First I just want to say I hope you all are doing well! I want to thank you for your support and taking time to read this post. This is my longest update so far but without question, the most important post yet.
This post today has come with much prayer and thought as to whether or not to write it. After talking about it with some other people within All Nations and really processing it, there is no other way to go about this than to share because I need as much prayer as possible.
Wednesday afternoon I was heading into Masihpumelele to meet with a friend named Siba. Siba has been someone who has helped us out with translating for kids club and just been great to have around some of the younger kids. After I was done spending time with Siba I walked past one of the shops some of my Somalian friends own. I spent some time speaking with them about a number of things. I left there place around 5:30.
To help you better understand Masi, there is about 35,000 people who live in one square mile - which is a crazy amount considering I can only think of one place that is above two stories. There is one entrance and one exit to Masi so the main road is always busy. There always a lot of people walking around Masi, people selling fruit off blankets on the sidewalk, and children always running around, not to mention the dogs and chickens everywhere! About a quarter mile into Masi there is a place where a number of boys gather from about 14 to younger 20’s. These guys have been called the naughty boys by some of the locals, and All Nations uses it regularly. As I was walking out of Masi and past the naughty boys corner on the opposite side of the road I could see one of the naughty boys get up and run out in front of me a little ways with another boy who got up slowly and started walking behind me. By the Holy Spirit I knew the situation wasn’t right. I switched sides of the road to only soon watch the other boy cross to my side again. We did this a few times until we got all the way out to the main road. I began to turn right out of Masi but saw that he was following me closely and there wasn’t many people in that direction so I quickly changed directions once again to the normal direction I normally walk out of Masi Towards where I park my scooter in the Foodzone parking lot. Still this guy followed me closely behind until I finally turned around and said firmly Can I help you? He pretended like he couldn’t here me and walked closer. At that point I was grabbed from behind from his friend and the other guy sprinted towards me. Both guys put a hand in each of my pockets, one grabbing my phone and the other grabbing a hold of my wallet (which only contained 50 rand – less than 7 dollars.) As they were trying to pull there closed fists with my belongings in there hands, I hit the guy from behind with my scooter helmet and tried pushing their hands away from my pockets. As I was screaming out for help two cars came from behind me and started honking there horns without cease. As we continued to wrestle nearly to the ground they some reason stopped and ran away back into Masi. By God’s grace I was unharmed and my possessions were safe. Around 50 people witnessed this from the street, the bus stop twenty feet from me, and the people walking on the side walk, yet these guys still attempted to rob me. But the Lord was faithful with his protection!
After I shared this story with my parents, my mom asked what time this happened and my initial thought was isn’t that kind of irrelevant? But when I told her what time it happened she told me she felt sick and worried for me around 9:30am central time. That was just close to the exact minute of when I stepped foot into Masi.
Also, I received this from one of my most faithful and encouraging supporters this morning in an email. “before we went to bed that night, we prayed together for YOU...and the specific words were...may your angels give Jay protection at all times! When I heard the story from your mom yesterday...and how you felt there were angels protecting you...I just knew that God had answered our prayers.
I share this story with you for two reasons – First to say those who have been praying so faithfully, thank you. Your prayers are felt here and tangibly experience like Thursday.
Secondly – Please pray for these naughty boys.
My friend Sbu is a local and has lived in Masi for some time now. He has built relationship with some of these boys and even done a little ministry with them. One of them even prayed to accept Christ at one point, but they have fallen back into their ways again. So yesterday Sbu and I walked up to the boys together and he made small talk just to show I as with him. I recognized the boy who mugged me just 20 hours ago. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me as he grinned and look at his friends. You could tell in his mind he was thinking what in the world was going on? As Sbu and I walked away we walked a ways and turned around. When we walked back they were scattered. Sbu and I talked for a while and see this as an incredible opportunity to minister to these men! One of my favorite quotes is by Jackie Pullinger – If you want revival, start in the gutters. If we truly want a revival to sweep across Masi and not just a few people, these are the men to do it. If transformation occurs within them, the sky is their limit as there level of influence is huge.
As I came back later into Masi to have a bible study with Sipho and some other boys our paths crossed again. His friends saw me coming sooner and they scattered, while he didn’t’ see me till I walked right past him, within feet. I believe this is chapter 1 of many with these boys. I don’t know what “ministry” looks like with these boys but God does. I just need to trust what God wants to write in the next chapter of this! Who am I to doubt what our God can do?
There are two types of people in this world – those who read about history, and those who write it. Please join me actively in humble and expectant prayer as God has blessed me with an opportunity to help write HIS-story
Blessings friends thank you for your support.
