Bullauge International

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2008-08-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

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Our Last Week

2008-06-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

Good Bye
The last days all of us finished off their work at the various ministries and said good bye to the people they had been in touch with. Tuesday afternoon was a highlight for us as a team. Though it was a sad occasion to say farewell to the students at SCO it was also very touching. The teenagers had written letters, poems and even prepared a song for the whole team. We left in knowing that we had made an impact in their lives.

Our Foreigners
Last week we told you about our Zimbabwean bible study group. We had heard on Saturday that Nicolas had to move due to a raise in rent and that Portia moved into his old place. Fortunately a group of us found Portia while she was fixing and cleaning the shack and we could help her finish quickly so she could move in that same evening.

What we did not realise was that the whole situation for the foreigners in Masiphumelele was getting more and more tense. The news spoke about the burning of shacks and the killing of people in Johannesburg, but we did not expect anything similar in Masi. It was on Wednesday and on Thurdsday night that threats were made against the foreigners living in the township. The whole night people were shouting on the streets saying that if they would not leave by Friday they, too, would have to be scared for their lives.

On Friday we got a phone call with the request for help. The refugees living in Masi had to leave the township. Kindly we received an offer that our Zimbabwean friends could stay at the team house of “All Nations”. Our whole team (plus the others that had just arrived from Uganda) prayed for the situation, while Chris and Ben headed to Masi in order to help. They found that most of their friends had already found shelter outside of the danger zone.

It was only Portia, her son Michael, and Cathryn that needed our help desperately. With only their most important belongings we drove them to the “All Nations” team house where they are still staying with other believers. We also drove two other women to the police station where people were taken to other safe places.

God answers prayer
God has worked through us and in us. We were ministers of God’s love to the people in Masiphumelele. Many seeds were sewn. Some even gave their lives to Jesus and made him Lord of their lives so they will have eternal lives in heaven. With the Holy Spirit in them they can share his love with other people, too. But of course the threats against the foreigners made us leave with a heavy heart and the question if it was of real value what we did. It was on Monday that we received the answer to our prayers as the headline of the Cape Town newspaper read: “Masiphumelele leads way with apology to foreigners.” The leaders of this community are the first in the whole country to reconcile and ask for forgiveness for what is going on.

Let us not stop here, but let us carry on praying that many more will receive Christ in Masiphumelele and that we will see much more evidence of God’s love in our township.

PS: Take a look at a video that shows what we did

6th week

2008-05-20T00:54:00.000-07:00

As a team we are doing very well. We can see how God has kept us safe especially in the area of team unity. All of us come from different backgrounds with different personalities and giftings, so it is easy to be led astray and start pointing fingers at each others faults. But the Holy Spirit has kept the unity among us so we can work for the same goal: to communicate Jesus to the people of Masiphumelele. Next week is our last week and we can't believe that we coming to an end of our outreach. We are eager to keep the fire burning and to finish the race well. It is God who is giving us strength and passion to keep sharing the good news with the people we meet.

School Ministry
Adolph is finishing his time at the school with tessting the students on what he has been teaching them about Maths and Science. Ben ended his last lessons in Art and Culture classes with a short gospel presentation in all his three classes. He says: "The most important thing for the students to understand is what Jesus has done for them on the cross." Next to Adolph and Ben doing some teaching in the high school, we also go to the school as a whole team on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In these afternoon classes we work together with Brother Letson from "Student Christian Organisation" (SCO). Last Tuesday we also shared the gospel with these students and asked them if any of them wanted to receive Christ into their lives. Afterwards some of them received Jesus as their Lord and others rededicated their lives to Him. Some of them come from very unsupportive backgrounds and need a lot of prayer, continious help and real friendship. We praise God for the amazing work Brother Letson is doing with these kids!

The Passion of the Christ
The prayer team organised to show "The Passion of the Christ" open air infront of the Baptist Church. It was amazing for all of us to see how God gradually provided all the necessary things and opened doors for us to actually carry out the screening of the movie. On Tuesday the team put up some posters and started to share with the people what would happen. We also got some help from the Baptist Church and the "Apostolic Faith Mission" (AFM). As soon as it was dark enough we started to show the movie and there were about 350 people watching until the end. Jeremiah invited people to respond to the message of Christ that comes across in the film. It was quite chaotic as many came to accept Christ and asked to be prayed for. We were not able to follow up on all of them, but we believe that a seed has been planted in many and we ancouraged them to be connected to a church for them to grow in their new life in Christ. Two of the new believers are friends of ours that we know from the high school.

Our Zimbabwean friends
On Sunday morning Lucinda, Carine, Chris and Ben went to the bible study group with the Zimbabweans. We had been meeting in the place of Nicolas and Jake, but a day earlier we had heard that they had to move instantly, because the landlord raised the rent drastically from one day to the other. Knowing this we did not know what to expect. It took us a long time to find Nicolas and Jake in their new home so we just prayed for them and their needs to find a better place to stay. Later in the day a group of us set out to walk around the township to pray. They stopped at the shack where Nicolas and Jake used to live and found Portia claening out their old place. Portia has been with our bible study group right form the start. Now we heard her story. The same landlord kicked her out of her place, too, and within the same day she and her newbron baby had to move. So we decided to help her. The shack is in a very bad condition. There were mice all over the place. We stapled cardboard boxes all around the walls to keep the cold wind out and we laid a plastic covering on the sand floor. In the midst of poverty and injustice we all could praise the Lord for leading us to that place, so we could help Portia in her time of desperation.

5th week

2008-05-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

This last week has been one of miracles and we continue to see God moving in many different situations. Thank you all for your prayerful support.

Door-to-door
Lucy, Chris and Jeremiah are our prayer-warriors and evangelists. Everyday they come back to the rest of the team with new stories to tell of what God has done in the lives of individuals living in the township.

Last week they went through the streets and they met a young man from Zimbabwe. Our team prayed into the fact that, as a refugee, he had been struggling to get the documents needed to find a steady job. The following day our team met up with him again. With a big smile on his face, he told us about his new job that will enable him to provide for his family back in Zimbabwe.

The team was also able to minister to a man who is struggling with many broken relationships in his family. He was divorced, but recently went back to his wife. His parents, however, are still keeping their distance from him. From a human perspective the gap seemed too big to be bridged. However, after many prayers and conversations, our team witnessed the first reconciliation talks between him and his parents.

“God has really been good,” says Lucy, “and we believe that there is hope for Masiphumelele because God loves the people here.”

Bible Studies
On Sunday we met in Nicolas’ home for our weekly Bible study. As mentioned previously, we had asked for prayer concerning the continuation of this group after we leave Masiphumelele. God really answered our prayers and we are thankful that Jeremiah from “All Nations” has agreed to take over from us in leading this group.”

Besides Jeremiah, our Bible study received many other new members. It was a joy to see fourteen Zimbabwean men and woman join us in this small room to learn more about God and to draw closer to Him. It is our desire, as a Team, to keep in contact with them and to hear how they become influencers in the society of Masiphumelele.

Preaching
Being connected to many churches in Masiphumelele, we continue to get opportunities to practise our preaching skills. This last week Andries was asked by the pastor of the “Apostolic Faith Mission” to preach at a youth gathering on Wednesday evening. “The Lord literally prepared my preaching for me,” said Andries, “scripture after scripture, and when the preaching came, God put other things on my heart to share with the people.” The congregation were encouraged and moved by what Andries shared, and they have invited him to preach again.

Global Day Of Prayer
Sunday truly was a blessed day. After attending our various churches in Masiphumelele, we came together to help set up for the "Global Day Of Prayer". The event was held in the Masiphumelele High School and was organised by many congregations in and around the township. Our team’s task was to set up 300 chairs and to lead people to their seats. We helped foster the environment where people of different cultures, colours and congregations would mix well. During the meeting we prayed for transformation in every sphere of society. It was an amazing celebration of diversity in the body of Christ and we praise God for what he is doing to unify the Christians in this area of the world. Praise the Lord!

Please pray for:
This coming Thursday night (15 May) as our Team are organising a screening of the powerful movie "Passion of the Christ". Please pray that many of the Masiphumelele residents will attend, and that God will speak to each individual in a powerful way.

Thank you for all your prayers and support.

4th Week

2008-05-07T03:26:00.000-07:00

Again we want to give all glory to God for the way He is using us to show His love to the people of Masiphumelele, and for the way He is continuously changing our hearts through the situations He takes us and the people we meet.

Soccer field clean up
Due to the recent public holidays, most of the organisations we work with were operating on only two of the days last week. For that reason we decided to clean up a soccer field at the far end of the township. Even though there is clearly a “No dumping” sign, the place was covered in litter. We spent many hours cleaning and were glad to see some children joining us (see photograph below). “After we had cleaned the field”, Carine said, “I realised that God had moved with us and it was as if the soccer field was just a picture of what God wants to do in the hearts of the people of Masiphumelele.” Later on we played soccer with some students from the high school.

Living Hope
Mampho and Andries continue to serve at Living Hope. Mampho is building good friendships there with the patients, many of whom are suffering from HIV and Aids. She helps two chaplains to pray for the sick and facilitate support groups. She experienced a personal breakthrough last week as she understood that God is using her to bring hope to the needy. “But now”, she says, “I know that I can offer them a hope through Jesus Christ, a life in eternity and a chance to change their lives – a living hope.”

Andries has been doing maintenance work in and around the building. The people that work there have expressed their gratitude for his hard physical labour – especially in the garden in Cape Town’s windy winter season. Serving in this way gives him the opportunity to worship God with manmade tools as well as a time to reflect on his own life and relationship with God.

Please pray for:
- As we continue helping Johnny to build a shack, we have come across some basic needs. We are currently looking for people to sponsor a tin roof, hard board, cement for the floor and plastic covering to insulate the walls of his future home. This is an urgent need as Cape Town’s very windy and rainy winter has already begun.

- With the Global Day of Prayer approaching, we are looking into holding a prayer gathering with churches from in and around the township. We will be inviting as many congregations as possible, so as to encourage stronger relationships between the churches of Masiphumelele.

- We have started two weekly Bible study groups. After we leave we do not want these groups to disappear, but rather to grow in faith as their members deepen their relationship with Jesus. Therefore, please pray that we find someone to take over the leadership of these two groups.

Thank you for all your prayers and support.

3rd Week

2008-04-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Special to God
Sinetemba is the name of a day care centre for disabled children. Carine describes the work there as a humbling experience. Each one of these children’s personality is so special and they bring much joy to the kingdom of God. “I am praying for these children”, says Carine, “for joy and for their families, for their muscles to relax and for them to balance their bodied.” These children are truly special to God and through them God shows his love to all humanity.

Restoring Families
There are many broken families in Masiphumelele. While walking through the streets of the township our door-to-door prayer-team felt led by the Holy Spirit to go into the house, which had a pram in front of it. They had a closer look and knocked on the door just to realise that there was a couple in the house. They asked if they could pray for anything. The couple responded immediately: “We are struggling in our marriage,” they said. So the team prayed for God to restore the young family. Afterwards they saw them again on the road enjoying an ice cream together. Our prayer is that God will carry on working in their marriage. May they come to the saving faith in Jesus.

Science for the glory of God
Adolph and I have now come up with a busy teaching schedule for the week. Adolph has started to teach Maths and Science. A group of five students is s very eager to learn more, so Adolph is also going to teach these students in the afternoon. He is getting along well with the students and his new task to teach. His hope is for God to open up opportunities to share the gospel with the students. I joined some art lessons of the 8th and 9th grade. Here I was able to get to know the teacher and the students. I will start teaching next week on perspectives.

Walking the streets
We shared before about a shack we were helping to put together for our friend, Johnny. When Chris and I went to visit him to see how far he is with the building, we saw that Johnny only has to add a roof on top and a floor. We are hoping to enjoy a cup of tea with Johnny in his finished home before the outreach is over. On one of the walks Andries and I realised the soccer field needed a clean up, but we noticed very soon that the task would be harder than first anticipated.

Andries is facing the danger.

2nd Week in Masi

2008-04-25T06:59:00.001-07:00

As a team we are making progress in connecting each team member with various ministry opportunities. We have, therefore, been setting up meetings with pastors, teachers and other leaders of organisations we will be working with (e.g. Living Hope, African Hope, Day Care centres).

Carine loves children, so she will be helping two day care centres. Andries has been helping out in a shop that offers many job opportunities by producing African crafts. Lucy, Jeremiah and Chris have been spending time walking through the streets of Masiphumelele - meeting people, sharing the gospel and praying for them.

Adolph and Ben have been trying to set up a schedule in Masiphumelele High School to help the teachers there in the arts and science classes. Mampho is going to work at the clinic of Living Hope. On Thursday we went to have a look around the place and were very impressed by the high quality and cleanliness of the facility, and their vision to share the gospel and serve the sick.

One day four of our team members were walking through the streets when they felt an urge to pray for a physically disabled boy. Coco is nine years old and after praying for him the group decided to come back together with the whole team to pray for the family. So the entire team went and blessed the family by praying with them and sharing the message of Jesus. We are hoping we will have more opportunities to minister to this family.

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon we will go to the high school to do some dramas and give testimonies. We introduced ourselves last Thursday and enjoyed sharing our stories with them. We hope to get to know them and to see them grow in the knowledge of Jesus over the next few weeks.

On Saturday we split the team into two groups. One half went to a seminar to inform people about human trafficking in the world. They learnt that many people are being used as objects, sold into slavery and misused for prostitution. Especially the poor communities need to be made aware of the problem and be taught how to protect themselves from such terrible injustice. We are thinking how we can help in Masiphumelele to prevent human trafficking, especially in light of the Soccer World Cup coming up in 2010.

The other group went into the township to meet up with three friends they had met in the streets. They are refugees from Zimbabwe and we offered to come start a Bible study group in their home every Saturday. Last Saturday was our first meeting and we got to know them a bit closer and explained some Bible basics with them.

Please continue to pray that we will connect with many people and that we will be able to build meaningful friendships with them.

Thank you for your prayers.

Group picture fromleft to right, back: Adolph, Chris, Me, Andries; front: Mampho, Jerimiah, Carine, Lucy

Preparing for the Outreach

2008-03-22T05:13:00.000-07:00

Half the lecture phase time is over and we are in the middle of preparing for the outreach ahead of us. I am looking back on ten weeks of getting to know God better. My highlight will always be the bible itself. It is though scripture that God reveals himself to us, right into our present day situation. His word is not boring our dead but it is alive! Especially over these Easter days I am reminded of the first verses in John's gospel: " 1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. [...] So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son."

In the previous post I mentioned that I still had to decide between going on outreach in either Uganda or here in Cape Town. Well, I made that decision and I will stay in Cape Town to work in a township called Masiphumelele. We will start on 7 April.

Most of the 30000 people living in Massi speak Xhosa and English. We will prepare for devotions in the schools, plant bible study groups (we were told it is easier done than said) and probably work in a little clinic for people infected with HIV/Aids. Pretty sure we will also help practically where ever help is needed.

Together Mampho (she is Xhosa speaking herself) and I will lead the team of eight. Please pray for the preparations to go as smoothly as they have done so far. Also we need to still get a clearer picture of how our schedule will look like and how we can be of real blessing to the community. We definately want to have lasting impact and connect people with the churches and organisations that are situated there already (e.g. All Nations und Living Hope).

To be honest I can hardly wait to get started and I think the others of the team think likewise.

Back in class

2008-02-15T10:04:00.000-08:00

The discipleship training is going well. We have had many different lecturers come to speak for a week each on various topics. Every day I work for two hours in my job.

Because I will stay at Media Village for a while it is also good to get the bigger picture of the things they teach. This way I can concentrate on the Lord for this specific time. I obviously read more in the bible and I concentrate on specific questions. With that my passion for God's word and the gospel grows stronger every day.

Prayer requests. In the next few weeks I will have to decide on which outreach I will go on – either Uganda or to one of the townships here in Cape Town. The outreach will start in April and will go for 8 weeks.

Praise the Lord. I have found two people to stay in my room for these weeks. This way I am financially better off.

Please also pray for strength during the course. That we will learn a lot and that we will have many opportunities to share the good news with people.

Ach du doppeltes Bullauge!

2008-01-03T00:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Two Bullaugen in one go. Before Christmas I mentioned the fact that I might be doing a discipleship training course. That was in Bullauge No12. Now that has been confirmed. In Bullauge No13 I write about how the next months will look like.

Just click on the the image and download the double Bullauge, but remember its in German.

To keep you informed about the main changes I will attach the letter from my leader, Diane Vermooten. I translated this letter and included it in Bullauge No12.

Dear Supporters of Ben

Ben has been serving our ministry for nearly one year and over this time he has been such an assets to Media Village. Daily he serves as our graphic artist, but that is not the total extent of his involvement, because Ben is eager to get involved in the lives of our students he takes every opportunity to teach, or interact with them in an informal situation or formal class room. As leaders it is our desire that each staff person works in the area of their gifts; with this in mind we have spent time with Ben and explored his unique gifts and talents.
Media Village is committed to both production and training – this partnership between learning and doing gives each individual the opportunity to not only use their talent but also to pass it on to the next generation.

Over this year, Ben has also seen the great value of being a steward of his gifts and the great potential that lies in the untapped creative gifts of students, many of whom come from Africa, and have not had the opportunity to obtain good tertiary level education.Ben has been faithful in producing media and graphics that has assisted in the communication of our work around the world, but now we believe that it is time to look at how he can do this and also train others.

With this in mind, we are process the idea that Ben take time off from his graphic work for a period of 5 months, during which time he will complete a Discipleship Training School. (DTS) The DTS is a time of preparation for ministry, and anyone who wants to do training or run school within Youth With A Mission is required to do this course. After the completion of this course we will begin to prepare Ben to lead the School of Graphic Design. Currently this school is not been run in Youth With A Mission and would be an asset to not only Media Village but to the broader YWAM University of the Nation.

Media Village is currently in the process of building a new facility and being able to run a Graphics School will be an investment into the future of this ministry. None of these plans are set in concrete, but we have been praying about them and ask you to join Ben in making this important decision. He has our full support and blessing but we know the importance of team and so invite you to ask any questions that come to mind or to give him your words of support and encouragement.

As his leader, I also want to say thank you for standing with Ben and for covering him with your support both financially and prayerfully.

Diane Vermooten
Base Director

Cable Awards and Mbekweni

2007-10-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

"Cable Awards“ is a yearly event of in which Media Village presents all the video projects of the past year. Also all the students of the "School of Video Porduction" are awarded and released at this event. It was the first time for me to be part of "Cable Awards" and it was good to see all the things that Media Village is involved in at one glance. I also invited some friends so that they can see what i am doing all day.

I went to Mbekweni over the weekend, a Township in Paarl. I told you before about the fact that a part of David's family lives there. This time we stayed a little longer so I could get to know them better.

It was a blessed time and the hospitality threw me out of my socks once again. On Saturday we went for a drive around. It seems like Mbekweni turns into a huge party over the weekend. Every age group is present, the houses play loud music, children dance on the streets.

We went to the church service on Sunday morning and half an hour into the service I was asked to give a short message. The bible reading was from Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I used this passage to share about the fact that Jesus seeks for a personal relationship with us. I found in some traditional churches that the hierarchy causes people to put their hopes too much in the faith of their leaders. The individuals in the congragation do not have strong relationships with Jesus, because they rely on the fact that the priest or the pastor knows the bible and prays. We also did some typical African singing and dancing. Here is some proof that I was part of it.

The house of the family.

Hermanus

2007-09-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

The weekend in Hermanus is over. We left to Hermanus with twelve teenagers and five helpers. Freinds of the church have got two houses there which they offer church groups to use for free. We all had a great time, but now I am quite tired.

I tried to sleep in the room with all the nine boys. Obviously they found it hard to be quiet after a certain time. Impossible. Considering that some of them come from difficult backgrounds might help me to have a soft heart for them, but it didn't help me to sleep. Looking back I have to laugh about the flying shoes, pillow fights and music through cell phones non-stop.

Besides playing billards and table tennis we learnt about the bible. It was about the red thread that goes through it – God's creation, man's sin and God's plan of salvation. The boys are loved and God is faithful! I hope they will remember that.

Bullauge 11

2007-08-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

My new newsetter is online. Just click on the picture and download it as a PDF.

I am just about to head to Hermanus. It's a place a few miles along the coast towards the East. The youth group of the church is going to spend the weekend there. Please pray for a good time. For me it is a good opportunity to get to know the teenagers better. I will take a few pictures and put them online when I am back ...blessings.

Weekend

2007-08-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

I experienced an interesting weekend again with many interesting people. After I cleaned my room and went shopping for the week I went to my friend, David to Claremont (I thought some of you might like this sign). Together we drove an hour to Paarl. This is where his adoptive parents live in a township*. It was one of those typical African experiences again. Everyone looked at me when we went through the streets. They are just not used to a white person walking through their town. One lady asked me if I wasn't afraid. A drunk man came to me to tell me that we are one country – black and white are one. It was an invitation for me to feel welcome.

I got to know Davids extended family. Three ladies introduced themselves as his mother, a couple as his step grandparents, he has many brothers and sisters and everyone in town are his neighbors. They welcomed me as part of their family and surely next time I will be introduced as a grandson or brother, too.

Sunday morning I was encouraged by the sermon of pastor Brian. The leadership of the church put a vision in words to make more of a difference in the community. Muizenberg needs a lot of help, so I felt like getting to know more new people today. It started with Janny. The man that sat next to me in church. He is homeless.

Janny comes to church every now and then. He obviously has an alcohol problem for which he wanted me to pray. He also wants to go back to his family that lives a few hours drive away. He does not have the money and he told me so I could give him some. What if I give him money? Will he really use it for the journey or on drinks? I told him that if he can save a Rand every day he can travel home in half a year. If he stops drinking even much sooner. I also said that I will gladly help him if he can prove to me that he has started saving some money in two weeks from now. What would Jesus do?

After the service a man rang on our door bell. He had a piece of paper which he asked me to read. It had written a whole story of why he was in Cape Town due to sad circumstances and that he too needed money to get back to his home further out in the country. I asked him many question to find out if his story is really true. I don't think it is. Still I gave him something. I hope they wont all come knocking on my door tomorrow.

After being on the road the rest of the day, I stopped at the drive thru at McDonalds in Tokai. While I order, a teenager on his bike drives along and hold his hand in begging pose. I ask the cashier what I should do? Does this boy really need help (his facial expression makes him seems very needy in deed)? "No", he says "he can find a job. He looks healthy." So true. Andrew (the McDonlads guy) and I get into a conversation of how he is trying his best to finance his studies at university. His father does not have the money to pay the fees. He used to go to church (in fact his father is a pastor), but he doesn't go to church anymore, he said. Maybe if I meet him again I will invite him to our church. I gave the begger my cheeseburger.

*Maybe you remember in an earlier post that David's family lives in a different place, called Guguletu. The reason for this is that Davis grew up in several families and places. I must admit his past is pretty complicated, but it is fairly common amongst the Africans to grow up with their grandparents or other family members.

News

2007-07-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

A lot of things happen all the time, but unless I write them down I don't see what God is doing in my life. Not that is has anything to do with writing it down itself. It is more the fact that I need to reflect on what was been going on in the recent past to appreciate God's goodness.

I have been praying for someone to come and help me in the graphic department concerning the production of some of the media. A few days ago a young lady from my church has shown her interest to be trained by me. She is originally from England and married a South African, who attends the bible study group I go to. It is not clear, yet, but I would be glad if she would help out at Media Village and catch the big picture of training people from Africa to spread the gospel via mass media.

A couple of weeks ago I started helping out in a youth bible study group from chruch. At first I fouod the young men and women most intimidating. They are a very loud bunch, but actually very cool, too. We meet every Thursday and go through a short bible text. The leader of the group will leave us soon and I am thinking about taking over that leadership. Of course I would not be by myself, but I still have to see if it really is my place at the moment.

Next time more pictures.

School of Video Production

2007-07-08T03:12:00.000-07:00

There is life back in Media Village. The Descipleship Training School is over. The course went over a period of six months – three months of lectures and an other three months of outreach in either Zambia or Uganda. The twenty students came back to Media Village for one week of debriefing before they headed back home. Now we are into our next course – the "School of Video Production" and the house is full of life again.

Next to the normal work I do at Media Village I lead a small group. Also I am in charge of the work duties. I assigned every student to do a certain job during 2pm and and 3pm so the house keeps tidy and in shape. I will not be teaching much in this course, because I don't have much knowledge to pass on in the area of video (the next course will be in digital photography and I will be teaching Photoshop there).

It's an exciting time. The twenty students are from all over the place. Zimbabwe, Congo, Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, England, Ireland (in Dublin there is a new Media Village and Blathnaid is here to learn from the way we do things). There is also a girl from Germany.

Please pray that it will be a good time. The students will be pumped with information from mornings to evenings for the next three months and it does not give them much air to breathe. Pray also that their passion to share the gospel with the tool of video with rise in this time.

Life goes on

2007-05-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I wrote something. Not that I don't have anything to say, just got too much going on at the moment. Today for instance I moved with Nkanyiso and Butho (both from Zimbabwe) to a new place in Muizenburg. I took some pictures with my cellphone. Now I have a lot more space and am able to find some peace and quiet after work. There is always a lot going on at Media Village.

I have written before I have a lot to do at the moment and that is good. One goal of Media Village is to give people a chance to do an internship in the graphics department (its only me so far). That would help me a lot. I have come to realize that I don't have enough time to really adjust to my new environment and it doesn't help to tell myself I have already adapted. It's not true. Everything about life is different here. I think its two things I need right now and that is patience and a church to go to. The church I will attend is very close to my new home.

Currently I am working a few projects at the same time. Oe of which is a documentary on three woman infected by HIV/AIDS. All of which come from the same township in Cape Town. They have very poor and broken backgrounds and in the film they tell their stories and talk about what gives them hope. My part is too prepare some photographs for the film and also create the cover design. A great thing to be involved in.

More to come soon.

Her are more pictures of my new place:

My car

2007-04-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here is the whole story on my car. A few weeks ago I met Mike from OM South Africa and I told him about the fact that I needed a car. He sayd he will try to help me out and organise something for me. So two days later he rang me to say he had already testdriven a Golf and it is a good price (3500 Euros). That's a great help because I don't know much about cars, except that second-hand cars are more expensive here and that it is better to buy a car in Pretoria than in Cape Town, because of the rust. I dont think it could have worked out any better.

So last Saturday Ncanyiso (easier NK) and I flew to Jo'burg where we were picked up and drove to Pretoria. OM South Africa is situated in Pretoria so I know some people there. Sigi celebrated his birthday and many other people I know were there, too. So I met Mike, Esme and Yvonne again. That was great!

Ben and Anne were also there! I had expected them to be in Mocambique on an outreach, but they are only going this week. Just like me, Ben also grew up in St.Matthäus church in Bremen. I think many people get us mixed up (same name and both South African missionaries). Ben and Anne work and live as staff at the training base there. That is where we stayed over night.

At 4am the next morning we hit the road. 1500 kilometers Africa (that is 930 miles). The long roads cut through beautiful dry land, but it doesnt change much over the entire distance. It looks pretty much like you see on the photo. We arrived safely at 8pm. Thank you for all your prayers.

PS: A short clip.

Job and Car

2007-03-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks I was involved in various Media Village film projects creating the DVD-covers. It is really exciting to see how most of the staff are doing an internship. They started doing a course in Adio or Video and now they are learning with real real projects how to produce films. In the courses to come I will be teaching on Photoshop and Typography. Together we are also thinking of how to establish a grahic-design-course here at Media Village.

Answer to prayer. I don't have picture of it, yet, but it's waiting for me at a friends place in Pretoria – a first generation Golf. It's still beeing built in South Africa – mine will be about ten years old. Next week I will go there and hopefully drive back with my new car. Praise the Lord.

Bullauge 10

2007-03-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

Hello again. The first Bullauge from my stay in Cape Town is out and I have sent it to all my supporters. If you too want to receive it, please use the form on the right ("Submit to newsletter").

Guguletu

2007-02-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I visited David – a friend of mine from my time on the Doulos. I went to the church for which he works amongst homeless people. The name of the oganisation is called U-Turn and is part of the St. Stephens church. They literally get people from the street to give them one of their twenty beds in an old storage hall. Everyone who knows David will say this kind of job is suits him really well! After the church service I met Nathan the guy with the crutches. Nathan is one of those people whom David gave the opportunity for a place to sleep. He is an Indian from Durban and a few years ago he left everything behind to "move" to Cape Town. He needs his crutches since he was shot a few times in his body, because he did ot want ot join a gang. After he woke up out of his koma he gave his life to Jesus. I would have loved to have heard more of his story, but David and I had to leave to go to Guguletu.

We took a taxi* to Guguletu the place in which David grew up and where his parents live. Guguletu is an expreience! When we arrived at 12:30 their church service was still going. Also Guguletu is one of Cape Town porest areas. Most of the living places are kind of shanty houses, but Davids parents live very comfortably and I had a nap for half an hour.

In the evening then we headed back to St.Stephens Church. They have a youth service there every sundaya evening. since I am here in Cape Town I have visited five churches, but I am still not sure were to stay.

*Travelling in a taxi is not the same as in Europe where you pay through the nose and its nice an comfortable. It's more like an overcrowded minibus – one of South Africas "must" experiences".

Kalkies

2007-02-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

I went for fish and chips at "Kalkies" with Simtong from Nigeria tonight and we met a coloured man, called David. He works at the Kalk Bay harbour since he was fourteen, so for forty years now. He cleans the fish that the little fishing boats bring in during the day. He lives a bit further outside of Kalk Bay and can't afford to get back after work. So like many other he stays over night and sleeps on a bench or under a truck. Many times things would get stolen. If it rains the owner of Kalkies lets these men sleep inside. David also intruduced us to Nome.

Just as many South African black people Nome speaks Xhosa (the language with the many click-sounds). This guy even had been in the newspaper a few years ago. During a catch on the open sea Nome's fellow crew members gradually left him in by setting back home on a trawler boat. All alone he waited for three weeks for people to pick him up and take him back home, but noone came. He had kept himself and the motor running, but soon the food was empty and there was no other way to set back home all by himself, but he never learnt to steer or to navigate a ship, but he got home safely eventually.

Both David and Nome always mentioned that the Lord has helped them in their lives. Even though Simtong and I never said clearly that we were Christians David asked me in the end if I can give him a bible the next time I see him. "Preferably Afrikaans", he said.

Deep down South

2007-02-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

Just as you have to see the "Roland" in Bremen or the "Muttental" in Witten, you can't live in Cape Town without having seen "Cape Point"

I am doing well and I am glad I am settling into the community here, eventhough some things take their time. I can say I have been accepted very well ,by my new collegues and that means a lot to me. Still I am waiting for my new computer so I have to work at my laptop for the time being, but that's ok.

In the meantime I can see in more detail what my tasks will be here at MediaVillage and I am looking foreward to tell you more about it.

Today the wife of the leader of MediaVillage (Diane) came back from Uganda. Together with a videoteam she visited various organisations and also she met up the First Lady of Uganda (Mama Jane). They also interviewed the president himself. Mama Jane is a born again Christian and is able to explain the condition of her country from a biblical perspective. The developement of Uganda is a good example for the fact that our faith can change large communities for the good. The AIDS-politics for example and the nationwide campaign "Love Waits" resulted in decreasing numbers of infected people by HIV. In all other African countries these numbers are rising.

At this time MediaVillage has 28 similar projects running. My task will be to design the covers for the DVDs.

Last Saturday I went to a local radio-station. I got to know some people who work there and they invited me just to sit in and watch. When they started the show the speaker started to interview me ... I am trying to get hold of the recorded tape so I can show it to you here on the web.

I am there!

2007-01-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

So. My parents and my brother, Sam, took me down to Düsseldorf through the night so I could check in at 7am. Before I went on board the plane the Meier family and Johnnes came to say good bye, too. They waved on the visitors platform and I could see them when the plane drove by just before take off. I doubt they could see my though. I really know lovely people!

Except for a few lovely views over the Alps, the long roads of the Sahara desert and sormy clouds over Namibia (awsome) I found the flight to be rather boring. I sat alone so I had time to reflect on home and say goodbye inwardly. On arrival in Cape Town it took a while to find Butho (the dirver) and Swat (his girlfriend), the people to collect me, but eventually I found them.

Today it was good to take part in a staff meeting so I could get to know my new collegues. The house is full due to a descipleship training course running at the moment. For that reason I will have to share my room soon with someone esle. For now that's fine.

Picture: Landing in Cape Town

I am leaving

2007-01-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

Friends, it is happening. On Sunday I will be on my way to Cape Town. For me this means new friends, new church and new experiences. I am stepping on unknown grounds. It also means to leave trusted friends and to trust God once again. I can learn a lot and need your prayers.

I will keep you informed.

Visa and more again

2007-01-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

Many things have happened recently. On Friday I recieved my Passport with the visa for South Africa! Praise the Lord. On Sunday I was prayed for in the church service in Witten. I was in Witten for a few days to say goodbye to all my friends there. That was very good. I can see Gods timing to be prefect in many ways. Now I am checking flights and packing my stuff to leave soon.

This is also very important news: A week ago Johannes called me to invite me to a football match with Wynton Rufer (ex-soccer-professional at Werder Bremen). You can see how I tackled him easily.

Simon and I took Johnny and his fiancée back to Marburg. They go to bibleschool there: Marburger Bibelseminar. Also we met up with Mirko. He is doing an internship at Christus-Treff just as I did twelve years ago.

Not to forget. I took my sister back to Hamburg where I hepled her put up some shelves. Check that: Billy-Regal

Picture: Johnny in Marburg

Christmas

2006-12-27T05:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas holidays are over and I am in front of my computer again. The correction phase of the German version of the book "The power of a praying Teen" is lying before me. Christmas was great. Five of my siblings came over to my parents place and stayed over night. Anna and Johnny are still here for a few more days.

On 22 December I finally got all my documents out to the South African embassy to apply for my visa. Let's hope and pray that I can leave to Cape Town by the end of January.

Family photograph – automatic release!

Weekend in Witten

2006-12-12T06:35:00.000-08:00

It is always good to go to the place where I lived before I went to the ship to meet a lot of my friends. I stayed with Johannes.Traveling by train I arrived on Friday evening and we were on the go to visit people on Saturday and Sunday.

One of our "games" is to meet new people. On my way to Witten, in Dortmund, there was a lady on the platform. She was obviously struggling with her luggage and she had just missed a train, so I asked her if she needed my cellphone. I found out she had studied in Witten years ago where she met her husband. Now she lives with her family in the south of Germany, but travelled up to meet up with old friends. She was hoping they were still awake and had something to eat left over, because she had been on the go for nine hours. She was very interested in my time on the Doulos and also about my plans to go to South Africa. She asked what motivated me to go to foreign countries to share my faith. I said, because I believe that Jesus truely sets us free. I hope she will remember that.

After chruch on Sunday Johannes and I set off to go to a city nearby (Wuppertal) to meet more friends. In order to do that we had to change trains a few times and train-stations were the best place for our "game". Besides meeting Lena and the odd man with the dog we also met Murat. Murat comes from Tunesia, but he lives in Germany since twelve years. The evening we met he had just escaped a psychiatric hospital. He suffers from panic attaks and feels deserted by his family. They wont let him back home until he finishes his therapy. Now he was on his way to a friend of which he wasn't sure if he was home or not. I asked him what it is that keeps him going. "My friends and a cup of tea", he said. Then came his train.

Picture: Me close to the train-station in Wuppertal-Oberbarmen

Olli Online 3

2006-12-05T03:31:00.000-08:00

Olli's new newsletter is out and also he has a Blog now, too. Check it out. Olli finished his theology studies and is now doing an internship in America after which he will come back to Germany to do churchplanting.

My Visa: I still need two documents in order to hand in my visa application to the South African embassy. I hope once I have handed all the papers in that it will go fast and I can book a flight soon. Bless You.

Drydock

2006-12-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

I received a mail from Phillip today. The Doulos is just out of drydock in Singapore. For the men this means two hard weeks of 12-hour-days lay behind them. Most women go on socalled landteams. Phillips job is to put those kind of teams together so before drydock he was asked if he rather wanted to join a team. His answer: "A man has to do what a man has to do!” And this is the picture that goes with it (from left to right: Glen, Sam, Phillip). I miss you guys, but not the work ;)

About Blog: I reordered the sidebar a little. To find all the links from before click on (guess) "Links"

Visa and more

2006-11-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

I've got almost everything together to apply for my South African visa. The only thing that is still standing out is the invitation from Media Village. I hope to get the visa soon so I can book a flight for January.

"The Power of a praying Teen" was translated into German and I am doing the typesetting of it. I am also working on some other things and hopefully will end everything in the coming month.

What do you think of my new glasses?

Bullauge 09

2006-11-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

My new newsletter is there. Just before Christmas so it doesn't get lost in peoples Christmas post. Unfortunately this newsletter is in German and I will not write an Enlish version so soon, but if you want to download it anyway just click the picture above or use the "More Downloads" link on the side. To keep updated with the newest information on what is happening just keep visiting this website.

Preaching material

2006-11-13T05:48:00.001-08:00

Johannes Came to me on Wednesday two weeks ago. In our conversation we started talking about his recources on preaching material that he has gathered over the past. He wanted to put it on CD for other youthpastors to use freely. I told him I would do the design of the CD covers and so we got going.
The production was needed for a seminar at our church the next Wednesday and also for the WillowCreekCongress that followed here in Bremen. So I also created a pamphlet explaining all the material.

I had a free ticket for the congress but I couldn't take part in all the sessions. I was very much inspired by an interview by Bill Hybles with Bono.

I have finished the intro of the TeensMag-Bible. Also the set of "40 Days of Love". Now I will start the production of a book called "The Power of a Praying Teen" published in Brockhaus-Verlag.

This week I have to finish my newsletter so it can be in the post before all the Christmas things arrive. Otherwise it will not be read. I will write about my departure to South Africa so stay tuned ... oh I always forget my newsletter is in German ... but I will translate the main points in English and put it here.

Our stand at the WillowCreekCongress.

Update

2006-11-01T05:47:00.000-08:00

The day before yesterday I received an email from Media Village. The application is through and they have accepted me as one of their staff!!! Actually this was just an other formality, but with this information I can move on with my visa and other practical things. Good News!

Media Village had planned to move into an other building at the beginning of the coming year. There I would have had an accomodation available, but now I heared that the move has been posponed for the beginning of 2008. Therefor I will need a place to stay. Of course the people at Media Village will help me in this, but still it's a reason to pray.

I have a lot to do at the moment, which is good! The company I worked for before I went on Doulos (click on Bundes-Verlag) has asked me to design the first 35 pages of their "Bible for Teens". Today is a public holiday in that region and nobody is working on the correction at present, so I will work on a DVD-cover for a friend (click on Johannes Müller).

Please also pray for more financial support. At the moment there is still not enough for me to go abroad (click on Support :-)

English Version

2006-10-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

Many people have asked recently if could put my thoughts out here in English, too. So here is my English blog. You might ask yourself some questions about some things here so before you get all confused, let me explain.

1. What are you doing and what are your plans?
I left the ship in March not really knowing where to start to sort things out to go to Media Village, South Africa. The two main questions were: 1. Would I find a suitalble Organisation to take over the part of work the OM-Germany did for me while on the ship? 2. Would my church send me out on this next step? Both of the major questions were answered with YES. I finally got these answers in July. So since then I am on the go raising support and informing people. Next to this I am also working for various friends designing flyers and broshures and stuff.

Right now I am waitging for Media Village to respond to an application I sent in a few days ago. Also I still need financial support. Other than that I have just finished the layout of a book (more requests are coming in) and doing some design work for a befriended company.

Please feel free to email me and to download the presentation.

2. What does Bullauge mean?
The name of my newsletter is "Ben's Bullauge". It means Ben's porthole. But Bullauge is also the same word used for bullseye. Everyone who received the newsletter got very much used to the name. So people commented: "When is the next 'Bullauge' going to come?" or "I read your 'Bullauge'." So I – and the person who does the design work for me – decided to keep the name and also to give my blog the same title. The German blog is now found at www.ben.nimmo.de but it is listed as www.bullauge.blogspot.com The English blog is therfore called ebullauge – just to add to the confusion ;)

3. Why is your profile in German?
Because I have not found out how to change it, yet. I dont know much about webdesign.

Does that help? So much for now. Ben

PS: Have a look at the two posts below. I posted them also today!

Greeting Cards

2006-10-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

As I also did on the ship I recently needed some greeting cards. So I used pictures that I did during my time on the Doulos and printed them out to be folded (like the thank you cards for lineup). Then I had the idea of putting some of them online so others can download them, too.

Click on "Greeting Cards" to have a look at them. If you decide to download and print the cards, just follow the instructions.

CD Presentation

2006-10-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

For a missions day at my church every missionary had a little table to present their work. As I have not got very many things to display I thought of creating a presentation on a CD ROM (similar to the presentations I did on the ship). If you are interested you can download it. It's a 60 MB PDF-file. Just click on the link "CD Presentation".

The presentation mainly contains a movie of the work that MediaVillage does. Also some additional things that I have done lately. Enjoy.