If you know Ben...

If you know me (Ben) then you know that I love good coffee... ok you can call it a pretentious desire to find and make only the best I can source:) So now if you know anything about speciality coffee you know that authentic Blue Mountain coffee from Jamaica is some of the most sought after and rare in the world. All that to share my excitement with you about a friend of mine who is a coffee farmer and roaster here in South Africa who just bought a 15 kg Barrel of it to roast. Barrel cost $1,500. If I can have just one cup I think that I'll be happy for life... until I find someone who has that St. Helana coffee...

Moral of this blog comes from what Kristy and I have been reading together. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 Go, Eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine [or coffee?] with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.... Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love....

Solomon talks a lot about the meaningless days of our life, yet reminds us that what we do, who we are, the job we do, and what we even drink are a gift from God and should be enjoyed! I will be enjoying what I drink for at least a cup or two!

At Lou Lou's Jewelry Exhibition

If you follow the life of these Carlsons in the Evergreen City (Durban) then you know that on eof our good friends and past student Lou Lou Mgugudo is one of Kristy's best friends and competing for best Aunty of the year award with a couple other candidates.

You may remember that last year she was in Colorado Springs on a 3 month Navigator global student project. She came back to us a changed woman! We are excited about what God is doing in Lou Lou's life.

In the creative side of life she is finishing her honors degree in jewelry design in the next month and just put on an amazing exhibition to showcase her work. Watch all the fashion sites in the next year for Gudenuf, Lou Lou's design label!

Functions With Goat

One of the past students, Thabisa, along with her husband Sizwe, have become great friends. So it was great to go to the dedication of their lil one year old girl Zen.

There is always an after-party. The after-party starts with lunch, then has a goat laid out on a board (pictured) which is everyones favorite. The guys get to sit in a circle, share a knife and hack off pieces of goat to dip into the salt pile and chase it with boil bread. Women stay in another area (usually inside chopping stuff for the lunch.... oh ya, this is only the starter).

Next is the pudding (trifle with ice cream). Then the lamb curry made on a poijki. Finally the fire is started and the nyama (meat) can be Braaied (grilled).

Lots of fun. New friends made. Kristy and I figure this time with a past students family and relational networks is what we have been doing and desired to do since day one in Africa 8 years ago.

Reading Books About a Baby Brother Coming.

Oh the bugs we see.

Protests, Soccer Bosses and Nav Community.

South African President Jacob Zumu had struck fear into the hearts of many South Africans before he became president.  Now, six months later we find ourselves in a very anticlimactic state.  He's doing his best and it's not that bad at all!  I hear all sorts of people complaining and/or praising Obama, but with Zuma there just isn't a lot to talk about.  So that leaves me with the protests.

Poor service delivery is the problem of the day.  The ANC (leading SA gov. party) has not followed through on some promises and people are up in arms, burning tyres and demanding.... Jacob Zuma help them.

Second most important on peoples minds, just 230 days before the 2010 Soccer World Cup comes to SA... We have fired our countries head coach.  So maybe my decision of when to go back for our next USA visit is set.  If Bafana Bafana can't get their act together then why be here?

Last but not least is the growing Nav community in Durban.  We keep seeing God work, relationships grow and our community naturally growing and developing.

What's next?  Zuma quits singing Umshini Wami (Bring me my machine-gun), Bafana Bafana hires back our last Brazilian Coach for R7 million a month, and we light a braai (BBQ) for our growing community.

What's happening in the Cape Town Nav ministry?

I thought you would love to hear what our good friend and fellow Navigator Archie just wrote.

Hello hello,

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our Bible Marathon. It was such a meaningful time! This wasn't a fund-raiser or anything like that; we simply did it because of our desire to get a better grip on the Big Picture of the New Testament.

Below is the response of some of the 'athletes':

Bruce Nygaard (who initially proposed the idea):
___25 books___   
_____23 people_____
_______13 hours_______
___________1 great time__________

If anyone thought it might be boring to read the Bible for 13 hours with only short breaks and no discussion, our Bible Marathon on a Friday-Saturday proved the opposite! The more we read, the more we found ourselves energized as book flowed into book and morning flowed into afternoon. The best part for me was reading IN COMMUNITY. For example, whenever the Pharisees said something daft (which was always), we laughed. And whenever Jesus said something so brilliant that only Jesus could have said it, our exclamations punctuated it. It was nice not to have anyone putting their own spin on the message. And reading together as a group kept us on pace with God’s train of thought, rather than getting snagged by thorny details. We could better see what’s gloriously important (and what isn’t).

Zethu: God's word unedited, no one's opinion, no additions. Just His voice!  I described the marathon to a friend as being like standing under a waterfall and feeling the water gushing over you. You do not feel the [individual] droplets, you feel the goodness of the whole. You are cleansed, not only because you realize your faults, but because you’re reminded of the beautiful bigger picture…

Takadzani: Most of the time I read the New Testament with a very inquisitive mind, asking trivial questions, thus losing the central message-- the message of the cross and it's power! Reading the Bible in this manner helped me see the simplicity that we often complicate.

Thato: Everything came together for me. I get it now!

Felix: Doing this Bible marathon helped me see more clearly the simple fact that Jesus is being preached… It really is all about Him!

Mercy: Reading through the book of Hebrews in one sitting was just simply wow! It hit me again as to what Jesus actually came and did. And it was really great to feel part of a family. I feel encouraged to continue reading the Bible…

Camping with the guys.

The Durban Nav guys are going camping today!  We've got a great group of guys in community here in Durban and we see the need to grow them and with them both spiritually and relationally.  It's part of our ethos, our value of individuals and our heart for each of these guys.  The longer we're in Durban the more I see that it's not about the "ministry," it's about relationships.

Lou Lou and Kristy

BFF? Well, at least partners in creativity.  Lou Lou and Kristy have started hand printing fabric.  Kristy is always pushing the boundaries and traditional ways of how to connect and help friends.  Always relational.  Always making an impact.  I am continually inspired!

New Navigator South African Country Leader

The South African Navigators selected Mr. Paul Makhurupetsi as National Director on Sunday, 9^th August 2009, following a process involving several other qualified candidates. The Selection Council, comprised of staff, ministry leaders and Nav board; met over the weekend to pray together and interact with shortlisted candidates. At the end, it was clear to the Selection Council that Paul Makhurupetsi is God’s choice to lead The South African Navigators into the next phase of our ministry.

Udobong Idemetor (Southern Africa - Zonal Director) was used by the LORD to facilitate what was undoubtedly a very spiritual process.

 “ What I really enjoyed about this weekend was that the whole weekend was bathed by the word of God and Prayer. Everybody prayed, we searched the Scriptures, we searched God ‘s voice, we focused on God, we worshipped God and from that the decision naturally flowed to select Paul Makhurupetsi as our new National Director. He has everybody’s support…we are very excited about his vision for our ministry. He is committed to the CORE of The Navigators…to the Vision of The Navigators. We are looking forward to the next phase in the history of The Navigators of South Africa.” Says Archie Van der Byl, Navigator staff. 

Paul Makhurupetsi responded to his nomination and eventual selection by reading from Isaiah 6:1-8.

 Paul met The Navigators in 1989 at the University of Witwatersrand. From 1995, he had been serving at the same university. His gifts and hard work contributed to the growth and strength of the student work in Johannesburg.  Paul will assume his new responsibilities at the beginning of 2010.