Oh Summer Where Have Thou Gone?!

6 weeks of camp food – $0
Sleeping in a tent - $0
Enjoying the outdoors - $0
Sharing Christ with almost 500 campers, and
Baptizing 4 teens into the Lord – PRICELESS!

As evidenced by my earlier blog, I have spent six weeks of my summer speaking at youth Christian camps. Let me tell you, running around behind those energetic teenagers has not only given me a great tan, but an opportunity to teach kids about Christ. In a non-school environment, away from the distractions of technology, I am able to get to know these young people in an intimate way, and really open up.

There is nothing that I love more than speaking at camps during the summer!
I have made many new friends and established incredible relationships with new youth ministers and churches. It only makes me love what I do more than ever.

I thank Christ Jesus, who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful,
appointing me to His service.

1Tim. 1:12

To top all of that off, I seem to have made quite the impression on at least one camper:

“FFLLEEDDGGEE!!!! I miss you friend!! I haven't been able to stop talking about the things that you have said! You really made an impact this week! All the things you are doing in the lives of young people is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Hope you are enjoying time with your family!!! Looking forward to seeing you in the fall!!”
Katie Sparks-Woodland Christian Camp

I have to pay tribute to my amazing wife, Julie. Since I have been away at camp, she has been caring for our two children, Brody and Keaton. Every Friday I would come home for the weekend and on one of those visits she requested to go see a movie with a friend. “Sure “I said. Three hours later, upon her return, I ran up to her, kissed her all over her face and asked her why she in the world did she go off and leave the kids with me! I now have a wonderful perspective of what it takes to take care of two kids.The remarkable thing is she did it for six weeks all by herself!

Sweet Summertime

With summertime in full swing, its time for Son Safaris to go to camp! In fact, I’ve been at camp for about four weeks now, from the second I got off the plane from New York City. The camp I’m currently speaking at is North Georgia Christian Camp. As the motivational speaker I have to opportunity to interact with middle and high school students, about 60-100 during any given week. The week starts Sunday evening and goes until Friday morning, and I give presentations and speak in general about experiences on safari. My absolute favorite way to talk to these kids, however, is a night, around the camp fire. It is more one-on-one and intimate and the atmosphere provides for some of the greatest conversations and revelations. I can talk to them about my own journey to and through Christ, and give them advice or a shoulder to lean on in their own individual journey. Being able to be around wonderful young people who want to know Christ and are willing to come to a camp during a week of summer in order to be around others who want to know Him is special in and of itself, and I am incredibly grateful everyday to have been chosen as the guest speaker for these camps. Now, I am a little sleep deprived and I missed my family, however, the summer went swimmingly, and I’m happy to be home!

Maloof Money Cup: The Recap

Being in New York City is always a pretty awesome experience. When hosting a premier of South Africa, being able to speak your native language, as well as rubbing elbows with one wealthy, powerful, or just plain famous person after another, the experience is, well, even awesome-er.



First, a bit of explanation to questions I’m sure you are asking yourselves: What is a premier? What does any of this have to do with skateboarding? Who exactly were those famous people I mentioned seeing? And how did I factor into all of this?

A premier in South Africa is the equivalent of a governor to a state here in the United States. Hazel Jenkins is the premier of the Northern Cape in South Africa, and the reason for her being in New York City for the Maloof Money Cup, as mentioned in the previous blog, was to see how such an event would happen next year in South Africa and I was her host.

During the course of the weekend I was there, I was the premier’s “host”. I was responsible for taking her to interviews with CNN, FuelTV and other networks, making sure she enjoyed the local cuisine and was well hydrated, as well as chaperoning her around. Obviously, she did not come to New York by herself, and had twenty-two delegates with her.



As for the Money Cup itself, the occasion was exciting and full of energy. The reason we were all there was to donate the new skate park the Maloof brothers had built to the city, as well as to watch the professional and amateur skateboarding competitions, which had $10,000 and $100,000 rewards, respectfully. The park itself was also very interesting, since it features all sorts of iconic elements of skateboarding areas around New York. Of course, such an event brought out many celebrities, and not only did I get to meet some of the pro-skateboarders, I was also able to see big time Hollywood players, like Susan Sarandon.




The most important of the trip for me was being able connect with and speak Afikaans again with fellow countrymen and women and see how the new government in South Africa is progressing. I especially connected with Pat Seboko, the head of Department of Economic Development and Tourism in South Africa, and finding out that we had grown up not so far from one another. The entire event will truly put South Africa on the map, and encourage the world to take another look at my home country. The Maloof Money Cup will be held in South Africa in 2011, 2012, and 2013!

All in all, I was very grateful that Son Safaris was given such an incredible and wonderful opportunity by Limelight PR, and to be able to be around South Africans again. I am truly blessed!

New York, New York

So you thought the World Cup 2010 was the only sports event going down in South Africa. Well, I’m very excited to announce that this is not the case! Next year, Kimberly, South Africa will be hosting the world’s greatest skateboarding competition, the Maloof Money Cup.
The creators of the event, Joe & Gavin Maloof who own the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino Resort, held a press conference over Skype with the premier of South Africa announcing the contest in May of this year from Durban, South Africa.

The Premier of the Northern Cape, Hazel Jenkins, who is probably the equivalent to being the ‘Governor of her Provence’will be arriving in New York City June 4, 2010 to celebrate this new launch. The Maloofs, are clients of Limelight PR in San Diego, California, I was invited by LimelightPR to host Premier Jenkins and her entourage during their stay in New York City from Friday, June 4th to Sunday June 6th.
What a great way to spend time with my fellow countrymen!

See http://maloofmoneycup.com for more details on the skateboarding tournament.

Also read the press release from South Africa
http://www.northerncape.gov.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=272:premier-ms-h-jenkins-to-lead-delegation-to-the-us&catid=43:pressreleases&Itemid=53

NYC here I come!!!!

Summing It Up

Imagine giving 28 years of your life to an organization. Imagine having married, baptized, guided, and counseled countless individuals in those 28 years. Imagine helping others achieve their dreams.

Now imagine summing that up.

Tim Hudson, the senior campus minister of Christian Campus Fellowship at the University of Georgia, my friend, mentor, and member of the Son Safaris board, will be leaving CCF this summer. While he will not leave ministry all together, as he has board duties with Son Safaris, he will be moving on from an organization which he ran for 28 years. Since Tim changed my life a significant amount and has been a huge part of my own dream, I volunteered to put together a 3-5 minute tribute video for his farewell dinner. While I am more than happy to do it, I did not realize how daunting of a task it would turn out to be.

How do you sum up 28 years of service? Truly, it cannot be accomplished because it would be impossible to measure the scope of such influence. We try everyday to “sum it up” or make it “short and sweet” and as a result, are more likely to remember the significant events that occurred rather than those small, ordinary occasions which mean just as much.

Even so, I’m still going to take the time to honor Tim in this little way despite knowing that I could never cover it all.

Being a Good Person in Christ

"I believe all you need is to be a good person"
"As long as you are a good person then that should be all that matters".

I couldn't tell you how many times in my travels around the world and in the conversations I have had with non or 'pre' Christians, I have heard them say, "If I'm good then why do I need Christ?"

Ok so if you are a good person and that is ALL you need, my question would be this: Then what? What happens after you have been that 'good person doing good things in your life? What is next for you?

If you are truly a good person, then you must not have any bad in you right?


If you honestly believe this then I think you are just fooling yourself.
I say this because there is no such thing as a 'good person' without Christ because we are ALL sinners. If all it takes is being good, then Christ is a liar.
If you can prove to me that you are always good without having any malice, hate, jealously, anger, ego, pride, conceit, etc, none at all, ever, then maybe, just maybe, you are a good person.


Can you really say that you have never felt those emotions, or done something that was not exactly within the realm of “good”?

Well, I believe that this CANNOT be the case because we have ALL sinned.

This is why we need Christ. He is the only one who can truly help close the gap as far as our sinful nature. Being good is good, and doing good is great, but you cannot live separate from the grace of our Lord and Savior.

V.F.T.

One awesome benefit from being married to a teacher is, of course, spring break! Since my job is flexible, I can also take time off to be with her and our sons, without the usual distractions of work. I call this particular type of time off V.F.T or Valuable Family Time.

I have always strived to dedicate myself to work and have time with my family, and it is a constant balancing act. I decided when I first started Son Safaris that I did not want to sacrifice my family on the altar of ministry. In Ministry there is ALWAYS something more to do, and another goal to be reached. Ministry will always be there. It is really hard for me to not schedule that new important meeting or move that one-on-one meet with a student, because these are all important to the ministry. SO is my family. It is therefore extremely important for me to sync my calendar with my wife’s and place dates and times for V.F.T.

Without Christ and the support my family, I would never have become the man that I am today. I have to provide for them but I also wish to set a good Christian example. Brody and Keaton will grow into men one day and the first model of a man, husband, and father they will have is me, so it is my job to steer them in a direction that will hopefully guide who they will become, and my goal for them is to know Christ, and let Him be known. My family is a gift that I cherish above all others and my time with them is precious and of immense importance.

On that note, see you next week as I enjoy my V.F.T. – Valuable Family Time…