PROLOGUE

This blog reflects my journal entries from a short-term mission trip to Cape Town, South Africa in June, 2008. I went as part of a Mocha Club team to support the work of African Leadership – a Christian organization that trains Africans to become Christian leaders within the church and community in order to serve the spiritual and physical needs of fellow Africans.

Many people encouraged and supported me in this life-changing event and this blog is an attempt of making this experience not simply my own.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS TRIP.

This is dedicated to my teammates:
Amy (our heart); Geoffrey (our pastor); Katie (our refuge); Melissa (our passion); Nina (our wonderment); Susanna (our caregiver); Tami (our sweetness); and Tobi (our inspiration).

Team Mocha Club 2008 South Africa Mission Trip video from steve citerin on Vimeo.

DAY ONE – Friday June 6, 2008

Late night. Quiet plane. Somewhere over the Atlantic. Why am I here? I’m on my way to London in order to get to Cape Town, South Africa. My heart has placed me here. The Lord has drawn me there.

I’m 34, comfortable in life but uncomfortable in my spirit. I have not done enough for the cause of Christ. My whole life I turned my back to the concept of overseas missions work. The church of my youth lifted missionaries onto such a pedestal that it made me feel that any non-missionary wasn’t a good Christian. I so disagreed with this notion that I failed recognize the needful truth behind this false positioning.

In recent years, my worldview has expanded. I’ve come to learn more about the true needs in other countries and how blessed I am as an American. But there’s such need in the states, why go elsewhere? I now recognize that the poor here aren’t so poor comparatively to those in other nations. There are resources here available to those who desire to get help (an oversimplification, I realize). And that the multiplier effect of our resources applied to foreign lands can stretch support much further (micro-loans, for example).

I’m also going because I want to see firsthand this need. See this poverty, look upon the faces of those within its grip. I desire for my heart to break for humanity, yet also discover moments of joy and hope. I desire to lend a hand, make a connection, develop friendships and offer a glimmer of hope. I want to be disturbed. Rocked and shaken from my comfort zone. Break down the walls I’ve built around myself to keep anxiety, unpleasantness, or uneasiness away. This is very much a Matrix moment. I’m choosing the red pill and I’ve asked to experience the true reality – one that will cause me to stir for the rest of my life trying to figure out how to institute change.

Selfishly, I want an experience. I want to set foot on another continent, leave a bit of myself there and have it deposit something within me. I don’t want to be 40 or 50 years old and realize that I have lived solely for my own gain, security and comfort. I want it to sink in that this life isn’t about me. It isn’t about achieving, it’s about serving.

I have such high hopes for this trip, which I fear aren’t too lofty. I want to surrender my expectations and be completely receptive to whatever He has brought me to Africa to tell me. I desire clarity about the world and my role in it. I want to quit sitting on the fence…doing for self one moment, doing for God the next. Living in the in-between is dizzying and I want off. To borrow from author Donald Miller, I want to let go of the pen and allow God to write the story of my life.

I recognize the volume of the “I” statements in this entry. My desire is to decrease so that He might increase…in my thoughts and actions, plus in where I direct my energies and my resources. Lord, may Africa be a turning point in my life so that I may, in turn, point to you.

DAY THREE – Part 1 – Sunday, June 8, 2008 (morning)

We’re about to land in Cape Town after an 11 hour flight. Longest of my life. Thankfully, I was able to sleep for a good portion of it, unlike the London flight.

Soon I will step onto a new continent…for the second time in two days. Excitement builds. No anxiety, but hope for what is to be seen and experienced here.

London. We sped through that city on the 8+ hour layover he had. We got onto the tube, “minded the gap” and hopped into and out of many famous historic sites: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus, London Bridge, and London Tower. Wow. It’s a true historic city mixed with modern architecture in a fashion that works well together. Beautiful day too. We stumbled across a Christian band giving a performance at a festival in Piccadilly. Also we saw a practice run of a procession for the Queen’s birthday (next week) in front of the Palace. Onlookers said Prince Charles was there, but we never saw him. It was a great day, yet we’re all exhausted, especially Amy who received ridicule and kudos for hauling her soccer-ball-carrying “papoose” around the city all day long. The day was a bit of a tourist escape for a vacation that promises to be unlike any in the traditional sense.

We near landing in Cape Town. The orange sky announces sunrise over a mountainous terrain. I’m excited and prayerful for what lies ahead, trusting that the person who occupies my seat on the way back will be different.

Father, watch over us as we work to bring hope to these people. Allow us to represent you in a way befitting your grace. Keep us healthy. Keep us unified as a team and permit us to give freely of ourselves and advance the work of those permanently here in Cape Town.

DAY THREE – Part 2 -- Sunday, June 8, 2008 (evening)

Obvious statement alert: Cape Town in beautiful!!! Flying into the city you could see farming land neatly manicured leading into factory campuses. Buildings comprise a metropolis nestled between the mountains and the ocean. Elegant homes and expansive shantytown areas. It is topography as diverse and complex as the lives of those residing upon it.

Today, we meet Pastor Young Ohm – the director of African Leadership here in South Africa. We also meet Glory, Angela, Dong Su, Paul, Joy, Tobi, Jeff & Julie – all exceedingly kind and hospitable to us.

Upon arriving at the mission house in the township of Breckenfell where we’ll stay, the team settled in, briefly unpacked then swept off to hike Lion’s Den mountain. Situated to the east of Table Mountain – the iconic, largest mountain here – Lion’s Den is a bit more accessible and scalable. It was a majestic climb that wound around the mountain. We planted ourselves at the top for a bit, taking in the majestic sights of the ocean and the separated by this vast city and its beaches. We then visited the beach – breathtaking! Too cold to swim (it’s wintertime here, 50-60 degrees on average), but a beachside meal made me appreciate why Cape Town has been ranked one of the most desirable places in the world to live. A brief look at the tourism side of this place before we get exposed to its poverty and need. The team kept showing each other the myriad of great photos we have taken thus far, but I know that the best shots are still yet to come.

Pastor Ohm spoke to us tonight. It was part orientation, part sermon, but all originating from the heart of a man who has grown to love this city and its people from his native Korea. Two main points he shared: view people, especially those we’ll be working with, through Christ’s eyes. It is a request that humbles your spirit and guides you in the proper way to serve and interact with others. Secondly, live life with an eternal perspective, it centers you and keeps you mindful of the long-term meaning to our works and relationships and how differences truly are petty. He’s a great man, and I’m looking forward to working for him and learning from him. But for right now, my heavy eyelids reveal that lesson time will have to wait.

The team is beat. The long flights (9 + 11 hours) and hectic days have us fading fast. It is 10PM here, I’m at an internet café briefly letting people know that I’m here safe. Surfing the web holds little interest to me as I hope for this trip to take me far from normalcy. I’ve unplugged from my life back home for this time…and I’m happy for it.

DAY FOUR – Monday, June 9, 2008

A day like today is why I’m here. It started with a 7AM wake-up, a quick breakfast, then off to African Theological College in Khayelitsha – a township outside the city where the focus of our work will be done. I walk into the modest sanctuary where “He is exalted” (one of the few worship songs I can play confidently on guitar) is playing on CD – ironic, I don’t think so. (Random Khayelitsha fact: over 700,000 people live in its roughly 10x12km area. Churches serving this population are run mostly in homes by untrained leaders.)

We sing praises in both English and Xhosa (the “X” is pronounced with a click). It was poignant to realize that I’m in South Africa singing worship songs in many languages among people from all over the globe drawn together by this shared faith. This common belief is the only reason any of us would ever find ourselves in the same room together. Amazing how God works.

From there we go into orientation time where various leaders share about their ministries: pastoral college, children’s Sunday school, high school, sports (soccer & netball), women’s & auto mechanic ministries. I’m impressed by African Leadership’s diversity in its ministries, acting as a Christian United Way of sorts – developing and supporting the work of the church in this influential region in the future of Africa. They are not a church, but supply and feed them with resources and people so they can grow and meet community needs.

We drive into the heart of Mfuleni, one of the shanty town townships where we’ll build the pre-school. As we drive, we see modest homes put together with acquired materials (part zinc siding, wood, concrete – whatever is to be found). Every face we see greets us with a wave or thumbs up. So open and friendly with curiosity instead of suspicion (unlike what we’d be welcomed with in the states).

Entering a daycare center/pre-school for the first time, maybe 15+ kids greet us and ask to be picked up. I snap a picture of a couple on the camera. Then upon kneeling down to show the photo to them, I’m surrounded by all the kids laughing in wonderment at their own image. All the kids then jump up and form a line to perform a worship song to a cd track for us…the cuteness knows no limits. We later stop into two other centers greeted by similar warmth in each location. At one, we meet several lovely women sewing mats for sale (a sort of fair trade business supported by African Leadership). They laugh heartily as they try to teach us how to properly say “how are you” “my name is” “my last name is”, etc. in Xhosa.

We leave to visit the construction site in another area of the neighborhood. Greeted by a pile of sand waiting being moved and a roped off area with the beginnings of a ditch for the foundation. This will be a new daycare center/pre-school (or “kresh” in Xhosa) that will provide a safe place for kids to be left so parents may work and where they’ll learn about Christ.

We work a bit, and then it’s time to go on a prayer walk through the side alleys – introducing ourselves and informing the families about our 4PM kids service. I fail miserably at the limited Xhosa I have learned. Tobi, Melissa, Katie, Wanga and I trek into the depths of this neighborhood to be greeted with happy and intrigued faces. One guy asks which of these women is my wife, I reply “no wife” and receive a somewhat peculiar “ohh” response and look…tell me about it buddy. Another older teen named Solomon speaking good English walks up to me and asks where I’m from and why I’m here. He’s genuinely excited to hear America and gives me a big hug. We exchange about American cities he’s heard of and then he’s off to lift weights. I tell him we’ll be here all week and hope to see him again.

4PM, kids church. Duck, duck, goose is a big hit, two big circles of maybe 40+ kids each chasing each other around with moms looking on with laughter. Simon hutu (says), on the other hand, not so successful – lost in translation perhaps. They teach us a telephone type of game, and I’m immediately eliminated because of getting the words wrong. After some songs, we break into a skit about the Good Samaritan. I am double cast in the roles the thief and the rabbi (not to be confused). I later help summarize the moral of the story. Poignant moment #589 – sharing God’s love here with these kids at this time and place with the whole thing being translated into Xhosa, who would’ve thought I’d be here? We hand out treats to the kids and float back to the mission house on an indescribable high. Knowing tomorrow holds more of the same has never felt so invigorating.

DAY FIVE – Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Today was a heavy construction day. We shoveled more of the foundation sand piles into the structure (with much of it blowing back at us). We prayed for some governmental bureaucracy snafus that might cease the construction to be eliminated. I get to chat with Greg, a guy from the government inspecting our site – the spitting image of Barack Obama. He’s a nice guy, surprised that Americans are here pitching in. He genuinely wants this work to go forward, but is restricted by policies. He’s a musician on the side and angles to get my email address should he ever get to the states (note: it’s interesting that everyone here wants your email address...perhaps looking to build up an international rolodex of couches to crash on should they happen to be in the neighborhood?). We receive permission to continue with the work…and the shoveling gives way to measuring, cutting and nailing frames for the structure.

Geoffrey and I had the chance to talk with Larry today (an older Xhosa teenager who helps African Leadership and is doing construction and translating for us). He was telling us about the Xhosa tradition of becoming a man, being sent away from family where circumcision begins a month-long process of near solitude in a remote region of the country. What actually happens in this time is forbidden to be talked about, but all Xhosa men must go through this process to become a man in the eyes of the community. There is no avoiding it unless you choose disgrace to follow you throughout life. Ceremonial dress is worn upon return to notify all of your successful conversion into becoming a man. Wanga (another teen translator serving with us) will similarly leave to start this in a week. Larry is nervous, but also excited for his approaching time. I can’t possibly imagine this, but concede to him that he is already a man in my eyes.

At kids church, we do a craft where we create string bracelets with different color beads (each representing a biblical principle) for the kids. The skit today is about the prodigal son – I’m the dad and I give Geoffrey (the son) a great big swinging bear hug upon his return – the kids crack up at this. Poignant moment #723 – having 30 Xhosa kids reciting Romans 8:16 back to you…especially how God (“Thixo” in Xhosa) has that click in it. Gotta love it.

I felt the pride of being of use today. All the digging, the sawing, the hammering…it felt good to contribute to the team. Man secret time: we are empowered when we are of use. Let me retain this feeling.

DAY SIX – Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Such unbelievable experiences here. The words cannot keep up with the thoughts.

Today it rained, so we were unable to continue on building the “kresh”. Instead we went to a primary school where we were given access to three different 7th grade classes. Under the heading of “life studies”, we were open to share about the character of God as displayed through the fruits of the Spirit.

We started by introducing ourselves in Xhosa. I was last and mispronounced “igama lam ngu, Steve” and the kids burst into laughter. It totally broke the ice and I loved my unintended moment of being a class clown. (Funny moment #324: Katie mistakenly makes a point to the classroom by using the Spanish translation of Jesu Cristo and gives the kids two big thumbs up…the reply was silent, blank stares.)

We broke the 50 children into 9 teams and each was given a character trait and assigned to draw it and act out a scenario (thankfully, the children understood/spoke English). My group had “faithfulness” and they chose a scenario of telling a secret of smoking and the friend being faithful not to gossip the secret. The funny part was the child saying “if my parents find out, they will FREAK OUT.” Really, freak out?! Not my words at all, but funny to see catch phrases going global. My second class group had “self control” and they did a skit about some party scenario that I never fully understood.

In the third class, my team was five guys and we had “kindness”. I really felt like I connected with them…we were fellas after all. I taught them my cool (to me) snap hand shake and they taught me theirs. I was able to drive the point of kindness home by relating it to being a kind teammate on the soccer field. The best player isn’t always the better teammate and showing unselfishness/kindness on the team is a great way to demonstrate godly characteristics. They seemed to really get it and I gave them homework to be a good teammate next time they play ball. It was an amazing exchange – all within a public school!

After lunch, we went off to a community center that was housing 200+ foreign African refugees (largely from Zimbabwe) due to the recent xenophobic violence against them. We were there to have a worship service and hopefully offer inspiration. At first it was a tough crowd. Individuals were very warm to us, but the crowd was pensive. A few songs in and they were clapping, singing and dancing with us. I was asked to share my testimony and talk about Christ…what could I possibly say to these people in their circumstances? Be truthful and God will provide the words…and He did. I shared my story of how living for self is ultimately unfulfilling. I mentioned that we are all refugees in one sense – all away from our hopeful home in heaven, living out this brief time on earth. Our current difficult circumstances are a mere blink in the expanse of eternity and knowing Him provides a long-term perspective in which hope and joy are the promise. It was well received and later we sang more and had an altar call. We prayed for those who came forward (for hope, protection, bravery, obedience, and a kingdom perspective). Afterward, several longer conversations took place. One with Willard, an organizer of these people, who loves God, has such faith, loves his homeland and wants to show it to me, and amazingly knows that the people who do these horrible deeds against them don’t understand mankind’s interconnectivity or Christ’s demonstration of love. This was a remarkable perspective that many here shared…I don’t know how they do it. I found it ironic that the day started by educating students about character and the fruits of the Spirit, and it ended by offering encouragement to refugees who had been shown just the opposite of this character by older generations of these same kids. Lord, let these seeds find fertile ground.

A truly surreal day – being used by God to teach South African children and offer comfort and hope to refugees. Not bad for my first time out of the country. I feel small in His plan, but important in His works. Later, Pastor Ohm would wisely share that we are beautiful in our differences.