My Excursion

2007-09-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

In two weeks, I will embark on the adventure of my life. Get your African maps ready. I am going to an eight day outreach in Lilongwe, Malawi. I will be part of eight or more Gospel presentations a day as I work alongside Africans from all over the continent. After this, I may or may not connect with a pastor in Lilongwe whose number I was given by a pastor here in South Africa. When all this is done, I will take a bus over to Lusaka, Zambia to explore and meet up with another pastor whose name I was given. I don't really know what else I will do there, but I'm sure it will be great. Then, I will head down to Livingstone to see the David Livingstone museum and Victoria Falls. After that, I will travel down through Botswana. I met a man from Botswana last week who said that they have a program where I could stay a couple nights with a Tswana family and eat their food and explore their culture. This whole excursion should be roughly three weeks. A two week rest back in South Africa will preceed a week-long trip to Lesotho with a guided tour from my friend is is a diplomat of that country. I am VERY excited! Please pray for me.

More Fruit

2007-08-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

God is very good! Our church is starting to step into the goodness of who He is. On Sunday mornings, we give time for people to give testimonies. This past Sunday two people testified to their physical healings. One lady has had asthma all her life and was freed last week. Another church member had pain in his back which was healed. A couple people in our church have had visions while we are worshiping in the presence of God. In His presence, wonders happen.
From Monday to Wednesday morning, five of us went on a roadtrip. Felito and his wife, Anna, needed to go to Mozambique to renew their visas. The next day we spent driving around in Kruger National Park seeing the wild animals of Africa. That night we stayed in Nelspruit at the house of some Christians we met while we were there. The most exciting part is that we never found a place to stay on any night before 8pm. Staying with the Christians was wonderful and I will go back to visit them for a week soon. How amazing that God knew where we would stay each night and ordered our steps to find the places. Amen!

Needs

2007-08-11T03:19:00.000-07:00

Everything is going well with the church. We had a guest speaker who taught on prayer and now we have a guest teaching about worship. We have a regular crowd of about 100 members and we are working to serve their spiritual needs. However, to better serve their needs, we need to be at the church more. The problems have been transport and facilities. Felito's cars are in the process of repair and have been in this process for nearly three months. Please pray that the cars will be fixed soon and that the funds will be there to pay the mechanics.
The issue of facilities is one that we have found a solution to. We found a company that converts containers into offices. The office that we want to get will cost $5,000 USD. My mom is working on fundraising with the First Presbyterian Church of Petaluma, CA. We are very excited for this office as we will be able to stay at the church all day and pray for people who come to us. It is very important for us to have a strong, caring presence in the community. If you would like to help, you can contact my mom or my beautiful girlfriend, Yerling. They will make sure that the funds make it to the right place. God bless you all.

I have enrolled in: Live for God 101

2007-07-26T03:19:00.000-07:00

God is teaching me a lot while I'm here. These "intangible" lessons are shaping me for the person I will be and the life that I will live for God. The foundation of life in God is character. God is shaping my character to be able to hold the anointing He will give me. Without the firm foundation of strong character (Ephesians 3:16) the anointing will destroy me. Just like King David in his years of service and evasion of Saul, I am willing to let God make me into a man after His own heart. May God help me learn my lessons quickly.
Another thing that God is teaching me is meditation on the Word of God. Scripture is full of life (2 Timothy 3:16; Genesis 2:7) and I have entered into the practice of contemplating a single verse for a long time. I have yet only done an hour per verse, but I will work up until I can unlock the treasures stored up in God's Word for hours and hours at a time. This has brought me so much joy and excitement as God speaks to my mind about the verses I meditate on. I pray that He will continue to speak in ever increasing ways.
Last night I experienced a healing. My friend Peter came from Pretoria to spend 3 days with me and go to our church. He was having a headache and his throat hurt. I prayed for him last night and he woke up healed. God is good! I am very happy that He is teaching me.
Yerling, my girlfriend, I love you and miss you! I am becoming the man that God has created me to be. Let Him male you into the woman God has made you to be.

In Jesus' name!!!

2007-07-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

The healings have begun. Not everyone we pray for gets healed but for the ones who have been, it is worth it! A woman in our church was healed of diabetes. Amen! She felt better and began to eat the restricted foods that she was unable to eat before. This was a bold act of faith and there have been no side effects. She is healed in Jesus' name! Another lady was healed of sickness and there have been a couple others. We are so happy to see what Jesus is doing through His willing servants. I believe that the healings will increase as we press into the Presence of God.
We have also been discovering new things about Palm Ridge (the township that our church is in). We have found witchcraft and syncritism outside and inside the churches of the area. People can feel the genuine peace of the Holy Spirit when they enter our church and the ones who really want Jesus have found sanctuary there. It is a place they can come and get prayer without fear of being cursed (no the F word, a literal curse). But, our God is victorious and we are more than conquerors in Christ. Jesus is the King of Kings and all evil spirits must submit to the authority He has placed in us. We will continue to seek God and set the captives free!
Thank you for all your prayers!

Dirt to Luxury

2007-07-11T02:45:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting experience last weekend. I stayed two nights in the shack that we have next to our church (in my pictures as "Building the Office"). I will soon get better pictures so you can know what it looks like now. I stayed with the two Mozambiquens who guard the church. It was a wonderful time to pray and worship with two brothers my age. We told testimonies and let the Lord know that we love Him. The next day we went door to door bringing the Good News of the Gospel and leading people to salvation. We did this for two hours with a translator that God provided (because I prayed for one). It was very fun and very dirty.
The next night, I was picked up by a family I had come into contact with living in Pretoria. They had a HUGE house and plenty of very fancy food. They were overwhelmingly hospitable to me and let me take a nice hot bath and sleep there overnight. They filled me with good food and a few sentences of Afrikaans. It was great to sit and talk with them about the part of the world. They sent me packing with loads of traditional Afrikaans foods and a list of things I need to experience before I leave the country. The lady's (Liesl') mother was there and really took a liking to me. She came in at night when everyone was in bed to pray over me and invite me to her home in Jeffrey's Bay. As a woman who lived her life mostly in apartheid, I was amazed at her compassion for people from any race. It was truly great to be with these people.

Buyela Ekhaya

2007-07-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

The title is Zulu for "It is good to go home". I had a sort of homecoming after vacationing with my family. I am back from suburban hotel to township life. I return, once again, to baths and mornings without a heater. I really am glad to be back. I got the refreshing that I needed and I am ready to push on. I made some crucial contacts during this period which will help me the rest of my journey. One was an Ndebele woman with whom I will stay when I go to Zimbabwe. My beautiful girlfriend, Yerling, found a man who does mission work in southern Africa a lot and he has people for me to stay with in Zambia. I also met a family to hang out with in Vosloorus as I was previously void of friends in my neighborhood. I reorganized my room and it feels fresh and clean. I also got a pillow so my neck aches should cease. When my parents were here, they bought me a lot of music and I use it to worship God. Everything is wonderful! Felito and I are starting to fast 2 times a week to seek God and get into His presence. The fruit will soon be evident. Also, today is the 4th of July!!! I am celebrating by praying for America all day. I encourage everyone to join me as our nation needs a LOT of prayer. Pray that we will turn to God as a nation and repent of our deteriorating morality. If we do, God will heal our land. God bless everyone who reads this!

Refreshing

2007-06-25T23:43:00.000-07:00

My parents and sister are here! They made the 20 hours of flying and are now safe and happy in Africa Centre Airport Guest Lodge. It was wonderful to see them and I am staying in thier room while they are here. It is nice to have some comfort. I took my first shower since coming to South Africa (don't worry, I've been taking baths). We had Felito and Anna (his wife) over for dinner and today we will help him try and find an apartment to move to. I have the whole week planned out for my family of what to see and where to go. We will visit the Africa museum, Pilanesburg wildlife park and hand out clothes to my church memebers. It really is a blessing to see all the supplies they brought. Thank you to everyone who contriubted. We are overwhlemed.
Well, I was sick, but now I am well. It is such a blessing to be healthy. For the first time in weeks I can sing without coughing every line! God is VERY good to me. This is good because my parents supplied me with 9 new CDs and I just have to sing my praises to God. Life is good and I am definately feeling refreshed and restrengthened by this time and will be ready and strong to finish the rest of my time here serving God and loving His children. God bless you all!!!

Church

2007-06-18T04:43:00.001-07:00

Africa on Fire Church has begun! We had services every night last week and will start to have them Thursday through Sunday. There are still some financial needs that we have, but it is very encouraging to see these people's hunger for God. Even the children sit attentively through the sermon to get all they can out of the message. Felito has been speaking most of the time but on Saturday night, he asked em to give the sermon. I preached the basics of the Gospel and 75% of the church came up for the alter call. God is moving very powerfully and many different people are getting excited about what He is doing. Sam and Peter were able to come to our first church service and Peter insists that he is part of our ministry team. He even spent a day fasting and praying that our ministry grows fast. They both want to move down eventually to Johannesburg and join. I hope God proovides a way.
Pray that Felito's car situaton gets resolved. He had things seemingly fixed but there keep coming more and more complications. We believe that God's blessings will abound. I am excited for my parents and sister to come this Sunday and see what is happening here. Yerling, I miss you and love you. Godd thigs come to those who wait upon the Lord.

Sam!!!! and....Peter???!!!

2007-06-18T04:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! Monday (6/4) was one of the top ten best days of my life! We didn’t make it up to Pretoria until 4:30 p.m. Imagine the anxiety of finding one of your best friends whom you thought you may never see again and having to wait six hours to go see him. When we got to Pretoria, Felito had some things to take care of and the awaited meeting was delayed even longer. We finally pulled up to Isiphiwo at 5 p.m.
As we pulled up and the gate opened for us, the security guard came to talk to Felito (because he was the driver). I thought, “Is that Peter?” I completely did not expect him to still be there. He seemed to recognize me too. I told Felito to roll down the window and I said, “Peter?!?” He looked as if he was seeing a ghost. We parked the car and Peter hugged us both! He called Sam to come see me and then hugged me another 4 times. He was so shocked that I was there.
Then, finally, Sam came walking down the path. I went to hug him and greeted him in Sotho. The four of us just stood there talking. It was the best reunion of my life. It was so great to see them! I felt like Paul longing to see his church plants. It was great to find that they have been helping each other grow in Christ. They said there was another guy working there who is a strong Christian as well. I am still in shock. We invited them to our church and Peter says that he will come this Sunday for our first service!
Then, as Felito and I drove home, we began to pray and the Holy Spirit came upon us! We prayed and praised God the whole way home (about an hour drive). When we arrived, Peter called each of us and said he was so happy that we came. In addition to that, he sent me a text message saying that he was still speechless. Jesus is VERY good to me! He is good to you too. Rejoice in his goodness!

Church Progress and Pre-Sam

2007-06-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

The church is progressing. Two days ago (Saturday 6/2), we cleared the land and dug fence post holes. This took all day and was very involved. We still need to build the fence and get the tent. We are close but there are still some things that we need to do. This Sunday we will most likely have our firct service.
I called Isiphiwo this morning (the place where I met Sam last summer) and the lady said that Sam is still there! I am going to be with him today while Felito gets a car part from Pretoria. I am so excited to see him and catch up! For those of you who don't know, Sam was a South Africa I made VERY good friends with last summer and led him to Christ. I have not hear from him all year but today we will reunite. I and my family members have been praying for this. Today is my day.

Church Foundations

2007-05-28T00:34:00.000-07:00

Things have been happening. All you who are praying, thank you. The temporary land we got (for free) was secured in two days. Previous to that, Felito and his brother had spent 3 months trying to get land. Praise God, His timing to perfect. Now, we are preparing the land. We are getting: a tent, 200 chairs, a chain link fence and we need a tractor to level the land. These are our expenses right now. If you are looking to give money, you are welcome and you can contact my mother. We have been graciously given the necessary funds for the soundsystem we need. Thank you very much. Your reward is waiting in Heaven. God is bringing unity to our team and we are ready to launch this thing. Modimo a hlohonolo fatse! God bless you!

In South Africa

2007-05-23T06:15:00.001-07:00

I have arrived and am here in Vosloorus, South Africa. I have been building relationships with my host family and getting accustomed to the time change. I have been waking up at 2:30 every morning, except today when I was able to sleep in until 5am. The land that Felito is trying to get is going through a process of meetings but we landed a temporary plot until we can get permanent residence. Tomorrow, we will go claim the land that another pastor is graciously giving us. Felito's car broke down and this has caused many problems. This is the most urgent prayer request because without the car, he doesn't have the mobility to get everything else done. However, we are excited to start and getting the temporary land is a definite blessing from God. I love being here and surprise every person when I greet them with "Sawubona". I am learning a lot of household Sotho words with my host family. In our house, I have my own room and am very comfortable. Thank you everyone who is reading these for your prayers and support. Our ministry is joint. Yerling, I love you and thank you for praying for me each day. You are in my prayers as well! Mom, Dad and Heather, I am excited to have you visit me in June. My host family awaits your arrival. Unkulunkulu akubusise! God bless you!

Visa

2007-05-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is the miracle of the South Africa visa. I went in on the last Friday of school to the Consulate General of South Africa in Los Angeles. I brought everything they asked for on the website, but while I was there, discovered that I needed some more things. I would need a letter of invitation from Felito with his letterhead and organization logo on it. Felito was in New Zealand at the time and would not return until the week before I arrived. I did not have contact with him except for email and I knew that he is not able to check his email often. I would need the letter within a couple of days because of the processing time and time to send the visa via mail to my house. At my Men's Chorale concer that night, I bore my soul to the crowd and they prayed for me. Two days later, i was at the Vinyard Church in Laguna Niguel to get prayer for my trip. As they asked for prayer, I explained my visa situation. Cathy Greer sitting next to me said, "that's easy" and went on to inform me that she had all the letterheads and organization logos in her house. Miracle!
The next thing I needed was an X-ray of my chest. I went to the Presbyterian hospital on Saturday (the day after I applied for my visa) to get the X-ray. They told me to come back on Monday and they would be able to do it. I came back and they said I needed to get a doctor's order. So, I went to the APU Health Center and they sent me in to meet with a nutritionist. She told me that I would need to see a doctor and to come back on Wednesday. I came back on Wednesday and got a doctor's order for an X-ray. I went back to the hospital where I spent an hour and a half with a lady tryign to figure out what insurence to use. Finally, I just paid for it out of my checking account. I walked out with a signature and a stamp wondering how it took five days to get a 24 year-old's signature.
As I was driving north for Men's Chorale tour, I called the Consulate-General to see how my application was going. They said that my bank account showed insufficient funds and I would need to fax in my bank statement with more money (though they wouldn't tell me how much). So, I told my mom and she and my dad did that the next day. I called again a day later and they said that in my letter of invitation, my accomodations were not accounted for and I would need to send another letter. Cathy Greer sent me a copy of the letter and I read it and remembered that the letter did state that my accomodations would be covered. So, I told her that and she checked. There it was in the last sentence...my visa was sent that night. I received the visa in the mail on Friday (the next day) and toasted all my relatives' wine glasses with my passport (visa inside). God does not need possibility to work. He is the God of miracles!

Plane Ticket

2007-05-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is the miracle of the plane ticket. I bought a ticket for May until August. I soon found out that the requirements of my major changed and I would need an extra month in South Africa to complete my GLT. I decided to extend my stay until November to give myself six months in country. As I attempted to change my ticket, I discovered that my ticket was "non-changeable" and "non-refundable". I began the process of negotiating with British Airways by emailing their customer support. I received an automated email telling em to call the United States office. I called; they told me to email. I emailed; they told me to call again. I called another time and the lady gave me an address to send a letter to explaining my situation. I did this and waited...and waited.... Over a month went by and I heard nothing. I kept praying and sent out my newsletter from my Mozambique trip asking for prayer for my ticket. The week after that newsletter was sent out, I received a call telling me that British Airways was willing to change my ticket for a small price. I found that God does not know the meaning of the word, "non-changeable"!

Plans for South Africa

2007-05-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

From May 16 until November 13, I will be joining with Felito Utuie (africaonfire.com) in starting a church in a township of Johannesburg, South Africa. I will also be doing my Global Learning Term for my Global Studies major at Azusa Pacific University. This will entail cultural immersion and study. I will be living with a Sotho family in a township called Vosloorus and learning the Northern Sotho language. In September I will be travelling around to different African countries, including an 8-day outreach with African Enterprise in Lilongwe, Malawi from September 16-23. The countries I plan to visit are: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Kenya and Lesotho. These plans are yet loose. God has done many miracles for this trip to happen which I will share in latter blogs. I appreciate your prayers and support.