Visiting Jinja Town and Sole Hope

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

Last week our family boarded a plane in South Africa and headed north to Uganda with a question in our heads and on our hearts, “God, are you leading us to move here and work with Sole Hope?”. We were full of excitement to go to the place that sparked a fire and passion for Africa within us, but the excitement of this trip was accompanied by some anxiousness as we asked ourselves, “Can we do this? Can we live here long term?”

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Cape Town, South Africa is completely different than the majority of Africa. Roads are smoother, things are cleaner, water is safer, accessibility to necessities are more available, and life is just a little closer to the what we would call “normal” in comparison to the rest of Africa. All that to say, there is something special about the rest of Africa too. The people are nice and welcoming, foods taste brighter and sweeter, weather is warm and tropical, and cultures are full of life!

 

When you are looking through the lens of “could we live here?” verse “this is a great short-term trip” things feel different and have a little bit heavier weight attached to them. At the end of day one both Lara and I felt totally overwhelmed and kind of scared to death. I think the the Lord used this sense of fear to help us view this trip rationally and not with an unrealistic excitement.

 

We spent time with the Sole Hope staff and volunteers, helped with jigger removal clinics in a village and at the Sole Hope Center, toured Jinja Town, attended a local church, checked out local spots to eat and drink coffee, drove through the mud and potholes, hang out with people that we believe will become good friends and had meetings on the Nile River while the sun set. It was a busy but great week for sure! We even found a 4×4 vehicle (definitely a must have!) that we will probably buy and a house that we will hopefully be able renovate, live in and use for ministry. This week was productive, eye opening, helpful, relational, faith building, hopeful and inspiring.

As a family, we are excited for all that the Lord has for us and the ways the Lord is going to work through our lives in this next season! Sole Hope and Jinja, Uganda we are coming for you!

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Partnerships, Wedding Weekend, Interns, Loadshedding, and Updates

Posted on by Spanky Rouse
At East Mountain our focus has shifted back towards partnerships. East Mountain exists to empower national pastors, leaders, and ministries so that they can effectively and sustainably impact their communities through the Gospel. We know that long-lasting change will not happen if it is dependent on us but when it is lead by local leaders. Spanky spends his days meeting with partners to build stronger relationships, dream together, and to make plans for how East Mountain can effectively come alongside them and serve with them well. This month in our staff meeting Spanky highlighted the Eden Project and the Mustard Seed house where Chelsea, one of our interns from last year is serving. Chelsea has a heart for social justice, community development, and helping woman rise above the poverty that surrounds them. This year she is able to do just that with this partner and they are grateful to have Chelsea on their team. The Mustard House is a home for homeless woman that have been subject to prostitution, drug abuse, and neglect. They clothe them, feed them, give them a safe home to live in, and life counciling to help them get ahead in life. The Eden project is a team of people that are missionally moving into communities to be good neighbours by caring for the needs of the neighbourhood, building community among the people, and sharing the love of Jesus through home churches. We love these ministries and love seeing how they are having such an incredible impact in the name of Jesus!IMG_2639
This past weekend Lara and I took a trip to some friends wedding. The wedding was in a small fishing village about 4 hours away from our home so we decided to make a long weekend of it. Years ago we learned the value spending time together just the two of us. We love getting away and connecting! We listened to a book in the car and had great conversations. We laughed and held hands. We took a walk on the beach and drank coffee. We found the best places to eat and stayed up later then normal. We talk about life and dreamed about what God is doing in our lives. When it is just the two of us we can have a really fun time! On our last day, we took the morning to hike the coastal cliffs, jump into the cold tide pools, watch the waves crash up against the rocks, and just sat together in the warm sun. This type of day always fills my bucket up!

Our church here in South Africa (Life Church) has a gap year intern program for young students within the church. This year we had 9 students join the program. They get hands on experience in ministry, increased life skills, and a deeper bible understanding. The Rousehouse gets the chance to host the students at our home every week for dinner and a small group time. We are talking through their life’s story, issues that may arise in the house where they live, how is their heart, and simply have a fun time every week. Spanky also mentors the 5 young men each week and takes them out to chat more about God’s plan for their life and who He has created them to be as men. It has been a blessing to have our week and home filled with young people that we can love on and encourage.

A recent blog on some of the things we have recently been learning: How do you define poverty? Would you consider yourself poor? Who is the poor?
Loadshedding. No one can really explain why we are experiencing it now and why it is so random but it happens never the less. The definition of loadshedding is: The action to reduce the load on something, especially the interruption of an electricity supply to avoid excessive load on the generating plant. Our electricity can be turned off each day for 3 hours to 3 times a day for 3 hours each. Then you may not have any interruptions for a month. Just when you think you got the schedule figured out, it changes. Here recently is the most electrical interruptions we have experienced since moving here. This past week it has been going off 3 different times for 2-2.5 hours at a time. Part of the reason is due to the massive disstruction in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi caused by a mighty cyclone (hurricane). South Africa gets much of its electrical power from these countries power plants. We believe that this schedule of loadshedding is probably going to be the new normal for us for a while. Please be praying for these countries where 1000’s have died and many more are missing!
Mac, Grey and Elly are doing well. They are moving right along with school and extra curricular activities. This week is a term break in South Africa and since we don’t have power for big chunks of time they are taking more breaks in their work. The boys are becoming pretty skilled in surfing! I think they are already better than I am and are definitely ridging more advanced boards than I could even think about riding. Elly is doing well in her dance classes. She had fallen off a scooter on to her back a few weeks ago but she seems to be back to normal now. All three of them seem to be thriving in life!

 

Updates on February prayer request and March needs:

  • Please be praying for the East Mountain residents as they are starting to get involved with local ministry partners.
  • Pray for the Lord’s clear vision and direction for life and ministry here in Africa.
  • Pray that we will encourage and invest in the Life Church interns well this year.
  • Please be praying for new supporters and new churches to come along side of us to help sustain the work and our family’s needs. We need to raise about $500 more a month.
  • The Lord’s continued work in our own hearts. He is speaking and moving and we don’t want to miss out. Wisdom, sensitivity, and obedience
  • East Mountain Partnership: Pray for favour with leaders and open doors to how the Lord is leading East Mountain.
  • Friendships
  • For those cleaning up after the cyclone in South East Africa

We would love for you to join us on Instagram and Facebook to see daily adventures, ministry sites, and family activities here in South Africa.

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

If you would be able to join our monthly financial and prayer team we would be grateful! Your generosity will make a lasting difference in our lives and the lives of those the Lord is reaching here in Africa. Click here to sign up, http://uwm.org/missionaries/11084/

Those Red Dirt Roads

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

A journal entry from Spanky on Jan. 20th, 2019 while we were in Uganda with the Fuel Uganda team.

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It’s our first day of going out to be a part of ministry since landing in Uganda 2 days ago. It’s Sunday which means it is church day. Everyone is tired from the long travels to get here. The kids (all 3) are with me while Lara stays behind to sort the pharmacy out and get things ready from the first medical clinic tomorrow. IMG_2239

We are riding in a taxi out to the village that is an hour and 15 minutes away down a bumpy, red dirt road. Elly is sitting up front with me and she is asking 1 billion questions. The driver just laughs. I was loving her excitement and she seemed to be loving the moment. The boys jumped in the back of the taxi with a bunch of other people but seem to be ok and comfortable. IMG_1868

I was loving the fact that our kids didn’t seem overwhelmed by “Africa” so far. We live in Africa but this is much different than our home.

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Church was looooong and Grey and Elly didn’t seem to be that in to it. Elly asked if she could go out side. I later went out and found her holding a fat baby and laughing with the kids her size. Grey really enjoyed lunch. We had rice, mushy bread, chicken stew, and we got to use our hands. IMG_2014

Later we went for a walk through the village with 2 of our translators who are brother. We were invited into homes (huts), asked to sit down, and got to know families. Mac did really well. He seems to have to fear or no reserve. I love seeing him do his thing and enjoy seeing others being attracted to his personality. IMG_2237

Everywhere we go Elly either has a baby on her hip just like her momma or she is sitting on the community mats talking with the woman while they play with her hair. It does my heart so much good to see all of them exhaling in a way by simply being in this place. At the end of the day we climb back into the van and Grey says, “Can we come back tomorrow and the rest of the week.? I love this place and the was the best day.” I am overwhelmed by joy and all kinds of emotions. IMG_2228

For me, I love riding down the red, dusty, dirty African roads. You pass by the elderly man with white hair riding his bicycle, the woman carrying a bundle of fire wood on her head and a baby on her back, little girls carrying yellow water jugs to and from home, and shoeless children yelling, “Muzungos!” (white men). There are small village markets on the side of the road, chickens running in the middle of the road, smoke rising from the huts off in a distance, and moda bodas (motorcycle taxis) zooming by. This is Uganda to me. It’s not home for me but there is something that is super comforting to me. The people, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the realities and possibilities. This is Africa to me and no place I would rather be than right here, and right here with my family. To day was a good day!

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Feb ’19 Update on Uganda and Life

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

For February we decided to share our update on life and our trip to Uganda in a little differently way than normal. Part 1 is Spanky giving you a brief update and Part 2 is the rest of the Rousehouse giving you their take on the trip to Uganda. Part 2 is a MUST watch(!) therefore if you only have a few minutes right now to hear from us PLEASE watch Part 2 first. 

We will also be posting our favourite pictures and a couple journal entries later this month. Be on the look out!

 

Updates on January prayer request and February needs:

  • UPDATE: We are still praising God for all that He did on our trip to Uganda.
  • The new East Mountain residents for 2019 have arrived and are settling in. Please be praying for them as they get started in their studies and ministry assignments.
  • Pray for the Lord’s clear vision and direction for life and ministry here in Africa.
  • Update on selling the car: 3 days before we left for Uganda the only guy who looked at the car offered me cash and we sold it!!! Praise the Lord!
  • Update on my Land Rover that was broke: The mechanic that was working on it offered to buy it from me for a fair price so we sold the same week as the car. Praise the Lord for taking care of this tough situation.
  • The Lord’s continued work in our own hearts. He is speaking and moving and we don’t want to miss out.
  • Please be praying for Spanky as he is taking on a new role overseeing the partnerships East Mountain has with ministries and organisations around Cape Town.

We would love for you to join us on Instagram and Facebook to see daily adventures, ministry sites, and family activities here in South Africa.

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

If you would be able to join our monthly financial and prayer team we would be grateful! Your generosity will make a lasting difference in our lives and the lives of those we touch here in Africa. Click here to sign up, http://uwm.org/missionaries/11084/

Explosion of Christianity in Africa

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

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I have the privilege of connecting with partners here in Africa for East Mountain. If you know me you know that I love this kind of work. Connecting people and organisations for kingdom purpose and impacted lives. This past Saturday morning I was invited to a breakfast with one of our partners, George Whitfield College. They are one of the top evangelical schools in Africa. GWC is training and preparing Africans from around the continent to lead the “church” and lead with great biblical clarity.

*This is where Alechia is attending college with the hopes of being a children’s pastor one day back in her community. 

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During our breakfast a professor was sharing passionately the stats on the explosion of Christianity on the continent of Africa. I have heard most of these numbers before but was reminded just how important it is for discipleship and training of young African Christian leaders! Let me tell some of the numbers and see if you aren’t surprised.

In 1900, 9million Christians were estimated to be from Africa
In 2000, 380 million African Christians (that’s a 400% growth!!!)
In 2025 there is projected to be 700 million Christians in Africa!!! – Gordon Conwell
1 in 4 Christians today are African and with in the next 50 years it will be 1 in 3. This will make Africa the centre for world wide Christianity with out a doubt.
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Why is the church growing so fast? 
Africans might be the best evangelist. Why? From my observations, they are for the most part a communal society, passionate communicators, and unashamed of their beliefs. Beliefs in God or beliefs in soccer. It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is they will passionately and unashamedly let you know.
Also, many mission efforts over the past 100 years has been focused on evangelism. This isn’t a negative but it isn’t complete in fulfilling the Gospel. We need to lead people to Jesus and then walk with them through life to help them grow in their relationship and understanding of Jesus and the bible.
What issues might come out of the rapid growth of Christianity?
Let me give you a real life scenario that is taking place today as you read this and takes place everyday across Africa. I think it will clearly demonstrate my view and others of the issues and need for discipleship.
A young man heads to the big city to get a job so that he can take care of his family. While in the city someone passionately, unashamedly, and honestly shares the Good News of Jesus with him while he is in the taxi. The man returns to his village and begins to share with others the love of Jesus and all that he has been reading in the bible. After just a few months, there are now 100 people in his village that have put their faith in Jesus. They want to gather weekly for fellowship and learn more about the bible. This is a good size church in an African village. Now the questions arise…
Who is going to lead this church? Who is going to teach the bible accurately? Who is going to disciple all of these people into strong, growing, bible believing Christ followers?
 WHO? The young man that just a few months ago became a Christian himself but still doesn’t understand the much of the bible, has never been discipled, and has never lead a group of people.
The problem with this real life scenario is exactly what you can imagine. No one has every taught him the bible. No one has ever discipled him and showed him what a Godly man looks like. No one has ever warned him against false teaching like prosperity gospel.    He has had tribalism and animism ingrained into not just what he believes but who he is from birth. It will not be easy for him to clearly differentiate from correct teachings and false, corrupt teaching.
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By investing in, mentoring, discipling, doing life with, and building good relationships with young men and woman here in Africa we whole heartedly believe we are having a great impact on the “church” across the continent of Africa. Life on life ministry can have exponential benefits for years to come! That is our hope and God’s call on our life.

Everyday ordinary ways we can make a difference

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

We have just returned to South Africa from visiting in the US. Over the past few days of traveling I have had questions swirling around in my head. What are you doing? Why are you here? What’s God up to in my life? Who are we having an impact on? All the while, still filling completely confident in our purpose of living this life and being right here right now.

I find myself driving down the road just a few days later with this young lady and begin to hear her story. It is one that is common to hear here but it still never gets easy to hear. I am simply listen to her share while my heart is hurting for her. She says that she never thought she would be able to find a Godly man that would care for her, love her, and treat her rightly. This young lady has a bit of hope through watching me be the kind of husband I am to Lara. “I want someone to treat me and love me like you do for Lara. I think it might be possible now.”

In the midst of her tears and now silence, I hear the Holy Spirit prompting me to speak up. Speak out. Speak love. Speak encouragement. I apologize for what she has gone through in life. I remind her that God has a great plan for her life. I point out ways that He is making something beautiful out of this mess. I remind her that she is a dearly beloved daughter of the King. I tell her that God doesn’t see her as broken or unwanted but quite the opposite. I tell her she is special and deserves the best.

We end the final minutes of our ride with tears and smiles. I then drive home knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt why my family and I are here in this place at this time. In this life, we are (here in South Africa or wherever He leads us) to be available to meet people where they are so that, we can point them to Jesus and the Father’s love for them. We are called to love well, be the encouragement, speak His truth, pray for and with people, care for those in need, disciple, and share Jesus through our everyday ordinary ways.

You may ask, how do we measure success? I would say, let me tell you about a girl I drove home the other day.

Leaving home to head home…

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

It really is an odd feeling to leave the only place we have known as home (CLT) to head home (CPT). We left for the US on July 4th with feelings, thoughts, and ideas of what it would be like but not really knowing how it would be. This is the first time we have travelled back since leaving last year and the first time our family has lived away from our friends and family for this length of time. Some of us were very excited while others were a little nervous. Would this trip be sad and emotionally heavy or fun with a sense of normalcy??? Our time was surprisingly more wonderful than any of us could have guessed it would be and it was all that we thought it would be and more.

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IMG_9301We feel encouraged by the out pouring of love and support we had from our church families! We feel refreshed by our sweet but powerfully impactful times with friends! We feel loved by our wonderful families! We feel greatly supported by our ministry partners! God blessed us with a sweet time in the US! We are beyond thankful for the chance to hug those of you we did and sadden that a month goes by so fast and there just isn’t enough time to see everyone.

During our time, we heard clearly from the Lord on a few topics and gained clarity with questions we were asking ourselves as we processed this past year. This is something we are not taking for granted but taking advantage of to build upon. Just a few things we believe we heard from the Lord on were; be all there where you are, live out of who God has created us to be, invest deeply into people’s lives, and God is already present in the future therefore we don’t have to worry about it.

Thank you for enabling us to take this opportunity to return home to the US! It was meaningful for all five of the Rousehouse to take this trip and we are overly appreciative!!! We are renewed in our calling to be here in South Africa and refreshed in passion for those we get to disciple, mentor, and impact for the Kingdom! We know that God has just started writing this grand story that includes you, the Rousehouse, and the many that will begin to live with passion and purpose here in Africa. We are thankful for this opportunity to have a front row seaIMG_0031IMG_9452IMG_9488IMG_0046IMG_9508IMG_9523mvimg_20180728_142401IMG_0060

Rousehouse, June 2018 “USA here we come!”

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

Summit is over and we are packing to head to the US!

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Summit Graduates! Will, Billy, Okue, Jordan, Jannon, and Ashley. Tori is upfront leading the way!

Summit, East Mountain’s 6 week program ended with graduation this past Friday night and it was a wonderful celebration. It was a great group of people and we fell in love with them quickly. During the 6 weeks we had bible classes, spiritual formation exercises, cultural workshops, adventures, and team building activities. We are thrilled by the transformation that took place in the lives of these 6 people. Not only were the 6 students impacted but the rest of us that had a chance to play a role in their lives were blessed greatly. It was a good time and God did great things!

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Elly and Micha having fun at the Friday Braai

We leave Wednesday the 4th to head to the US to visit church, family, friends, and ministry partners. We are busy packing bags, planning our time away, and spending time with some of the people we love here. I think we are going to miss these people a lot over the next month but we are very excited to see everyone back home… and eat a lot of MEXICAN food! As we travel this month we would love for you to come along the journey with us by following us on Instagram and Facebook.

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

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

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

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

One of the guys that I have the privilege of discipling is Zach. He is a talented writer, free spirited young man from South Carolina that I love spending time with every week. He is a mess many days much like me, but regularly finds ways to see life through a special lens. I would love for you to travel along with Zach to get the vision for what a regular visit through a township, that many of us often take, through his point of view. Be ready to be wowed by his gift of story telling!

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Zach, Lara, Spanky, and Zuzu taking a family pic

Smiley, by Zach

“We were making our way through the tight, winding streets of Kayamandi – Stellenbosch’s premiere township, a living shrine to the injustice cast upon black South Africans during the regime of apartheid. Tin roof shacks spread as far as you can see, one on top of the other, yet their detail and integrity boast of mankind’s ingenuity in the midst of hardship.” To continue reading https://zachinsouthafrica.wordpress.com/2018/07/02/smiley/

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Lara, Zuzu, and Alison with Zach photo bombing as usual

Prayers:

  • PLEASE be praying for our trip back to the US…flights, luggage, children, and good health
  • PLEASE be praying for good visits with those we will have a chance to see.
  • PLEASE be praying for new financial and prayer support opportunities. We would love to share our vision and ministry with new people.
  • PLEASE be praying for rest and renewal for our family.
  • PLEASE be praying for our residents, mentees, community centre kids and friends here in South Africa
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Turned my ankle really bad while playing soccer at the community centre. Feeling better now but still not 100%

Father’s Day

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

IMG_8847This day is always a day of reflection for me and many others. For some it isn’t a light-hearted day and for others it’s a day to celebrate. For me it is one of the best days of the year. I love being a dad more than almost anything!IMG_8870

I was made more aware this year of the father figure I get to be in many people’s lives. Not that I necessarily take on the dad role in others lives but that I get to represent what a Godly, loving, strong, caring man can look like. I know too many people that didn’t have this role modelled well for them but I do believe that everyone wants a dad that will provide, protect, guide, love, and listen well…even if we don’t realise it yet.

IMG_0097I have seen many bad examples of dads and regularly hear of stories that break my heart of fathers who neglect their sons and daughters. I would bet that these men didn’t have someone that showed them what a dad was suppose to be either. I believe that as a Christian one of the greatest missions we can have in life as men is to reflect the heart of God. The starting block or greatest platform we have for this is being a dad. I am determined to change the future for some.

I am reminded today that I have 3 kids that mean more to me than anything and I’m excited that I get to pour into them so that they know Jesus and their purpose in life. I am also reminded today of the many that we now call family. We get the opportunity to shape and invest in others in a way like no one else has ever done for them. I get to be that fatherly example that they need and want. I get to love and care for them like no man has ever done for them. I get to show them Jesus.

My mission in life is to love, care for, serve and point people to Jesus. My starting line for changing the world begins with my children. My next step is to be that example of a Godly man and dad to those God gives us. This is not a job or a “have to”. This is my pleasure and one of my greatest opportunities!

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.

Psalms 127:4

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It’s been a good “season”

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

IMG_8383Winter 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 18th 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