January Sound Bytes

For a week in late January, I had the opportunity to see God in the faces of Lutheran partners from the US and South Africa. The people shared concerns, passions and interests, but most importantly, they showed one another love. Below, I include quotes from many of these partners. These partners saw God in one another, and they parted ways with a renewed sense of hope in how God moves across all man-made boarders, such as country, race and gender.

From Minnesota Partners during one gathering…
Prompt from Minnesota leader: “Please give your name, where
you are from, and one thing that has surprised, inspired or
amazed you, in a minute or less.”
“Tremendous joy”
“I think the thing that surprised me the most was that church was
three and a half hours long, and I liked it.”
“It’s not until you get here until you realize how much they have to give to us.”
“I’m just touched by the depth of life.”
“You are my brothers and sisters in Christ.”
“It was like I had been with a girlfriend for years.”
“If I ever complain about anything, you have permission to slap me silly.”
“His whole life exudes hope.”
“A deep Christian faith that is second to none.”
150 members at the church, three cars
“They have a very warm feeling, these people.”
“It’s making me a better person.”
“The tremendous potential in this country.”
“People are the same the world over.”
“We’re all God’s children.”
“We’re so caught up in our stuff.”
“We have the stuff, but quite often lack the spirit that it is the people.”
“They talk about the same problems as we do.”
“I really do believe that we’re walking together.”
“I’ve always known that the people around the world that love Christ are our brothers and sisters. But I knew it here [head], but now I know it here [heart].”

Other quotes from the week…
“Be at home.” – SA Partner
“It’s a beautiful thing to see how God works.” – Pastor Jean (US)
“I was so worried that what we would do wouldn’t be good enough for Americans.” – A South African who took us to a lion park, a zoo and out to lunch
“We’re about empowering one another.” – Pastor Jean (US)
“Partnership is about relationships mainly.” – Dean Myaka (SA)
“We are very different, but we have the same …Lord, …waters of baptism, …communion.” – Pastor Harvey (US) to a SA congregation
“I wish you could teach us how to have joy in giving.” – Pastor Harvey (US) to a SA congregation
“We are just co-workers with you. Keep reminding us of that.” – Dean Myaka (SA)
“And in this common Lord, we are all blessed.” – Pastor Harvey (US)
“God bless you for coming to see our place.” – SA partner
“We need to go back home and tell them that we don’t know how to do evangelism and we need to learn from our South African brothers and sisters.” – Pastor Harvey
“Christ is reality and deeds.” – Pastor Harvey
“I think we’ve all become stronger in our faith.” – Pastor Jean (US)
“He calls us all to work together… for the glory of God.” – Pastor Jean (US)
“God brought His people together.” – SA partner
“You chaps have been wonderful.”– SA partner to US reps
“We couldn’t’ve asked to have been treated better than we were.”
– US partner to SA reps
Helping US partners would give SA partners: “The confidence that we are equal… even though we can never be equal.” – SA partner
“You are evangelists. We take care of ourselves.” – US partner
“You are missionaries to us.” – US partner
“The truth is… we have an awful lot of needs.” – US partner
“This is an equal partnership already.” – US partner