South Africa – The Rousehouse

Life in 3 different countries, Quick Update

Posted on June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 by Spanky Rouse

There are lots of things happening and moving fast but we wanted to send out a quick update on the Rousehouse.

SOUTH AFRICA

We began to post all of our furniture, cars, and extras just a couple weeks ago. God has been so good in providing someone to come buy almost everything we have. We have given a lot away too but for the most part God has connected us with the right people to sell our stuff. He has done this before (just 2 years ago to be more specific) so why would I doubt he can do it again! Let me tell you just one of the many stories we have during this time of the right people God has sent us. We are basically camping and making the best of it!

Our neighbor, Rob, has been a good guy to live beside. He has been super helpful and generous on multiple occasions. Well, I posted our family’s SUV for sell and he immediately came over to the house and made me a very fair offer. He transferred the money within an hour and told me that we should just drive the car until we leave South Africa. How great is that! He even used the car to take us to the airport and pick us up when we went to Uganda at 3:00 am! I am thankful for people like Rob!

AMERICA

We are planning out the time we will be in the US to make sure we see as many people as we can as well as get some needed rest and down time as a family. We are so looking forward to tacos, church, parties, family, friends, and to be honest Amazon and Target. We arrive on June 26th and leave on August 1st for Uganda. We hope to give updates, share vision for the next season, tell you more about Sole Hope and be encouraged by all of you who love and support us from afar. See you soon!

UGANDA

While we are in the US we will also be renovating a home in Uganda. Yes this is a little stressful and no we have no idea how it is all going to happen. We are trusting the Lord. The house is in rough conditions and currently doesn’t have a working kitchen or security fence around the house. We are working with some great people in Uganda to get a new kitchen built and installed, bathrooms up to fully functioning, the interior painted, electrical work fixed, a ceiling leak repaired, odds and ends done, and a fence installed around the property for security. This house is across the street from the Sole Hope Guest House and offices, centrally located to town, church, and other people we know which is why we really want this house. Location, location, location. It will also provide some good space for our family indoors and outdoors. We will also be needing to raise some extra start up/moving funds to help us pay for some of the work as well as we need to buy a 4×4 car (Yes, 4×4 is necessary to get around not just something Spanky wants to play in the mud with!). Can’t wait to share pictures later!

Will you please be praying for us during this transition:

Saying goodbyes/see you laters to all of the wonderful people, church, and city we have loved so much these past two years
For our marriage to be stronger than ever
The kids (peace, fears, friendships, a sense of settledness and comfort, hopefulness)
Travel plans to the US and then to Uganda – and all bags to make it hassle free
That our time in America will be refreshing, restful, and fruitful
For the renovations to go well and smooth so the house can be ready for our family when we get there in August
For extra funds for moving, housing, and vehicles ($10,000)
New financial partners to join us in this next season of the journey ($500 a month in new giving)

Will you join our financial support team and help bring hope to those in Uganda? Please email Spanky at spanky.rouse@gmail.com for more ways to get involved.

Prayer, Life, and All The Happenings, March 2019

Posted on April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 by Spanky Rouse

Needing Prayer for Physical Healing…

Sometimes in life tough stuff just happens. And sometimes in life it just can’t be a coincidences that certain struggles all fall on you at once. When it rains it pours, right! I definitely don’t believe that ever struggle is an attack of the enemy but evil is hunting us daily, especially when we are pursuing God and his plans for our lives.

We believe that the enemy is attacking and trying to distract us from what the Lord is up too. This past month we have had a bunch of physical issues. Lara and I have had touch of Giardia or as it is called here, runny tummy. Lara and I also had some major back, hip, and shoulder pains. Elly injured her back on a scooter and she is having some pains with her teeth. Mac had a crazy bad ear infection that messed his equilibrium up for a few days which made him throw up when he would attempt to walk around. Grey suddenly woke up one morning with his eye swollen up from a weird stye. Unfortunately for him it lasted for about a week. We have definitely dependent on your prayers and the Lord’s protection!

God is doing up to something new…

There are those moments in life when you sense that God is up to something but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Right now is one of those moments for us. We can’t see the full picture but we are beginning to sense some of His plans that are to come. Will you partner with us by praying over us this next week? We want to hear the Lord clearly, know His heart wholly, obey fully and continue on the mission God has created us for.

East Mountain Partners…

I had the opportunity to meet with an East Mountain Partner recently in the township Kyamandi. It was fascinating to hear about all of the after school programs for children and youth they are running. I am excited to be able to help build a bridge of partnership between East Mountain and Prochous for this coming year. They are changing lives and communities!

Where are they now?

We have the opportunity to spend time with some of our past residents from time to time and we love it. We talk about life, encourage one another, laugh together, and dream of what the Lord has next. These people are close to our family’s heart and when I think about the fruit of my life many of them come to mind. Some of them we have had little investment in and some of them we will forever be closely tied too. Just the other day I got to spend the day with Siya. He is one of our residents from last year and lives near us in the township of Khayelitsha. I am proud of the man he is and excited for the steps he is taking to write a different story for himself, his family, church, and his community. He is a true agent of change and man of God! If you would like to hear more of Siya’s story and see what he is up to today, please read this article written by another resident from last year, Lindsay. Where are they now?

Speaking Opportunity…

This past week I had the privileged of speaking at a weekly worship and prayer time for our local church. Our church staff were on a retreat together and they asked me to lead the evening prayer and worship gathering. I had my message all laid out and then the Lord pressed on me a new word, just hours before. I had been wrestling in my heart with letting go and letting God handle somethings. Elly had been reciting her bible verse for the week to me regularly for days but I honestly was too distracted to truly hear her. The morning before I was to speak she asked if she could tell me again her bible verse. As she did it was like the Holy Spirit pulled back the blinders from my heart and I heard the Fathers voice speaking directly to me. 1 Peter 5:7 “Give all of your cares and worries to God because He cares most for you” I knew right then that this was God’s message for us that night at church. It was a powerful evening and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our church in this way!

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Visitors…

We have had a flood of wonderful visitors recently and we LOVE it! One of Elly’s best and oldest friends, Brinley surprised her! Elly thought we were picking up a visitor for East Mountain but to her amazement Brinley came walking out. She was shocked! They enjoyed 10 fun filled days of beaching it, monkeys, sight seeing, penguins, eating, dress up, watching shows together, and lots of talking.

Lara also had 3 or her closest friends come spend time with her. These ladies came to love on her, speak life into her, spoil her, and laugh a lot with her! It was a blessing to see friends that are closer than sisters just be together! People traveling all the way here and going through all it takes to come to Africa, never stops amazing us! Those who are loved by so many have loved so well!

Updates on March prayer request and April needs:

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. 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/
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.
Pray for Hope, Wisdom and Obedience
East Mountain Partnership: Pray for favour with leaders and open doors to how the Lord is leading East Mountain.
Friendships
For safety in travels
Romero’s wedding next weekend, April 27th

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

Partnerships, Wedding Weekend, Interns, Loadshedding, and Updates

Posted on March 21, 2019March 21, 2019 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!

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/

Many goodbyes and time to exhale

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Spanky Rouse

This morning as I walk to meet a friend for coffee I am reminded of all of the wonderful people the Lord brought into our lives. We have been blessed this year! The month of December was an emotionally taxing month as we had a lot of tough goodbyes. Many things about this journey are so wonderful but somethings are just sad and heavy. One of the not so joyful moments for us are all of the goodbyes. We know that it is necessary but never fun. The mountain tops aren’t made for regular living but preparation for the valleys. We all have to descend, get to work and do what we were created to do.

Our family learned that we don’t like to say goodbye so we say, see you later. This past month we said “see you later” to some really special people. Tori, Lara’s closest friend here in South Africa moved back to Nevada after finishing up two years here at East Mountain. Zuzu went back home to Port Elizabeth, South Africa to start university. Zack moved back to the Carolina’s and will be finishing up school while serving with East Mountain on a global level. The rest of the residents have returned to there communities, countries, and families as well. Let’s just say it has been a lot for our family but we are so excited to see all that the Lord is going to do with these amazing people!

The Holidays are serious business here in South Africa. EVERYTHING is closed from the middle of December until the middle of Jan. I mean everything! This is a time for family, relaxing, vacations, friends, braai, and travel. We took advantage this year and hit the road! First, we traveled 9 hours up the east coast to take Zuzu home. We also celebrated her 21st birthday with all of her family while in Port Elizabeth. We made sure to make stops along the way and see this beautiful country.

Christmas was relaxing and quiet at the Rousehouse. We had a chilled day together as a family and then some friends came for supper. The following day, which is Boxing Day, we hit the road again for another road trip.

Our good friends invited us to there beach house in Mossel Bay which is 4 hours from where we live. It was a breath taking, beautiful place to call home for the week. We played on the beach, ate delicious South African specialty foods, spent time just talking, stayed up late laughing, and enjoyed our selves tremendously. This was a blessing from the Lord and a great way to end 2018!

In early December Grey and Elly both had end of year performaces. As everyone knows, Elly is a phenomenal dancer and loves being on stage. This time was no exception. Grey isn’t as much of a performer and getting on stage to play his guitar was a stretch to say the least. He was AMAZING! He is the youngest student but has progressed so well that he got the part of lead guitarist. We were so proud of him!

Our “oldest”, Romero, got engaged just before Christmas to his girl friend, Desi. We love Desi and are so excited for the both of them. Please be praying for the planning and wedding preparations for them. They plan to get married in April this year.

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Alechia is doing well and is enjoying her break from university. She will start back later this month to continue working on her Children’s Ministry Certificate. Please be praying for her housing needs at school for this upcoming year.

Elly also celebrated her 8th birthday at the beginning of the month with friends, cake, presents, and games! This girl loves a party!

Updates on December prayer request and Jan needs:

UPDATE: End of year giving – We are so grateful for those of you who were able to help us finish the year strong by giving a special gift to our family and ministry!
UPDATE: We are going to UGANDA on Jan. 18th! Our family is so excited to experience all the Lord has in store for us on this trip. We will have a specific prayer list and calendar posted soon for you to follow along.
Graduated Residents – UPDATE: Everyone has made it safe and sound back home. Be praying for the Lord to be preparing the hearts and lives of our new residents that move in Jan.19th
Pray for the Lord’s clear vision and direction for life and ministry here in Africa.
The selling of our car. Our car will NOT sell! UPDATE:Still hasn’t sold so we are starting to ask the Lord what else He may want to do with this vehicle.
I still need to get my Land Rover fixed from the accident I had last month. UPDATE: I just had a friend tow it in to the shop today. Praying for prices to be affordable or that they will just buy it as is from me.
The Lord’s continued work in our own hearts. He is speaking and moving and we don’t want to miss out.
Take Zuzu home and road trip – UPDATE: It went smooth and hassle free. We are grateful that it was a good trip.

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/

Retreats, Pool parties, visits, and updates, Nov. 2018

Posted on December 13, 2018December 13, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

Before I share about our monthly updates I want to remind you, ask you, and plead with you to PLEASE send us a Christmas card! We love them and keep them hanging up in our home year-round to remind us of all the special people back home. Even if we get it late we still love getting them in the mail! Please mail your Christmas cards to:

East Mountain Leadership Development

Rouse

Post Net Suites #318

Private bag X5061

Stellenbosch 7599 South Africa

November in South Africa means you are planning for the holidays, having exams, looking towards next year, busy with lots of celebrations and getting excited for Summer.

Retreat weekend!

With the year coming to an end, Lara and I wanted to do something special for the residents that we have had the privilege of investing in and spending lots of time with this year. When we were on staff at Ridge Church we use to go on these amazing staff retreats. Lara said she wanted to do something like that and thought we should go all out in planning a trip like that. We booked a big house on the beach about 3 hours away, packed the car full of food, and invited all of the residents to come and let loose for the weekend. It was such a good time! We laughed, ate great food, danced until late, walked on the beach, and just spent time together. Mine and Lara’s favourite parts of this weekend were the one on one conversations we had with many of them and hearing how they felt like they were able to sit with the Lord and exhale. It’s been a long year and we believe this was the perfect way to celebrate with them.

Look what I found in Africa! They don’t play basketball nor have any idea what a TarHeel is

Community Centre kids

With the school year coming to a close our programs at Heldervalley Community Centre are also coming to a close. We are so excited to see that some of our students have improved greatly this year in their studies. Kelly (on the left) went from 39th in her grade to #1! MacNeil (middle) had his father pass away a couple years ago and this year he lost his mom as well. Even with all of this in life he still improved and out performed most of the other students in his class. Having a people who invest in a life can make more of a difference than we even know! Louise, the lady we serve under at the centre, is doing a great job and we are praise God for her influence and leadership there.

Kelly

MacNeil

Lesnique

We had a celebration party for the end of the year and invited all of the kids from the community centre out to East Mountain. They had a blast swimming (even if the pool was green), playing soccer and rugby, dancing to music, and eating hotdogs! It was a fun day!

Furey Fest 2018

We LOVE when people are able to visit us! At the end of the month we had our good friends the Furey’s come stay with us for 12 days. It was a busy, fun filled time of showing them around Cape Town and our everyday life. You can check out all that we did by clicking here (Furey Fest 2018).

Here are a few random photos and updates of life in South Africa for the Rousehouse:

As we are stepping into a role of partnerships here at East Mountain we get to meet with and learn more about ministries and people who are making a difference. Lara had the chance to have breakfast with one of these partners to hear more about their work…and hold some babies. She feel in love with them…and the babies! Her Voice is a local non-profit in a black township offering support to mothers physically, spiritually, and practically. Their vision is to see strong Christian mommies that are having a huge impact on their community. They are doing amazing things!

Mac is doing well! This kid loves life in South Africa, his youth group, riding his bike, coffee, and people! He is working hard on his studies from Liberty homeschool online and serving at church all the time. He is just awesome!

Grey is the easiest person ever. Nothing bothers him, he will eat anything, and he will go with whatever you want to do. In life he only needs a few things. Family, Matthew (his bestie), a book, and nature. His day usually consist of walking barefoot, being outside, reading book series, playing with the bunny, practising guitar, and watching Youtube. The slower pace of life in South Africa suits him well!

Ellyana is becoming her own person! She is opinionated, stylish, and has plenty of words to express her self! This girl is so much like her mom in the way that she is the life of the party! If there is no party she will start one!

As for Spanky, if you haven’t seen he has a new hobby. Click on the link here, Christmas came early, to check out his early Christmas gift from a bunch of his friends back home in America.

Things to be praying for during December:

We are still in need of a few more monthly supporters to partner with us to help us accomplish all that the Lord has planned for 2019. Will you pray about being a monthly supporter or giving a special year end gift? To give you can click here, http://uwm.org/missionaries/11084/
We are still praying about going on a trip as a family to Uganda in January to work with some friends that we served with years ago. We have been wanting to do something like this for a long time and believe that it would be impactful for all 5 of us. There are lots of details to think through, so we are asking for wisdom, the extra finances to be able to join them, and the logistics of it all.
Be praying for our residents as they graduate from East Mountain and head back into their communities, cities, homes, and countries.
Pray for the Lord’s clear vision and direction.
The selling of our car. Our car will NOT sell!
I still need to get my Land Rover fixed from the accident I had last month.
The Lord’s continued work in our own hearts.
We are taking Zuzu, Lara’s mentee home next week and it is a 9 hour drive up the coast. PLEASE pray for safety and that all will go smoothly.

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

Christmas came early in the way of a surfboard and the Good News

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

How much does God love me?

Does He listen me when I pray?

Does he care about the small things I pray about, desire, and fill my head?

If you are like me and any, what I would call “normal” Christian I am sure you have had these kind of questions. At least once in life if not reoccurring as daily thoughts.

Isaiah says that I am his treasure (Isaiah 62)! The Lord delights in me. He pursues my heart. He gets my attention through varies ways but he knows how I hear from him the best. Sometime He, My Heavenly Father, likes to absolutely blow me away with His goodness and love!

Many days I forget this amazing truth of grace and fall more on the side of these kind of thoughts…

I don’t feel worthy. Me?!? I haven’t and will never be able to live up to the standard of worthiness. I’m just a sinner. Broken. No where near perfect. Some days nothing comes out of me that is good.

And this is where I have to preach the Gospel (Good News) to my self and be reminded of His truth of who I am and who He is…

You look at me with delight, joy, deep love and affection. You smile on me. You see a reflection of your glory in my life. I am significant and chosen.

*So here is a story of how the Lord reminded me of this amazing reality of who I am and that He cares so deeply for me, even in ridiculous ways.

I wanted a surf board. My skill level is not worthy of buying a surf board though. I’m still on the floor practicing my pop up techniques at home. I can barely catch a wave and the majority of the time wobble as I stand up on white wash. I really enjoy being in the water! It is a time of my week when I get to be in the ocean with the Lord and no one really talks with me. It’s a refreshing hobby for me for sure. I have been praying,”God should I spend some Christmas money on a really rough, old, crappy board?” Haven’t felt confident in doing it yet and asked the Lord to show me when and what board I could buy when it came time for that.

A group of my friends from back home, Lara, and Zach (My mentee) were sneaky and got me a customised, hand shaped, internationally renown board from M*A*T Boards!!!!! I’m not worthy of riding a board like this and even more OWNING a board that was made just for Spanky Rouse. This is so much more than I wanted or was even asking God for! God blessed me with this amazing gift through my peeps and I am believing it was completely for me to know that He cares, He listens, and He gives me more than I am even close to worthy of having.

It’s not about the surf board. It’s about my Fathers delight and care for me, in everything of my life! Secondly, it is a wonderful reminder every time I hop on my board that I have a group of people that love me so much!

I am made more aware that I can trust Him and know that my Father who delights in me has life all under control and has greatness waiting for me in my future!

THANK YOU to all of you who made this possible!

Isaiah 63:7

I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things
he has done for Israel,
according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

Isaiah 12: 4-5

In that day you will say:

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

Celebrations, New Opportunities, Living Life – October 2018

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

At the beginning of October a friend/co-worker of ours got married. We were able to attend our first South African wedding and it was so much fun. We arrived at 2:30 and the party went on until after 10! It was a beautiful outdoor wedding with good food (spit braai lambs), many different people and cultures, and lots of dancing and laughs! Oh yeah, it was also the hottest day we have had yet! No shade either! #Sweatinglikecrazy

Since the sun is coming up earlier and the weather is heavenly lately, we have restarted our regular group workouts. Working out as a group is always more fun and a passion of Spanky’s! Our gym is coming along nicely. We have some basic equipment and hope to be able to add more to it over the next few months. We call it East Mountain Sweat!

We are currently helping East Mountain with the project of surveying our ministry partners here in the Western Cape of South Africa. Lara and I have the privilege of meeting our different partners, seeing how their ministries, schools, churches and projects are loving and impact their community. We then get to ask, “How can we (East Mountain) come alongside and support you?”. We have been exposed to many wonderful people and powerful ministries! They consist of justice movements, children ministries, sports outreach, churches, schools, life skills projects, Bible schools for African pastors, and more. It is a great privilege to serve alongside these nationals doing amazing things for the kingdom. We are honoured to play a small part in making a big difference around the city!

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The warmer weather means we are out and about a lot more. If you know the Rousehouse, you know we love spending time with friends, having fun and exploring, so we have done a lot of that this month!

Elly and Caroline enjoying the shade by the dam

Mac, Grey and Benji being crazy at the market

Grey and his best bud, Matthew picking flowers out of the garden

Lara and Tori at a secluded beach we found with some friends

Hardings and Rouse’s having taco night!

Lara kept her Halloween party traditions going strong again this year! We ate hotdogs, dressed up in costumes, and had fun around the fire pit ! Our neighbourhood had a lot more trick or treaters this year! I think maybe some of these crazy American traditions are rubbing off. Yes, I was the bearded lady from the movie The Greatest Showman and NO this is not Lara’s dress! It was an actual costume. Lara and Grey were Mexicans, Elly was Cinderella before she became a princess, and Zuzu, Alechia and Mac were the Flintstones.

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Updates from prayer needs last month:

We are in need for 4 more new monthly supporters at $100 – We did gain a new monthly giver but unfortunately we also lost 1 due to job situations, so we are still praying for a few new supporters.
Lara and I are taking the 11 residents on a weekend retreat this month. Be praying for the right place and for strengthened relationships – It was an amazing house the Lord provided for us and everyone connected well! We are well pleased with the weekend away! We will share more in next month’s updates.
We are needing to sell one of our cars soon. Pray for the right buyers to come along soon. – We still haven’t sold our car yet. Praying that happens soon!
Be praying for Elly to gain a better understanding in her reading skills and desire to read – She is improving in reading and spelling but continue to pray that she gains a love for reading.
Be praying for healthy partners here for us to serve alongside. Lara and I will be meeting with many of the East Mountain partners this month to build relationships and look for ways we can best serve them. – The partnership meetings with local ministries and projects have been going exceptionally well! We are enjoying learning about new ways we can continually come alongside locals that are doing wonderful work for the Kingdom and be a blessing to their neighbours!
Evil is hunting our family everyday. Please be praying for the Lord’s protection over us physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. – We can see ways that the enemy is trying to distract us and we keep praying for the Lord’s power, wisdom, and protection. I was just praying through Ephesians 6:10-20, join me.

Things to be praying for during November:

We are still in need of a few more monthly supporters to partner with us to help us accomplish all that the Lord has planned for 2019.
We are praying about going on a trip as a family to Uganda in January to work with some friends that we served with years ago. We have been wanting to do something like this for a long time and believe that it would be impactful for all 5 of us. There are lots of details to think through, so we are asking for wisdom, the extra finances to be able to join them, and the logistics of it all.
East Mountain is recruiting for and evaluating candidates for the 2019 Residency. Who does the Lord want to impact through our ministry and lives here in South Africa?
Healthy relationships with existing and new partner ministries here in Africa. Where, how, and with who does the Lord want us to be working with?
The selling of our car.
Pray for our current residents as they are wrapping up their time here and planning their next steps in life and ministry.
The Lord’s continued work in our own hearts.

Be on the look out for blogs and stories between monthly newsletters. Just last week we posted about the “WHY” behind what we are doing here in Africa and how we believe making disciples can have a great impact. You can read it by clicking here, Explosion of Christianity in Africa.

Sometimes Uncle Spanky is the tackling dummy

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

Explosion of Christianity in Africa

Posted on October 31, 2018November 8, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

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.

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.

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.

September 2018, 1 year Anniversary

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

At All airport about to board our first plane heading to South Africa 2017

Some days it feel like we have lived here for years and some days it feel like we have just arrived. Just a couple weeks ago, we had our 1 year anniversary of moving to South Africa. To think of all that we have been privileged to experience, people we have met, and things God has taught us is unbelievable. It hasn’t been a cake walk for sure but it has been memorable. We have learned so much over this past year,lessons we will take with us for the rest of our life. Some of our learnings continue to shape who we are as Christ followers. Some have shaped how we see people who don’t look or talk like us. Some have changed how we value and communicate with people. Some have created more compassion in our hearts. Some have grown our faith through days and weeks of struggles and uncertanties that force you to trust in God in new ways. Some have shaped us as a family. Some have created a deeper sense of gratitude in our hearts and minds. Some have taught us how we can love, serve, care for, influence, and impact peoples lives. There have been times of extreme highs and even deep lows. We have learned a lot, grown a lot, laughed a lot, pondered many things, studied our bibles probably more than ever, and prayed as if our life depended on it. God has proven his faithfulness time and time again.

One realisation that is more indisputable today than ever before is the fact that we have an incredible community of friends, family, and partners! We knew that we had an amazing group of people that love and support us but we really had no idea how unusually awesome our community was. We have felt your support and love for us even half way across the globe. This (you) have been the fuel that kept us going on our toughest days. Our experience of love and support from community is something that we are passionate for others to get a taste of. Our mission is to be that community for others and offer hope as we walk alongside others in this journey called life!

Grey and his BFF, Matthew

Taking a walk through the gardens

Elly taking swing classes

Sunday afternoon vibes

Mac had a birthday in September! He turned 14 years old.

We also celebrated Lara’s birthday on September 30th with a big party outside on a super warm day!

Her girls!

Mini me

Birthday people

crazy guy!

Yes that is snow!

A boy and his bunny

Uncontrollable

Updates from prayer request last month:

the kids schooling – This year’s schooling seems to be going smoother than last year. Lara has been doing a great job and the kids seem to be learning a lot.
the last few months of the resident program. Our heart is for the residents to gain a greater understanding of their identity in Christ and passion for all that God has next for them. – The residents are doing well and are growing in so many ways!
Deeper relationships – It does seem that the Lord has been blessing us with more friendships and better relationships this month. September has been a relational refreshment for Lara and I and we are grateful.
for Romero (the young man that lives with us) to have success and influence in his new job. – Romero got a new job! He is managing a coffee shop that also supports the local homeless shelter which provides some great ministry conversations. He has already made some wonderful changes to improve the shop.
Alechia went on her first mission trip with her school to Lesotho. It was life changing and eye opening for her! She was taken out of her comfort zone and God blessed every moment for her!
We gained 2 new monthly partners!!!

We would love for you to be praying for:

We are in need for 4 more new monthly supporters at $100
Lara and I are taking the 11 residents on a weekend retreat this month. Be praying for the right place and for strengthened relationships
We are needing to sell one of our cars soon. Pray for the right buyers to come along soon.
Be praying for Elly to gain a better understanding in her reading skills and desire to read
Be praying for healthy partners here for us to serve alongside. Lara and I will be meeting with many of the East Mountain partners this month to build relationships and look for ways we can best serve them.
Evil is hunting our family everyday. Please be praying for the Lord’s protection over us physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.

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

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

Back in the Swing of Things

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Spanky Rouse

It has already been a month since we have returned home from visiting the US. It has been a busy time with lots of activities. We thought that we would just share some of our favorite pics with you.

This was our first Sunday back in our winter attire. It was pretty difficult going from the Southern July summer heat to winter in a matter of a couple days! We went from shorts and flip flops to wearing four layers of clothing inside the house.

We missed our people and I think they missed us too! It was heartwarming coming back to these beautiful smiles!

Many of you may have seen on Instagram and Facebook that Elly had her first dance competition once we returned to South Africa. She did so great! This little performer shines on stage and thrives in a dance group like this. It is a joy to watch her dance!

Grey celebrated his 11th birthday by going to breakfast with dad and spending the day with his friend Matthew. It was a perfect, Grey kind of day. Full of fun, good food and great conversations!

When you pour your life out for someone else it fills you back up in a supernatural way. We love doing life with these people!

Alechia has her 21st birthday! Alechia wanted a masquerade party so we went and got all dressed up for the evening!

First day of School! 2nd Grade, 5th grade, and 8th grade

We would love for you to be praying for:

the kids schooling
the last few months of the resident program. Our heart is for the residents to gain a greater understanding of their identity in Christ and passion for all that God has next for them.
Wisdom
Deeper relationships
for Romero (the young man that lives with us) to have success and influence in his new job.

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

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