Freedom Day

Freedom Day is a holiday in South Africa celebrating the first post-apartheid elections held on 27 April 1994. The elections were the first time that everyone of voting age of over 18 from any race group were allowed to vote. Previously, under the apartheid regime non-whites had only limited rights to vote.

I celebrated Freedom Day this year by going to Bible study where we had a record number of 10 nationals. Very exciting! I asked one of my friends Zakhele to tell me what Freedom Day means to him which you can hear in the video below...

Freedom Day, South Africa from Rachel Jensen on Vimeo.

One of our friends, Philani just celebrated his 25th birthday. But we were not able to be with Philani so we surprised him on Freedom Day with a cake to celebrate.

Africans celebrate with the birthday person providing the cake, cutting the cake and serving others first. I'm realizing how different African culture is which is shown in this simple difference in birthday celebrations.

African birthdays are a little different compared to our American tradition of one's birthday being all about them. Africans value relationships and involving the whole community, it is more about the collective than the individual. I just love learning about other cultures and their traditions!

Philani is a strong believer and has been an encouragement to all of us. He assists Zach with soccer and does a great job working with the boys at each school. He is a godly role model for the young boys in Soweto. You should check out part of his life story in this video about religion in Soweto.

Women Only

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19

Jesus' last words before he ascended into Heaven, were to make disciples therefore that is my passion. We have had the awesome pleasure of meeting Thembane and Sibongile last year and sharing the Gospel with them and seeing them come to faith in Christ. God is good! They are both very dear to me.

Amber and I have decided to start a women's discipleship group. We are excited to be able to just spend time together reading the Word and praying. Please pray with us that these women would "continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard." Colossians 1:23

Also, please pray for other women to join the discipleship group.

Our first time meeting we spent time discussing prayer. We talked about the Lord's prayer and how it is a model of how we are to pray. We also shared with them how to pray through Scripture and to make prayer cards.

Pray for Thembane as she is the mama of a one year old girl which has often times held her back from getting more involved. Pray that she would see the value of bringing her along while she does ministry.

This is a video of Thembane putting her baby on her back... so that she would not be distracted during Bible study. I hope to carry my babies this way one day!!

African Baby Sling from Rachel Jensen on Vimeo.

Mission Family

At times it is very difficult to be so far away from home and loved ones. But God has blessed me through relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ.

These are some friends from the East Rand, other side of Joburg who have become good friends. A few of them are a part of Hands On and will be leaving in April after their 4 months of serving.

This is Ruth Anne representing Baylor while I of course pulled for Duke... who won this game and continued on to be the 2010 National Champions! The Holidays were kind enough to let us come over and watch the game from 11pm till 1am because of the time difference. They are always willing to open their home to us and allow us to be a part of their family.

We had a game night at our supervisor's house. Alan and Beth take good care of us and are great to work under and with. We had fun playing pictionary even though Zach, Melissa and I came in 2nd.

Kurt and Janna Kay had us over to participate in a Passover Seder, which is a Jewish ritual that commemorates when God saved the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It was at the Passover meal when Jesus announced the New Covenant and asked all of us to do this in remembrance of Him, which we all know as The Lord's Supper. It is amazing to see how God has worked out the plan of salvation through Jesus from the very beginning. What a great reminder of the importance of Easter... Jesus' death, burial and resurrection... so that now we may have life!

To celebrate Melissa and Ruth Anne's birthday I took them to see STOMP. It was absolutely amazing how people can make music out of anything including matchboxes, tubes, plastic bags, lighters, brooms, and buckets. And I have really enjoyed getting to spend time with these girls.

A family from our training in Virginia back in April 2009, came to Joburg so we were able to visit with them and share a meal together. It was so good to see them again and catch up on how life has been going serving in Africa. What a blessing this family has been to me!

These two beautiful girls belong to Brad and Georgia who work on our team. Many Fridays and Saturdays have been spent at their house having braaie (barbecues) and hanging out. Good times!

My team is awesome... a few of us went on a white water rafting trip. Other than one incident getting stuck in the trees and almost drowning, it was fun! Makes you appreciate God's creation. Reminds me of Jesus' power of nature when He was able to calm the storm with a word while his disciples sat in the boat scared for their lives. That is how I felt.

I always enjoy a good cultural event. We went to a Super 14 match between the Lions (South Africa) and Reds (Australia). A big thanks to Kurt for providing us with tickets. I'm still trying to understand all the rules of the game but I do enjoy watching it as it is very much a part of South African culture.

Good Friday

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

On Good Friday, many churches in South Africa have worship services to remember the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We worshipped together in Braamfisher with four Baptist churches located throughout Soweto.

Good News Baptist Church in Braamfisher

Faith Baptist Church in Snake Park

Immanuel Baptist Church in Diepsloot

Lehae Baptist Church in Lehae

Please pray for these four churches to continue to grow and to reach out to their neighbors with the love and message of Jesus Christ. Pray that they would be a light amidst the darkness.

The morning started out with a breakfast of tea, coffee and biscuits (scones). This is Thembane who is part of Faith Baptist Church serving others.

There were over 60 adults and 30 children who came from the four different churches. The day was broken down into 3 services with preaching from the pastors of a different church each session. It was a great time of worship, testimonies, offering, communion and preaching. What a blessing it is to be able to spend time with other believers in the faith!

Anywhere I go, you can find me with children. These children go to church in Snake Park and attend Sunday School with our Sibongile who we trained last year.

Lunch was also provided which included rice, pap, chicken, steak, and many sides including squash, beets, and carrot salad. Very good!

Immanuel Baptist Church from Diepsloot led a worship song in the session after lunch. Amber and I have enjoyed getting to know the members of Immanuel as we are helping train Dudu to teach Sunday School.

This is the Mumfundisi (pastor's wife) of Good News Baptist Church who hosted this event. She is such a sweet lady and loves the Lord.

These beautiful young women have just recently started to attend church in Snake Park. They are such a delight to be around. We hope to get to know them better.

Some of the Sunday School children from Snake Park led us in worship...

Sunday School from Rachel Jensen on Vimeo.