Posted in Moldova by Charles McCall III on 11/7/2011
2 weeks left...
Where has the year gone? Seriously, I can barely believe that I am finishing up my 11th month, 11th country already and thinking about getting ready to come home. Wow! Blows my mind, but I am excited and ready for the next step of my journey.
Last month, Ukraine was nice and luxurious, and exactly what our team needed at the time. Our contacts were amazing, loving, and American (!), and our ministry felt much like life back home. Hanging out, growing and worshiping together, and having fun. Next, well, you guessed it, Moldova has been a slight travel back in time. A 30 minute walk to the orphanage center we work at every morning & night, cold weather, sleeping bag, no running water, shower once a week, tough manual labor on the farm or in the forest. This is just going to make back home feel even sweeter.
One really cool thing happened a couple weeks ago though; our squad ran into a new, fresh squad on the Race. We were entering our 11th month and they were entering their 2nd month. So, guess what?!? Our team was the one team that got to go back with 3 of their teams and do ministry with them for this month. How incredibly blessed have I been lately? We have poured out so much wisdom, life, and experience into them and shared stories, and in return they have restored our passion and desire for one last month of ministry and I feel renewed going back home now, largely due to my with them.
This month has been great to spend with new people and be around fresh faces, and it has also been hard spending some last moments together with my team and squad. With 2 weeks left, it is going to be hard to say goodbye to my team and my squad; they have truly become family this year. Sad that the adventure of the year is ending, but you better believe that I am ready to be back home around English speaking people all the time, and excited for what God has in store for me when I get back home.
So much wisdom gained, so much love poured out, so many memories made, but now it is time for God to reveal the next season in my life (might as well not ask me what that is, b/c I'm still not sure what door He is going to open). I just know for now, I can't wait to get back to my family and friends and share with them what God has done and hear what has been going on in their lives this past year.One last week to cherish with my team to pour into one another and prophesy over each other's future.
My contact, Vitali, this month always blares the Chris Tomlin song "I will follow you," and it's in these moments where I just think to myself the question of 'where I am' or 'what I've done' this year, and it is just hard to wrap my mind around all of it. Funny and hard to think of all that God has allowed me to experience this year, and the situations I've been brought into, and brought out of. How many people He has blessed me with in order to release the Father's love into; yet also how much more grace, freedom, and power is there for me to walk in! I know that God has some crazy things in store for me soon, so I can't wait for it, but I also just want to celebrate and rejoice in the victory that has taken place.
This year is not my ceiling, it is only the beginning of a bright and beautiful future that my Father has planned for me! Thank you for your many prayers and please continue for God's glory to spread across the nations! Missions is hard and difficult, and there is a fierce battle raging even if you can't see or feel it back home. My ministry this month needs prayer as much as ever, but now you can also be praying for a smooth reentry back home and for my ministry to continue and even increase when I get back. I seriously am so excited to see my family and reconnect with everyone. Final debrief in Bucharest, Romania, and then NYC here I come! See you all soon!!!
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Posted in Ukraine by Charles McCall III on 10/14/2011
I haven't really been able to deliver on some pics in my blog until now, so here's a look at some of the activity that's gone down this year. I want you to celebrate all the work that God has done in and through me, and also a look at the fun He has allowed me to have (mission work isn't dull and boring). Thanks for your prayers and I hope you realize that you are as much a part of all this as I am.
Ukraine This month we have taught English at a language school and helped build relationships in hopes of sharing the gospel. Many of us have gotten to hang out with some of our students (we are famous American celebrities in their eyes). We also have helped out at an orphanage on Saturdays, and had fellowship with friends from local churches in the city. The Anglican church dominates the country, but is far away from what a true church should look like, so we are trying to breathe in that extra life and spirit into these people. We've also got to go bowling and to a circus, so life isn't all too bad.
 
Swaziland Maybe my favorite month of ministry. Lived in beautiful mountains at an orphanage and got to love on about 60 amazing kids. There were a couple that absolutely grabbed my heart and broke it in a great way. Also, we got our manual labor on, renovating their pig pens, building drainage pipe, and repairing burnt-down fences. Fortunately, we survived the wildfire scares. Also, we got to help with financial receipts, painted a mural, reorganized storage room, among many other things. Also, I got to go to take a safari at Kruger Park in South Africa, where we saw 4 (rhino, elephant, buffalo, lion) out of the big 5 game (missed the leopard).
Memorable night: When we were praise and worshipping on a rock at night, overlooking a wildfire continually burn the mountainside next to ours. Naturally, we started singing All Consuming Fire.
Mozambique Got to work with Iris ministries. Not a busy schedule this month and ministry lagged a tad, but we still got to do some hospital visits, evangelized in local village, lots of prayer for sick, helped conduct a program for about 200 widows (message, prayer, and food distribution). We held a 24 hour prayer night (designate a room for prayer, worship, and prophesy). We got to attend opening night of a major Christian conference. A lot of our "ministry" was within the actual Iris and helping out the staff in whatever way we could.
P.S. - Thank you God for Chelsea Hughes and Lauren Black, who completely dominate in the kitchen.
South Africa We were in a beautiful little backpacker town in Coffee Bay, and it was GORGEOUS. Seriously, we were right on the coast and I've never seen waves so big come crashing down. You could see whales jumping in the distance in the middle of our church service. We actually stayed in our tents at a campground for backpackers. Our ministry was soccer and surfing for the local village kids, and at the end of the month we got to baptize about 25 kids.
We had 4 teams together, plus each team hosted 2 'real lifers', who were younger and just on a one month mission trip. I got attacked and bit by dogs, experienced some of the most beautiful scenery of my life, learned to play some drums, worshipped almost every morning, and in the end we got to lead some kiddos to Christ. Worth it, completely.
Nepal Feels like forever ago now. We started with home visits in the city, but this quickly turned into our most remote and 'roughing it' month. Little to no electricity and oftentimes bathing in the river or at the well. Let's be clear, I loved this month. It was my first as a leader, and not an easy one, but we held our own in the village mountains of Nepal. It was hot, humid, and manually intensive, but a lot of work was accomplished.
Village 1 - We helped with a baptism program for a small local church
Village 2 - We were put completely in charge of constructing a bathroom for a future church. Including design, materials, labor, etc. Very hot and hard mixing cement. We witnessed a man nearly get beaten to death.
Insert *** 5 hour hike up and down huge mountains with our big packs to get to the next village
Village 3 - Lauren helped design a school for a remote village. The school will probably take about 3 years to construct, but we helped get it going. Children have to walk 2 hours there and 2 hours back, and also have to cross a giant river, where some have even drowned.
I also got to go whitewater rafting with some of the other leaders, where everyone flipped out but me somehow.
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Posted in Swaziland by Charles McCall III on 9/22/2011
Working at an orphanage this month has been great. As you might
have read from the previous blog, we almost perished in flames, but other than
that and my body being incredibly sore every day from all the manual labor
projects we've been doing, ministry here has been really good.
One of the greatest memories this year is a little boy Ayanda.
It's hard to pour your heart out month after month, rely on God to fill you up,
and not become too accustomed to moving on or afraid to grow too attached to
the people you are ministering to or ministering with. It's even harder though
to not build any relationship or not find someone special to really love on.
Thankfully, after several months of not having anyone who really
grabbed my heart and it broke when I had to leave them, God has given me with a
little boy who puts a smile on my face every time I see him. He's definitely
been my little treasure this month, and puts so much joy in my heart every time
I see him.
Ayanda is a little six year old orphan boy, whose mom abandoned
him when he was a baby. I don't know how we initially bonded, but ever since
the beginning of the month we have been best buddies. Every time he sees me he
runs up to me and gives me a hug, and asks me to put him on my shoulders. Even
if he is in someone else's arms, he will jump out and run when he sees me
coming. Things like that bring the warm, fuzzy feeling. I carry him on my
shoulders everywhere and spin him around in a circle. I ask him what his name
is and he slowly builds up and up, until he shouts “Ayannndaaaa!”
I'm already dreading saying goodbye, and wish I could take him
with me. God's already put adoption on my heart for the future. Sometimes you
just wish that day would come now. It will be hard to move on from these kids
and especially Ayanda, but honestly I wouldn't want to have it any other way. I
want to break my heart for what breaks his, and love until it hurts. I want to
live and grow in loving his little, precious ones and know that when I am doing
that, I am loving the King.
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Posted in Swaziland by Charles McCall III on 9/22/2011
As I am writing this, there is less than one week left in
Swaziland, and Africa for that matter, and then we are off to Eastern Europe.
Next month we will be in Ukraine and our last month we will be in Moldova, two
of the poorest countries in all of Europe. We also have under two months to go
before we fly back into the States. Seriously, where does the time go?
Our time in Africa has of course not gone according to my
expectations. The first two months we have lived in relatively good conditions
and had very few things to complain about, however ministry wasn't necessarily
on fire like I envisioned Africa being. There were moments, but overall a
little disorganized and not my favorite months compared to Asia.
The ministry this month has been great and exactly what I needed.
We are in these beautiful mountains and surrounded my love. I have been longing
for emotional attachment and a brokeness when I left the country. We are
working at an orphanage with about 60 kids and they are a joy to love on. My big
project this month has been helping remodel the pig pens. In case you didn't
know, pigs are absoultely disgusting and repulsive creatures. Trust me it is
way worse than you could imagine. It's been smelly and hard, but we are never
short of work and projects here, and feel very much needed.
We have all labored hard, whether that's redoing the baby house
storeroom, organizing receipts, painting a mural, school construction, pig
pens, etc. However, one of the worst things about Africa has been all the wildfires
going on everywhere. Story time!
One night there was a huge wildfire circling very close to the
compound, but thankfully the firebreaks prevented the fire from coming too
close to the buildings and burning them down, but the fire spread all the way
to the community school nearby. That's when all of us were called into
firefighter mode (not the ministry you ever expect, but clearly anything goes
this year) in ordr to save the school from burning down. I had walked away
earlier and had no idea this was going on, until everyone came back and told
me. They said they were wondering where I was because they figured I would jump
right in the middle and try to put out the flames. After several hours of
beating the flames down with branches along a line of swirling fire, everyone
came back, but then the fire sparked again, and thankfully I was ready to go
this time, and got a little action in. The fire came as close as 15 feet to the
school in certain part, but finally subsided.
A few days roll by, and we are thinking that the fires are done
with and there couldn't possibly be anything left to be burned. After church I
went to take a group of kids on a hike to a waterfall, and had a blast swimming
with them and playing around. A few hours pass and as we are walking back, I
notice there is smoke everywhere. Sure enough, another wildfire had started and
this one came extremely close to where we were staying. People had to be woken
up from their naps and told to grab all their stuff as quickly as possible and
evacuate. The flames burned all the perimeter fence down and came within a
couple feet of catching some of our houses on fire. Once again, I was the only
person to miss all of this chaos happening. The fire had passed al the
firebreaks set in place and nearly encircled the area where our houses were at.
Who would have thought out of all the things in Africa that
wildfires would be our biggest fear? God definitely had his hand upon us though
and the only we thing we suffered from was smoke inhalation, ashes all in our
rooms, and headaches in the morning. So, thanks for your prayers (especially my
mom), I was kept safe and far away from both fires. Also, in Nepal, I was the
only one out of our group of 10 that wasn't tossed from the raft when we hit a
rapids wrong. Everyone else went for a swim! I'm just saying some of those
prayers are definitely being answered.
Keep up the prayers for these next 2 months and also be praying
for reentry back into the States. God's ministry through me will not stop once
I get back, but I will have the opportunity to speak into lots of other
people's lives and walks. Also, be praying for God to show me the next step in
my journey!
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Posted in Mozambique by Charles McCall III on 8/19/2011
Typically, I am tempted to write about how great God is and how He is working my life, or I tell a funny story or simply describe the month's events and what we did with our ministry. All are good things, but admittedly, I have the tendency to leave my emotions and feelings out of the equation. I have a tough time actually focusing on myself and where I'm at on the journey of this year. So, how do I feel? Good or bad. Here I go.
Our month 8 debrief quickly approaching and there are only 3 months left to go on the race. In as short as I can put it, God has opened my eyes up to so much and grown me in many ways. Before the race, I had yet to discover the areas in my life that God wanted to grow and stretch me, but God had so much He wanted to reveal to me throughout this year and every month has been me learning. I am still the same old me, but an entirely different person at the same time. The Lord has increased my dependency upon Him and His Spirit and brought my faith to a much more real place. Never did I think that the calling or vision in my life could be so high, but God has wrecked me and brought me to a much more intimate relationship with my Father.
There have been amazing people put in my life, I've seen beautiful places and experienced many different cultures. There have been awesome ministries that are on fire for God and making a real difference in the world. Sometimes you miss home, or get tired of community, or work with an unorganized ministry you're not crazy about. However, every place and every moment is what you make it and there has not been a better or more pivotal time in my life to better know God.
I could write endlessly about different times where God has showed up or in detail how I've felt and seen God move. In summary, this year has raised up a newfound passion and raw desire in me for God, and I still feel like He wants to give me so much more. I have loved this year, and am still viewing every day as a blessing. I am also excited to get back home, and share what I've learned and can't wait to see what doors God opens in my life.
There is so, so, so much more, but hopefully that is a little glimpse into my heart. Please keep praying for strength and focus as our arrival date back home draws near (Nov. 19 @ JFK, crazy). My prayer is that I take advantage of the next 3 months and continue to press in to what God has in store for my life.
(Sorry no pics)
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Posted in South Africa by Charles McCall III on 7/26/2011
Here's a snapshot of what this last month looked like. Shoutout to my girl Beka for putting so much time into this awesome video and for our adventure hikes together. Thanks for all your continuous prayers. Heading to Mozambique to work with Iris Ministries tomorrow morning in Dondo, Mozambique. Look them up! Very excited and a huge honor to be partnering with them. Love y'all!!!
South Africa Youth Sports Ministry from Beka Fritz on Vimeo.
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Posted in South Africa by Charles McCall III on 7/19/2011
I love and miss you all. Just a quick message to let you know that I miss you all. I am still growing a lot personally and loving the beautiful area we are in. We have had 4 teams together and are just trying to spread awareness to help jumpstart the ministry. Please keep covering me and our squad in prayer. Africa can be spiritually tough and challenging, but God has GREAT things planned for us here.
So...
I hope this finds you well and know that I am thinking of you and praying for you always. I wanted to give you a quick update about one of the missionary contacts we are currently working with in South Africa. Her name is Mandy Weschta and she has recently completed the discipleship training with YWAM. Four years ago, God laid it on her heart to start a sports ministry in Cape Town and more recently she has decided to expand the ministry to the village of Coffee Bay, Suurbrak South Africa (3 destinations in South Africa). Her aim is to bring the Youth here to Christ and add 'hope' to the children's lives. We have helped pioneer this ministry here over the last month and the kids have been very receptive to the message of Christ and prayer time that the program fosters. She has asked us to contact our local churches to introduce the potential for sending short-term teams here, possibly for 2 weeks at a time or longer. We have produced a DVD that helps to give a better vision for the ministry and we are going to be sending that in the mail shortly. I am not sure if you are looking around for any mission trips, but I wanted to at least let you know about this need for prayer. She is also looking for 2 individual long-term leaders to hire on staff if you know of anyone who might be interested in this opportunity. I have copied her onto this email in case you have any questions for Mandy. Thank-You & God Bless!
Ministeries Contact:
Mandy Weschta
volunteerinsouthafrica@gmail.com
www.volunteerinsouthafrica.co.uk
Telephone abroad: (0027) 82.362.5162
*There is a bit of info below
Please Take a minute to check out our video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-6kQWN3Hn8
OUR MISSION STATEMENT:
" Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because he has anointed me to Preach the good news to the poor"
Matthew 28:18 Go there-fore and make disciples of all the Nations Baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son And the Holy Spirit.
• "Our vision is to disciple Young Adults, children and Adults and teach them to follow God with their whole lives, and then to send them out to do the same."
• To build a Surf Outreach/ Football Project that brings "hope" and is a blessing to the great city of Cape Town and beyond.
• To see lives restored, bringing hope and practical answers to broken humanity.
• Impact the less Privileged Communities of South Africa and Create Ideas for the poorer Communities to get Jobs.
• To see people from all walk To walk alongside the lost and the Broken and bring hope into their lives through surfing and sports
• To provide an environment where people flourish in their God-given gifts and are encouraged to Pursue their Dreams.
• To create a family environment that reaches all generations, empowering each generation to reach their full potential.
s of life come into a transforming relationship with Christ.
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Posted in Nepal by Charles McCall III on 6/27/2011
What a huge breath of fresh air physically, but also spiritually Nepal has been. Our squad has been blessed with the chance to minister and spread God's love and glory among this beautiful mountainous region. Our new team started off the month by exploring the city, including a temple, shopping, and the beautiful mountainsides. We also got the opportunity to do a church service in Kathmandu and then going to do a number of house visits to encourage and pray for local believers. It is always so amazing at how much these people serve us with cookies and soda despite having so little to give. I always walk away feeling more blessed than them.
(Tough being tall sometimes)
From there we headed to our first village ministry where we stayed at a local church and helped them perform many baptisms of fellow believers, including one of our own.
(Baptizing Chelsea!!!)
(Team RC) (Why not get a bath to last for the next few days?)
Next we headed to our second village where we told to construct a bathroom for the village church that they were going to build. Needless to say, I don't have the greatest construction skills, but we bought the materials and laid the foundation down. Lots of mixing cement and laying bricks down, but we trust that God will bring workers in behind us to complete the work.
(Laying that foundation. Right behind us is our bathroom/the cornfield) (Wrestling goats and losing by the look of things) (I never rode inside a vehicle. Either on the top/out the side/on a moto, or we walked over mountains or tubed across rivers)
We had a long hard hike over a couple of steep mountains to the next village. We had a couple of close calls, but everyone made it safely. This village was really remote and it was our job to design and start to build a school there because the village kids had to walk 4 hours every day to get to the current school. This included crossing a huge river where some kids had drowned previously. It was really hard work bring stones up a mountain and digging a trench, but well worth it when you look in those kid's eyes. (Fun 5 hour hike. Tough, but beautiful) (Celebrating a mountaintop together)  (The land of the new school)
(Determined to not let the little kids show me up. Not easy carrying a basket full of stones up a steep hill using your head)
The night before we left the third village, it monsooned all night. Of course, we had been praying for rain the whole time and it hadn't come, but the one time we pray for it to not rain, it pours. So we had to tube across one river, ford another one, take a makeshift boat across another one. All to get on a bus and ride on the top of it sitting on a pile of bananas ducking so we don't get decapitated by power lines. The bus rocks back and forth, making us think that it was going to tip, but we survive, and hop on another bus. Arrive at our destination, and then travel to pray over the land for a future orphanage. All wrapped up by an 1 1/2 hour long church service that doesn't end until 10:30. Up at 3:45 the next morning and on a 14 bus ride back to Kathmandu.
(Trying to cross a huge river and not get our packs wet)  (Crossing the river. Who needs waterparks in Nepal?)
So, a great adventurous month for me and my team. I really feel like we helped start a movement in the different villages we got to go to. Pray for a spirit of refreshment once again as our squad prepares to head to Africa for 3 months. Our first country will be South Africa, and we will be helping launch a new ministry in Coffee Bay off the SE coast. There will be 4 teams together and it should be an exciting time, but I know that Africa will also pose many spiritual challenges so be in steady prayer for me and my team. I can't believe 6 countries have come and gone! Love you all very much!
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Posted in Nepal by Charles McCall III on 6/6/2011
So, India is behind me now. It was a tough and challenging month. There were many cultural and communicational differences, along with the never ending scorching heat and being sick. Our ministry was good though. We got to preach the Gospel a lot, evangelize, and really encourage fellow believers in the village we were staying in. Despite the fact that many people in India live in poverty and Hinduism is such a stronghold there, I do feel like I can see God slowly beginning to transform the nation.
(On the roof at one of the many cottage prayers)
(Street preaching/evangelizing/singing/praying) (Planting a church in remote India) (Me and a few of the boys)
(Me and my adopted son Arif)
With that said, there has been another team change. My new team is called Radiant Change/RC. I have been blessed with a new family. The change was quick and unexpected for us all, but it will bring about so much more growth in all of us. God quickly gave me a peace about everything, and I am embracing this new season for me and excited about how God continues to stretch me.
Nepal has been warmly welcomed by our whole team. The cooler weather, mountains, and delicious food have been a timely blessing from God. Our ministry has been amazing so far and we are going to different villages and churches in SE Nepal for a couple weeks. We will mainly help build a school in a remote village so these poor kids don't have to walk 3 hours to school every day. I can't wait. Nepal is on pace to be my favorite month of ministry so far. This place is rockin!
Introducing Team Radiant Change
(Genae, Chelsea O, Me, Chelsea C/Poppy, Lauren, Alison, Mike)
I am ready for God to grow me in the new season. I'll be shepherding this amazing little flock. Each person offers so much to this team and the Kingdom, and I can't wait for us to learn from each other and to unite in Christ. Everyone has been so encouraging and supportive to me and each other, and I know that God is going to grow and stretch me so much in this new role.
(Can you tell that I love the mountains?)
Isaiah 60:5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you. | |
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Posted in India by Charles McCall III on 5/17/2011
Let me preface this blog by saying that God loves to work in mysterious ways. He takes the foolish things in the world to shame the wise, and he takes the weak things in the world to shame the strong. He chooses the the low, despised things of the world, and He chooses things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are (I Cor. 1:27-29)This is where my journey in India begins. Well, there and also with a 37 hour, non a/c train ride during India's hottest month.
It's ironic that...
- I am so excited for the nation of India, yet I get sick the first two days we arrive at our ministry, and miss the opening church ceremony welcoming us
-The women of this village and nation work so hard just to live right above poverty, yet they wear the most amazing, decorative, and colorful saris (long robes)
-People live in a one-room hut, with a dirt floor, yet they still have the decency & honor to ask you to take your shoes off before entering
-A woman we were visiting & praying for lives in a hut made of cow dung, yet still offers to buy our whole team each a soda or gives us each a handful of soybeans
-A tiny, little stray cat here could be sold for lots of $ back in America. An
-We serve in a tiny church that is connected to the house we are staying at. This church only houses around 40 people, 50 max, yet this is the main site, and there is a smaller branch church on the other side of the village
-The social, cultural, and physical conditions make it extremely hard to be a follower of Christ here, yet they fervently praise God and pray so intensely that it lights your eyes up. Even the children are prayer warriors and possess a faith that would blow you away
-I think that I am the one coming to serve, yet my team and I are served tirelessly and endlessly every moment of every day
All this irony has really brought me to a sincere point of humiliation. I thought I was a decent servant, even that it was one of my spiritual gifts, but I have learned so much from this month and these people. Even the Son of Man became a servant to all and commanded us to be a "slave to all." Who do I really think I am? God has taught me a lasting lesson that I must continue to lose my life for his sake, and to count others above myself at all times.
Jeremiah 9:24
"but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.
God, let me not look at myself, but abide in your presence. Help me to stop looking at my unworthiness, and look to your righteousness. Use me not for who I am, but for who you are. I beg you to give your servant the understanding to know you and make you known.
(Sorry no pics, internet is too slow, up on fb though)
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