Let it ooze...

Last night at Grace Family Church, the incredibly awesome and talented Watoto Children's choir gave us a bit of a performance. When I say, a bit of a performance, I mean, they blew us away! If I were to make up a language, I would make the word ‘watoto’ mean ‘ENERGY’ because WOW these kids had a lot of it! The biggest smiling faces, the craziest dance moves and most energetic facial expressions I think I've ever seen. Did I mention this was their 5th performance in less than 24 hours? No matter, because when looking at the stage, all you see is JOY.

All of the children live at the Watoto Village in Uganda and each has lost one or both of their parents to violence in Uganda, AIDS or poverty. they were abandoned and alone, and seemingly had no hope in life. Each child has their own unique story of pain and hardships that they have lived - and I can tell you that there are no nice pretty childhood stories.

On Friday night when the choir arrived at our Church to relax and practice, I got to speak to a few of the boys from Watoto. I told them they were famous, and I wanted to be like them! they humbly disagreed and in said they were not at all famous and in fact I was famous. we laughed... In an attempt to continue the ‘famous’ topic of conversation, I asked a question. I said ‘who is the most famous person in the world to you? who is your favourite celebrity?’... I was expecting an answer like Chris Brown or some pop star that these kids might have heard. Instead 10-year-old  Ronald looked at me, and without any hesitation, in his beautiful accent he replies... ‘God’.

God is the only thing on these kids’ minds! He is really all that matters to them! Because through some incredible people at Watoto village, God has rescued them from their despair and given them life and hope. Now they are traveling the continent sharing their story. Boldly speaking to crowds and saying that Jesus is their saviour and their friend, singing worship songs to their God in front of large crowds. They don’t hang on to their past. they aren’t affected by their rough stories and don’t get interviewed on Carte Blanche. Why? They have found Jesus. They have hope! And despite their past, they know they are safe and loved.

I realised that the Joy that I saw in their faces was all Jesus. His love was ooozing out of them. and they sang to him with all they have.

It just made me realise what an impact that one person can have by merely living out God’s plan and calling. Not only are the kids lives changed, but they in turn make huge impact on the people that they get to sing to around the world (including me).

This gave a me a fresh reminder that we can each make an impact wherever we are. and I know that even though I’m going to Michigan to minister to a bunch of rich kids from a whole different world, I can still make an impact on their lives. because in actual fact, its not me making an impact. its the love of Jesus oozing out of me that can make the change.

“It is Jesus that has given me back my life... So I sing to Him”

Check out all that the watoto village is doing at www.watoto.com
If you’re in Durban, they have a partner village which is doing incredible things too! www.liv-village.com/home

Thank you to Watoto for coming to Durban and impacting us!

this is africa

For anyone who has watched the movie "Blood Diamond" where Leonardo De Caprio takes his best shot at a South(ern) African accent (I say Southern, as technically, the character was from Rhodesia) you would have heard the phrase 'T.I.A.', meaning, 'THIS IS AFRICA'... The phrase is basically a sinical response to anything that is injust, or something that is below par in our continent, explaining that it is ok because we are in Africa. An extremely cheap example; when our local tv station completely messes up a live broadcast, people will jokingly remark "TIA right?". Emplying, its ok because in Africa, mediocrity is acceptable.

However, that statement has been completely reinvented with the extremely popular and overplayed song, "waka waka" performend by Shakira and Freshly Ground. The song quickly became the anthem of the world cup, and the anthem of Africa. It has started its own mini revolution by saying "THIS IS AFRICA" in a completely different light. It sings the sentance with pride and dignity. It is about exclaiming the beauty of Africa, and being unashamed of its downfalls or its past.

This world cup has done something for South Africa that no amount of food or forgien relief could do. It has made our people PROUD to be South African, and PROUD to be African. I think the country has woken up and realised that we are not just poor and badly treated Africa, and we cannot just settle for second best. Our government and organising comittees have proven that with a bit of hard work and determination, we can achieve greatness.

Although this has been felt accross the continent of Africa, I think the greatest impact was on the host nation, South Africa. I really hope that we as South Africans, who have become proudly African, will take some responsibility for our continent, and not rely on the West. As Africans, we can and must stick up for eachother and the greater good of our continent.

The 2010 Football World Cup has been dubbed as the greatest world cup in history. We Did it! South Africa showed the world the world its worth. No longer will TIA be a sinical comment, but rather a statement of Pride because this is our country. This is our continent. These are our people.

THIS IS AFRICA