Africa Dances

My favorite commercials in South Africa right now are both about how important dancing is here.

The first is a Coca Cola commercial. Absolutely amazing commercial about the first player to break out in dance after a winning goal. He did this over 40 years ago. He was an African and the commercial talks about Africa teaching the world to let go, have fun, and dance. All through the commercial it shows clips of soccer players (footballers) all over the world dancing after their goals, all different kinds of dances. It is a lot of fun and makes you want to jump up and join in.

Then there is a Vodacom commercial which is so entertaining. There are two guys fishing at the coast when they look over and see a Bafana Bafana player (that is South Africa's soccer team). They go over to get his attention and tell him how they've come up for the perfect dance to follow the next goal he scores. They commence to turn on an old boom box and dance away. Cut to next seen of this Bafana Bafana player doing the suggested dance following his next goal with the whole soccer stadium up dancing with him. The two guys who taught the dance have so much fun seeing the nation dance their dance.

Great commercials!!! Makes you wanna dance with Africa and join in with the fun.

One Interesting Conversation

So on my Turkish Air flight returning to South Africa from Belgium I had a very interesting conversation. It was the Belgium to Turkey (for a layover) leg of my flight. They have this amazing cherry juice on Turkish Air. I had no idea Turkey is known for its cherry juice, but if you ever get the chance to enjoy some Turkish cherry juice, go for it! Anyway, following this lovely cherry juice it was time for a bathroom break. There were a few people waiting at the bathrooms. Somehow one guy ended up stuck in the aisle. I moved to make room for him to stand out of the aisle. So, we began a conversation.
"Hello, I am Hassan." "Hi, I am Jeanne." "Where are you from?" "America, and you?" "Saudi Arabi"
At this point in the conversation total silence stood between us for several seconds. It was clear that neither of us knew how to respond. Here we stood, two random people that somehow knew that the division between our countries was very deep. Then came his very next statement,
"I love America."
It was said in a tone that expressed layers of tension between our nations. I smiled and said thank you and then told him that usually when traveling as an American I meet people who do not like America. He just said, "Oh, no, not me. I like America."
Then, the bathroom opened and it was my turn. End of conversation.
What a crazy moment in time. It is amazing how politics and stereotypes so deeply impact how we meet new people.
Then, came the really interesting part. A few minutes later Hassan returned to his seat a few rows in front of me. He had an open seat beside him and invited me to come and sit. My friends flying with me encouraged maybe this would be a chance to show the light of Jesus...go talk. For me, I was thinking this is completely uncomfortable but what an interesting opportunity to learn more about his nation. So I agreed.
He was handsome. Just a few years older than me. A policeman who works in an agriculture imports department. He had been to Belgium visiting a friend and building up a new travel agency business he is starting. He showed me his business card (the only reason I am actually certain of what his name was :) He was very nice, but there was something inside of me desperately aware that this was a strange conversation and I just could not relax. That is not my norm at all. I talk to all different people all the time. I don't know why this barrier was so hard. I must have looked horribly uncomfortable and nervous. Finally, he asked if I was nervous that he had asked me to come talk. I said no, though that wasn't really true. He said he was glad to have an opportunity to practice his English and it was fun chatting. It was also an interesting opportunity for him to talk with an American. He welcomed me to visit his country anytime. I told him he can visit South Africa (why do people always say silly things like that when meeting people while you travel). But the interesting part was that he said, no, he loves his country and that is where he knows he will stay. I've found that so many times. People from non-Western countries are always less likely to express an interest in traveling. They have such a stronger devotion to their own nations. And then that was the end of our interesting encounter. We both acknowledged it had been an interesting chat. I said a silent prayer wondering if I was suppose to say something openly about my faith. Then I wondered if he is a Muslim or if he had any faith at all. There was never an opening in our conversation for such talks and honestly I knew this discussion would have only fueled American stereotypes rather than shine a light on the truth of Jesus. And so we shook hands, I prayed a pray inside of me for him to encounter the truth of Jesus, and I returned to my original seat.
What a fantastic conversation!

European Prayer Trip

I just returned from a prayer trip with Prepare International. It was fantastic! To start, we flew on Turkish Air. Who would have thought about flying Turkish? But I’m discovering that when you start your flight in South Africa, then there are all kinds of different airlines involved. Turkish Air was great!
They gave us cute little toiletry kits when we boarded the plane. They had so much leg room that even tall people on the flight had no problem. Being a short person, I could completely lounge with my legs stretched out. It was great! Plus, they had fantastic turquoise seats. Oh, and they actually had good food on an airplane. Two thumbs up for Turkish Air. Only thing lacking was personal TV screens, but really if I had to choose between personal screens and leg room I would take the leg room any day.The prayer trip was to Europe and two South African ladies went with me. So cool to take South Africans on a mission trip to give back into Europe!!!
When we were leaving SA there was a lot of racial turmoil in South Africa. So we spent the first part of the trip reading the Word as we flew over Africa. Between Cape Town and Johannesburg I was on a marathon reading of Daniel, but I knew it was critical. Lord, raise up Daniels to influence leaders in South Africa!! As we flew over Northern South Africa and then on over Zimbabwe I was in Jeremiah. So many critical prayers in that book and there was a powerful moment over Zim. In most respects we never will know the fullness of what happens with our prayers. All I know is that for our whole team that moment over Zim struck something in the spiritual realm.
On to Europe. We had a lay over in Turkey. What an experience that was! As great as Turkish Airways is, the Turkish airport could do well with a little more order and structure….but, hey, we were coming from Africa :)
Then, came Europe. We started the trip in Herrenhut, Germany were the 125 year Moravian 24/7 prayers began. One amazing thing to me was discovering that these 125 years of prayer did not center around a specific prayer room. People prayed at home or work or where ever they were when it was their time to pray. Amazing. The prayers were going out from all over this community.
We had a great time of preparation for praying in Europe while in Herrenhut. The Prepare International team all taught on different areas of prayer, and as a former team member I was also asked to teach. It was great. I had so much fun back with the PI team. They really are my spiritual family and I felt so at home. It was really hard to leave them at the end of our training time. I’m so thankful I get to be family with them. Their whole team really are my heroes in the faith.

But anyway, back to the trip.
On Sunday we went to a local church in Herrenhut. It was fantastic. Their youth had just returned from a trip to Israel. One of the youth spoke about the first time he had to tell a Jewish person that he was a part of the German team. That must have been so hard! But they were all so humble and honest about the need for forgiveness. I sat in awe of their humility. I was also struck with how powerful in the Kingdom of God the German people must be that Satan would work so hard to cause such evil in their nation. I thought of all the mighty men and women of the faith who paid the price before us that the Word was translated into common languages, that we all as Americans and also as South Africans have a heritage of Christianity. The people of Europe paid such a huge price that I might know God. I could have been born anywhere with any heritage. God blessed me with a German, French, British heritage which means that I grew up with a foundation of Christianity. What a blessing. Satan has tortured Europe endlessly for the heritage they gave me and others like me. To this day, Europeans suffer the backlash of all they fought through. They broke through huge boundaries in Spiritual areas and now the solid foundation of Christianity has so brutally been pulled out from under them. Less than 1% of Europeans are born again Christians today. Yet, most of the world can find that the Gospel was first heard on their continent because of Europeans. They weren’t perfect in all that they did, but they served a great purpose in the earth. What a blessing to be on this continent and sow the Gospel back into it.


The three of us from South Africa were joined by two ladies from the Czech Republic during the training time. When we left our two day training we were a team of five. One lady on our SA team has dual citizenship with Portugal and one of the ladies from Czech is actually a missionary from Canada, so between the 5 of us we represented 5 different nations.
It was evident that God hand picked our multi-cultural team. Our team went to pray for one week in Belgium. This was key as the nation is the seat of the European Union (EU) and is a multi-cultural nation itself. During our trip I was told that there are well under 10,000 Christians in the entire nation of Belgium. It is a spiritually heavy country with many, many needs spiritually. On many days it was overwhelming to realize that 99% of people we saw do not know Jesus. The best thing we could do as a team was pray with and encourage the local leaders to press on with the Gospel in their nation.


We went to 8 different towns during the trip. In most of these places there is only 1 Evangelical church in the town. In one town there is not even one church at this point but we prayed with leaders who have begun small house meetings. In each place you could feel how the leaders face so much. I believe that God used our team to bring emotional healing to many people we prayed with. At different points in the trip there were different people on the team that God moved strongly through. It was amazing to see how each person on our team had a very specific purpose God had sent them to Belgium for.




We traveled multiple times a day by train and often read the Word over the areas we traveled through.

Throughout our trip my heart was so torn. In South Africa I can see the needs around me. At times over the past year I have been overwhelmed with the extent of need and poverty here. I know these are the areas that God has called me to serve in. That God sent me to Africa. But seeing the spiritual needs of Europe was even more overwhelming. I have been a part of mission work there for the past 13 years, but somehow this time it hit me so hard. I finally truly understood that God’s focus is not on our physical conditions. Physical conditions are passing, this life on earth is but a vapor. The spiritual is eternal, the consequences of our spiritual condition stays with us forever. South Africa is far from a Christian nation. I don’t know the actual stats, but only about 20% of people are Christian without incorporating pagan beliefs into their faith. Yet, there is a spiritual reality in Africa and many people are to some extent aware of spiritual matters. In Europe there is so little awareness of spiritual things. The mind is exalted, education is King, and human understanding is worshipped. How do you encounter God when you do not believe there is anything more to life than the little bit of reality you see?

But, back to prayer….another type of “prayer” we got to take part in was an evening of worshipping with two YWAM missionaries in the Brussels subway. They have gone every Thursday for the past three years. It was amazing how many people knew them, encouraged them to release the sound of worship in this place, and simply stopped by to say hello.
In all of this, the most amazing part of the trip for me (actually I think everyone on our team would say this was the most crucial part) was an hour of prayer at the Justice Building in Brussels. A guy from the YWAM base took us there. He has prayed there several times and had some insight into issues there. And, yet, God revealed so much to our team while we were in this building. For me it was critical because a great deal of the focus of justice in Belgium has to do with their relationship with Congo. I love Congo! After praying in this building we prayed in the city market square where there are also many symbols of the spiritual connection between Belgium and Congo. It was so spiritually heavy in that square that I almost could not walk. Our whole team plus the YWAM guy all felt the weight of the need for prayer in these places. We all sort of stumbled home and needed rest after that time of prayer. It was also on this evening that I broke out in fever followed by flu then strep throat then a sinus infection.
But the trip was far from over! We prayed through another city the next day. The following day some people on our team went to pray over government buildings while I laid in bed burning with fever.
Then, began our two day wait for a flight out of Europe because of the ash cloud. But God made a way for us and two days later we flew out and home again.
And that was the amazing prayer journey I just went on with Prepare International, and the amazing prayer journey that God allowed me the privilege of taking two South African ladies on.

Oh, and of course we had chocolate!!


One last thing....check out these space shuttle bathrooms on the trains in Belgium!

Easter Holiday

This Easter I took my first vacation since I have been in South Africa. It was wonderful. I family that has become my family away from family invited me to join them for the weekend. We went about two hours north of Cape Town into the mountains. We stayed in this little house that sat on the edge of the mountain all by itself. It was so peaceful there. We took walks through the mountains, went into the closest towns to enjoy sights there, and we blew a shofar all through this mountain valley. What a joy the holiday was!