This short video gives a brief history of SIM (our mission agency) and the overall global mission of the agency.
Isaiah 53:5 (The Message)
2-6The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
on him, on him.
Today, as we should all days, we celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. Why would anyone celebrate the death of a person, especially this man? We celebrate because we are made new, and our sins washed clean by the blood of this man Jesus! Jesus, a sinless man, free of all guilt, died on the cross in my place, and the place for all persons that place their trust and faith in Him, so that we might become righteous before the Almighty God. Through this death, through this atonement and washing of sin, through His resurection, and this becoming righteous, we know, through the promise of God, that we will one day be with Him in Heaven. No more pain, no more suffering, but new glorified bodies made perfect to worship and glorify the name of God for eternity. We all cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!
Isaiah 53:5
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
It was the picture of a Man whose face was more beautiful than anything that little Christian had ever imagined. He was walking over a mountain path. All around Him, among the rocks, grew briars and thorns, which had torn His garments in many places, and His feet were bleeding, for the rough stones had wounded Him. In His arms He Carried a little lamb. It was tired and had laid its head upon His shoulder, and He was looking down at it with gentle, loving eyes. Underneath the picture, in letters of gold, were written the words:
"HE SHALL GATHER THE LAMBS WITH HIS ARM, AND CARRY THEM NEAR HIS HEART."
"Was the lamb lost?" asked little Christian.
"Yes," replied the Interpreter; "lost and ready to die. Do you not see how tired it looks, and how its fleece is torn and soiled? But the Good Shepherd heard its cry, and He never rested until He found it, and then He brought it home in His arms."
"It must have been a hard path," said little Christian. "The stones have cut His feet."
"It was a very hard path, but He did not mind that, because He loved His little lamb. I have shown you this picture first, because the Good Shepherd is our King's own Son, and just as a shepherd loves his flock so He loves the pilgrims. The little pilgrims are like the lambs. You can think of this when you are sad or frightened, and remember who is watching over you."
"I am a little pilgrim," said Christian looking up at the Interpreter.
"A little pilgrim, and a little lamb in the flock of the Good Shepherd."
The attached video is of our vision trip back in March of 2007. This is where we will be moving to this coming April. The children singing at the beginning are some of the youth we will be working with. The video clip after that is when we were preparing to feed the 300+ kids we fed that day at one of the schools in the town.
Location:
Namibia lies in Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa.
Land Boundaries:
Angola 1,376 km, Botswana 1,360 km, South Africa 967 km and Zambia 233 km.
Geography:
Size 825,418 sq km, slightly more than half the size of Alaska, US. The terrain is mostly high plateau with the Namib Desert along coast and the Kalahari Desert in east. Namibia has a desert climate, it is hot, dry and rainfall is very sparse and erratic. The lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean at 0 m and the highest point is at Konigstein which measures 2,606 m. Namibia is the first country in the world to incorporate the protection of the environment into its constitution. Some 14% of the land is protected, including virtually the entire Namib Desert coastal strip.
Population:
Almost 2 million people live in Namibia, it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Birth rate is on average 4.6 per woman. 21% of the population is believed to have HIV/AIDS.
Languages:
English 7% (official), Afrikaans is actually the common language of most of the population including about 60% of the white population. German is spoken by 32% of the population. Indigenous languages include Oshivambo, Herero and Nama.
Ethnic Groups:
Black 87.5%, white 6% and mixed 6.5%. About 50% of the population belong to the Ovambo tribe and 9% to the Kavangos tribe. Other ethnic groups are: Herero 7%, Damara 7%, Nama 5%, Caprivian 4%, Bushmen 3%, Baster 2%, and Tswana 0.5%
Political History:
South Africa occupied the German colony of South-West Africa during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966 the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area that was soon named Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region. Namibia won its independence in 1990 and has been governed by SWAPO since. Hifikepunye Pohamba was elected president in November 2004 in a landslide victory replacing Sam Nujoma who led the country during its first 14 years of self rule.
Economic Overview:
The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 20% of GDP. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa, the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs only about 3% of the population while about half of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides the great inequality of income distribution; nearly one-third of Namibians had annual incomes of less than $1,400 in constant 1994 dollars, according to a 1993 study. The Namibian economy is closely linked to South Africa with the Namibian dollar pegged to the South African rand. Privatization of several enterprises in coming years may stimulate long-run foreign investment. Mining of zinc, copper, and silver and increased fish production led growth in 2003.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,
not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
HIV is a virus that causes AIDS. AIDS is a dangerous disease that can affect
everyone. This disease is a fatal disease but can be controlled.
AIDS affects black people and white people. It affects poor
or rich people, fat or thin people. It affects you whether you are a
Christian, Swazi, Zulu, Xhosas, Hindus, Rastafarians, Muslim, Mozambican,
Sothos or Tswana.
AIDS affects me as well my auntie, who was working in
Matsapha Spinex Factory. She was a likable woman and honest. She use to
help poor children in the community by paying their school fees, buying food
and clothes for them. Everyone in the community use to respect her.
She was the person who was looking after my grandfather and
my grandmother the most. My father looked after my grandfather and
grandmother but not as much as my auntie. My uncle did look after them but
not all the time, like my auntie use to. She was the most important person
to my grandparents.
She use to have more than one boyfriend and she did not use
to use a condom when she was having sex with her boyfriends. On nights she
use to leave home with her boyfriends to big hotels which are too expensive.
On weekends she use to visit one of her boyfriends.
One day she became sick and just got sicker and sicker. She
did not know what was making her to be sick. She visited the clinic many
times but she became sicker and sicker. Than my grandparents sent her to a
traditional doctor. He gave her some medicine and said she must find a boy
who will cut her with a razor blade and put the medicine in her. They chose
me as the boy. I did it but I did not like it. She became better for a week
but then her sickness returned and I became sick as well. Her and I visited
the health center for check- up. We found that we were both HIV positive.
They counseled us and they gave us some tablets and I take them even today.
When I heard that I was positive, I was afraid. I was
thinking that I was going to die, I cried and cried. But they told me that I
would not die. After that my auntie became sick and got sicker again and she
died. But me I am healthy and I am alive and life goes on.
So AIDS kills. It kills our parents, grandparents, aunties,
uncles, sisters and brothers. But life still goes on.
30So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth. 33In his humiliation
justice was denied him.Who can describe his
generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."
As I make contact with people seeking to connect with young people around the world in mission contexts I hear one request time after time. It is “Can you send us people to work with young people”. It is one request that keeps nagging away with me because I so want to be able to help them right now but the reality is that there are not too many people putting their hand up to go and minister and connect with young people.
Isaiah 48:9-11
9 “For my name's sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of my praise I restrain it
for you, that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not
as silver; I have tried you in the furnace
of affliction. 11 For my own sake, for my
own sake, I do it, for how should my name
be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
