Jesse’s Blog

pleaaasseeee... no more olives!

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:44:54 +0200

OLIVES. OLIVES. OLIVES!!!!

That is all I have been thinking about for about a month now. MCM has just launched a new sustainability project called “Promise Olives,” which Becky (MCM staff member) have created logos, brochures, websites and various other marketing tools for. (For more info on that go to Promise Olives) I have been working at every spare moment on that project so I am exhausted. But we are close to the finish line.

Anyways, in about 5 hours, I will no longer be an employee of Monte Christo Ministries. The internship program I have been a part of this last 11 months has come to an end so quickly. I will be moving out of the MC House (where the 4 other interns and I have been living) and into one of the MCM staff members house for a few weeks.

Although I am done with the program, there are still a number of things that I will be doing for MCM until I return to the states. I will be finishing up and helping distribute all of the Promise Olive things until I leave, fixing some things about the offices, and being the unofficial MCM airport taxi for those who are going back to the states for the holidays. I will also be taking advantage of the last month I have with the people that have become like my family, while also taking the time to reflect on the last year before I am back into the busy swing of things in the states.

I am very excited to head back, but at the same time extremely sad to be leaving such amazing people. I will be cherishing every last second I get to spend here because before I know it, the opportunity will be past.

Im looking forward to seeing all of you and eating a California burrito (im not sure in which order I meant that...)

jesse

I have no idea what to call this, just read it

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:15:22 +0200

As the year continues to come to an end, I am starting to understand how fast life goes by and how many opportunities we get in relationships, work, ministry, and most of all in personal and spiritual growth.

Over the past month, I have had to dissect my character at an extremely deep level. I have been so focused on the outward “ministries” and trying “care for widows and orphans in their distress” (James 1:27) that I have forgotten to keep who I am in my heart, how people perceive me at a glance or even under a microscope, in check. I have come to see that my attitude has become warped from where God wants it to be. But the hardest thing for me isn’t realizing that I need to change, I believe the change has already started. The hardest thing is knowing that because of ME and the perception I have given other people about where my heart and character lie, I have hurt people and hindered relationships along the way. God has given me a gift of being relational, and wasting that is something that I am not willing to do.

In meetings and classes over the past few weeks there has been one recurring piece of advice: Finish strong. And that is what I am intending to do. Wether that is apologizing, mending old relationships, building new ones, or continuing on with ministry whole heartedly. God has me where he wants me and although its going to be difficult at times, I’m 100% OK with that :-)

Please keep me in your prayers as God continues to stretch and mold my heart and character to where HE wants it to be. Thanks for everything.

peace.

Namibia!

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:56:56 +0200

Quick update...
THings have been going great. Discipleship leaders(small group leaders) have been getting their friends to come help out and our team is growing! We just had a meeting with all of them and could not believe how many showed up! We have been very busy getting these leaders ready for the 3 weeks all of us at MCM will be in Namibia.

MCM is going on a 3 week outreach to Rundu, Namibia. Namibia is on the northwestern border of South Africa. We are all getting very excited and we leave this wednesday!!! We will be working with the local schools and churches doing vacation bible school and hosting a conference as well. Be looking forward to pictures and hopefully some good stories. While I am there i will not be updating this blog but please feel free to follow our journey at
MCM Namibia Outreach 2008. Please keep us in your prayers as we will be traveling quite a bit.

love.
jesse.

Soo....

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:40:38 +0200

I have about 4-5 months left here in South Africa and I am now getting to freedom to ask myself what do I want to do with the time I have left here... And this is what I came up with.

Since we started working with the high school Christian Clubs in the area, we have had some great ideas in how to make them better and how to give the ownership of them in to the students hands. Me and Lubabalo(my roommate) are taking the leaders of the Desmond Tutu Christian Club (in Mbekweni) to dinner on Sunday to discuss what they want the Club to look like and how they want to influence their school. We are also planning a movie night event for that same club so they can have a safe place to just hang out and build relationships in a safe place.

On another note, Quentin(head of schools ministry for MCM) and I are working on starting up a resource center in every area of Paarl, starting with right in the middle of town. A resource center is basically a place where students can come hang out, get tutoring, counseling, and even have a youth group type event! We are still in the planning stages and are excited to see this thing start moving! I will keep you updated as things progress.

Becky(Communications person for MCM) and I are going to be updating and hopefully giving the MCM website a makeover. On top of that we are going to be making some videos that will help get the picture of what MCM is all about out there. I cant wait to show you what we come up with!

So... That is my next 4-5 months in a nutshell. I looks like I am going out with a bang :-) I hope this catches you up to speed.

Thank you all again for your prayers and support.

Peace and love from Africa.

A month’s worth of Updates...

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 09:17:27 +0200

Hi everybody!
Sorry I have been pretty much M.I.A. for the past month or so. And I knooooow so many of you check at least once a day and most of you every hour to see what is going on in Africa(or maybe not), so this will be my attempt to fill you in. :-)

At the end of June, things were going awesome! Our small groups were starting to grow... The older kids were starting to share more within their small groups and our relationships with the leaders started getting deeper and it was amazing to really start to getting to know them. I was really getting to spend quality time with one of our leaders in particular.

Then the July holidays came around (a 2 week school vacation). Since during the holidays we cannot do school ministry, and many people go places during the holiday, we also got to take a 2 week break. During this time I got a lot of time to relax and think about some things. I also got to go on a Great White Shark dive!!! It was crazy, and sooo scary. I also got to spend some time getting caught up on some photography.

In mid July my sister and her boyfriend came out here to visit me and it has been so amazing having them here. It is like a little taste of home. The first week they were here I got to show them around and give them a feel for what an average week looks like for me. Then they took me on a safari to Zambia and Botswana! And they paid for everything!!! I cannot express how thankful I am and how much fun it was. My sister is still here and will be returning back to the States on August 17.

Since then I have been working with the leadership to try and see what we can do to jump start our ministry efforts to be bit more effective and also start up some new programs that I will be heavily involved in. I am very excited about what is happening and will keep you updated with what God does here in Paarl.

Thank you again for everything you all do through prayer, encouraging me, and supporting me financially. Nothing I do would be possible with out you.

Jesse