WHY WE GO

Africa, your sufferings have been a theme that has engaged and arrested my heart.  Your sufferings no tongue can express, no language impart.

 These words by Sir William Wilberforce (1759-1833) were about his desire for the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of English society.  They are still relevant today, as much of the African continent struggles with drought and the ravages of poverty, social injustice and disease.  Though there are many nations in Africa where opportunity abounds, Southern Africa in particular is still a hotbed of famine and AIDS.  Though we at SLI agree with Ms. Dambisa Moyo that government-to-government aid is not a workable solution, this is not to say that humanitarian relief efforts by individuals and small dedicated groups do not have value -- much suffering can be relieved as we build relationships, as we give of ourselves, as we do what each of us is capable of doing.  As Mother Teresa said, "if you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."  And as William Wilberforce reminds us:

Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way . . . but you can never say again that you did not know.

RETURNING TO ZIMBABWE

It's that time again and I'm very excited.  I will be returning with Todd Martin for another joint LCFA/SLI mission trip to Zimbabwe where we will be delivering grain to village schools and seed to farmers in the region around Gwayi River.  Here is how Todd describes the scene in Zim today:

The good news: The economy in Zimbabwe is starting to turn around. Fuel can be purchased at most filling stations and the shelves at most grocery stores are full. The bad news: Prices are still highly inflated such that most people cannot afford to purchase what they need, and unemployment is still extremely high. We are hoping and praying that inflation will settle down once the people get used to the new currency. In the mean time God has given us more opportunities to show His love through tangible means. 

I received a letter last year from the headmaster, Dominic Nyathi, of the Sir Roy Welensky Primary School requesting more help. He was very thankful for our donation on a previous visit and mentioned that both the students and teachers were surviving off of the Mealie Meal (their staple diet in Zimbabwe; like “grits”) for the last 2-3 months. Dominic said that “while goods are plenty in the shops, we find it hard to get a single dollar” to purchase anything. This is typical in many of the rural areas where unemployment often exceeds 80%. The grain we distribute is typically enough to provide meals for the students from between one to three months depending on the size of the school. So, at least for now, we will continue to help in any way we can.

We will be traveling to Zimbabwe on September 27, returning on October 12.  If you are interested in being a part of our team helping to stave off hunger in this region, please consider donating --

Grain costs approx. $350 per ton including fuel to transport it to the villages;
Seed costs about $1,200 per ton and is most needed now, before the Nov. planting season.

If you feel led to give and be a part of this relief mission, click Donate Now above right, or mail a check made out to "Servant Leaders International" to the address to the right.

Every little bit counts, and as our travel costs are now covered, everything we raise from now until September 27 will be used to buy food for the villagers.  Please consider donating now, and help us plan to feed more people.  Your contribution is tax deductible.  Thank you!!

CAN YOU BE COUNTED ON BY OTHERS?

Servant leadership has obvious applications in ministry.  When reading this interesting article by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, Costa Mesa, California, think about the wider implications of servant leadership on your sphere of influence.  How will you touch the lives of others in your workplace, your church, your neighborhood, your family?  Will you have an opportunity to serve others outside of your comfort zone?  If so, how will you respond?

CAN YOU BE COUNTED ON BY OTHERS?
by Rick Warren
August 14, 2010

"Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!" Matthew 25:23 (NLT)

"Can you be counted on by others? Are there promises you need to keep, vows you need to fulfill, or commitments you need to honor? " Real servants are faithful to their ministry. Servants finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises, and complete their commitments. They don't leave a job half undone, and they don't quit when they get discouraged. They are trustworthy and dependable. Faithfulness has always been a rare quality (Psalm 12:1; Proverbs 20:6; Philippians 2:19-22). Most people don't know the meaning of commitment. They make commitments casually, then break them for the slightest reason without any hesitation, remorse, or regret. Every week, churches and other organizations must improvise because volunteers didn't prepare, didn't show up, or didn't even call to say they weren't coming. Can you be counted on by others? Are there promises you need to keep, vows you need to fulfill, or commitments you need to honor? This is a test. God is testing your faithfulness. If you pass the test, you're in good company: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Timothy, and Paul were all called faithful servants of God. Even better, God has promised to reward your faithfulness in eternity. Imagine what it will feel like one day to have God say to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!" (Matthew 25:23 NLT). By the way, faithful servants never retire. They serve faithfully as long as they're alive. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.

A TIME FOR CHANGE

I sit on the doorstep on my room in Johannesburg South Africa, with a cup of some fresh Rooibos tea. It’s cold, but the cup of tea and the two jackets that I am wearing are keeping me warm. This is not a usual night for me, there is something on my mind, I have unanswered questions and I am trying to find solutions for the crisis in my life.

I didn’t plan to be here, I did not see my life becoming as it has. On the contrary, I wanted to travel the continent, empowering my fellow African brothers and sisters. I wanted to be teaching business seminars in Zimbabwe, in Zambia, in Kenya. I never envisioned myself living in a one-room, struggling to raise enough money to pay rent and buy food.

Where did I go wrong? But I am not the only one, there are thousands of Zimbabweans all over South Africa, who have left their country of birth in search for greener pastures. We all have since discovered that the grass that seemed greener from Zimbabwe is actually growing on a sewage leak!

Its been almost a year since I left home, and I have been through some interesting situations – from living in a barber shop, to sleeping in the park and now I have a one-room…that’s a huge achievement for someone in my shoes.

But there is still hope, not only for me but for every other African brother and sister. The hope does not lie in aid, per se, but it really lies in the empowerment of the African youth. These are the future leaders, the future business gurus.

I am getting a vision, a bright image of the future, a generation of Africans who will not only change their lives, but the lives of their fellow brothers and sisters. They say change is the only constant in life, change has to come to Africa, positive change.

Change only comes, however, when new knowledge is received. It’s a new perception of the world that can bring positive change to Africa. It’s a different value system, not changing the culture, but changing the values on which we build our lives. It’s the values that govern us, it’s the values that affect what we do and who we become. In the midst of negativity and corruption, positive change is possible. They say when the student is ready, the teacher appears; Africa is ready for new teachers. Teachers who will not be afraid to teach, Leaders who will not be afraid to lead and the students will not be afraid to learn.

Instead of giving us fish, we now need to learn how to fish and then maybe we can even own the fishpond where everyone fishes. Africa’s future lies in all the youth, myself included. It breaks my heart to see young people engage in self-destructive habits; like smoking at a young age, drinking alcohol from a young age, mugging people, stealing… What is the cause of all this? Remember, change can only come when new knowledge is received.

There is hope for Africa, when the young generation is empowered. These future leaders need to be taught, we need to be taught. They say success leaves clues, now is the time for us to learn the clues from those who have gone before us and achieved great things for humanity.

It’s no longer about me, but it’s now up to me. If I can impact just one life of my fellow Africans, I know they will go on to impact their society and that in the end we will have a better Africa. 

Bruce Msimanga

SLI NEWS

Hi all! There is a lot happening at Servant Leaders International! Here is our news:

MEETING
Our next Servant Leaders Team Meeting is coming up next weekend, Saturday, May 15th at 2:00. Please plan to be there until approximately 3:45. Contact SLI at ServantLeadersIntl@gmail.com if you can attend, and bring anyone who might be interested in joining our team!

DEPOSIT DUE
This is the date, according to our calendar, that your deposit is due for your participation in the trip. The deposit amount is $400. For those of you who missed our first meeting, we have changed the dates of the trip to August 30 - Sept. 14, 2010. If you don't have the money ready yet, please have it in as soon as possible, and talk with me to make arrangements. The sooner the money comes in, the sooner we can buy plane tickets at a good price.


ACCESS TO MORE GRAIN!
There are some other exciting developments. We have connected with a man from a local Rotary club who is connected in Zimbabwe. He has found a possible way for us to acquire GRAIN and possible even SEED for this area for FREE. We would only have to pay for fuel and transport, which would mean either having to raise less, or having more to spend on delivery rather than the staple food. If they won't provide seed, we will have more money to purchase it, as it is VERY expensive (4 times the amount of grain).

WORKING ON REDUCING FLIGHT COSTS!
We are working on getting our flight costs down by choosing an alternative airline. If, however, you know of business people or family members who are frequent flyers, ask them to donate their miles to SLI. We can use them to defray costs or transport people who can't otherwise raise enough to go. This is a great way to support our work!!

FUNDRAISING
Steve and I will be offering lemonade and blended mocha drinks at Estrella Mountain Church tomorrow. If any of you who attend this church would like to purchase donuts, muffins and danish for sale, buy them at Safeway early Sunday morning. (Remember, it's Mother's Day, so get there early!) We will have a table between services and after the second service. All donations will be pooled and go towards the September humanitarian relief project.

Also, if you want to conduct a garage sale or bake sale in the next week or two, our driveway is available for your use, just let us know! We can discuss putting together a car wash, using the parking lot of the church near our house on 107th -- we will need help with advertising our car wash and help with planning. We can all get out there and wash some cars for the cause!

MORE DEVELOPMENTS TBA!

Even if you are not sure you can go with us on this trip, please attend the meeting to find out what our future plans are, and to help us spread the word! We have an exciting project in development that could mean not only grain and seed, but WATER to the schools in this region. We can't wait to share all that is happening at SLI.

More Food Shortages Threaten Zimbabwe's Population

Planning to Return to Africa in Late August

Since we feel it is prudent to avoid the excitement and crowds and general airport mayhem surrounding the World Cup in South Africa this summer, SLI is planning to return to Zimbabwe and, hopefully, Zambia as late as possible in August, possibly the first week of September.  This has another benefit -- the air tickets will be greatly reduced.

We are forming our team and have had our first Team Meeting on SLI's Mission, Vision and Values.  We are currently taking applications to join us on this short term humanitarian mission, so if you are interested, please contact SLI at ServantLeadersIntl@gmail.com for more information!

THE LAUNCH OF THE TWO CENTS CAMPAIGN

What is the Two Cents Campaign?  

Our idea is that donating to a worthy cause should not hurt -- it should feel good.  We strongly believe that much can be done with the little that we have, if we bring what we can with glad hearts for giving.

We're asking people to "give us your two cents" -- a play on words:  give us your thoughts and opinions about issues relevant to our work, and literally give us two cents, whatever loose change you might find digging around your pocket or purse!

If you would like to participate in this campaign, you can contribute in a number of ways:  take a 1-minute video of yourself with your video phone or camera, in the following format:

"Hi, my name is ____ from _____."  Then tell us what the world should know about the ability of young people to make a difference in the world, or the moral imperative of helping children in need, the state of hunger in the Third World, opportunities for enterprise and positive change in Africa, or the power and potential of your generation -- whatever, just make it relevant to SLI's mission and vision, and encourage your listeners to dig deep, find some loose cash and send it to SLI.  Keep it real (and appropriate) and keep it to one minute or less!  End with one of these tag lines:
"Small change leads to big change!" or
"... and that's my Two Cents."

Send us your 1-minute video and we'll post it here!  If you can't shoot a quick vid, put your thoughts in a comment to this post, become a Follower and tell all your friends about our cause!

A Video Is Worth A Thousand Words!

We are so thankful to all of you who donated so generously to help make this outreach a success!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Know that, because of your support, there are children in Zimbabwe who will be able to share a meal today.

Servant Leaders International wishes you a very Merry Christmas!

This is the Ngosa Brothers from Zambia singing "Umutima Wandi" acapella. A rough translation of part of the song, in the Bemba language, is: "My heart crashes everywhere to hear your calling, it is so intense, indeed you are worthy of every praise!"

Why We Do It

Study the fun, curiosity, joy, delight and prayer in the faces of these children and consider -- are my worries so enormous? Are my money issues, my bills, my stress and concerns so large that I can't step outside of myself for a little while and serve the needs of others? We want to challenge you to think about committing two weeks in May to doing something extraordinary. Learn about leadership: begin with service.

Simple Mission: Food, Faith and Fun

At our first school delivery.

Loads of grain..... Each delivery involved putting the 12.5 kilo bags onto the Land Cruiser, trailer, van and a smaller covered trailer and driving the loaded caravan to the school, then lining the kids up and off-loading the trucks.

Loads of fun.... the soccer balls are always a huge hit.

From the Mouths of Babes Thou Hast Ordained Praise

Sarah with Ebenezer, Adam's new baby

A girl named "Anxious"

COLLABORATION IN AFRICA

Our trip to Zimbabwe was marked at every turn by the grace and provision of God. Henry worked to develop fruitful relationships, most notably with the manager of a food supplier who not only sold us the grain but provided the transport, by truck, into Gwai River, making the use of the unreliable rail system unnecessary. This proved to be a huge advantage, and relieved us of much stress. The grain was delivered by flatbed truck directly to the Gwai River Primary School where it was offloaded into a storage room.

This central location made it possible for us to load our Land Rover, van and trailer with grain for each day's delivery to the outlying schools.  We became very efficient at grain delivery.

In the end, we were able to provide grain to seven village schools, supplying basic nutritional support for hundreds of children and the school teachers and staff. One headmaster spoke the obvious -- that this provision meant not only the saving of lives, but the advancement of the education of these young minds. Children who have food in their bellies are able to study and concentrate, and are motivated to get to school.  Further, our commitment to provide for the children of this region means the preservation of a generation that would otherwise be at great risk.

This work was a collaboration of several organizations, made up of passionate individuals: Steve and I represented SLI; Todd Martin, a director of SLI, is also on the board of LCFA (an organization I helped create two years ago); Henry Nel of Rock of Africa/South Africa has a regular ministry to the Gwai River region and is beloved there.  Our team was rounded by Paul Ness of Cape Town who added as much humor and faith as he did muscle and hard work.

Not only did your gifts, donations and pledges contribute to the direct distribution of grain to children in some of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe, but they also provided much-needed seed in time for the planting season.

Henry announced that I would be meeting with the women of the village and conducting a "women's conference" while he met with the farmers. Pastor Victor of Gwai River told Henry that I would have to address the women after Henry talked with the farmers. "Oh, no," said Henry, "she will talk to the women while I talk to the farmers...." Pastor Victor patiently explained: "Henry," he said, "the women ARE the farmers." In Zimbabwe, the women make up the work force, most of which is agricultural. We all had a good laugh as we remembered what we'd studied about this region, but realized that our own cultural biases sneak in anyway when we least expect it.

This time, instead of just donating seed, Henry proposed that the farmers sign a letter of commitment agreeing to donate back a portion of their crop to the school. Since it is their children attending the school, they should have no problem with this. The farmers seemed agreeable but a bit unsure, one woman in particular worried that she might not be able to meet her commitment if she should experience a poor crop, but we persisted, knowing that all the seed is donated, and that if they planted in faith, there would be enough. I think the fruit of all this will be a community invested in itself, committed to self-sufficiency (as opposed to charity).  We are very excited to see, this Spring, what feedback the farmers give us about this experiment.

On the whole, our trip was blessed in every way. This time, there were no fuel issues, no flat tires, no border hassles (well, not many anyway), and though we had rain, none of it hurt the grain!

Our last dinner in Gwai was just bug-infested hilarity -- all of us laughing as Steve patiently picked the praying mantis off his spaghetti and I flicked the flying termites out of the butter -- finally removing the candles from our table and eating in the dark to down our deliciousness in peace. The food was amazingly good. The trip back to Johannesburg was also easy, and delightful in another way, as our conversations deepened our friendships. After a night in Johannesburg, our flights home were also uneventful, full of good food (believe it or not) and good movies. And a few tears for missing all that we left behind.

We challenge you to consider joining us as we plan our return in May.

GREETINGS FROM BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE!

After a relatively easy flight, we arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, met briefly with our dear friend Bruce, then drove to a lodge close to the border with our friends Todd and Henry and Henry's friends Paul and Victor. The next morning we crossed the border without any delays or incident, and drove to Bulawayo. Yesterday we purchased 16 tons of grain (mealie meal) and today we are negotiating the purchase of about a ton of seed. We've arranged for the grain and seed to be transported by truck to Gawai River, where we will be personally delivering it to schools throughout this next week.

We leave for Gawai in the morning. Today we are running around making sure the land rover has operating brakes, the proper tires, enough diesel fuel and working lights (apparently it wasn't quite so well outfitted last June.... but that's another story). We will be in an area that has no electricity except what we can produce with a generator, and no cell phone or Internet access, so our next update will likely be next Friday from Bulawayo again. We will post pictures when we can.

In the meantime, we notice there are bids on the Store -- please be patient with us; it will take some time for us to be able to post all the new bids, but know that we are monitoring them and will reopen the Store when we get back.

Thanks to all our donors and supporters.  Talk to you all soon!

SERVANT LEADERS STORE!

Check out the SERVANT LEADERS STORE! On November 10, the Silent Auction will be postponed as our team heads to Africa. If we have not experienced enough bidding, we will resume the auction or place the items for sale on the Store after November 23rd, so you will have another chance to bid on or purchase the items you want!

Just click on the Globe and Shop for the Cause!  Tell your friends!

SLI SILENT AUCTION - Shop and Save (Lives!)

We have opened the bidding for our Silent Auction! Go to:
http://servantleadersstore.blogspot.com/

We have lots of items for sale, and more are being added daily. Click on "comments" below each item to post your bid. This is a Silent Auction, so comments/bids will not be published, but we will update each item with the current top bid until the Auction closes on Nov. 10, 2009. All proceeds will be used to fund the Zimbabwe Relief Project 2009 and other SLI youth programs.

Tell your friends! Go on-line and shop for the cause!

A Perfect Example of Harmony and Collaboration

Ok, I first saw this on Glen Megill's Facebook page, but still..... very cool.

A Shout Out to Liz!

One of the workers at a local sporting goods store that is going out of business here in Avondale plans to ask her managers if they would agree to donate soccer balls to SLI for our November mission. She hasn't been able to get in touch with them yet. So she went ahead and bought four with her own money, as well as four hackey sacs, and gave us a call to come pick them up. WHAT A BLESSING SHE IS!!!!! Thanks, Liz, for your big heart!

Like I said before, it's these little gestures that surprise and bless us so much. Here is a picture courtesy of photographer Lori Aderholt taken in Zimbabwe, 2007:

Soccer balls are a BIG HIT, and most of these kids, playing in bare feet, kick a** on the field!