Spring has arrived to South Africa and with it new life. Likewise, our baby has decided to reveal itself … Emma will be having a baby sister! We found out on Thursday after the doctor’s visit. WY is doing well and the baby is growing in line with the charts. Next comes the search for names. Any suggestions?

John leaves for Accra today and returns next Friday. He will be conducting Ubabalo training at the International Sports Leadership Training (Level 2) in Accra until next Thursday. There are 20 students from over 8 countries.

We hope that you too are doing well. We’d love to get an update on your life.

Prayer:

1. Emma is down with a viral infection and is battling a mild fever and cough. It started on Thursday night. Pray for her quick recovery.
2. Pray that WY will be patient, gracious and strong as she deals with a sick toddler. It will be challenging with John being away.
3. Pray that John will remain in good health during his time in Ghana, and that he will have wisdom and discernment when facilitating the training.

I’ve just returned from India so I’ll write a quick update now and if I find time in the course of the week, will send through a more detailed update.

1. Taking Wan Yi to visit the doctor tomorrow (6 Aug). If the little one is compliant, we should be able to determine the gender.
2. Last Sunday night, Emma vomited 4-5 times during a 3-hour window. At 1am, we took her to the hospital for emergency treatment. Doctor checked her and decided she was fine to return home. It could have been excessive fatigue which caused reflux of the milk and continuous vomiting. She’s fully recovered now.
3. Completed training for 48 leaders from 11 North African & Middle Eastern countries in Egypt.
4. Completed Training of Trainers for 23 leaders representing most of Burundi. The country reminds me of Malaysia about 15-20 years ago. Also had meetings with elders from Burundi Brethren Assemblies. Visited the site where Dr. David Livingstone was found by Henry Stanley. (http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/stanley.htm)
5. Brazilian team of Christian soccer players have moved from Burundi to Uganda, and are now in Kenya. Next stop is Madagsacar and South Africa.
6. Training of 50 key Indian leaders on Ubabalo from 3-4 Aug. They will in turn equip 2000 coaches across the country who will use the Ubabalo discipleship curriculum with 100,000 young soccer players from August – October 2009.
7. Training of 15-20 leaders to take place in Zimbabwe from 16-21 Aug.
8. International Sports Leadership School (ISLS) has commenced in Stellenbosch with 27 leaders from across the world. I will conduct Ubabalo Training of Trainers with them from 24 Aug.
9. My paternal grandfather died in June (96 years) whilst I was in Ukraine. My paternal grandmother (90 years) died 40 days later in July whilst I was in Burundi. Thanks you for your condolences. Both know Jesus. Both have lived a fruitful life.

Wan Yi & I have been reflecting on God’s propensity to smile on His children. And we often see His smile in the most unexpected of places …

• on the faces of soccer coaches following an Ubabalo training.
• on the faces of the children in Khayelitsha (Cape Town black township) and various other slums/townships whenever a yellow-skin guy with straight black hair plays soccer with them.
• on the faces of the church members in the Cairo rubbish dump, after I had minstered the Word and prayed with them.
• on the faces of Pavel & Nina (70 years old) both of whom are survivors of the Chernobyl (Ukraine) nuclear power plant explosion on 26 April 1986. They are 2 of 11 people who have chosen to remain in the now abandoned town of Poliska (Zone of Alienation) that used to house 15,000 people. I visited them in their Poliska home earlier this month.

Please view a collection of significant stories (http://rcpt.yousendit.com/707379840/fc51275fd5cf71285b435b56c987e063) that I recently compiled. Both WY & I were very moved (near tears) when we sat down to re-read and reflect on the difficult circumstances where transformation is taking place. We are very grateful to be able to be part of building God’s Kingdom in this way.

When we moved to SA in 2007, little did we know that in such a short time (2.5 years), we would be able to share with you such exciting updates on Ubabalo.

We covet your prayers for the following:

1. With the 2nd baby, Wan Yi has had to surrender herself to motherhood for the next few years … but not without some emotional struggles I might add. Please continue to keep her in your prayers, and also for both of us as we work out new roles and responsibilities as a missionary family in transition. We see the doctor later today for her check-up.
2. Emma turns 1 year old on Tuesday, 30 June. We are so grateful that God has blessed us with such an adaptable, easy-going and joyful child. She is quick to share a smile and endears herself to everyone that meets her. She has helped us grow in so many ways to become more effective in life and ministry.
3. I travel to Eygpt to conduct Ubabalo training from 10-11 July. [Confidential] And to strategize with a team of Ubabalo leaders for North Africa & Middle East
4. A touring team of Brazilian Christian soccer players is visiting 5 African countries (Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa) and spearheards the efforts to launch Ubabalo* nationally in those countries. As the Brazilian team has professional level players and a few former World Cup winners, they will play with the National / Olympic teams of each country in nationally televised games. Do pray for the event organizers (Simeon from Burundi, Walter from Kenya, Richard Charles from Uganda, Solo from Madagascar, Neville from South Africa) as they work with various key stakeholders – Ministry of Youth & Sports, the Brazilian Embassy, Church leaders, 2010 Local Organizing Committee, Press, Business leaders, others. The desired outcome is to have Ubabalo as an officially endorsed youth development programme in these 5 countries, and later for FIFA to officially adopt Ubabalo as a FIFA Legacy Programme. With the 5 countries leading the way, we are intentionally creating a model to exponentially raise the awareness and roll-out of Ubabalo in many other countries.
5. We have developed a 4 Level Community-Based Sports Academy (CSA) that we will pilot in Burundi with full government and local church support. Each level of CSA includes an application of Ubabalo, amongst other ministry tools. In preparation for the roll-out across the whole country, we will train 60 leaders for 3 weeks beginning 13 July. I travel to Burundi to conduct Ubabalo training of trainers from 20-23 July. The official launch with the Brazilian team is on 19 July. Do keep us all in your prayers.
6. I’m in the thick of all the above. Pray for strength, wise discernment, self-control and discipline, good health, spiritual sensitivity, compassion and humility even in times of fatigue, constantly keeping my eyes on ‘being’ (with God) and not preoccupied with the ‘doing’.
7. Continue to pray that God will provide for our finances.

*Ubabalo = Training 75,000 sport coaches to become whole life coaches / disciple-makers of 1.3 million African youth

I’m penning this from Kiev, Ukraine. I’m here for a week to conduct Ubabalo TOT with 60 key leaders from 15 Russian-speaking countries. Many of these leaders are involved in influential local church and city-wide sport ministries. I count it a huge privilege to be given this opportunity to invest into their lives and I’m grateful for your support.

Wan Yi is now 11 weeks pregnant. We saw the doctor this week and the baby’s heartbeat is strong. Fortunately, we only heard one heartbeat. I don’t think we can cope with quintuplets at this moment. <grin> Her general well-being is improving though the nausea rears its head once every so often.

I’m home for a week after Ukraine, before heading to Johannesburg for another week of The Ultimate Goal (TUG) Conference.

Please pray for the following:
1. My trip to Ukraine.
2. WY and Emma as they forge ahead without me.
3. Pray for strength and focus as I have many trips to make for 2nd half of 2009. These are commitments made prior to us finding out about the 2nd pregnancy. These are sacrifices that we’ve decided to make as a family in order to be obedient to God’s calling for us in Africa.

We will be adding to our family … seriously, this is not a prank. We saw the doctor today and Wan Yi is 6 weeks pregnant! We trying to imagine the look on your face right now …

Was it planned? Well, we were planning to have a second child … but this was certainly sooner than we had imagined! This will be an interesting journey for us and Emma. Continue to keep Wan Yi in your prayers as she feels this pregnancy is different to the first one, e.g. more nausea, some back pain and stomach cramps.

Prayer:
1. The SA elections was a very democratic and peaceful process. Continue to intercede for the elected leaders to lead with vision, integrity, transparency and purpose.
2. Emma continues to be a great joy. We’ve added more photos & videos on the blog.
3. Praise God for the safe return from Namibia. We had a fruitful training with a small but good group of 7 leaders representing different ministries and churches.
4. Sue Jern arrived safely from Malaysia. She’ll be living with us for 6 months and has begun her serving in Kuyasa – a holistic community development centre.