South Africa

The past week has been a busy one....this is the first time since my injury that I’ve left the state of Minnesota.  And it wasn’t just a hop to another city in another state.  It was a hop over a big pond and a couple of continents.

I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa with my friend and co-worker, Christopher Fry, about a week ago.  We’d felt God calling PPM to serve in Africa with increasing strength in recent years, and landed on January, 2012 as the time to get things rolling.  Christopher directs our marketing, but he had mentioned to me years ago that he’d always been very interested in serving in Africa.  As PPM has continued to grow significantly, we knew in our hearts it was just a matter of time before we began to serve and partner with the church in Africa.

After an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam  and an 11 hour flight to Cape Town, our feet were finally on African soil.  Since PPM always serves in partnership and under the authority of the local church, we always need to meet the leadership of the church where they are at…….

…….and they weren’t at Cape Town.  They were in Johannesburg.

So we went to sleep immediately after arriving in Cape Town, got up the next morning, and flew to Johannesburg, South Africa.  There we met a handful of people in leadership in the church, including the General Secretary of the Southern Africa Baptist Union, the Mission Director for the Southern Africa Baptist Union, and one of the founders of a multi-continent ministry called Luke 10 Transformation.  After a wonderful day of meeting and seeing Johannesburg, we flew back to Cape Town.

Rev Angelo and Rev Abraham

In Cape Town we met with the first pastor PPM will be partnering with (and receiving a mission team from Briarwood Church in Texas) in South Africa, a gentleman named Patrick Crowster.  Patrick and his wife lead a church called Belhar Baptist in the Belhar community of Cape Town.  Belhar has about 50,000 inhabitants and 90% unemployment.  The community suffers from not just a lack of jobs and opportunity, but from many other issues that often come hand-in-hand with a lack of employment.  Vandalism, theft, and drug use continue to rise in this community.  Lack of education for most people continues to hold them down as adults, and it breeds to some a degree a spirit of contentment with having little to hope for in life.

Belhar Church

Community of Belhar, next to church

As a response to this spirit in the community, Patrick and his wife began to research what jobs were most readily available and needing to hire within South Africa.  The greatest need for more employees was in the medical field, most specifically Nursing Assistants.  Thus, Patrick and his wife spent significant time working through the approval and certification process in South Africa, and they now are able to offer a nearly free education (and degree) for adults in the Belhar area who are interested in employment as a Nursing Assistant.  The response from the community has been overwhelming, and they are now training dozens of people from the Belhar community to become Nursing Assistants.  The job market for this position is excellent; 98% of the hundreds that have come through this training have been hired within 6 months of receiving the degree. 

Belhar Baptist is also significantly involved with a orphanage on the outskirts of Cape Town, has a youth music ministry, and is continually reaching into Belhar to show them God’s love in a practical way.

This is just one of the pastors and situations we’ve come across already in South Africa.  We’re thrilled to partner with Pastor Patrick Crowster and his community in Belhar, South Africa.  We’ve been praying for a location to begin, and this is it.  Yet, we also know this is just the beginning of what God is up to through PPM on this beautiful continent.

Christopher and I on Table Mountain

 We’ve also had the chance to see some of the beauty of Cape Town, which is indeed one of the most physically stunning places I’ve ever had the chance to visit.  South Africa is filled with challenges and struggles, but the people overall are resilient and optimistic about their future, and I’ve already learned more from them in a week than I ever imagined.

Self pic, Table Mountain

I’ll be writing more in my next blog about apartheid and the opportunity to spend time with a gentleman that, at first blush, has impacted me with his wisdom and experience more than almost anyone I have ever met…..but I’ll save that for next time.

PPM Africa begins now.  Please pray for us, and at the same time, let’s enjoy the ride. 

God is really, really good.

Burning, Leaking, Celebrating

About a week ago I was in my office at work and on the phone.  I had recently begun to feel an odd "coming and going" sensation in my bladder that I can best describe as the feeling of someone firmly pushing on the inside of my abdomen with a dead porcupine.  The pressure on my bladder felt prickly and strong for about 10 seconds, and then would go away.

This sensation was happening with more and more frequency during one specific phone call, and it got to the point where I was really sure my bladder was full and I needed to go pee.  As I finally got off the phone and started walking towards the bathroom, I felt the unmistakable tickle of something dripping down my leg.  Then again, everything is mistakable when you have nerve damage....so I didn't really trust the sensation of pee on my leg.

Then I looked down.

It appeared as though someone has spilled a full glass of water in my lap.  Yep, I peed my pants.  Big time.

I burst into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet, and a couple of additional ounces of pee trickled out involuntary.  It just came out.  You know, like a normal person.  Only I had no say over making it stop...or start again.  It just did what it pleases......like my entire bladder system has its own personality.

But, WOW!  I peed without having to push like crazy to force it out!  

So I cleaned myself up as best I could, walked back to the office and told Erin (our Duluth office manager) "sorry, this is gross but great......look at my pants.  I peed in them!  I peed my pants!  Pee came out on its own!  High five!  Also, I did wash my hands."

........................................................

The past week has been filled with some significant breakthroughs from a nerve/pee perspective.  Since that day last week, the "burning pressure with needles" sensation has become more intense and more frequent.  Through my own analysis, I've discovered that sometimes the sensation means I have to pee, and other times not.  There's not a ton of rhyme or reason to it.  That being said, at least a few times in each of the last few days I've sat down on the toilet, waited, and then a few dribbles of pee come out.  

I am so thankful.  It burns a lot (pins, needles, and fire in your genitals...enough said.).  It's a little inconvenient because I have to constantly check to see if I'm leaking and/or filling up a pad.  And it means those nerves are starting to wake up.

Thank you for your prayer.  Thank you, Lord.  I love my life.

PPM Haiti: 2 Years Later

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I had just come home from work when the phone rang.  It was my mother.  "Matt, did you see on the news about the earthquake in Haiti?"

I turned on CNN and was gripped by footage of the chaos unfolding in Port au Prince as night was falling.  Many of us remember exactly where we were when news of the earthquake hit the airwaves.

PPM (prayingpelicanmissions.org) had recently hired Jim Noreen, our new Haiti Operations Manager, and was already planning to go to Haiti as an organization that same year.

In times of unpredictable chaos, tragedy, and destruction, it's difficult to know one's place.  We heard of many churches, organizations, companies, and individuals that simply responded by hopping the next flight to Haiti and showing up.  Some were equipped and trained in disaster relief.  Others simply had a heart to help.

We (PPM) chose to back off on our early spring travel plans and wait until the initial disaster relief was over.  PPM is not (yet) a relief organization.  We are a ministry that partners with the local church and community to serve under the authority of those that know their country and people better than we ever will.  So we waited until April to begin our physical effort and partnerships.  When we first arrived, it looked to us as though the earthquake could have happened just a few days prior.  Collapsed buildings were everywhere.  The National Palace looked like it had been struck by a meteor.  Rubble clogged the streets.

In the months after the earthquake, we made a pledge as an organization to match dollar for dollar any donations that were designated to help post-earthquake Haiti (up to $10,000).  Around $9,000 came in specifically for that purpose, and we designated the same amount to give to Haiti.

That same summer, we began to receive mission teams that wanted to serve in post-earthquake Haiti.  The needs were so tremendous that it was very difficult to determine where to begin.  Again, we counted on our relationships with pastors and community leaders to help guide us in deciding where to put time, effort, and finances that could in some way be a legitimate help to those that needed it the most.

PPM wound up working with teams that summer and fall in two specific areas:

1) Building a small school in a town called Mariani, located half way in between Port au Prince and the earthquake's epicenter.  The nearest school that was still open for these children after the earthquake was nearly 5 miles away....a distance they would need to walk.  Most of these children would end up not going to school at all.

2) Rebuild homes for a few families in the church that had lost a number of family members and their homes in the earthquake.

I'm pleased to tell you that with the money PPM received and matched we not only completed the school in time for kids to begin classes that fall, but we continue today to work on a number of Christian outreach and humanitarian projects in the Port au Prince area and beyond.

Here's just a sample of our ongoing projects:

• Building a church on top of the school that is already functional
• Completing a number of additional homes that have been built in the Port au Prince area
• Partnering with a few churches in the states to help feed children at an orphanage that were literally trying to survive on one serving of cornmeal per day
• Laying plans to help build a church in far reaching community north of Port au Prince
• PPM now has full time missionaries living in Haiti, working with mission teams, and taking on leadership at orphanages
• We're in the initial stages of taking on the operations of Haiti Christian Orphanage, a home for about 40 orphaned boys ( haitichristianorphanage.org )

We're working hard to make a difference in Haiti.  I want to thank all of you that have prayed for or given to Haiti in the past two years.  I've seen a number of articles recently about how little has changed in Haiti since the earthquake.  While it's true that Haiti still faces many economic challenges, I'd like you to know two this:

Haiti is indeed in better shape now than it was 24 months ago, and it's due to a collective effort by Haitians and the world to make a difference.

The beauty of the Haitian people is like no other culture I've experienced before.  Haiti may not be rich in the world's eyes, but they have a spirit of pure love and joy that I have no doubt is pleasing to God.  

We continue to serve the people of Haiti, learn from the people of Haiti, and love the people of Haiti.

Mariani School - Functionally Completed

School in Session!

Starting to Build the Church on Top!

Home Built for Deacon David's Family......

Deacon David's Family!

The Ambush.

I was laying on my back.  Eyes closed.  Deep, controlled breathing from the depth of my diaphragm.  I had just completed a set of daily hamstring stretches that are intended to help a nerve-damaged area on my legs.


And then I felt it.


A slight tingle on the tip of my nose, as if someone  was gently dragging a single strand of hair over my face.


The next time I breathed in, instead of the peaceful feeling of fresh oxygen entering my lungs, I was abruptly pulled out of my coma-like state by tasting a full breath of putrid air.  What is that smell?  Is it poop?  Is it rotting fish?


No, it's worse.


It's 150 pounds of skin, hair, teeth, and gas.  It's George Pfingsten, and he's picking a fight.


As his nostrils flare, puffing more rotten air at my now open eyes, I realize that I could easily fit a bratwurst up each of those wide-open holes.  I reach up towards his giant skull and place both my hands in his mouth, palms facing out.  His lips are like massive, fuzzy slices of Christmas ham, and by grabbing them I gain slight control of his ox-like cranium.


Then, the sounds begin.  If you've ever seen Jurassic Park, picture the T-Rex screaming at the people in the tour vehicle.  Now pretend the T-Rex is 10 inches from your face.  The sheer volume and intensity of the yell/growl/scream will have you covering your ears and running for the door.


The problem is, when I want to cover my ears, it means I lose my only defense: my grip on his lips.


So I turn my head sideways to preserve hearing in one ear and to avoid the wet stench of his poopy fish breath.  My heart races.  Adrenaline courses through both of our bodies. Now George is climbing over me, as English Mastiffs do.  They are the world's largest dog breed, and they are renowned for literally standing over people.  George is making his classic mastiff move.


With teeth flaring and limbs moving to climb on top of me, I give a two-handed shove to his torso.  It has the effect of trying to mosh with a sumo wrestler.  George doesn't even notice my shove.


Now he's standing completely over me, facing down at his victim with teeth and breath flaring.  Once again, my only defense is to cover my head with my arms.  As I fold both arms over my head, I feel his mammoth jaws engulf my arms. Yes, both forearms in his mouth at the same time.  A panic starts to come over me.  Is this the end?  Is this the way I'm going to go?  Crushed my a mastiff that just came from eating a bucket of crud and sardines?


Suddenly, he releases my arms just a little.  But then he catches them again.....and he begins to nibble on my forearms.  And he's pinching my skin with his little front teeth.  It's as though George decided he wanted to rapidly eat some corn on the cob, and my arms are the ears of corn. Nibble, nibble, nibble, nibble.  I feel like a three course meal.


Just as I'm trying to pull my arms away, I feel the familiar sensation of human skin on my forehead.  


Oh no.  It's his partner in crime.  Elijah Pfingsten.


Elijah is staring down at his now-being-tortured dad with a menacing grin.  Placing both hands on my forehead, he starts to push down with all his weight on the palms of his hands, repeatedly.  This is Elijah's trademark move.  It's as though he's performing CPR on my forehead.


Just then, a knock at the door.  George leaps out of the room to see who it is.  Elijah completely ignores me and crawls for the stairs.  I half-roll, half-dive into the bathroom.  I close the door, lock it, and sit up against the door.

I close my eyes.  Deep, controlled breathing from the depth of my diaphragm.  My stretching session is complete.


And I live to see another day.

Partners in crime, pretending nothing ever happened.

2012: The Year of Extra Wrinkles.

I used to laugh and roll my eyes at all the over-the-top "New Year's Resolution" commercials on TV.  I'd give the same response to the friend, neighbor, or family member that would earnestly ask me "so what's your New Year's resolution?"

"My New Year's Resolution is not to have any more New Year's Resolutions." I would say sarcastically.

Then I got married.  I can't remember what year it was, probably the early 2000's, but I remember thinking to myself at this time of year,  "holy crap, if I'm dead-honest with myself, I'm a real screw up. I'm selfish, self-motivated, and self-centered.  Even when I pretend I'm looking out for others, I'm really only looking out for myself.  Maybe I actually should commit to making a change in the next year.....not like a commitment to lose weight or take a vacation, but a real change within me.  Something about who I am right now that needs some work.  God, what do you want me to work on in the next year?"

And thus began my tradition of intentional reflection and self-evaluation at the end of each year.

Here they are for 2012 (for all the world to see!):

1) Actually listen to my wife.  I have the terrible habit of saying "yeah yeah yeah" when she's talking to me, and I don't even know what I'm agreeing to with her.  Also, maybe some of you men out there have noticed as well....our wives drop hints about things all the time.  It could be about going on a date, getting a project done at home, walking the dogs, etc.  As we've been married for over 10 years now, I certainly understand when she's dropping the hint....and yet, it's all to easy to just ignore it.  This year, I'm going to actually listen to my wife.

2) I'm going to actively engage my children in activities every day.  This one is so easy to put off because we're tired or have "better" things to do.  Credit goes to my wife on this one.  She said recently (paraphrasing), "all I do around here is clean up, fix meals, and do laundry.  Isaiah is already 5.  I'm done putting him off because I have to fold clothes.  I'm going to hang out with my kids and enjoy them while I'm home.  This is a very special time of life for them, and before we know it, it's going to be gone.  I'm not going to waste it anymore."  I couldn't agree more with this assessment.  Far too often I let the kids play by themselves so I can get another thing done.  In the end it's not vacuuming that the kids and I are going to remember.  We're going to remember quality time together, actively engaging each other.  Gina and I are both going to invest in this in 2012.

I hope and pray that 2012 is a wonderful year for you.  I'm excited to listen to my wife and engage my kids. 

  

And if my clothes have a few extra wrinkles, you'll know I'm keeping my commitment.