IMPACT begins!!! A week ago, IMPACT officially started as all the interns finally arrived. The first day, we just did a few team building activities and helped them get to know each other. Tuesday morning Casper led the group in a session explaining the heart values of the program and gave an overview of what the program would be like.
Here are the heart values that are involved with the ISC (international sports coalition): (1) To proclaim the gospel (2) To make disciples (3) To serve the local church (4) In and through sport (5) In obedience to the Bible (6) In every country and every city (7) We live as servants (8) We work as teams (9) We build partnerships
These values will be taught throughout the different training modules that the interns will go through this summer.
Tuesday afternoon, Hein came and led the team through a long team building activity. Basically, they started at Die Eiland and they all had to hold on to the same rope. Some interns were made "blind" with blindfolds and some were designated as "lame" and could not touch the ground for the rest of the activity. They had to walk together around 5 km, went through intense physical workouts, and then had to walk back as night fell.
As crazy as this activity seems, most of the interns said that it really bonded them as a team and they got to know each other a lot better. They were able to push themselves beyond what they thought they could do and learned how to work as a team!
On Wednesday, Cassie Carstens, an international sports ministry leader and speaker, came to talk to the group about servant leadership. He spoke on finding your calling and many other things. I'll post some quotes from interns about his lectures soon.
On Thursday, Casper continued with the leadership topics in the morning and then in the afternoon, the interns had time to plan for their opening ceremony event. That night, they had their opening ceremony where each of their teams had a classic entrance and they introduced each other to the group. The four teams are named after some of the "big 5" animals of South Africa, so there are the elephants, rhinos, lions, and the leopards. We had some time of worship and the Hein spoke on the gospel and went deep into how the gospel should impact every area of our lives.
Friday included Casper finishing up the leadership module and the Ashley trained in the afternoon on building effective teams. We looked at scripture for different examples of what teams look like and how Jesus modeled team building with his disciples. We also looked at the different stages that are involved with creating teams and learned that, "The path to intimacy is mutual self-disclosure", meaning that the only way that we are going to develop intimate relationships with each other and even God is if we are willing to be vulnerable and open up about ourselves. We concluded with another time of worship and then broke into our small groups to pray for each other. Before bed, we started the nightly tradition of "time on our knees" where we all pray together on our knees.
Saturday morning, Hein was back along with Daniel Thomae, an American who moved to South Africa with his family to work with SCAS. They taught the interns about some different strategies of how to use sports in ministry. The focus was on CYCAS (Children youth communities and sports), which is used worldwide.
The afternoon was a time of exploring! We took them to Uva Mira, a popular vineyard with an amazing view of the whole coast. After enjoying a cracker, cheese, olive, and fig platter, we headed out to the beach. Even though it was quite chilly, everyone seemed to enjoy it. From there, we headed to Someset West mall where we ate dinner and were fully engrossed in South African culture as we watch the Springboks (SA national team) play rugby against Ireland.
On Sunday morning, we went to a local church and shared tea and coffee with the members afterwards which is a common tradition in South African churches. That afternoon, many interns embraced Sabbath with a nap, while others trekked on to enjoy God's beauty at the nature reserve down the road from Die Eiland. We finished with worship and watching a Ray VanderLaan series on discipleship. What a week!!
Here are the heart values that are involved with the ISC (international sports coalition): (1) To proclaim the gospel (2) To make disciples (3) To serve the local church (4) In and through sport (5) In obedience to the Bible (6) In every country and every city (7) We live as servants (8) We work as teams (9) We build partnerships
These values will be taught throughout the different training modules that the interns will go through this summer.
Tuesday afternoon, Hein came and led the team through a long team building activity. Basically, they started at Die Eiland and they all had to hold on to the same rope. Some interns were made "blind" with blindfolds and some were designated as "lame" and could not touch the ground for the rest of the activity. They had to walk together around 5 km, went through intense physical workouts, and then had to walk back as night fell.
As crazy as this activity seems, most of the interns said that it really bonded them as a team and they got to know each other a lot better. They were able to push themselves beyond what they thought they could do and learned how to work as a team!
On Wednesday, Cassie Carstens, an international sports ministry leader and speaker, came to talk to the group about servant leadership. He spoke on finding your calling and many other things. I'll post some quotes from interns about his lectures soon.
On Thursday, Casper continued with the leadership topics in the morning and then in the afternoon, the interns had time to plan for their opening ceremony event. That night, they had their opening ceremony where each of their teams had a classic entrance and they introduced each other to the group. The four teams are named after some of the "big 5" animals of South Africa, so there are the elephants, rhinos, lions, and the leopards. We had some time of worship and the Hein spoke on the gospel and went deep into how the gospel should impact every area of our lives.
Friday included Casper finishing up the leadership module and the Ashley trained in the afternoon on building effective teams. We looked at scripture for different examples of what teams look like and how Jesus modeled team building with his disciples. We also looked at the different stages that are involved with creating teams and learned that, "The path to intimacy is mutual self-disclosure", meaning that the only way that we are going to develop intimate relationships with each other and even God is if we are willing to be vulnerable and open up about ourselves. We concluded with another time of worship and then broke into our small groups to pray for each other. Before bed, we started the nightly tradition of "time on our knees" where we all pray together on our knees.
Saturday morning, Hein was back along with Daniel Thomae, an American who moved to South Africa with his family to work with SCAS. They taught the interns about some different strategies of how to use sports in ministry. The focus was on CYCAS (Children youth communities and sports), which is used worldwide.
The afternoon was a time of exploring! We took them to Uva Mira, a popular vineyard with an amazing view of the whole coast. After enjoying a cracker, cheese, olive, and fig platter, we headed out to the beach. Even though it was quite chilly, everyone seemed to enjoy it. From there, we headed to Someset West mall where we ate dinner and were fully engrossed in South African culture as we watch the Springboks (SA national team) play rugby against Ireland.
On Sunday morning, we went to a local church and shared tea and coffee with the members afterwards which is a common tradition in South African churches. That afternoon, many interns embraced Sabbath with a nap, while others trekked on to enjoy God's beauty at the nature reserve down the road from Die Eiland. We finished with worship and watching a Ray VanderLaan series on discipleship. What a week!!
