Final update from my time in America

I've been meaning to post this for about a week or so, but saying goodbye to everyone in America and moving back to South Africa and getting ready to leave for a missions trip in 4 hours (and it's 2am now and I should be sleeping) means that this hasn't happened till now. So, here is a newsletter that I wrote to my supporters a little over a week ago. I explain a bunch of the stuff I learnt in my time away and what I'm up to next. Enjoy :)

---------- Written on Thursday 21 June 2012 ----------

A week from today I'll be home. It's such a weird thought. I'm so excited to go home but so sad to be leaving here, it's very bittersweet. My time here has been so special and such an incredible privilege. I feel so blessed to have spent the past six months at this beautiful base under such amazing leadership. They have poured into me, taught me, encouraged me and helped me grow. I really am so grateful.

This has been such an incredibly season of growth and learning for me. God has taught me so many practical things which I'm excited to put into practice for the rest of my life. And he's also grown me so much in my identity in him and taken me deeper in my intimacy and relationship with him. He is so good and so patient and so loving. I just love him so much and I know that it can only get better from here because he only wants good things for me. I'm excited to walking forward in life with the promises that he's given me and in the anointing that he has put on me. I look forward to living out my calling, knowing that everything I do, I do in his strength and I am never in my own ability alone.

If you are interested in hearing some of the songs I've written, two of them are on my blog. With All My Heart, a worship song, can be found at http://spalser.blogspot.com/2012/04/with-all-my-heart.html. Aeidan, a love story song for my friend whose baby was miscarried, can be found at http://spalser.blogspot.com/2012/05/aeidan.html. My other two will be going up soon. I will also be posting photos on my blog from my Art Worship piece that I did last week and an explanation about my project. Once I'm home I will continue to write on my blog, so please feel free to subscribe to it. I will keep posting the things that I'm writing and creating. Just add your email address to the subscribe section on the left. If you run into any problems, please let me know.

I'm very excited about what the rest of this year has in store. I arrive home next Wednesday morning (27th) and will be leaving for Mthatha early on Saturday (30th) morning. I will be joining a mission’s trip with a team from Pinelands Baptist Church and partnering with a missions organisation there called Sondela which is part of Zema. This will be my 6th trip there and I am so excited to see all the kids and teenagers again and continue to build the relationships that God has allowed me to form over the years. We will be working primarily in the rural villages near the mission’s base, doing a Holiday Bible Club for kids, a youth ministry program and helping with practical things at the base.

One of my prayer requests for this trip is for team unity. I've missed all the initial bonding and preparation for the trip, so please pray that I will fit in well and be able to make a good contribution to the team. Language is also a big prayer need. I do know some basic Xhosa and my grammar is quite good, but my vocabulary is rather lacking. Please pray that God will give me an ability to pick up words and phrases again easily and be able to communicate well even across the language barrier. Another prayer request is for our physical safety. We will be travelling for two days to get to our ministry location and the roads aren't very safe in some places. Please also pray for our physical protection as there have been some incidences of theft in the past.

Wisdom and discernment are also a huge request. I really want know what God's heart is in every situation. So please pray that I'll be attentive and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. During my time there I will also have the privilege of leading worship, so please pray that God will help me in that and that I'll be listening carefully to his leading. Pray that I will make the most of every opportunity that God gives me and that I'm able to apply what I've learnt here at YWAM in the ministry opportunities that I have on the trip.

After the Mthatha mission trip, which is ten days long, I don't have any set plans for the rest of the year. Next year I plan on doing my Masters in Computer Science at UCT, focusing in an area called Information and Communication Technology for Socio-Economic Development (ICT4D) which basically involves using technology to help with community development. I'm very excited about this and about possibly having an opportunity to work with Learn to Earn (a Christian skill-training NGO) again as I did last year during my Masters.

In the meantime, however, I am purposefully keeping my time fairly open and unstructured so that I can do all the things that God has put on my heart to do. This will include doing quite a lot of tutoring (Maths, Science, Computers, English etc) and starting to teach Music. I'm looking at starting private piano lessons, but I'd also be open to teaching the recorder and flute. Within our church I want to volunteer a lot of time to the ministries that need me most. I see myself naturally getting involved a lot in the music ministry, training, discipleship and equipping the different musicians in our church, as well as working with the admin and communication side of things if I'm needed. In addition, I'm looking at getting involved in children or youth ministry, depending on where the biggest need is, and helping out with some of the IT stuff in our church too.

And then in my person time I want to keep as much flexible time open in my days to be able to continue to train and develop myself in various areas. This will involve studying the Bible more and making sure that I am reading good books and listening to podcasts that help me continue to grow from the place that I'm in now. I also want to make sure that I make space for creativity and song writing because that is something that I've seen myself grow in during this time but never really made space for at home. Additionally I want to ensure that I am practicing and continuing to grow in my musical skills and competency on piano, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, flute and voice; and possibly getting further lesson on guitar and voice training.

So while I'm very sad that this season of my life is coming to an end, I know that it's only beginning of what God has in store for me in my life and I want to make sure that I'm stepping into the abundant life that he has promised. And so because of that I'm really excited about coming home and stepping into God's plans for me. As I finish up my time here, please continue to pray for me. It's going to be very hard to leave after investing so much of myself here over the past six months. Tonight (Thursday 21st) we have our CD Release Concert where we play all the songs on our new album and give out copies of the CD. The album so now available online for free download here.

I am so grateful for all your support over the past six months. Your prayers have been so impactful and meaningful in my life. Thank you for lifting me up when I was struggling and for encouraging me and interceding for me. Thank you for every one of you who have supported me financially. Without you I would not be able to be here. Even the smallest contribution has meant so much to me. If you would like to continue to receive updates from me, please let me know. This will involve the ways that God is working in my life, things I need prayer for, updates from the ministries and mission involvement.

May God bless you hugely and continue to grow you in intimacy and depth of relationship with him.

Much love in Christ,

Sarah

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When Helping Hurts

"How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor... and yourself"

Book written by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert

This is my book report from the second book that I have read in my Community Development for Missions training school. My first book report on the book "Truth and Transformation" can be found here. 

A - What are the key themes and principles that were communicated in the book? 

When Helping Hurts was written to make people wanting to help the poor realise the ways in which they often end up hurting the poor more than they help them. It not only points out what we need to avoid in mission and community development, but also proposes alternative solutions to improve the way that we help poor people while avoiding hurting either or both parties in the process.

The first part of the book looks at the foundational concepts of helping without hurting. Herein it discusses why Jesus came to the Earth – not just to save our souls, but to restore our relationships with Him, ourselves, each other and the rest of creation. We need to remember that in every aspect of community development we want to be bringing restoration in these three areas, as Jesus did. The book then looks at the real definition of poverty from the perspective of the poorest people. The define it as being so much more than a lack of material possessions, but as a lack of dignity, value, self worth and power.

Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work. When we come in as outsiders to a poor community we need to realise that we have mutual brokenness. Financial gifts in these situations tend to do a lot more harm than good as they do not solve the underlying problem of poverty. In our attempt to bring about poverty alleviation, then, we need to strive to bring about reconciliation in all four relationship areas. This means that sharing the Gospel is key to being able to bring true transformation.

Part two of the book goes on to outline various strategies for helping the poor without infliction additional harm. It is essential to remember that development should be done with people and not for people. The importance of providing the right kind of help was then addressed, looking at examples where relief, restoration and development are appropriate and when they are not. An organisation should choose to focus on one of these areas to be the most effective.

Another principle discussed was to focus initially on what the community already has, rather than their needs. This helps a community to see their own strengths, rather than wallowing in their weaknesses. This can be done through Asset Mapping, Participatory Learning and Action or by an Appreciative Inquiry. In order to be the most beneficial to the community, the people themselves need to be involved in the development process from the planning stage, right through to the evaluation stage. In doing so, it is also imperative to give a voice to the marginalised and make sure that their input is also gained.

The third and final part of the book analysed practical strategies for helping without hurting. It first looked at the short term missions (STM) phenomenon. More often than not, STM go in, do something and leave feeling good about themselves. But the locals are often left in a much worse situation. There are many causes for the hurt that STM teams bring; the major reasons coming from the foreigner’s lack of understanding of the local’s culture, their concept of time and their concept of self. In order to be effective, STM need to come in through an existing ministry that is working long-term in the community and have a good understanding of the community’s needs and culture. STM teams need to seriously consider their reasons for taking a team, evaluate how the community is benefiting and ensure that the community actually want them there.

The book then went on to discuss the need for poverty alleviation methods in the United States itself which I have discussed in more detail in part C. After addressing what poverty looks like in the States, it outlined possible solutions that can be brought by the local church to the poor in their immediate surroundings. These can include workshops and classes on managing finances and training in the soft skills needed for successful employment. The final chapter then looked to the rest of the world and looked at ways in which different economic solutions can be implemented to bring about the material poverty alleviation required in a sustainable long-term fashion.

B - How can you apply these themes and principles to both your personal life and as a community development practitioner?

This book has been great because, while it has not taught me that many totally new things, it puts things that I have learnt in various different parts of life in one concise book. I am excited to take this book home and give it to the missions committee at my church to challenge the way that we do missions and propose some changes to our STM programs. I have learnt the importance of including the locals in every step of the development process and this is something that I want to make sure I implement in my personal life and in any development involvement.

I have previously been involved in helping communities out by doing practical things that I now realise they could have done for themselves. I now recognise how hurtful this can be and will endeavour never to do it again. Ensuring that the community themselves actually want us there, not just our group thinking we are needed, is also something that I will take into consideration in the future. Finally, this book has given me some new, insightful ideas for how to further develop my Masters in Computer Science work that I plan to do in 2013 with additional elements that will help bring about greater lasting change. I really enjoyed the book and I look forward to having the opportunity to put what I have learnt into practice.

C - Is there anything in this book that you have more questions about or disagree with?

I struggled the most with chapter 8 which addressed material ‘poverty’ in the United States. I put poverty in inverted commas on purpose, as I cannot agree with the authors that this is true material poverty. The authors described their monetary income, the amount of the welfare cheques they receive and their living conditions; all of which are better than most people in South Africa. I cannot believe that someone would be considered ‘below the poverty line’ while receiving $1200 from the government each month, the equivalent of nearly R10000; a reasonable starting salary for university graduates in South Africa. I understand that the cost of living can be higher in the United States in some respects, but I also think that the expected standard of living is extremely high. I cannot agree that these people need government or church funding, when they are already living better lives than the majority of the rest of the world, and thus I cannot consider them to be living in poverty. If you truly want to see poverty, you need to go and see how people live in the rest of the world. 

The adventures to come in 2012

It's about time that I update you on the exciting plans that I have for next year! I forced myself not to focus too much on next year until my thesis was done. But now that it is, I get to be SUPER excited about what is to come and I want to share it with you :)

http://www.ywamdenver.org/

I'm planning on going back to YWAM Denver for the first 6 months of next year. This is something that I've been wanting to do since I was there in 2007 for my Gap year for a Discipleship Training School (DTS) and School of Biblical Foundations (SBF). God called me to YWAM Denver specifically so that I could do the School of Worship (SOW) there, but the timing clashed with Kirsty (my sister)'s wedding that year. So I had peace about coming home and doing my degree and going back to do it after I finish, which is now! 

SOW is only 3 months long (April - June), so I decided that if I was going to be setting aside a chunk of the year directly for growing in my relationship with God and my passions, I may as well make use of the time and do another school while I'm there. While God didn't directly call me to do another school like he did with SOW, he gave me peace that if I choose to do one he will bless me richly through the experience. I initially wanted to do the School of Evangelism (SOE), or WISE (Worship, Intercession, Spiritual Warfare and Evangelism) - as it is called at YWAM Denver, but the dates of that school got moved so it wasn't an option anymore. 

http://www.ywamdenver.org/

I then spent some time praying and looking into different options and eventually was led to the Community Development for Missions school (CDFM). At first I had some pride issues I needed to get over, as I thought that I would probably be able to teach them a lot of what would be taught in the school, having grown up in a third world country and being involved in missions over the years. For example, the annual trips that I go on with my church to the rural areas of Mthatha [See these blog posts (1) and (2)]. But God brought me to a place of recognizing my pride and realising the incredible way that doing this school would complement my academic studies and future work opportunities. 


I'm planning on doing my Masters in Computer Science in 2013, focusing on the area of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Socio-Economic Development). I've done my Honours thesis (in collaboration with Learn to Earn) in this area. I really want to pursue this field of study and look at ways in which technology can be used and appropriated effectively to bring about change in poor communities. God pointed out that having an all-rounded understanding of Community Development will help make the technology that I develop more effective in changing peoples lives.

Here is an extract from the YWAM Denver website about what each school covers:

http://www.ywamdenver.org/training/school-of-worship/

School of Worship:

Our purpose is to raise-up worshippers who are passionate about Jesus and skillfully trained; those who will not only minister to God's heart, but will go into all the world with His high praises in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand (Psalm 149:6). As part of our program, each student will be taught on songwriting and given the opportunity to write and perform his or her own songs. Then, at the end of the quarter, several of these songs will be compiled into an album that is produced and released through YWAM Denver. 

http://www.ywamdenver.org/training/community-development-for-missions/

Community Development for Missions:

The School of Community Development For Missions is based on God's instruction for us to love our neighbor, help the poor and disciple the nations. The goal of CDFM is to equip missionaries with a skill-set in community development; and see communities around the world empowered to escape the trap of poverty and take control of their own lives. Students will learn key concepts in successful community development and be introduced to issues faced in developing countries. The school provides tools in community assessment and guidance on how to implement projects. A graduate of the school will be equipped with practical tools, resources and contacts to pursue their specific area of interest.

I will not be going on any outreaches after these schools, and as such they will simply be a training and equipping time for me to be more effective in the various ministries that God has called me to. I don't feel particularly called to full time missions at this stage, but I am open to it if God leads me in that way in the future. Right now, however, I recognise that I have a unique combination of technical skills and passion for seeing communities changed that God can use me in, even if it is in an academic setting. 

http://www.ywamdenver.org/training/compassion-dts/

I'm stoked to be able to say that my boyfriend, Paul, is planning on going to YWAM Denver too during the same time period to do a Compassions DTS. It has been a long journey for him to decide to do this and has been largely uninfluenced by my decision to go. I'm excited about what us both being in YWAM for this time may mean for our future. But I'm also very aware that this time is specifically for each of us to grow in our relationships with God first and foremost, and as a couple secondly. He is not a member of my church, Pinelands Baptist Church (PBC), so he is not asking for financial support from us, but I know that he would really appreciate our prayer support. His church, while backing him spiritually, are not willing to support him financially. As such, he is following God very obediently and having to totally rely on God to provide for his school fees and living expenses. 

We will be leaving on 29 December and spending a week in England with family before heading to Denver on the 8th. CDFM and DTS both start on 9 January and SOW will run while Paul is on outreach. 

Paul and me

We would both absolutely love for you to support us in prayer during the adventure to come! If you would like to be added to a list of prayer supporters to receive our updates, please email me. I will also be posting regular update here, so you can subscribe (on the left hand panel) to these posts. If you would like to support us financially, please send me and email and I can send you more details.