Ten Days For Jesus 2009

What an amazing time we had this year. Thirty young people decided to give up a part of their Christmas holiday in order to give their gift to the One who's birthday we celebrate at this time of year; and what better gift than your time, your money, your gifts, your talents, your emotions, yourself...

"In view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1


TDFJ (Ten Days For Jesus) is an All Nations' opportunity to learn a few basic things about simple church, discipleship and to spend time putting this into practice in some of the poorest communities in the southern peninsula of Cape Town. It is an opportunity to experience first hand what it's like to live in conditions which do not even qualify as "basic human rights" or to grow up in communities where physical abuse and drug addiction is "normal". It's an opportunity to form authentic relationships with people you would not ordinarily seek out, and it's an opportunity to see first hand how an active relationship with Jesus Christ can change a life.

This year's TDFJ kicked off with us going to an adventure camp called Back to Basics - just an hour or so outside Cape Town. The participants were divided into their outreach teams (representative of the communities they would serve in over the following ten days) to perform a number of team building tasks - such as raft building, obstacle courses and the like. They had a fantastic time, getting to know each other and learning how to work in teams. This specific adventure course was chosen because the running theme throughout TDFJ was also "Back to Basics".

The "basics" of discipleship, prayer, morning quiet time, bible reading, application and obedience of what was read were modelled and taught by Floyd McClung each day. This was a great opportunity for those who were familiar with these models to get back into the daily discipline thereof; and for those who were very new to this, it was an opportunity to learn from scratch, and to put into practice effectively. Each day started with a scheduled quiet time, and a time of prayer, and was followed by a time of teaching. Thereafter, the teams went into the communities for most of the day, to interact with the poor and build relationships with them, to serve them.  They returned in the late afternoon.

We then spent time together in our own "community" through cooking together, eating together, prayer and worship times and then hanging out over some tea and coffee and sharing our stories. I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we caught a glimpse of what living together as brothers and sisters looks like; sharing our space, and our time, making allowances for each other and building good, solid relationships all in the name of Jesus. And the overflow of our love for each other was demonstrated to the poor each time we went out into the communities.

Their exploits were too many to mention but here are two noteworthy stories, one of which comes from a local guy who was selected to do the TDFJ program. His name is Lucas and he is from Masiphumulele and he was granted sponsorship to do TDFJ. Our vision at All Nations is to raise local leaders and so we used this program, not only to give outsiders the opportunity to engage with the poor, but also to give people from those poor communities the opportunity to be discipled and then to minister to their own.

This is what Lucas said:

“We went into the community and met three guys (the naughty guys of the community). After praying to the Lord that we would not be avoided by the people, we found ourselves sitting in their place watching TV. I was afraid we might get beaten this time, but the Holy Spirit gave us words instead. The next moment we found ourselves speaking and listening and they were responding with hunger to know the Lord and they asked us to pray for them and find them a bible so that they can read; they wanted to serve the Lord like us.”

The second story is from Valentine, who was serving in Redhill. He said:

“On Friday, as led by the Holy Spirit, we found ourselves at a house where we met a lady who had been sick with Asthma, difficulties to breathe and to walk. So we laid hands on her and immediately she was healed. We walked outside with her and she starting running and jogging, lifting her hands into the air praising God.”

These are just two of many stories. God did some amazing things in the lives of many people this December. What a privilege it's been to be have witnessed His transforming goodness. Pastor Bob from Living Hope in Hamilton, Ontario said (when he was here in October 2009) "we're in the life changing business". I can't describe the excitement that fills my heart every time a story of desperation is turned into a story of glorification after people meet the King of Kings, and he floods their hearts with His love and mercy, and sets them free, and gives them new life.