Road Trip – Part 2
(Written by Mike)
Last week, Lorie talked about the 1st ½ of our two week Road Trip with our eight friends (Jon, Chrisy, Teri, Bobby, Sharon, Maya, Myles, and Lisa) from our church (Canyon Hills). It’s been GREAT having them here doing communion, community, and mission together!
This week we spent two days working around Pangani. It’s over 100 years old and needs some work. We did painting, ceiling repair, some plumbing, and even some much needed computer maintenance. (I don’t know why I keep getting roped into that! J) 
Then we went to Tutela again to play and do crafts with the kids. 
That was a lot of fun!
The next day we visited the Apartheid Museum.
This museum is really more of an “experience” than a typical museum. It’s well done and a powerful taste of how Apartheid came about, how it worked, and how it finally (and painfully) came to an end. We also did something that few white people have ever done: we toured the largest and most well known township of Soweto. During Aparthied, these townships were where the blacks lived in order to be of service to the nearest city. Now they are virtual cities in their own right. Soweto has about four million people living there.
Most Afrikaners (white South Africans) that I’ve talked with are very fearful of going near these places. 
But our experience was very different. As we ate lunch, drove around, and walked through 
parts of the township we were pleasantly surprised at how friendly everyone was. 
People waved and welcomed us. It was obvious that we were a rare site in that area, and most people there seemed excited to have us visiting. 
A group called SKY (Soweto Kliptown Youth) gave us a walking tour, entertained us with some fun dancing,
and then took us to one of their weekly Bible studies. It was a great day!
On Thursday we drove through the Pilanesburg game park. Our family had been there before, but it was a lot of fun to go there with our friends to see all of the animals. 
(This wild elephant stood at the fence long enough for us to get this picture!) Friday was a day starting with some time of solitude and reflection. This was perfect timing since our schedule has been so hectic.
Saturday part of our crew went to a local soccer game, while the others went shopping and checked out the Voortrekker Monument.
This was a great field trip for our kids considering that we have been studying American pioneers. History has it that South Africa had their own pioneer movement at the same time and so much of it is parallel to the American pioneers, right down to the covered wagons! 
Throughout the week we had more meaningful discussions about how the Kingdom of God is with us right now, and how will we take what we’ve learned here and take it home with us. During one of our conversations we were given an assignment to pick an object that we thought could represent “Christian mission” and then explain it. At first I thought of a brick – representing building houses and doing other work for the poor that may happen once or twice a year. But then I realized that is no longer my definition of “mission”. So instead I chose a coffee cup – to represent the relationships that I can have everyday over a cup like this. Just as Jesus lived in and among people and earned the right to speak into their lives, that’s how I need to live everyday with my neighbors and other people. For me, “mission” is no longer something I do every so often, but it needs to be a lifestyle that I live out everyday.
What are your thoughts on this? Does any of this resonate with you? Leave a comment (or drop me an E-mail) and let me know what you think.
Much love and thanks to all of you!!
(Written by Mike)
Last week, Lorie talked about the 1st ½ of our two week Road Trip with our eight friends (Jon, Chrisy, Teri, Bobby, Sharon, Maya, Myles, and Lisa) from our church (Canyon Hills). It’s been GREAT having them here doing communion, community, and mission together!
This week we spent two days working around Pangani. It’s over 100 years old and needs some work. We did painting, ceiling repair, some plumbing, and even some much needed computer maintenance. (I don’t know why I keep getting roped into that! J) 
Then we went to Tutela again to play and do crafts with the kids. 
That was a lot of fun!The next day we visited the Apartheid Museum.
This museum is really more of an “experience” than a typical museum. It’s well done and a powerful taste of how Apartheid came about, how it worked, and how it finally (and painfully) came to an end. We also did something that few white people have ever done: we toured the largest and most well known township of Soweto. During Aparthied, these townships were where the blacks lived in order to be of service to the nearest city. Now they are virtual cities in their own right. Soweto has about four million people living there.
Most Afrikaners (white South Africans) that I’ve talked with are very fearful of going near these places. 
But our experience was very different. As we ate lunch, drove around, and walked through 
parts of the township we were pleasantly surprised at how friendly everyone was. 
People waved and welcomed us. It was obvious that we were a rare site in that area, and most people there seemed excited to have us visiting. 
A group called SKY (Soweto Kliptown Youth) gave us a walking tour, entertained us with some fun dancing,
and then took us to one of their weekly Bible studies. It was a great day!
On Thursday we drove through the Pilanesburg game park. Our family had been there before, but it was a lot of fun to go there with our friends to see all of the animals. 
(This wild elephant stood at the fence long enough for us to get this picture!) Friday was a day starting with some time of solitude and reflection. This was perfect timing since our schedule has been so hectic.Saturday part of our crew went to a local soccer game, while the others went shopping and checked out the Voortrekker Monument.
This was a great field trip for our kids considering that we have been studying American pioneers. History has it that South Africa had their own pioneer movement at the same time and so much of it is parallel to the American pioneers, right down to the covered wagons! 
Throughout the week we had more meaningful discussions about how the Kingdom of God is with us right now, and how will we take what we’ve learned here and take it home with us. During one of our conversations we were given an assignment to pick an object that we thought could represent “Christian mission” and then explain it. At first I thought of a brick – representing building houses and doing other work for the poor that may happen once or twice a year. But then I realized that is no longer my definition of “mission”. So instead I chose a coffee cup – to represent the relationships that I can have everyday over a cup like this. Just as Jesus lived in and among people and earned the right to speak into their lives, that’s how I need to live everyday with my neighbors and other people. For me, “mission” is no longer something I do every so often, but it needs to be a lifestyle that I live out everyday.
What are your thoughts on this? Does any of this resonate with you? Leave a comment (or drop me an E-mail) and let me know what you think.
Much love and thanks to all of you!!
posted by Michael and Lorie Taylor at 8:54 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Mike,
Terrific post. The journey to Soweto sounds so awesome! I envy you for Friday's time of reflection. Although, I have been reflecting myself, it's just hard to get the long stretches of time. Then again, your kids are with you too so we do need to just learn to do this and make it a priority. Interesting that you mention the Kingdom of God in this post. It has been something on my mind as two Fridays ago we began focusing on that in Epicenter, the idea that the Kingdom of God is our priority and we need to focus on it. Anyway, I wrote about that in my own post on my blog. Regarding your question about an object that represents a "Christian mission" for me, I've thought about it and I would have to say it would be a bandage. Lately, I've had these experences with people that make me realize how broken humanity is. Some of it has been conflict resolution, some of it people who've pulled out of church, not just "my church" but church, period because people hurt them. Some of it is emotional stuff in my extended family. Prior to one of these meetings I was to have, I asked John Reed to pray for me he was sincerely moved and said, "God, this isn't the way your world is supposed to be." (You know that clip from "Grand Canyon" comes to mind.) For me the Christian mission is about loving people the way Christ loved us, spreading his love, and ultimately letting people be healed by reconciliation with God. You know, fixing their brokenness. A bandage seems to represent that for me. Obviously, it's not the way people say, "Don't just put a band-aide on the problem." But, I think of my daughter and she really feels healed by a band-aide, the process of me even taking the time to put it on makes her feel loved. Christ certainly made me feel that way. I may just stick a band-aide on the console in my car to remind me of where my focus should be: the World's pain, human brokenness, and reconciliation with the creator, healing. I need strength and courage. Thanks for making me think. I truly get something out of all these posts and updates. I miss you and it makes me feel still connected to you, like you won't come back a stranger.
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