United with Dan on a Mission

One of my biggest concerns for this time was whether I would be able to do everything that I had come to Scotland to do, (apart from  DTS). The summer was coming and that meant I could get involved with cricket, I’d have time to pursue board game clubs, getting involved in more youth work, something or another involving counselling and a mission trip of my own, or so I thought. The base responsibilities, however, have been a lot more than I had expected, and between the train strikes and driver shortages, transportation has not really worked out either, so none of these things have been possible during the week. (Monday-Friday) If I had a car, it would have, but surely if it was His will, God would have provided one. Consequently, I find myself on the weekends running all over trying to have meetings, find and participate in ministry. Unfortunately this has been at the cost of time to rest, time to spend on relationships and my prayer time. I see the warning lights and know that being out of balance can’t stay this way, yet several months down the line and with the next DTS fast approaching I haven’t been able to change anything. There are several big contributing factors to this: Firstly ministry is what I came here for, it’s what I sacrificed so much for, since I do not have the freedom to do it in the week, I must pursue it on the weekend. Secondly for God, and for my supporters, I need to have enough impact, I need to be good enough (I know it is a broken paradigm that needs work) for the perfection of God and the support given. Thirdly, as I am still building support, it would surely help me to be able to present people with existing programs and achievements rather than just promises. At least in this regard I have been fairly successful (link to my ministries page) and it does help me feel better about asking for support, especially since in supporting me they are partnering in the rewards for talents/minas well spent. (Luke 9:11). One of my biggest struggles has been that there are always other people who do bigger or better than me; I know this line of thought is flawed, it has shifted and is continuing to do so, but it remains a tendency or trap for now. 

A major point of praise and celebration is that for my Birthday I prayed that God would give me a gift that would make me feel loved and special at a time so far from my family. I was hesitant to celebrate too soon, but I got a short term gym membership on special and after spending a few days there (swimming too) I have been cured from getting headaches from pushing myself physically. I used to live for sport and the excitement that builds up in me if I spend time thinking about it is great! I just need to find an outlet for it, a space to participate; preferably a team sport like cricket, hockey or football. While it would be really special and mean a lot for me to be able to participate in sports like this again, practicality is not on my side, but I will keep hoping that an opportunity will present itself. 

Some of us have been busy with a project for about 2 months, called; “How best to reach Gen Z with the Gospel.” A very brief summary of our findings are that Gen Z’s heavily value authenticity in a world where trusting anyone or anything doesn’t just carry a risk of being taken advantage of, or hurt, but also choosing a side and alienating oneself from good portions of society, as everything, including the church, has become viciously polarised. After surveying a good portion of Gen Z’s, the most asked question / concern is: “Am I truly lovable?” Other findings (theories) suggest that in street evangelism, the best approach to Gen Z’s would be centred on telling/showing them that they are valued and loved. Just telling is empty and hard to trust, as they are bombarded with a wide range of empty promises, popular and progressive rhetoric. With all this in mind, spending time praying, getting a personal word or motivation for someone and then sharing it, would probably have the highest success rate. Yet Gen Z’s are an online generation and our research would suggest that probably the best way to reach Gen Z’s with the gospel or a message is through TikTok. So our team then proceeded to plan, create and post two variants of TikTok videos to see which got a better response. Here they are:

Who is Jesus to you? [https://www.tiktok.com/@krish200000/video/7109804876091215110?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7110928133277091333] 

#Life [https://drive.google.com/file/d/14AFW7e4tZ-xoW2l6Gq4saqQLAzw_4SVJ/view?usp=sharing] 

At present it would seem that the [#Life] production has been a fair bit more popular and has reached several 100 views. It has certainly reached a much larger group of people than what we could have in street evangelism during the time. If a ministry were to be started that could add links and follow up support or questions that viewers might have to these clips, it would surely be successful. 

Leadup to the next:

For July and August things will probably continue as they have. I was hoping that in August I could visit family and friends in South Africa as I have an unused voucher from last year. Unfortunately the price of travel is as much as 3x what it was this time last year, which is simply unaffordable at this time. Since we get our break in August, I am considering taking a much more affordable bus trip down to England. Not sure yet what the focus will be, I am aware of a ‘Summer of Missions’ opportunity, could visit some friends, go be a budget tourist or something, but since it’s right before the rush of another DTS I do want to focus on resting. 

Roundup

Thank you everyone, from the deepest part of my heart, that has read, followed and supported me in any way on this challenging, scary but rewarding adventure. I pray that God’s favour will be upon you always and that you will continue to grow in kindness and compassion. A special thank you to my family and friends for understanding and continuing to stay in touch despite my terrible text answering record, you are more of a motivation than you’re aware of. (Here are some fun time pictures)

Please feel free to share my blog and mission with your friends, family, churches and small groups. Should you or they wish or feel led to support me in any way, I would be glad to have a meeting in person or on zoom. It would be a great help on so many levels.

Thank you for your time

Best Blessings

Daniel