Stinkwater Mission Trip

About an hour and a half outside of the capital city of Windhoek, you turn onto a small dirt road that winds its way through the tiny village of Stinkwater. The community lies next to a wide, dry river bed that will only flow after the hard rains of a good rainy season. There are very few block houses, most are small tin shacks. There was formerly a mine nearby providing employment, but that has long since closed down. The only church is an old Rhenish building that is overgrown and unkept, and usually locked unless a visiting group could borrow it for a service. The small group of believers gather under a tree on a Sunday and lead themselves with no trained pastor. The community is as poor, desperate, and spiritually dry as the neighboring river bed. This is where our NETS mission team would minister for the next five days.

We started off our ministry with house visits, greeting people, hearing their stories, sharing an encouragement from the Bible, inviting them to church services, and praying for them if they would allow us. On Saturday morning, we waded through the overgrown plot to the old church building where the students led a service, including leading music and preaching the sermon. They did the same again under the tree on Sunday morning.

After the service, we hosted a little 'spa' day for the elderly in the community, including a soup lunch, hair and beard trims for the men, and manicures and pedicures for the ladies.

Children's ministry was also vibrant. We led Sunday school classes with the children during our church services. As we walked through the community, whenever we would find groups of children, we would play some games with them and share the gospel. Other mornings we visited a local preschool and taught the children God's Word through songs, puppets, and crafts.

And each evening we would show the Jesus film in one of the local languages, followed by one of our students giving an invitation to respond to the gospel.

It was a productive trip in more ways than one. The Word of God was faithfully proclaimed in a community with very little gospel witness. Our students got a chance to put into practice the things they have been learning in the classroom. And they also got to experience the reality of how many Namibians in rural communities live. On the last day of our trip, one exuberant student was convinced and couldn't stop talking about the need to plant a gospel-centered church in that community. Whether it's him or someone else, we pray that would be the case.

Osire Mission Trip

Each year we split up our seminary students into small teams, and send them out on mission trips to put into practice what they've been learning in the classroom. This year, I led a group of 9 students to serve in Osire refugee camp. This is a community of displaced people, mostly from Central and East African countries. They primarily speak French or Swahili, and bring their other African cultures with them. So our local Namibian students were in for a great cross-cultural experience.

On our first day, we went to the local school to connect and share with the students. Now, Namibia is a generally "Christian" nation and ministry in schools has historically been fairly open. But when we arrived at this school, they allowed us to share in a few classes, but said we couldn't preach or speak openly about Jesus. This is more like what I am used to from the States, but it was really surprising to my students. Many of them commented afterward how they really struggled with that, and had to figure out how to navigate these restrictions. As our government is more and more removing religion from schools, I warned them that this is the direction it's going in the future. They need to find other alternative access points (e.g., pressing social issues) to creatively communicate the message of Jesus. Fortunately, in the afternoon, many of those kids joined us on the sports field where we could play games and then share the gospel in a much more open way.

We were also able to meet with a large group of local pastors. One NETS student shared an encouragement with them about servant leadership from John 13. Then I shared from Gal 6:7-9 about persevering in ministry because our true reward is still coming. We were then invited to three different church youth groups, and a children's ministry. And two of our students were invited as guest preachers at different churches.

Sharing the gospel with the colors on the soccer ball

Sharing at a youth group

Children's ministry

Praying together at a youth group

Our NETS students were very encouraged by how hospitably we were received in the community. On our last evening together we reflected on some of our learning opportunities. They mentioned things like the resistance to the gospel in the school, and learning how to speak into people's situations (like being a refugee) in a sensitive and encouraging way. They were also blessed by the unity they felt with the community even though they were coming from so many different places across Africa. Personally, I was encourage by how well our students jumped into ministry, were flexible when opportunities shifted, and really engaged the learning process.

NETS Gospel Show

Each year NETS (Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary) hosts a Gospel Show, inviting the community on campus to enjoy some worship music and get to know our school a bit. Performers or choirs from various churches in the community are invited to share their talents. One student was supposed to have a young adult meeting at his church, but loaded them all on a bus and brought them to attend! Check out the video below to listen along.

Lüderitz Mission Trip

At Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS), we want to give our students practical opportunities to put into practice what they are learning in the classroom. So, each year we organize domestic mission trips where our student body breaks up into smaller teams, travels to different towns across the country, and partners with local churches to advance God's kingdom in those communities. This year I went with the group to the southern coastal town of Lüderitz. We did some street evangelism, ministered at an assisted living home, hosted a gospel worship night, and students preached at various local churches on the Sunday morning. We even had a few spontaneous opportunities like praying with a police group raising funds to search for a missing colleague, and giving a 'wedding blessing' for a couple who had just been married at court that morning. Then we also squeezed in some team fellowship time at the beach, and even found some of the famous desert 'wild' horses. Check out the video below to see what our trip was like!

NETS Mission Trip

In April 2022, the whole NETS community went out on a mission trip to Bushmanland and Rundu. We ministered in villages, churches, homes, schools, and on community streets. We partnered with local churches and shared God's good news with countless people. This video tells a bit of our story through photos and testimonies.

Pentateuch via Distance

Second semester at NETS has begun via distance education due to the tight covid restrictions in the country. I am teaching seven students through the books of the Pentateuch. We started off using Zoom which has worked out well over all. The trouble with taking online classes from home is that we often have to call students to wake them up!

I've also been making some videos discussing Genesis 1. Since I needed to be preparing for online class anyway, I decided to make them in a format accessible to anyone, and something that helps complement your personal Bible reading. You can check out those videos here.

Everyone seems to recognize that distance mode is less than ideal. We all miss the face-to-face contact for class, but also for mentoring groups, weekly Chapel, and socializing at tea time. Hopefully these restrictions will be lifted soon.

Commencement 2021

"This certificate is not the end; it's the beginning." That was the message from our Principal to our graduating students this past weekend. Students often feel that graduation is the end of their journey, but the reality is that studying was only a preparation stage. When they leave NETS it is the beginning of full-time ministry and life-long learning.

This year we hosted two graduations: one in the morning (to make up for the one we had to cancel last year due to the pandemic) and another in the afternoon. We met outside in our amphitheatre at NETS underneath a temporary shade tent. We had to keep under the government restrictions of 50 people, so we also live streamed the event for everyone who couldn't attend. And we ensured that everyone's seats were separated by a distance. Such is the nature of living through a global pandemic.

But overall, it was a great time of celebration, seeing the fulfillment of all the hard work put in by the students, faculty and staff. In total we had 12 graduates receiving their Bachelor's degree in theology, 2 graduates receiving their two-year Diploma in Ministry, 5 graduates receiving their one-year Certificate in Theology, and 20 students graduating from our distance Certificate in Christian Ministry program.

A musical number by some current students

Congratulations to our Barnabas and Timothy Award winners!

And congrats to all our graduates!

Enjoying some snacks and fellowship afterward.

Last Day

It's been a trying year for many. Lots of events had to move online or be cancelled altogether. Every other week we awaited an announcement from the government telling us whether or not we would return to lockdown. But today was a celebratory day because we praised God that we could finish our entire semester with face-to-face classes without a single covid case at NETS!

This past week has been final exams for students at NETS (photo above). We finished off with a celebratory final Devotions, wrapping up our sermon series on "Stories Your Momma Never Told You" (photo left). Then we had a lunch together before everyone headed off their separate ways for summer vacation. Students will have about 2 months off before returning in late-January for next year.

School in Session

Lockdown restrictions in Namibia have been lifted enough to allow NETS (Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary) to return to face-to-face classes. Naturally, we must follow all the now-typical precautionary measures like registers, temperature taking, and sanitizer upon entrance, distancing of 1 meter, and wearing mandatory face masks (though apparently that doesn't apply when taking a group photo! 😂). Our class sizes are generally small anyway, so we are able to accommodate.

Thanks to our large hall we are able to gather for Chapel once a week. We play videos of worship songs but forego actual singing. This semester lecturers will be preaching through a series called "Stories Your Momma Never Told You," consisting of strange, obscure passages throughout the OT that we rarely hear messages on. Some of these texts include cultural practices that seem very strange to us today, and thus take hard exegetical work to understand. This was illustrated as one lecturer made a piñata of a treasure chest, which students beat until the candy "treasure" came out. Similarly, we sometimes have to do hard exegetical work to figure out the treasure of a passage.

Back to School

I pull into the staff parking lot as I have so many times before, but this day always carries a special excitement. This is Student Orientation Day at Namibian Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS) when we meet all the new students for the first time, and see our returning students after the 2-month holiday. This year we have 11 new students entering the diploma year, and 4 doing a bridging-year certificate. They are an energetic and engaging group, eager to learn and with lots of questions. Also new this year are two former graduates who will serve as Faculty-in-Training.

Orientation started with introductions and a morning devotion. We had a wonderful reminder from 1 Corinthians 3, that we are humble servants, but we are also God's fellow workers! Then orientation always has to include some info sessions, get-to-know-you games, a campus tour, and of course, community lunch.

Trying to construct our mission statement out of pictures

"Preparing followers of Christ with the knowledge, skills, and character
to serve God, each other, and the world."

Team-building games

The classic Human Knot

For lunch we were split up into groups of four with a picnic bag lunch.
We popped the balloon to find some get-to-know-you questions inside.

Ministry to Children and Youth

This week kicks off final exams for our students at Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS). The semester is almost over and then students will have about a 5-week break before returning for second semester in mid-July.

This semester I've been teaching two courses, OT Survey and Ministry to Children & Youth. In our youth ministry class, one section looks at a number of different contextual realities and issues that youth in Namibia are facing today. These issues are like landmines and as youth traverse the minefield of adolescence they are not coming through unharmed. We as youth workers can't heal them ourselves, but we're more like medics who drag them out of the battlefield to the One who can.

We also spend some time talking about facilitating experiential learning. All of us experience tension, anxiety and frustration in our lives. Often our responses are not as Christlike as we would prefer. If we know how to evaluate our responses well and seek biblical conclusions, then we can learn and grow through our experiences. My students learn how to help young people work through this learning process. Here [in the photo] they are experiencing a little tension of their own regarding 'personal space' and teamwork, which I was then able to use to model this kind of facilitating.

Other highlights of the course include visiting and evaluating an existing youth or children's ministry, four mentoring sessions with a teen of their choice over the course of the term, and writing a lesson plan regarding one of those landmine issues.

As students are now turning in their final assignments, it's a great encouragement to see how far they've come since the beginning of the semester. I'll close off with this introductory paragraph one of my students wrote in her final paper...

"I am one of the people who thought youth ministry is not a big deal because they do not have much to do besides keeping the kids away from the streets, in particular, bars and dance clubs. How wrong have I been! Upon visiting youth programs, mentoring and actually just making conversation with teens, I have really changed my perspective and the youth workers have my utmost respect."

Graduation

This is graduation season in Namibia! This time of year all the universities hold ceremonies to celebrate those who finished their studies in December of last year. Some highlights from our NETS Graduation included heartfelt testimonies from three graduates, a speech from a representative of the Ministry of Higher Education, an impromptu speech from the mayor of Windhoek (including a call for Christians to put pressure on the government to reintroduce prayer and Bible study to schools, and a suggestion that he may enroll in courses at NETS for himself!), and the emcee announcing the Bachelor's degree students like they were professional wrestlers. Check out the photos below!

Academic Procession

Keynote Address from a representative of the Ministry of Higher Education

Last year's Student Body President receiving an award recognizing her servant leadership

A Bachelor's graduate, excited to be finally finished, receiving his hood from our Academic Dean

Dedicatory Prayer for all the graduates

They saw this in a movie once

Introducing the NETS class of 2019! Students in the green robes received either a Certificate in Christian Ministry or a Certificate in Theology. Of the students in the black robes and purple hoods, three received a Diploma in Ministry or Theology, and six graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Theology. Faculty and Board members are around the sides and the back.

Back to School

Every August my newsfeed fills up with everyone in the States posting their kids' back to school pictures. Here in Namibia, our school year follows the calendar year so January is our back to school month. Government schools started earlier this month. At the seminary where I teach (Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary) faculty came back earlier this week for some preparation meetings. And students finally joined us today for Student Orientation!

Meeting four of our new NETS students
during orientation day.

NETS students and staff participating in a
team-building game during orientation day.

This semester I will be teaching OT Survey to a small group of six new 1st year students. This course will cover a basic overview of the Old Testament and help them understand how all the books fit together. I will also be teaching Ministry to Children and Youth to a combined group of about eighteen 2nd & 3rd year students. In this course we will look into what it means to disciple young people, what youth culture today looks like, and how to organize a plan to help them become lifelong followers of Christ.

Swakop Mission Trip

Each year at NETS we take a week out of our lecture schedule to send our students out on mission trips in various places around the country. Our purpose is two-fold: to reach out to our own population with the gospel of Jesus, and to help our students gain valuable practical ministry experience. This year we sent out four teams to Keetmanshoop, Rundu, Queen Sofia, and my team went to Swakopmund.

In Swakop we partnered with various local churches as well as just sharing the gospel with whoever we met on the street. Some of our students led Family Life workshops at two different churches, encouraging family members to treat each other with love. We met with various local pastors to both encourage them and share with them about NETS, but also to ask questions and learn from their years of experience. And on Sunday morning we participated in an ecumenical worship service including multiple churches from around the community.

"Missing the Mark" game at Youth Night

On Friday night our students organized a Youth Outreach Night and encouraged youth from various local churches to invite their friends. The evening was organized around the "wordless book" colors with a different activity focusing on each color: gold reminding us of heaven and a perfect relationship with God; black indicating sin; red pointing us to the blood of Christ; white teaching us of forgiveness and cleansing from sin; and green encouraging us to grow in our relationship with God. By the end of the night the youth had heard the whole message of the gospel!

Each day we also split up into teams of 3 to walk around the town or the beach and share the good news with whoever we came across. We would play games with children then share with them using a "wordless bracelet." Sometimes we just prayed with people. Often they were polite but disinterested, but some were open to talk. Outside the library, I was chatting with 4 young ladies who had been studying for their grade 12 exams. Their understanding of Christianity was very religious, but had little to do with their everyday lives. At one point I was encouraging them to wait for a relationship with a good Christian guy, but they told me good guys don't exist and they would rather have someone to sleep with them even if he was bad, than to feel lonely. They would rather have someone to support them and a baby even if he cheated and didn't love them, than to wait for a guy they couldn't imagine existing. I was struck by their hopelessness. They would rather cling to the temporary tangible pleasures of sin, even with lasting consequences(!), because they couldn't imagine any other option.

As I stood on a street corner a uniformed police officer came walking down the sidewalk. I chuckled to myself wondering what the police would think of what we were doing. Apparently it showed on my face because he playfully asked me, "What are you smiling about? Do you have some good news?" Again, I chuckled to myself in wonder that he would phrase it that way, and responded with an even bigger smile, "I have the best news!"

And that's exactly what those four girls couldn't understand. That gospel says that all the pain and damage of this sinful world...it doesn't have to be this way! That really is the best news of all, but some people just aren't interested. It's like C.S. Lewis said, that we would rather go on making mud pies in the slums because we can't imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

Overall it was a great trip, not only for practical ministry experience for our students, but also as a stark reminder to me of exactly why I am here, because there are young people all across Namibia who are living and dying without hearing the true gospel.

Class of 2018

We had a lovely time this past weekend with the NETS (Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary) community celebrating the accomplishments of all our graduates. There were 13 graduates from the Distance Education course and 13 graduates from the residential 1-year Certificate of Theology (green gowns). Many of these students are continuing into the next level of studies at NETS.

We also had 2 graduates with a Diploma in Theology and 7 graduates with a Bachelor's Degree in Theology (purple hoods). Many of these graduates are already serving in leadership positions at their churches. A few are going on to internships while others are fulfilling the requirements for ordination in their denominations.

Then last but not least, we had an outstanding 7 graduates from the Honor's Degree program (teal hoods). Most of these students are already involved in pastoral ministry and have just returned to advance their education. They all had to write a research thesis relevant to the Namibian context to receive this degree.

Congrats to all our graduates! Please be praying for them for guidance in their next steps. More photos from the ceremony below...

NETS student choir performing at Graduation

Pastor Rudi sharing as our keynote speaker at Graduation

Current 4th-year student Willem receiving an award for godly leadership and servanthood.

My former mentee UJ receiving his Bachelor's Degree. 

A NETS lecturer giving the dedicatory prayer for all our graduates.