Sibongile & Lebo's Wedding

On October 30th I had the privilege to attend

my first African Wedding of my good friends

Sibongile and Lebo. Here are some pics from

the day.

Thembani, Rach, Patricia, Mama Tshabalala,

& Beth before the wedding started.

Given, Rach, & I before the wedding

started.

Alan performing the wedding ceremony for

Lebo and Sibongile.

Sibongile putting the ring on Lebo.

Lebo putting the ring on Sibongile.

Wedding Cake

September Vacation to Victoria Falls

In September I had the privilege to go on vacation

to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe with my friends

Rachel Jensen, Stacie Barker, and Ethan Crowder.

We had a lot of fun seeing the falls and just

hanging out and relaxing while surrounded by

God's amazing creation. Here are a few pics.

Hope you enjoy them.

Given & Philani

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

While here in South Africa I have been truly

blessed to be able to work along side and

become great friends with some amazing

people. I would like to share with you a little

about two young men specifically that I really

enjoy very much. I don't know what I would do

without them. They are absolutely amazing

young men of God. There names are Given

Mokoena and Philani Mjijwa.

Given is the first national that I really met and

got to know when I arrived here. He is 20 years

old and just finished high school. Given is an

excellent translator for me and his spiritual gift

is without a doubt evangelism. Given goes

along with me to Bible studies, Church in

Dobsonville, and visitations for evangelism.

He helps with translating for sure but sometimes

will lead Bible studies and preach also.

Philani is a young man of 23 years old.

I met Philani a year ago last month. Philani is

a former semi pro soccer player. Obviously he is

an excellent player and a testimony of how

God changed his life and showed him how there

was more to life than drugs and soccer. Philani

helps me coach and translate at the 4 different

schools that I work with in Soweto. His soccer

skills, translating ability, and testimony fit

perfectly and help out so much with my soccer

ministry. He is an example that the boys we

coach can really look up to.

I am reminded daily how blessed I am to have

them alongside me to help me with ministry.

More importantly though I truly cherish there

friendship which means the world to me. I will

miss them very much come next April when

I leave to go back to the US. Please be praying

for them to continue to walk and grow with God

daily. I see God is using them daily and He will

continue to use them mightily in the years to

come here in South Africa.

Given and I at a world cup soccer game.

Philani & I preparing to watch

the first game of the World Cup.

Dobsonville

The past 2 months I have had the privilege

along with the Soweto team and my friend

Given to help start 2 Bible studies and get a

worship service started in Dobsonville,

Soweto. Please pray that God will continue

to work in the lives of those who are attending.

Please pray that I will seek the Lords guidance

in what to preach each sunday and as i lead

these two Bible studies along side my friend

Given.

Sunday Morning Worship. It was a small

group this past week. That is Given in

the back.

Bible Study

World Cup 2010

The World Cup has come and gone. It was an

exciting time and I am truly blessed to be here

in South Africa while the World Cup was here.

While the world cup was going on I was blessed

to have been able to attend 5 games live and

watch many more. Enjoy the pictures!!

Here is a crowd in Soweto getting ready to

watch the opening match between South Africa

and Mexico on the big screen.

Brad, Philani, & I excited and ready

to watch the opening game of the

2010 World Cup between Bafana

Bafana and Mexico in SnakePark,

Soweto!!

Amber, Rach & I watching USA v Slovenia at

Ellis Park in downtown Jozi!

Kurt & I at USA v Algeria game in Pretoria.

Thanks again Kurt. It was fun!

My friend Given & I enjoying a game in

Polakwane between Paraguay & New Zealand!

Amber, Rach, and I at Soccer City watching a

round of 16 game between Argentina & Mexico.

It was freezing that night but lots of fun!

Argentina v Mexico!!

Rach & I were blessed enough to find tickets

to the quarterfinal game between Spain &

Paraguay at Ellis Park!! It was an awesome

game! Fun times!

Quarterfinal game between Spain & Paraguay.

Mission Trip To Manzibomvu In Zululand

Several weeks ago i had the opportunity to go

on a Mission trip to manzibomvu in Zululand.

It was an awesome week of ministry, camping,

and even some relaxation on the beach. I

enjoyed it so much I hope God calls me back

to work in a rural setting like this someday.

Enjoy the pics.

Scenery on the trip to Zululand

More beautiful scenery

Setting Up Camp

Our group that went to share with the schools

every morning.

Sharing with the High School

Holiday Bible Club with the kids in the late

afternoon.

Kids at Holiday Bible club.

The packed out school room for the Jesus Film

presentation one evening.

In the afternoons we did some work around

the church property. This is a hole for a new

septic tank we put in.

Trent & I installing the new toilets.

On our day off we went to the beach for several

hours to relax and swim in the Indian Ocean.

Can't beat chilin with good friends at the

beach.

Weekend In The Magaliesburg Mountains

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to go

hiking and camping with Trent, Nick, Gareth,

Rach, & Amber in the Magaliesburg mountains.

It was a lot of fun and great time of fellowship

with Friends. The scenery was spectacular!

Traveling to the mountains in the bakie!

Hiking through the gorge!

Taking a short little break to rest & take some

pics.

Campsite

Sunset

The Men

The Ladies

Group picture with the gorge in the background

Mandela House & Hector Peterson Museum

In early January Rachel, Amber, & I went and

visited the Mandela House and Hector Peterson

Museum in Orlando West, Soweto. We had a

fun day and learned some interesting stuff. Here

are some pictures from the day.

Mandela House

8115 Orland West Soweto where Mandela

used to live

Restoration of The Mandela

House

Mandela's Favorite Chair!!

Thought this was cool so I had to

take a picture and include it in the

blog.

The Indicator

Hector Peterson Museum

Hector being carried by a young man