community – Page 3 – The Rousehouse

It’s been a good “season”

Posted on May 17, 2018May 17, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

Winter is coming here in South Africa. The cool autumn mornings, changing leaves, and much needed rain are a nice surprise for our family. It also feels very odd for us to be in the middle of Autumn during May. May is a sweet time for Lara and me. Tomorrow, May 18^th we celebrate our 16 year anniversary! To celebrate went away for a few days to a small village just over the mountains from where we live. It was a nice time to get away, talk, reconnect, drink a lot of coffee, enjoy the amazing views, eat lots of yummy food, slow down, relax, and stay in an old Dutch cottage with chickens walking around. Our favorite thing was, hands down, the Mexican churros with chocolate sauce to dip at the local pub!!! We went twice just for the churros.

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Grey and Elly have officially finished up school for the year! They are still reading through the bible, working on math, and practicing guitar and dance. Mac is almost done and is working very hard to finish up over the next week or two.

Summit is East Mountain’s 6 week summer intensive internship that runs from the end of May through the first of July. Summit is a relational learning experience, filled with adventure and intentional community living. This year we have 2 young American guys, 1 Zimbabwean, and 3 South Africans that will be going through the program with us. Lara and I are serving on the leadership team for Summit and will be involved in many of the weekly activities. We are hopeful that the Lord will use us during this time to bless and equip these young leaders for missional work as well as deepen their relationship with the Jesus over these next 6 weeks.

We have continued to enjoy our children at the community centre! We have been able to recruit some of our resident interns to help connect with the teenagers in the community better through dance, small groups, and sports. It is encouraging to see the deeper relationships and greater influences the Lord has given us with the community! We also love the affection and hugs we get when we see them at church, in the community, or at the centre.

We have bought our flights to the return home for a visit this July. It’s not been a full year since we arrived here in South Africa, but our original plan before the whole visa debacle was that we would travel back to visit our families during July. Since that is what everyone had planned on we decided July would be best. We will be in the US for most of the month of July but traveling around a lot. We are looking forward to are seeing family and friends, Mexican food, and long hot showers that last more than 2 minutes! Things we will miss while we are gone for this month will be our church here, friends, our children at the community centre, our mentee’s, and braais. We are thankful we have all of those things to come back to though!

Answers to Prayer:

We have been feeling much better since our last update. Praise the Lord we haven’t had any stomach issues since we asked all of you to be praying. Thank you for praying!
We have seen the Lord’s favor with the families at the community centre.
Tickets are purchased for the US. They were very costly but we were thankful for the funds to purchse them.
It’s been raining more regularly!
God is moving in our lives and in the lives of those we get to invest in!!!

Prayer:

Summit: Our schedule over the next 6 weeks will be very full, the 6 young leaders coming, our family’s schedule, and weekly balance.
Planning for our trip to the US and a vehicle to borrow during this time
Keep praying for the children and families at the community centre: opened hearts to the Lord, better grades at school, and a willingness to come to church with us starting in June.
Rain, we still in need of much more rain this winter to counter balance the draught we have been in during the summer months.
That we can keep our focus on what is most important, wisdom to make the best decisions, and hearts full of love for the people God puts in our paths.
That we will have a deeper since of God’s presence and power in our lives

Investing in people

Posted on April 24, 2018April 24, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

“The measure of your life is not in the money you made but in the people you shaped.” – African Proverb

Mentorship…This is what we believe will change the world. I believe Jesus knew this to be true and that is why He commanded us to go into all the world making disciples (Matthew 28:19). One life pouring into another creates a recipe for life change and empowerment. We are not born with all that we need to be the best we can be, so God gives us other people to speak into our lives.

Lara and I are really enjoying the opportunities we have to mentor some of the young people at East Mountain! Each week we are learning just how impactful these relationships can be. We spend time encouraging them, helping them to see all that God has created them to be, the potential they have, while enjoying loving the heck out of them. We try to imagine the difference this season will make in their lives and it gets us excited!!!

Some days we laugh a lot and have fun. Some days we talk about difficult things and cry. Somedays we lay down the law and then take them for ice cream. Somedays they join us for a family day at the beach or we braai together for dinner. Everyday we intentionally pour into them! Out of our cup into theirs.

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” — John Crosby

We would like for you to meet two of the awesome people we get to spend time with this year. Zach and Zuzu.

Zach is an American that is living here for the year and is going through our East Mountain leadership development program. He is a student at Clemson University, is learning the guitar, loves the outdoors, is everyone’s best friend immediately, and knows how to have fun. We have a blast together and regularly point each other to Jesus. My dream for Zach is that he will know more fully by the end of this year who God says he is…His chosen, the one He delights in, significant, capable, qualified, special, wonderfully made, and so much more!

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” — The Bible

Zuzu (Vazela) is a young lady from Port Elizabeth which is 7 hours east of Cape Town. She is also a part of the East Mountain leadership development program for the year. I tell Lara all the time that Zuzu is a young South African version of herself. She is fun, sassy, and scared of no one. Zuzu is such a blessing to us and has such a heart for God! Her hopes are to possibly go on to nursing school after this year and Lara is definitely one of her biggest cheerleaders. She also gives the best hugs!

“One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” — John C. Maxwell

Will you please pray for these two? Pray that this year will be a time that will forever shape and direct their journey as they walk with the Father.

Family update, 6 Months!!!

Posted on April 5, 2018April 5, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

Look! This place is amazing! (Cape Point Lookout)

We are thankful and excited to have made it to the 6 month mark! The first 6 months in some ways were easier than we had thought, but in ways we hadn’t imagined it was tougher than we anticipated. Lara and I regularly try to take the “temperature” of the children and ourselves to evaluate how we are doing. We try to get away and take a walk or a drive, go have a coffee, or chat while sitting outside on our patio. These times have been some of the most powerful/intimate/challenging/fulfilling/helpful moments for Lara and I.

These past few months have been emotionally, spiritually, and mentally challenging for us, but also have allowed us to create some of the most beautiful memories that will be cherished for a lifetime. This time has reminded me that I am deeply thankful for my wife!!! It’s been a dream of mine, since I was 14 years old to be a missionary, but I had no idea how crucial it was going to be to have this woman on the journey with me.

Young man drinking his coffee

He is a nut!

Some of our community centre kids

Zach and mine mentor session included some waves

Children, Update:

They love playing with his hair!

How did our baby get to be so big!?

Mac is doing well! Out of the 3 of them he is the one that has surprised us the most. He is truly thriving and that is an enormous gift to us as parents. His first year of online school with Liberty University is coming to a close shortly and he has been challenged but done well with it. The Lord has been good to Mac by providing him with some great friends, and lots of them! We walk into church and people run to Mac. He has truly been loved well. Mac is taller than his mom, his shoe size is bigger than mine, his voice gets deeper and deeper, his hair is longer than ever, and his joy is still as contagious as always. Mac is really loving life in South Africa.

Bobby the African goat

Grey picking with the big boys at the Friday Braai

Grey has enjoyed many of the new facets of life here in South Africa. He loves going shoeless (everywhere), minimizing the number of showers he has to take every week, learning some Afrikaans words and phrases, and having a slower pace of life in our weekly schedule (Africa life is slower and more relational than we are accustom too in America). Grey started learning how to play the guitar and is doing pretty well so far. Homeschooling has been a great fit for Grey and he should be finishing up in the next week or so for the year. One area that Grey has struggled with more with than the other two is finding some close friends that he can regularly spend time with. He seems to be growing in his relationship with Jesus and understanding on the bible which is exciting to see. He is still the most loving little guy and loves those around him well.

Twins at the outdoor movie

Show off!

Elly is a “mini me” of Lara, therefore she has no issues with finding a friend no matter where we go. Elly walks into a room and immediately has a new sidekick to hang out with. She has a great group of girls at church, dance class, and within our East Mountain community that she enjoys a lot. Elly also loves having older girls around that act like big sisters. Being a social butterfly we are grateful for all of the relational connections for her. She has learned how to read (English) as well as she can count to 29 in Afrikaans! Elly also really enjoyed getting her nail polish collection from Nana and Marla last month. Her nail colors change daily.

Alechia has just finished her first term at University! It was a challenge for her but she did well and is enjoying it. She is taking 7 classes so her schedule is full and some classes are difficult but she is learning a lot. She is thankful for all of your prayers! We have enjoyed spending some extra time with her while she has been on fall break.

Romero’s first Sunday playing drums

Romero at the salon with Elly and Olivia

Romero is doing well! He has begun to work more with the church we attend. He is serving in the young adults ministry, the youth group, and with one of the pastors here. He also auditioned for the worship band and made it as a regular drummer! It was really exciting to see him excel in something he loves and is naturally gifted in. Romero is also busy leading at some Christian camps in the area during the school break. It is a blessing to have him be a part of our life and family (I think he likes it too :))

Breakfast and laughter at our favourite spot called Pajamas and Jam

Thankfulness:

We love serving with our church at the community centre! Great things are happening through the relationships we are building there. Read more here…We love these kids so much!
Homeschool is almost done for the year and Lara and the kids have done really well with it.
We love mentoring! We also love the young people that we have the opportunity to pour into.
IT RAINED!!! This week it rained for 2 straight days at our house and it was wonderful! Day Zero (April 2018) is the day that Cape Town was supposed to run out of water but it has now been pushed back until sometime next year! Praise the Lord!
We love our church, Life Church! Great connection, wonderful people, and life-giving ministries! It feels like home!

Prayer:

We have all been sick on the regular. Lara and Elly have had a head cold, chest cold, and snots for over 5 weeks. All of us have had stomach issues regularly for a few months. It comes and goes and is super frustrating. We aren’t sure if it is our bodies getting use to the water here or something else. PLEASE pray for healing!
Pray for the Helder Valley Community Centre families and for the Lord to give us favor with them.
Join us in praying about buying airline tickets to come to visit in July.
Pray for us to have deep relationships, big impact, fruitful ministries, and life-giving opportunities.
Please pray for these young leaders we get to mentor and invest in. Pray that they will get a full glimpse of who God has created them to be and what God has called them to do with their lives.
Pray for Lara and me as we are figuring out some new roles within East Mountain that will allow us to have a greater opportunity to love, serve, care for, and point people to Jesus.
Pray that we will find a language helper soon. We don’t “need” to learn Afrikaans but we think it would be very helpful to get a little understanding.

Oh my goodness, we love these kids so much!

Posted on March 9, 2018March 9, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

Oh my goodness, we love these kids so much! It’s definitely not always an easy, but we have yet to leave there without smiles on our faces and a full heart.

Antonio and Andrew making funny faces for the camera

In moving to South Africa, Lara and I knew we would quickly become busy with different roles and ministries but one of our top priorities was finding a way for our family to serve together. Serving at Helder Valley Community Centre has been exactly the kind of place our family wanted to get connected with. Every time we show up and kids run to each of us, jump into our arms, and squeeze our necks so tight we know we are exactly where we need to be!

A couple of our little Muslim friends that love to eat candy and laugh

If you were to come and observe what is going on one afternoon it would probably just look like all we do is play games, eat snacks, read children’s bible stories, do art projects, tutor and help with homework, dance, listen to music and have fun. Well, that is exactly what we do! In doing just that, we [As you, who support this work and pray for us please know that we are including you in all of the “we” statements here. PLEASE don’t miss that! You are making a lasting difference here.] are able to provide some consistency in these kids lives. We are helping them improve in reading and math. We are teaching them the Bible! We are providing them with a opportunity to laugh in the midst of the reality that, life is a struggle and “I am not sure how are we going to survive today”. We give them one on one attention that you can so vividly see they hunger for. We are giving them love. We are offering them hope, life, and a better future. Together, we [Jesus, You and the Rousehouse] are transforming a community through this small group of children!

Marlyn, and East Mountain resident is teaching dance classes each week. This is one of their favourite activities!

Lesnique, Chloe and Elly playing spot it

Grey and Siyavule talking about what they are going to draw from the bible story that we just read about.

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”
— Billy Graham, evangelist

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
— Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and statesman

“Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.”
— Anonymous

“If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God!”
— Dwight L. Moody, evangelist

“Hugs can do great amounts of good, especially for children.”
— Diana, Princess of Wales

And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. — Jesus, Matthew 18:5

¹³People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. – Jesus, Mark 10:13-16

Lesnique is one of my special girls that seems to be tough but really just wants some attention and to be loved on. She always needs a hug!

Jesus is going to do a great work through our small investment in the lives of these children! This could be the start of a whole new life for these kids and their families. Our family is praying that this entire community will be made new and that the doors to their hearts will be opened wide to all that God has stored up for them. Our dreams are that: families will start to follow Jesus, kids will get a better education and more opportunities in life, there will be less abuse, more joy, better attitudes, faithful dads, healthier lives, freedom from addictions, and a hope filled future for the generations to come. Big dreams for a Big God!

Jenga and the Rouse boys are a favorite around the centre!

Naam is a little sister of one of our kids that has started to come hang out with us. She loves Grey!

Today we have the opportunity to show them that God is always with them, that Jesus loves them, and that they have some friends that care for them. That is a legacy that will last and a life worth living!

From Spanky, Lara, Mac, Grey and Elly we want to say thank you for playing such an important role in this great mission and in our lives!

You must have candy if you want to have everyone sit down for story time!

So many updates! Feb 2018

Posted on February 14, 2018February 15, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

It’s hot! Feb is the warmest month here in the Western Cape of South Africa. It is also super dry. Praise the Lord we did have a night this past week when it rained significantly!!! I mean it was a down pour! People at the store were standing at the windows just starring outside with grins on their faces. Praise the Lord! KEEP PRAYING for rain! We are working on recycling water, reusing gray water, and planning for the future needs. Even more we are trusting and asking the Lord to provide all the water that is needed.

This is at the local homeless shelter that the church owns and operates in our city.

Life Church is one of the greatest connections we have personally made since living in South Africa. We love the preaching and the staff we have gotten to know. The worship time is spirit filled and wonderful. They are serving the poor and needy all over our city in remarkable ways that truly speak to our hearts. But the real reason we have gotten connected at Life Church is because Mac said, “This is the church we have to attend.”. They have an amazing youth group and have loved on Mac so well! It is the highlight of his week for sure.

Taking in God’s creation on a drive down the coast

Super Bowl paaarrrttyyyy!

Elly and Olivia, her friend

Grey with some of his buddies at East Mountain

Our whole family has began serving together at the Helder Valley Community Centre. It is located in a farming community where all the parents work on the large commercial farms nearby and have created a cluster of homes in close proximity to one another and the farms where they work, similar to a village. Most of these communities are very poor and are made up of very busy parents trying to provide for their family. One of the biggest concern is under educated children, that have too much unsupervised time at home. Life church came alongside this specific community a few years ago and committed to coming alongside them to help children learn, feed them lunch after school, and give them a structured and safe environment to be a part of until their parents get home. They also enjoy dance class on Thursdays thought by another member in our church. Our family is enjoying serving under Loise, a local coloured lady who has been running the centre for the past 4 years. We are helping to tutor the children in english and math, teaching basic bible stories, and simply providing a little fun and laughter in their week. We just started this week but already love these sweet little faces! All of the big bear hugs and high fives we get from them tell us, they like us too.

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A quick update on Alechia…She is doing well in school! She finished her first class in Greek, is making new friends, and loves her roommate. She felt blessed to hear about all of our friends and family commiting to pray for her this year! Praying that she will do well in her studies, experience more of the Father’s love and favor in her life, and for some basic monthly financial needs she has since she is living on her own for the first time. We will keep you up to date on how she is doing through out this year.

Saying goodbye- all the feelings!

Her Mom and our friend Tori moving her to school a couple weeks back

Prayer updates from January:

Pray for the new residents that will be moving in Jan 20th. We will give you snapshots of each of them throughout the year….

We have had our new year-long residents move in this past month. We have 6 ladies and 4 boys with one more guy on his way. It has been a fun month of getting to know them and helping them get to know us. Lara and I have both been given the opportunity to mentor a new resident this year and we are excited for how the Lord is going to work in all of our lives. We love this chance to speak into them, love on them, and share our life with them. Also, Lara and I both have a couple of young men and woman (like Alechia) that we will continue to walk with this year that are not in the East Mountain program but just in our community.

Pray for Homeschooling…For everyone to finish the year well in these next 5 months…

School seems to be going fine. Mac is doing so well in his studies with the Liberty online program. He is way more advanced than either of us already so he has to take things like English, Math and Science online to get a real challenge. Greyson really likes the freedom to work on his on time. He is pretty interested in Science, Geography, and cultural studies. Elly is learning how to read and basic mathematic skills like subtraction and how to tell time. Lara and I are learning tons of things as well, especially in the area of how different each child is and how different their learning styles are. Keep their studies in your prayers please.

Pray for wisdom of when to travel back to the US for a visit this year and for affordable flights. We are looking to visit the beginning of July…

No tickets have been purchased yet but we will keep you up to date when we do.

Pray for Spanky’s parents (Nana and Pawpaw) as they travel to visit us Feb 1. Mom doesn’t like to fly and it is a long trip…

Nana and Paw Paw came to visit last week. They were our first family or friends to come visit. It was good to have a piece of home with us for a week and to spend time catching up. Their flights were wonderful and Mom did so well with the travel. She knows that it was the Lord helping her. While they were here we sat around the house talking and catching up, Mac and PawPaw played cards, we took them to some of our favourite local restaurants and coffee spots, we went to Cape Town and explored the top of Table Mountain, drove around to see all of the breath-taking views from the mountains to the beach, toured the East Mountain Ministry house, meet the new residents, went to Life Church and the local market on Sunday, had a Super Bowl party, and ate a lot of Nana’s famous chocolate chip cookies! It was a busy and eventful time! We enjoyed having them here and it was hard to say good-bye for sure!

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Pray for success: that others may know Jesus and know His plan for their life through our lives and ministry here. We want to have a deep impact on people and communities this year for His glory!

God is moving in a mighty way in and through us! This is not a statement of arrogance but an observation of His grace and working. We have been renewed in our call to live open, transparent, vulnerable, passionate, loving, caring, selfless, and available to the people and needs that arise from day-to-day. God is using our willingness to step into the moments and people’s lives to share who we are and who He is to do great things!

Prayer needs for Feb:

Please be praying that we will continue to make ourselves available to the best opportunities not just to every opportunity. We do not want to be too busy to where we miss the Lord’s perfect plan for us.
Please be praying that we will make some good connections with the children and families at the Community Centre. There are so many great stories to come here!
Please be praying for both of us as we are starting to mentor new residents, Zuzu and Zach. Our hope is to build a deep trust with them as mentors and help gain a greater sense of who the Lord has created them to be and what He has called them to do with their lives.
Please be praying for Zuzu and Zach. This is going to be a year of the Lord growing them in many areas as well as deepening their faith and understanding of Him. They are just getting settled and figuring out life here therefore any prayers for peace, wisdom and comfort would be well appreciated too.
Keep praying for rain!
Please be praying for East Mountain and Life Church

Who, What, Why?

Posted on January 15, 2018January 15, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,³⁶I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’⁴⁰And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:35-40

This past year we spent a lot of time telling people what we were going to do in South Africa as we thought through the why’s that deeply moved us in this direction of missional living. What I have come to learn since moving to South Africa is, I might have been asking the wrong question. God isn’t as concerned with the what, but rather with the who’s.

Alechia is a who. She is the why behind our move across the world. We believe that God has so wonderfully blessed our family with her! Alechia lights up a room with her smile and draws children in with her loving kindness. Her joy is infectious and you can’t help but to love her. My hope is that everyone who visits gets the chance to meet Alechia, so you can experience how wonderful she is too!

Alechia quickly became a dear person to Lara. She was one of our resident interns last year at East Mountain and comes to us from Trinity Church/Christian School, a community partner of ours. This is where she learned that God has created her for something special, to help teach children about Jesus while caring deeply for them. Alechia has one of those stories that breaks my heart and would break yours if you heard her tell it. Unfortunately, her past is too familiar for many young children, especially girls that grow up here in these communities. What I love most about Alechia is that she is allowing Jesus to make something beautiful out of her story.

In just a couple weeks Lara and I get the privilege of taking Alechia to move into her new college dorm. She starts her first year of university this month and will be the first person ever in her family, and one of the very few from her neighborhood that have had the chance to go to college. This is a big deal for her and she is nervous! We believe in her and know that she can do it. University will prepare her to fulfil her call to serve the Lord and to make a huge difference in the next generation in her community. Once she has completed her studies, Alechia is planning to return to her church to serve as the children’s minister!

I struggle sometimes to clearly explaining our ministry and work here in South Africa. I worry that people might not see the impact and wonder about our effectiveness. Our ministry isn’t as clear cut as some missionaries. We don’t feed hungry children regularly, offer medical care, we aren’t directly planting a church, or ministering in ways that are easy to define. We do have specific jobs and roles within East Mountain and those responsibilities will continue to grow but our main ministry is the relationships around us. Being available, being present, and being life giving to the who’s. We are striving to live a life that offers life to those around us.

We are: a safe place for people to sleep for a couple nights when life gets hard, a place to come and get school work done (we have been blessed with the best internet connection around), a place to have a meal, laugh a little, relax from all of the craziness of life, a place to be refreshed over coffee and late night conversations, a ride to the store, the doctor or home for the weekend, the one to call when you need someone to listen or help with a problem, a voice of wisdom, encouragers, examples, and friends. This is our ministry. This is our life. It’s not a project or a plan. It’s definitely not easy. It’s inconvenient. It’s costly. It’s messy. It’s people. We are called to the who’s.

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:35-40

26166975_1523573401051618_8703688979397138535_n — East Mountain’s 2017 Residents

Happy New Years, Jan 2018,

Posted on January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

It seems to be easier to be hopeful and optimistic at the beginning of a new year regardless of the outcome of the past year. We are grateful for 2017 for so many reason and are extremely excited for all that 2018 holds! Looking back on 2017 we are reminded of the mountains of miracles from God and the way He took such good care of us during one of the toughest seasons for our family. One of the biggest ways we experienced the favor and goodness of the Lord was through YOU! **Philemon 1:4,I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers. I know we say thank you a lot but we are realizing more everyday that through you partnering with our family there is a great impact and hope for people and communities across Africa and locally in our city. Great, young leaders are being equipped to change the world, people are meeting Jesus face to face, and others are experiencing God’s love for them. This is a great picture of “His Kingdom come” and it is happening because you decided to join us in this great mission. We are so grateful for your sacrifice, prayers and encouragement in 2017!!!

Christmas lunch and white elephant gift exchange with friends

Our first South African Christmas…

It was super hot and we don’t have A/C at home so we had to road trip it to the beach! Stopped for lunch and enjoyed the view on the side of the road.

It was a little odd to be celebrating Christmas when it felt like summer time. We literally wore no shoes and went swimming over Christmas break. Even though the weather was not what we were use to back home in North Carolina we still had a great time! A typical Christmas for our family is filled with family and good food. Even though we couldn’t be with our family we were very grateful for the chance to FaceTime many of them. Technology is a wonderful gift. The Lord has blessed us with some wonderful friends that we spent the holidays with. We really enjoyed our times of celebration with each of them.

It’s a powerful gun, I am guessing

Mac at the outdoor movie

Christmas Morning. Our favourite gift was the family XL beanbag!

Christmas Eve we went to see one of our favorite Christmas movies, Home Alone at an outdoor theatre in Cape Town. Christmas morning we spent time together, just the five of us at home opening presents, eating a big breakfast, and reading the Christmas story. We were invited by some friends to a traditional South African meal called potjie (pronounced, poiki) which was unbelievably delicious! We finished the day off by hanging out with some other families who serve along side us at East Mountain. The boys shoot their new pellet guns, we shared yummy snacks and watched Christmas Vacation one more time this season. This made our first African Christmas really feel like home. It was a full day of fun, friends, and food! We felt blessed!

Turkey cranberry potjie

Prayer updates from December’s Update:

Travel to Durban, South Africa for a UWM Africa Missionary Conference – We spent the week before Christmas in Durban which is about 18hrs from Cape Town but thankfully we were able to take an easy 2 hour flight there. We really enjoyed spending time with some other UWM missionaries that serve all over Africa. They are pretty special people!
UWM African family outside of Durban
Vision for the specific ministry areas the Lord wants us to invest in deeply in 2018 – Next week we will spend a few days with our team here at East Mountain planning and preparing for 2018. We look forward to the time of team building, praying for the new residents that move in Jan 20th, seeking after the Lord’s heart for how He wants to use each of us this coming year, and identifying what communities and areas our family will invest deeply in during 2018. We believe the Lord has us in South Africa not for a what but for a who and we are excited to love, serve, care for people and point them (who’s) to Him this coming year!
Having fun with friends on New Years Eve
God’s grace, strength, peace, joy, protection and constant wisdom for everyday situations – Life seems to be going well for us. We obviously all have those moments in our week, especially around the holidays, when we are missing things back home like family, friends and familiarities. God’s given us wonderful people in our lives, so we are not surprised that we miss them the most during the Holidays. It is slowly feeling like home here. We have settled well in our house, found a great church we enjoy, we are building strong friendships, slowly learning some Afrikaans and finding our way around. God has been good to us and we feel like we are daily walking in His grace! Please keep praying for us! We know that all of these blessing are a direct result of you lifting us up regularly.
Rice Crispy treats at a friends farm house. The Marsh mallows are pink therefore the rice crispy treats are too.
Water Crisis! – There is still very little water and we are entering into the hottest and driest part of the year. PRAY!!! God is in control though! On New Year’s Eve we had a big down pour that lasted on and off all night. Our South African friends said that it NEVER rains this time a year, so we must be praying or something. God’s working behind the scenes and He is using this to open peoples eyes and hearts to Him.
Awareness of opportunities to love, serve and care for those in need around us – The Lord brought an opportunity to our family just before Christmas to help out a young South African guy. His name is Romero and he was one of our residents from last year. Romero is a special guy with amazing potential. God has big things for his life and we want to be a part of it. He shared that he needed somewhere to live this coming year so that he could continue with the resident program. Lara and I began praying specifically for this guy but knew that the Lord had already answered our prayers. When we moved to South Africa we were lead to a much larger house than we actually needed. The cost is more than we wanted as well but we felt like the Lord was saying we was going to use this extra space to bless people and this is where He wanted us to live. With this extra room in our home we had been praying that the Lord would fill it with the right people and thats what He did. Romero moved in early December and we look forward to how he will become more apart of our family. Please be praying for Romero as he is working on school at the university, participating in the East Mountain resident leadership program, and following the Lord’s call on his life.
Romero taking me out for my first surf lesson

elly and matthew — Elly and Matthew making snacks

South African wildlife and a giant fake snake

Prayer needs for January:

Pray for the new residents that will be moving in Jan 20th. We will give you snapshots of each of them throughout the year.
Pray for Homeschooling…For everyone to finish the year well in these next 5 months
Pray for wisdom of when to travel back to the US for a visit this year and for affordable flights. We are looking to visit the beginning of July.
Pray for Spanky’s parents (Nana and Pawpaw) as they travel to visit us Feb 1. Mom doesn’t like to fly and it is a long trip.
Pray for success: that others may know Jesus and know His plan for their life through our lives and ministry here. We want to have a deep impact on people and communities this year for His glory!

Let us walk in the power and wisdom that Jesus offers to us this year!

^{Ephesians 1:17}that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,¹⁸having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

If you would like to know how you can partner with us this year please check out our link Partnering with us… If you would like more info on specific projects and/or needs that we might have please email me at spanky.rouse@gmail.com. Thank you!

Below is all of the social media outlets that our family has and this is a great way to stay connected and up to date with the Rousehouse!

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

Merry Christmas 2017

Posted on December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Prayer needs for December:

Travel to Durban, South Africa for a UWM Africa Missionary Conference
Year end giving and continued strong financial support
Vision for the specific ministry areas the Lord wants us to invest in deeply in 2018
God’s grace, strength, peace, joy, protection and constant wisdom for everyday situations
Water Crisis!
Awareness of opportunities to love, serve and care for those in need around us
God’s favor and favor with others (neighbors, community, team, partners, etc)

If you would like to join our financial or prayer team you can check out how to partner with us by clicking here Partnering with us…. It is coming close to that time of the year when many are thinking about those charitable donations. Would you consider a special gift to our family and the ministry projects we are planning for 2018. If you would like more info please email me at spanky.rouse@gmail.com. Thank you!

Lastly, we regularly post pictures and stories on our Instagram and Facebook accounts. This is a great way to stay connected and up to date!

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

Newsletter and Updates, Nov. 2017

Posted on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

The Lord‘s Faithfulness Endures Forever

Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
²For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord! Psalms 117

We are two months in! On one hand it feels like forever ago that we left home but on the other hand time has flown by. Life is good for the Rousehouse here in South Africa. That’s not to say that we haven’t had our days of frustration, missing “home” and all of you, learning how to navigate cultural differences, and the never-ending task figuring out day-to-day life. Just this morning as I was walking to the bank to, finally pick up our cheque card after 6 weeks, I thought to myself, “I am fully expecting this to take way longer than normal and not going to be surprised if things aren’t ready this time.” To my amazement it only took 35 minutes and I left with a bank card! One of the biggest lessons we have and are learning is that we have to constantly be patient and be ready for our plans to be messed up.

That is actually one of the things the Lord has been speaking to us about. We like to have a plan. We like to check off the tasks on our list. We like to be productive. Simply put, we like to get stuff done. Well, the Lord has been whispering things in our hearts like, be available, don’t miss this opportunity, be present with people, don’t let the interruption aggregate you but, welcome it. Being intentional about living like this way messes up the plans and schedules that we put together. I mean, we are here to make a difference and get stuff done, right? …I think?…maybe?…maybe i am not so sure?…

Our first African party in a township. Elly and Lara sat there and held babies most of the time.

God has wonderfully created Lara, our kids, and myself to be people who love people. We enjoy investing in others. We are filled up by serving people in need. And we really want to help others know Jesus and his great plan for their lives. Therefore, we have to be present and available. This means we have to keep margin in our daily schedules and hold our plans loosely so that we can welcome the interruptions. In Africa, we are finding that task list and productive days of getting 10 things done are replaced with impromptu moments of coffee, last-minute calls for a ride somewhere, a 5 hour-long braai for dinner and endless conversations of listening to people’s stories and hearing their hearts.

What does the Lord require of you? We are learning it is to let go of our time and listen, care for, love on, and encourage people for His glory in their lives.

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Here are a few updates from our past few weeks:

Water crisis

We are still in a very serious water crisis here in the Western Cape of South Africa. There are talks of the water running out in the next few months. After we let you know about this and you began to pray we saw days and days of rain, so PLEASE don’t stop praying! Some of our South African friends have even mentioned to us that they have never seen it rain during this time of the year. God is using this for His purpose.

Ministry

The question, “how is ministry going?” is a difficult question for Lara and I to answer right now. We are spending these first 3 months going through a valuable cultural adaptation period with some of our seasoned leaders here at East Mountain. We believe that this is a time that will prepare us and equip us for healthy, thriving ministry and life. With out this intentionality we would likely hit the ground running…running over people and running our selves into the ground! We are spending time with local ministry partners to hear about their vision and their needs, meeting other ministry leaders and missionaries in the area to learn how the Lord is using them here, building good relationships with our team, and having a lot of fun with our resident interns. The residents are teaching us a ton about language, culture, family and life from all over Africa and they are a lot of fun! Lara and I are also spending a good bit of time thinking, talking and dreaming of what the Lord wants to have us dive deep into and the people He wants to invest in. Things are about to get exciting as we are looking toward the new year!!!

Kids

They are doing great! We regularly thank the Lord for His grace over them. They have quickly gained some good friends, connected well with our neighbors, and are enjoying all of the adventures. These kids are awesome and you can see God all over them! (If you have any specific questions please message us so we can share stories with you, spanky.rouse@gmail.com)

Day to-day stuff

It is crazy how much time and effort it takes to do the regular things in a day compared to what we are use to in the US. We feel like we are beginning to get the hang of it though! Just a few things that feel more normal now are… buying electricity (you buy electricity at the grocery store or petrol station), continuing to try to get internet (7 weeks, 20 emails, and 5 phone conversations and we still don’t have internet in our home), grocery shopping (learning what stores we like to get specific items), taking 2 minute showers, learning how to collect all of our gray water, driving on the left side of the road, visiting churches, homeschooling, and learning celsius and kilometers. Slowly these things are feeling more natural and are taking less thought. Thank goodness!!! (if there are any specific question you have please let us know so we can try to answer them for everyone)

The Goat

I am still waiting to see if I have won the GOAT! Be praying that I get it!!! (read our last blog to learn more about the goat)

Prayer needs for November:

Vision for the specific ministry areas the Lord wants us to invest in deeply
God’s grace, strength, peace, joy, protection and constant wisdom for everyday situations
Homeschool: Mom, dad, and kids
Year end giving and continued strong financial support
Water Crisis!
Sensitivity to the opportunities where we can be present and available to those that need us
God’s favor and favor with others (neighbors, community, team, partners, etc)

Vergoenoed Lara and Spanky — Lara and Spanky enjoying the South African wildlife at a local Saturday market

Lastly, we regularly post pictures and stories on our Instagram and Facebook accounts. This is a great way to stay connected and up to date!

https://www.instagram.com/spankyrouse/

https://www.instagram.com/lararouse/

https://www.facebook.com/spanky.rouse

https://www.facebook.com/lara.rouse.7

https://www.instagram.com/causing_wonder/ – Mac’s Instagram

I want the GOAT!

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Last night after dinner the boys and I were in the kitchen when we heard someone trying to come in our front door. I went to the door and saw it was just the neighbor’s little boy trying to come in, as he often does. Most of the time he just walks around the back of the house and enters through another door. When I opened the door he said with a confused look, “your door was locked?” I just smiled and said come on in.

He then began his sells pitch for a fundraiser his school was doing. He had to get 23 people to sponsor him at certain amounts ranging from R1 to R23 ($.07 to $1.64) and he was hoping that I would be one of them. Of course I would be one of his sponsors but I asked him to tell me what the fundraiser was all about. He didn’t really know but it was something to help his school out. Come to find out his motivation was the cool prizes he could win if he was one of the top fundraisers. We gladly took one of his top spots.

He then let me read more about the fundraiser while he joked around with Mac. I read through it and then something caught my eye that I have never seen in any single school fundraiser! I saw the prizes and one especially got my full attention. Come to find out I had bought a ticket to the drawing and I want to win that 3^rd place prize!!!

You will never guess what it is.

First place was a wine cooler…not the drink but a portable cooler for wine 🙂

Second Place was a TV…we don’t even have internet or satellite set up yet so I wasn’t too interested.

BUT third place was the grand prize for me!!! A GOAT!

That’s right, it said a GOAT! As if a goat was just any old, normal prize. I have seen iPads, phones, popcorn, carwashes, tv’s, books, gift cards, and much more for prizes, but I have never seen a GOAT as a prize! How cool would it be to say you won a goat! I have always wanted a goat and now here is my chance.

My excitement quickly went to full max! I asked the neighbor boy how he could ensure I win the goat. I told him I always wanted one and said, “wouldn’t it be so cool to have one in our back yard like a dog?!?!” He then looked at me with that same confused stare as he did when our front door was locked and he couldn’t just walk right in, and said, “it’s just the meat man. It’s not alive.” The tone of his voice and the way he said it was priceless. It was like he was saying, “Calm down man. You’re acting crazy like some idiot.”

I could feel my bubble pop as this little boy looked at me and tried to bring me back down to reality. I can always count on Greyson though. He quickly came up with a brilliant response to his dad’s downward spiral of emotions and said, “well, we will just have to have the biggest and best braai in history for all of our friends to come enjoy!”

It’s not as cool as having a baby goat walking around in my back yard but it would still be pretty cool to win a goat (of any kind) from a school fundraiser!