Synergy Conference

"Synergy" means to combine efforts to accomplish something greater. Anybody who is in the field of youth work knows that this is exactly what we need. Thus, the inspiration behind the name of a youth workers conference I attended in Okahandja. It was organized and hosted by two local youth pastors from Windhoek who are growing in their passion for training youth workers. Other speakers included an Afrikaans rap group from South Africa who are doing great ministry amongst artists in their community, and a representative from the Office of the First Lady.

One of the coolest parts of the conference for me was having one of my current NETS students leading the worship, another in attendance, and one of my former students leading us through some team-building activities. He joked that now he was the one giving out grades! Though at the end of the day I gave him an A+. It really is a great encouragement to see some of the results of such a long-term investment.

But perhaps the greatest benefit and encouragement for me was networking with other youth workers. It was great to hear stories from them about how God is using them in ministry across Namibia. I hope this idea of synergy doesn't stop at the conference, but that we continue to combine our efforts and work together to reach the next generations with the gospel.

The whole conference crew

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.

Living in Exile

This semester in NETS Community Devotions we've been preaching through the book of Jeremiah. We've followed him through his call & commissioning, delivering harsh messages from God promising punishment for Judah's sin and idolatry, experiencing persecution for those messages, confronting false prophets, and more. This past week I preached on the beloved chapter 29, a letter from Jerusalem to the group already in exile in Babylon. In this letter, Jeremiah reminds them that God's plans for them look a bit different then their own plans for themselves, but He hasn't given up on them. Are we willing to have patience and trust in God's plans and God's timing, even when we don't like it? You can listen to the message here if you'd like.

Student Life

As a teacher I often feel like I'm constantly pouring out, so it's nice when I have an opportunity to get filled back up. Technically, I'm allowed one week per year for continuing professional development, so for the first time in five years I decided to take advantage of that! So last week I rescheduled my classes, hopped on a tiny little plane with only about 20 other people for the short flight to Cape Town, and stepped back into the classroom myself.

GWC is the yellow building in the background.

George Whitefield College is a reformed Anglican Bible school in Muizenberg, South Africa, a small suburb located on the southern coast of Cape Town. They had invited Dr. Don Carson to come as a visiting lecturer to teach a post-graduate course on the epistle to the Hebrews. Dr. Carson has been a pastor, professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago, prolific author and editor of many books and articles, and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition (among other things!). I heard that somebody once said they have three rules in life: 1) Tell your wife you love her; 2) Brush your teeth twice a day; and 3) If you ever, ever, ever have a chance to hear Don Carson teach, then always take it!

So six years after my last seminary class, I found myself a student again. It was actually really nice to be back in the academic sphere where I was surrounded by other people who were asking the same kinds of questions I find myself asking. It was great to dive deeply into texts of Scripture, to pick apart the logical flow of argument, and figure out how the NT author was appropriately quoting and re-applying passages from the Old Testament. But perhaps my biggest takeaway from the course was seeing how Dr. Carson seamlessly wove together his knowledge from many different disciplines. It's amazing how his systematic theology and his language study and his pastoral experience inform his Biblical exegesis and vice versa. It's easy to separate each of those into different categories, but he helpfully brought them all together. It reminded me how I need to be reading much more broadly across the scope of different disciplines within theological studies.

Overall it was helpful, and encouraging, and challenging to help me become a better teacher. And it didn't hurt that after class I could walk across the street for a little stroll along the beach!

Muizenberg beach on a warm sunny day

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.

Cape Town

In the southern hemisphere, our summer vacation happens around the Christmas holiday. Schools finish up at the end of November and the new school year doesn't start up again until late January. That's the perfect time to get out of town for a refreshing break and little change of scenery. This year for me that meant Cape Town.

Coming from Namibia, the first things you notice about CT is that it's big (Windhoek is 400,000 people; CT is 4.5 million) and that it's green. Coming from the desert, green is a big deal! CT has a little bit of everything, mountains and beaches, major urban centers and small town main streets, vineyards and beach pubs, huge shopping malls and little vendor markets. There's a little something for everyone. So I and a few friends found a housesitting gig and had a fun-filled holiday vacation.

At about 5am the day after Christmas, four of us crammed into my little VW Polo with no air conditioning and hit the road for the next 15 and a half hours. The drive through southern Namibia offers some gorgeous sweeping views across the desert and then eventually you find the green farmlands of South Africa. And finally, after daylight is long gone you peak over the hill and see the massive lights of Cape Town spread out in the distance below. Everyone was flabbergasted that we would attempt the journey all in one day, but I say better to just get it over with and be there.

Driving south across the Tropic of Capricorn

Oasis in the Desert; crossing the Orange River into South Africa

Our first activity was hiking the famous Table Mountain. We hiked the longer, more scenic Kasteelspoort trail up the back side of the mountain, enjoyed the views from the top, then descended the more direct Platteklip Gorge trail, which is basically a rock staircase of switchbacks all the way down the gorge.

View of Camps Bay and Lion's Head on our way up the Kasteelspoort trail

View over Cape Town from Table Mountain (with Lion's Head on the left and Devil's Peak on the right)

Hiking down through Platteklip Gorge

We spent a day on the lovely white sand of Camps Bay beach with the picturesque peaks of the Twelve Apostles in the background. The Antarctic currents make the Atlantic Ocean water quite brisk, so we mostly just enjoyed walking along the beach or taking a nap while others buried themselves in the sand. We then found our way to Maiden's Cove for a scenic sunset picnic dinner.

Camps Bay beach and the Twelve Apostles from Maiden's Cove

We got to see the penguins at Boulder Beach...

Penguin colony at Boulder Beach 

He's ready for his closeup.

And catch some New Year's Eve fireworks at the V&A Waterfront...

Lots of stages and performers at the NYE party at the Waterfront

New Year's fireworks over the harbor

Another excellent hike we did is the Crystal Pools hike, which is detailed in another post here.

Then on our last night together we hiked up Lion's Head to catch another sunset. This trail snails around the rocky spire of a mountain often with a rock wall to your right and a steep cliff on your left. But the panoramic views from the top are well worth the hike. Once the sun sets you can watch the lights of the city start to come out as you descend. Thankfully we brought our flashlights because we didn't make it down until well after the last glow of twilight had faded from the horizon.

Looking out over the endless sea from the top of Lion's Head

The lights of the city coming out and the 'table cloth' covering Table Mountain

Sometimes vacations seem busier than real life. You are only there a short time so you want to pack in as many fun activities as possible. The key is finding those activities which for you are restful. Then vacation can be both fun and refreshing!