When the colonizing Europeans were looking for land to put a military base in Kaokoland the tribal chiefs gave them a plot of land that nobody wanted. Centuries later, the undesirable valley has now become the capitol of the region, the town of Opuwo. The drive to the valley is about 400km past Outjo along the western border of Etosha, deep into Kaokoland. Previously it was a gravel road the whole way, but last year they began paving it, so there was only 60km or so that was still under construction as we made the trek north.
For an unwanted property it was quite beautiful. The town is situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains and plateaus. It’s a small town, but has all the necessities, supermarket, hardware store, etc. There are about 10 churches, 4 schools, and as usual, more bars than you can count.
Our accommodation was in tents at the luxurious Opuwo Country Hotel. It’s a lodge with some campsites situated on the top of one of the mountains overlooking the town. The views were pretty phenomenal. We recognized the blessing in staying at such a nice place, but unfortunately it put us about 1km out of town and created a deeper, invisible distance between us and the community.
Our ministry during the week was visiting the schools in the mornings for assemblies and time in the classrooms. In the afternoons we would go back to visit the school hostels which house students who live too far out of town to commute.
We made some great connections, especially with the secondary school students. We would split up the guys and the girls for questions. In the guys group they would ask us all sorts of questions relating to the gospel, ancestor worship, and random things about America. We taught a lot of truth and scattered a lot of seed, but with questionable if any follow-up we must trust God to do the watering and growing.
While these short school visits provided some of our best relational connections, many on the team struggled with the short term nature of that ministry. They kept saying, “I wish we could go back to the hostel” or “I wish we could’ve stayed here for the whole 3 weeks”. This reinforces my position that fewer but longer ministry opportunities are far better than many short opportunities. Ministry is about relationships, and relationships take time. So building into fewer relationships over a longer period of time seems to make a lot more sense than short, shallow relationships that will probably not continue past the trip. If you want to make a case for the opposite, drop a comment.
For an unwanted property it was quite beautiful. The town is situated in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains and plateaus. It’s a small town, but has all the necessities, supermarket, hardware store, etc. There are about 10 churches, 4 schools, and as usual, more bars than you can count.
Our accommodation was in tents at the luxurious Opuwo Country Hotel. It’s a lodge with some campsites situated on the top of one of the mountains overlooking the town. The views were pretty phenomenal. We recognized the blessing in staying at such a nice place, but unfortunately it put us about 1km out of town and created a deeper, invisible distance between us and the community.Our ministry during the week was visiting the schools in the mornings for assemblies and time in the classrooms. In the afternoons we would go back to visit the school hostels which house students who live too far out of town to commute.
We made some great connections, especially with the secondary school students. We would split up the guys and the girls for questions. In the guys group they would ask us all sorts of questions relating to the gospel, ancestor worship, and random things about America. We taught a lot of truth and scattered a lot of seed, but with questionable if any follow-up we must trust God to do the watering and growing.While these short school visits provided some of our best relational connections, many on the team struggled with the short term nature of that ministry. They kept saying, “I wish we could go back to the hostel” or “I wish we could’ve stayed here for the whole 3 weeks”. This reinforces my position that fewer but longer ministry opportunities are far better than many short opportunities. Ministry is about relationships, and relationships take time. So building into fewer relationships over a longer period of time seems to make a lot more sense than short, shallow relationships that will probably not continue past the trip. If you want to make a case for the opposite, drop a comment.
0 comments:
Post a Comment