Spiritual Adventures at Earthdance 2013

SPring is here again.  Cold rain and patches of weak sunshine, but it is notionally springtime.

And time for the music festival scene to wake up.  Time for Muddy Camping and weekend-long music at high volume. Time for recreational fresh air and other recreational substances. Time to live in tents amongst thousands of seekers.

Searching for? Different things, I suppose. Experience. Cultural identity affirmation. Getting laid. Spiritual insight. Cosmic harmony.  Approval by friends. Ecstatic sense of union with the cosmos. Getting drunk and high in the pursuit of all or some of the above.  This is a serious cultural phenomenon and deserves to be taken seriously.

Last year we led a small team of Christians to befriend and talk with campers at an icy and windy Earthdance near Worcester.  In March we went with a smaller team to Flamjangled Teaparty near Durbanville.  Now it's time for Earthdance again - this time at Pronkies guest farm near Piketberg, from the 20th to the 22nd of September.

We'll be taking the same approach. Radical incarnational skenosis (living in tents amongst those who live in tents :) ). Providing a listening ear and a bottomless fruit-basket - Vitamin C in short supply.  Providing coffee and drinking water. Being available to listen to long drunken/drugged dissertations, and offering counsel and encourgement to those who ask for it.  Pastoring people who have drifted away from faith back towards Jesus, and pastoring those who are drifting towards faith the same way.  I will be painting again, and we trust God to use that in the way he has been using it - drawing people to discuss and think and interact through the invitation of art rather than the anti-invitation of condemnatory preaching. Following Paul as he followed Jesus in becoming all things to all people so that by all means we may win some.

We would appreciate prayer for safety, good health, good contacts, and all the practical things that we need - a trailer loan, ticket money for some students who can't afford the R350 entrance fee, fruit and petrol.  And we would particularly like prayer for team members. Many people, including students studying Missions subjects, find it extremely difficult to break away from their Church environment for a weekend, in order to spend their time totally at the disposal of those who have nothing to do with their church. We only have four confirmed team members so far (INCLUDING Lesley and me!)

And we also need guidance with what to do with people who want to enter into a discipleship relationship with Jesus out of our weekend of contact making.  Because they sure aren't going to fit comfortably into any churches in Cape Town that I know of:)