Ministry Updates from the MacMillans

At Donkin Lighthouse in Central, Port Elizabeth

I could see them, 20 parallel serrated blades ready for use. I just needed to figure out how to get them moving, but I was pretty sure I’d hack my arm off if I did it wrong. “Excuse me, sir. Can you show us how to use the bread slicer?” I felt silly asking this question at our local super market in February, but our bagger was more than happy to show us how to use the ominous machine.

Sliced bread is sold here in SA but fresh baked bread is cheaper and delicious! After paying at the register you find the machine in the corner, un-bag your bread, slice it with the machine, re-bag it and voila! fresh bread ready for toast or sandwiches. “This would never fly in America” Keith pointed out, “Can you imagine the lawsuits if Rayley’s had industrial bread slicers for customers to use?” We laughed and drove home to share our exciting adventure with our teammates.

We have been in South Africa for 4 months now and the novelty of the bread slicer has definitely worn off. We’ve discovered that most days the fresh loaves are too tall and wide for the dimensions of the slicer, resulting in a blob of squished and mangled bread. “This is ridiculous! Why is this country so inefficient?!” I exploded in the car after another loaf was ruined by the evil slicer.

Why did something so insignificant, that fascinated me just weeks ago, now throw me into a sour mood? I realized it goes back to my selfish desire for comfort. It’s uncomfortable and often times inconvenient to follow Jesus (in this case over-seas). But Jesus didn’t promise a comfortable life. He actually said following him and proclaiming his name is more important than our comfort (Luke 9:57-62). Seeing Christ’s name glorified in my life and in lives around the world is worth life’s discomforts big and small. And it’s definitely worth a few loaves of smashed bread.

As a team we spent 4 days in Eerste Rivier, 2 hours outside of Port Elizabeth near Tsitsikama National Park. We took this time to pray for one another, our students, and Campus Crusade in South Africa. The house we stayed in had a beautiful view of the ocean and one of the prettiest sunsets we’ve ever seen. Here are some moments we captured.

“Our time in Eerste Rivier”

From Waiting on God, posted by Keith MacMillan on 4/05/2012 (12 items)

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We have finally been on  true African Safari! Here are some photos from our day on the Schotia game preserve outside Port Elizabeth. We rode in a nine passenger open air land rover. If we wanted to we could have reached out and touched half these animals (but we didn’t because most were big and intimidating). The highlight of the day was seeing the two rhinos “playing”. Enjoy!

“Lions, Rhinos and Gnus! OH MY!”

From Safari in Schotia, posted by Keith MacMillan on 4/05/2012 (26 items)

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At the beginning of March we explored our lovely city of Port Elizabeth. We had breakfast as a team then saw some PE landmarks. We live in such a beautiful city! Here are some pictures from our adventure:

“Our Fun Day in Town!”

From Hanging out in Central, posted by Keith MacMillan on 4/05/2012 (24 items)

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“Dear Lord, I pray you would use us to share your word with people here on campus, and that people would trust you with their lives.”

Afrika, a third year sports journalism major and rugby enthusiast (he plays on two different campus rugby teams), prayed this recently with me (Keith) after sharing his faith with students on campus.

Keith, Khaya and Jordan hanging out after a weekly meeting

One month ago, we met Afrika on campus when I initiated a spiritual conversation with him near the library.  He grew up going to church in East London (3 hours north of PE), but thought being a Christian meant living a good moral life.  I asked if I could share the “4 Spiritual Laws” booklet with him, a booklet that explains the gospel using scripture and illustrations.  Afrika responded “Yes. But I only have 20 minutes.” I shared the booklet as quickly as I could, stripping out all the fun and exciting Gospel analogies that I typically use.  By the end of the 20 minutes, Afrika realized that being a  Christian is not about being “good” but about trusting Christ, something he had never done.  Afrika prayed to trust Jesus as his Lord and Savior right then on a bench by the library.

Since then, God has been shaping him and we have walked through several weeks of follow up material, ending with sharing his faith with others.  Afrika now is a part of a discipleship group that I have the pleasure of leading, along with his rugby teammate Jordan. It’s crazy how God can use 20 minutes to change someone’s life! Praise God for the work He is doing in Afrika and Africa!

Ways to pray for us 

• We have been in SA for 2 months now. Pray that we would continue to be learners of the culture and remember ‘it’s not wrong, it’s just different’.
• Pray that we would continue to put God at the center of our marriage. It is easy to work side-by-side as ‘co-workers’ and forget to invest in each other as husband and wife.
• We are leaving for a prayer retreat with our team today (April 1st -4th). Pray that we can find rest in the Lord together. Also, we are making it a point to learn how to encourage each other (this can be hard). Pray for healthy communication and that we would really love each other.

To start off the term at NMMU, our student leaders decided to host a beach day at a local beach here in PE. We got really excited as we dreamed together what this day would look like: surf lessons, games, snacks and a sand castle competition. The morning of this event our team had a mini-freak out moment, “What if no one shows up? We didn’t promote early enough. And the weather report predicts rain”. We talked for a while about what we did poorly and why it was going to be a complete waste of time. Then Katy, our team leader, pointed out “This is great. If it turns out well we know that God gets the glory and not us.” Talk about convicting…and encouraging.

35 students showed up on the beach. One student, who accepted Christ 3 weeks ago, took 2 taxis to get there. Another student, who trusted Jesus with the summer team last July, brought six of his international friends. It did start raining but not until 3pm, an hour after our event was over. The day was a huge success…and thankfully not because of us.

“For our Opening Function we spent the Saturday at the beach! We swam, played touch rugby and had a lekker sand castle contest. It was so much fun! (Lekker is Afrikaans for ‘sweet’ or ‘cool’). “

From NMMU Campus Crusade Beach Day, posted by Desyré MacMillan on 3/13/2012 (11 items)

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We really love you guys and want to have you over to our place, but many of you live half a world away so that won’t be happening anytime soon. In the meantime we figured this would do.

“Many of you asked to see our place. So here is a virtual tour. ”

From Our South African home, posted by Desyré MacMillan on 2/17/2012 (9 items)

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So there is a Lion Park a few kilometers outside PE where you can pet baby lions. Seriously! How could you say no to that? So our team spent a Saturday morning enjoying this Lion Park together.  Also, Keith made friends with a giraffe and named him Geoffery.  We had fun being tourists for the day and marveling at the magnificent animals at this park.

“SA Stint 2012 – January”

From Seaview Lion Park, posted by Keith MacMillan on 1/20/2012 (29 items)

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Port Elizabeth is a modern city with a downtown area, city center, stadium, marina, shipping dock, malls and suburbs. So we don’t see “African wildlife” crossing the road on a regular basis. But when we first arrived in January, we visited Addo Elephant Park, a game reserve a few kilometers outside PE. We almost left without seeing a single elephant, but one found us on the road on the way out of the park. Very cool! Here are some of our favorite pictures from the trip.

“Where are all the elephants?!”

From Addo Elephant National Park, posted by Keith MacMillan on 1/21/2012 (12 items)

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We drove along the famous ‘Garden Route’ from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town for our Stint Orientation in January.  While the 9 hour drive was long it was one of the most beautiful and diverse scenes we’ve driven through.

“On the Way to South Africa Stint Orientation!”

From Garden Route, posted by Keith MacMillan on 1/28/2012 (17 items)

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