November 6th – Info Session!!

Before I jump into the information about the info sessions, I first must apologize for the lack of activity this last month. I got so excited about the blog and keeping you guys up to date, but then reality hit. Writers block, time management, a couple seasons of Parenthood…you get the point. So I promise this month will be better.

Ok – Exciting news! This Sunday, November 6th, I will be hosting a couple of information sessions here in the Durham/Chapel Hill area for all those interested in learning more about me, Africa Revolution, or what Swaziland 2012 will look like. So if you are in the area, come on by.

Sunday Brunch – November 6th
Time: 10 am (Remember that is the “fall back” standard time due to the time change)
Place: 3 Bartram Drive, Chapel Hill NC

Sunday Evening – November 6th
Time: 4 pm
Place: 11 Calaveras Court, Durham NC

For those of you not in the Chapel Hill area, I’ll be making a recording of the info session and will post some of the recorded stuff here. Look out for that next week.

Before I go, I just wanted to let everyone know I’m scheduled to depart from the United States on February 1, 2012 to begin my journey to Swaziland.

Send me an email if you want me to write about anything in particular here. Hope to see many of you at one of the informational sessions this Sunday. Thanks for your support.

Dwayne
dwayne.nalty@gmail.com

Ordinary People

As news of this huge endeavor trickles out to different circles in life I am always asked the same questions: “How do your parents feel about this?”, “Are you going to quit your job?”, and “Where is Swaziland?”. Those questions are relatively easy to answer, but the most common question I’m asked is “What made you decide to do this program?” The truth is, I feel like I haven’t really had a great answer to this question. I usually stumble through some answer about always wanting to do missions but never having the opportunity, seeing the world, and working with kids, but I don’t know if I really took the time to answer that question for myself. So over the last few weeks, I have been wrestling with the questions and I think I have come up with an answer.

I remember going to Summit Church in Raleigh late last year and the sermon was delivered by a young pastor that was leaving Summit to start a church plant in the Denver suburbs. With all their earthly possessions packed in their station wagon, he and his wife were leaving church that evening and starting their week long cross country trip with their dog. I remember thinking how amazing it must be to be so confident in God’s provisional power that they would be willing to chuck it all and start over. But just as I was mentally pinning on his rockstar badge for commitment, he said something that was both inspiring and mind blowing for me. He said, [my wife and I are no spiritual giants, we are ordinary people fully committed to God and we are following Him to the best of our ability.] For so long I have been waiting for this special moment when spiritual maturity would hit me – when I had the passion of Jonathan Edwards or the intellect of Francis Schaeffer. I looked forward to the day when making big decisions for God would become easy. Well, I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy but I felt like there was going to be a definitive moment when I knew I was ready to start living the committed life. That never happened.

I wish I could attribute the decision to travel 8,300 miles to do mission work to a lucid dream (which would make this blog post exponentially more interesting) or a near death experience or a long conversation with a trusted advisor, but it was nothing like that. It was God slowly warming my heart until one day I thought about it … and I was ready. After really evaluating myself I discovered that my big objection was “ordinary people like me don’t do things like that – only spiritual giants do that.” (I like the phrase “spiritual giants”) The feeling of being ill-equipped is still a real concern,but there are few times in my life where I have felt this confident about anything. I find myself running through my checkered past of sins, lies and failures and think “why would God even put a dream like this in a person like me?” The truth is I don’t know. I’m praying for forgiveness for all my past sins and wisdom and for guidance to turn this trip into something that is glorifying to God. I hope this experience will benefit both me and the people I come in contact with. I wish I could say that I’m equipped as a Godly man and spiritual hero but I’m not. The reality is I’m committed to being used and hoping that God shows me what that actually looks like.

So this blog post is really my confession that I’m just an ordinary person. I’m asking you to support me emotionally and spiritually on this trip. As the days fly by on the calendar, the panic of “Dwayne, are you really prepared to do this?” really starts to set in. Pray for me. I look forward to sharing this journey with you guys.

Dwayne

Off to Swaziland

For those of you that have not heard from me personally, I will be moving to Swaziland in Southern Africa in a January 2012 to spend a year volunteering as a “Vision Year” intern with Africa Revolution. Big news!! I know.

Africa Revolution is a small nonprofit that serves God’s Church in Africa. It’s a dynamite little organization that looks to impact communities and the Kingdom of a God by building caring relationships and using local people to grow grassroots ministries to nurture the community. To find out more about this ministry, visit www.africarevolution.org.

The Africa Revolution “Vision Year” program is designed to serve various communities, including Hawane, Swaziland, that are suffering under the effects of the AIDS crisis and the complicating effects of poverty. Hawane is a small community located just out side Mbabane, the capital city of Swaziland. This area has vast needs connected with orphan care, widows, the sick and the hungry, – sharing the incredible love of God in word and deed can have a huge impact on the community. I will be part of a small team of people who will be based in Hawane. We will live in intentional community together and share daily devotional times and meals as a group and each person will serve the community, through the local church, as the Lord leads.

Our ministry goal is to partner with the locals to develop sustainable programs that will benefit the community for years to come. So we are not looking to find quick fixes or impose our solutions but listen and be a tool of change and grace for Hawane. This approach opens many opportunities to serve, including teaching skills development classes, spending time/praying with those suffering from AIDS and other illnesses, tutoring in the local schools, and loving on the orphans the town is focused on caring for.

At this point, I am excited about this project but I’m also overwhelmed by the scale and impact this will have on my life. I am very grateful and humbled for the opportunity to be a part of God’s work in Africa. I’m also eager to extend to you the opportunity to come alongside me, joining in the amazing work that God is doing. There are a few ways you can do this:

First, in order to spend a year as a volunteer in Swaziland, without a paying job, I will need financial support. If you are interested in giving financially you can do that by donating via Paypal on the left side of the screen or you can email me your address and I will send you an info packet/pledge card (and a fridge magnet and handwritten thank you note. Yeah!! )

Second, I ask that you join this adventure by subscribing to this blog and encouraging me here or at the Africa Revolution site (www.ARBlog.org), which will feature many different stories and photos about those we are serving as well as my own experiences there.

Thank you in advance for your prayers, support and generosity. I look forward to serving the Lord and building His kingdom with you.

Dwayne Nalty
Dwayne.nalty@gmail.com

Calvin Says It Best

This blog will document the ins and outs of my year long trip to Swaziland. As an intern with Africa Revolution I hope to build my faith, share God’s love and ,in Calvin’s words, “accept danger and live to the fullest”.