I didn’t think anything of the directions that said ‘1st right after you cross the river’ because most rivers in Namibia are actually sandy riverbeds unless it just rained the night before. But this was hardly the case with this one and my little rental didn’t even resemble a 4x4. It didn’t look all that deep so I popped it in low gear and gave it a try, but unwisely I went through the middle where it was deepest and yes, I stalled out in the middle. Fortunately I could restart it. I then reversed out and rather then press my luck, I parked on the side of the road, and found my way across on foot.
Shortly up the hill I found the Shalom Center, just where my friend Castrow said it would be. The Center is the home of a Christian Missions School where they have preschool classes, kindergarten, and grade zero. From there students go into grade one in the public schools. Castrow is the spiritual director at the Center and teaches one of the preschool classes. After lunch the students sat down for children’s church where Castrow shared about being faithful in the little things. Usually when we come with a team it’s the girls with long blonde hair that the kids want to touch, but today they couldn’t get enough of my hairy legs and goatee.
Afterwards I sat down and chatted with Castrow for a couple hours about the ministry, how life is going, and dreams for the future. He’s a great example of partnering with someone long term. As I said, we first met when he joined one of our teams for an outreach in 2002. We went into the schools to teach about abstinence and used a mime presentation to help share Christ and cross any language barriers. Today he told me that mime has become part of his regular ministry. He’s taught it to people in Katima, Gobabis, everywhere he goes. That’s pretty humbling to hear how God’s multiplied a mime that some cocky college graduate made up in his loft.
In 2004, Germaine and I were able to visit with him while he was in seminary. Someone from the States had donated a bunch of laptops, one of which we gave to him. Today, smiling, he boasted how both he and his fiancé Virgil had written their seminary term papers on it and how he still uses it today. He was also pleased to show me how he was using the camera someone from our church had given him to make IDs for all the children in school at the Center. Those are excellent examples of how gifts and technology can be helpful in ministry without creating a dependency on Western aid.
In 2006, we brought a band from the church to play concerts and share Christ across Namibia. At the time Castrow was working for his church back home in remote Katima, which is out on the Caprivi Strip. When he was promoting for the concert nobody believed that a band from America would actually come all the way to Katima. But despite the small turnout, he reassured me that it had an impact in the community and the people that did attend. He specifically mentioned the openness of Kevin and Sonciary’s testimony because African culture tends to hide personal details. It was good for the people to hear them speak honestly about their lives and relationship.
So now, nearly six years after meeting this young ambitions guy getting ready to go to seminary, I can sit down with this seminary graduate and ministry colleague and listen for hours to how God’s been using him and our partnership together. That’s the value of long term missions relationships. That’s how the church in America can support and encourage and equip their African brothers and sisters without causing the harm of dependency and entitlement that so often accompanies American missions.
Last but not least, I had to include this picture of the kids terrorizing this poor little chameleon because it was so funny. Castrow was afraid to even get close to the thing, but these little preschoolers would sneak in and pick it up by the body then drop it real quick. As opposed to popular belief, chameleons change based on their mood, not their surroundings, kinda like a mood ring. After a while you could tell it was getting pretty mad because it was turning black. I thought it was humorous, but now I’m sure I’ll have some animal protection agency all over me.
Shortly up the hill I found the Shalom Center, just where my friend Castrow said it would be. The Center is the home of a Christian Missions School where they have preschool classes, kindergarten, and grade zero. From there students go into grade one in the public schools. Castrow is the spiritual director at the Center and teaches one of the preschool classes. After lunch the students sat down for children’s church where Castrow shared about being faithful in the little things. Usually when we come with a team it’s the girls with long blonde hair that the kids want to touch, but today they couldn’t get enough of my hairy legs and goatee.Afterwards I sat down and chatted with Castrow for a couple hours about the ministry, how life is going, and dreams for the future. He’s a great example of partnering with someone long term. As I said, we first met when he joined one of our teams for an outreach in 2002. We went into the schools to teach about abstinence and used a mime presentation to help share Christ and cross any language barriers. Today he told me that mime has become part of his regular ministry. He’s taught it to people in Katima, Gobabis, everywhere he goes. That’s pretty humbling to hear how God’s multiplied a mime that some cocky college graduate made up in his loft.
In 2004, Germaine and I were able to visit with him while he was in seminary. Someone from the States had donated a bunch of laptops, one of which we gave to him. Today, smiling, he boasted how both he and his fiancé Virgil had written their seminary term papers on it and how he still uses it today. He was also pleased to show me how he was using the camera someone from our church had given him to make IDs for all the children in school at the Center. Those are excellent examples of how gifts and technology can be helpful in ministry without creating a dependency on Western aid.
In 2006, we brought a band from the church to play concerts and share Christ across Namibia. At the time Castrow was working for his church back home in remote Katima, which is out on the Caprivi Strip. When he was promoting for the concert nobody believed that a band from America would actually come all the way to Katima. But despite the small turnout, he reassured me that it had an impact in the community and the people that did attend. He specifically mentioned the openness of Kevin and Sonciary’s testimony because African culture tends to hide personal details. It was good for the people to hear them speak honestly about their lives and relationship.
So now, nearly six years after meeting this young ambitions guy getting ready to go to seminary, I can sit down with this seminary graduate and ministry colleague and listen for hours to how God’s been using him and our partnership together. That’s the value of long term missions relationships. That’s how the church in America can support and encourage and equip their African brothers and sisters without causing the harm of dependency and entitlement that so often accompanies American missions.
Last but not least, I had to include this picture of the kids terrorizing this poor little chameleon because it was so funny. Castrow was afraid to even get close to the thing, but these little preschoolers would sneak in and pick it up by the body then drop it real quick. As opposed to popular belief, chameleons change based on their mood, not their surroundings, kinda like a mood ring. After a while you could tell it was getting pretty mad because it was turning black. I thought it was humorous, but now I’m sure I’ll have some animal protection agency all over me.
2 comments:
so, basically what you are saying is emotional girls should all have chameleons...??? :)
I am so glad to hear that you were able to spend some quality time with Castrow. It's such an encouragement to hear how we have impacted his life... I remember how much we prayed for a Namibian team member that would be able to learn the role of Adam... That makes it even cooler that he still uses it today!! :) Does he have the music for the mime?? If not, I might be able to find the mix & send it with Jackie...
Love ~G
Ya, apparently we left one of our CDs with him, which I didn't even remember. I thought that was pretty cool too.
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