Musings Upon Returning to America

Shortly after we returned home, Barbara shared the following perspective on the “reverse culture shock” of returning to America from overseas. This was her e-mail to our extended family of adult children and grandkids.

Hello to each of you. We’ve missed being in touch and are anxious to reconnect this week.

While we are glad to be back in America, it is always a mixed blessing to return to our country. International travel has a way of clearing the fog from one’s own nationalistic view of life. America is a wonderful country, and we have been so blessed to experience its freedom and abundance, but returning home brings opportunity to see this way of life with more clarity.

So here are my thoughts today as I’m unpacking, doing laundry and working to reset my body clock.

We landed in NY yesterday at JFK airport (an 18 hour flight) at 6:30 a.m. After clearing customs, getting our bags rechecked on the domestic portion of the flight, and making our way to our gate, we stopped at Starbucks (which we missed, since coffee in South Africa is usually instant, not brewed). We sat in front of one of the many TVs in the terminal to catch up on the news via CNN. We had not seen any news, nor read any newspapers (other than the S.A. paper’s front-page headlines) since we’d left on the 23rd.

After watching for 30 minutes, it became clear that Solomon was right. There is nothing new under the sun. Three weeks without access to American news was no loss. There was no really news or new information.

In fact, I wanted to move away from the talking box and we did. The incessant chatter of the ever-present television in our country quickly became irritating. They were everywhere in the terminals and in the Delta lounge. All were “on” and filling the air with sound even if no one was listening, and very few were. And there was no way to turn them off. When we got home and stopped at the allergy clinic to get my shot, another one was “talking” to a nearly empty doctor’s office waiting room. I felt mildly assaulted. Clearly we Americans are not comfortable with silence and quiet.

On the plane, we read through the NY Times and USA Today, and two articles said more to us than the journalists and editors ever intended.

One was about the “new” Monopoly game. This was also featured on Fox news last night. Dennis said it is all “Much Ado about Nothing” and he is right. Most of what we read in the paper and saw on the news shows last night while we were trying to stay awake until 9:00 was silly, empty, and of no value. Shakespeare, like Solomon, got it right.

A second “story” was about the recent revelations that many high-profile people in our country have been lying on their resumes. Academic plagiarism by newspaper journalists, authors and college students now gives way to bold, unabashed lying about one’s credentials. America’s strength is rotting from the inside. Our moral sense of right and wrong is quickly eroding. This story left me feeling ashamed of our country and sad that we’ve sunk so low.

And then there is a return to the “stuff.” I always feel a need to purge, simplify and tidy my nest when we return from traveling, but an international trip heightens that significantly. The trap of consumerism is a uniquely American disease that we are exporting to the world. There is a lot of wealth in South Africa, just as there is in other countries on other continents. But we are creating a hybrid version for the masses that breeds a new level of selfishness and subtle greed. A hundred years ago, America sent the world its brightest and best as missionaries. Now we are sending the world a completely different message. And this doesn’t begin to touch the devastation we’ve wrought internationally with our message of divorce and free sex for all.

Nothing new under the sun, much ado about nothing, and observing an elevated level of pride and selfishness is a sobering awareness to return to. But God’s grace is greater than all our sin. How grateful I am for that wonderful truth!

Perhaps jet lag is not such a bad thing. It is giving me time to adjust my thinking. The real problem is maintaining that renewed perspective!

And then there are the observations from our time in Africa, but that is for another e-mail perhaps, or a phone call if we can schedule one.

Grateful for God’s great grace and mercy ... And grateful for each of you. May you continue to know Him increasingly with each day.

Love to each of you,

MOM

'Rekindling the Romance' Quotes

From Isolde Swanepoel in South Africa:

Greetings in the Incomparable Name of Christ! We have not stopped praising and thanking our faithful and awesome God for what He accomplished through the Raineys at Saturday's Rekindling the Romance event in Pretoria. The response has been overwhelming: 620 people attended, 33 accepted Christ, and 52 are interested in joining or leading a HomeBuilders study.

A few good quotes from the seminar evaluations:

"It saved my marriage"

"Thank you for the organisation and prayer that went into the Rekindling the Romance conference - we were wonderfully blessed! I am still on Cloud 9 and in love all over again! I realized afresh why I was originally so 'nuts' about my husband, and still love him so much. I know God chose him for me by His own hand. God is GOOD and AWESOME - all glory to Him!"

"We were separated and on the verge of divorce. Now we look at our marriage and realise that we do love and respect one another, but we had lost track of that. This seminar has helped us to find each other again!"

"This seminar has had an enormous impact on my wife and I, to the point of emerging from it with renewed happiness and the promise of a wonderful marriage and life together with God as our Guidance and Savior."

"Incredibly enthusiastic about our future together! It made me aware of what will be expected of me as a husband and man of God to have a great relationship with my future wife."

"We've made a new commitment in the presence of the Lord to love, serve, forgive, look after, care for, and be there for one another."

"It has brought us closer together on all levels - more so on the emotional level. We have discussed specific, practical things to help us rekindle our marriage."

"Inspired in us that commitment to live a more disciplined Christian life with Christ at the centre."

Thank you Dennis and Barbara, and may God continue to use and bless you!

More Photos

Here we are with Dirkie Van der Spuys (center), pastor of Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church where many of the events were held. His wife, Esther (2nd from L), is between Barbara and me, and continuing from Dirkie to the right are the Van der Spuys' daughter, Talitha, and our daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca and Jake Mutz.
Below at left are Rebecca and Barbara with full-time missionary wives of Campus Crusade for Christ on August 28.






These last three images were taken during Barbara, Jake and Rebecca's visit to an orphanage in Marmalodie. God has created all of His children with an irresistible charm, in every tribe and nation and tongue, and Rebecca was drawn to them like a magnet.

Wrapping Up and Heading Home

An interesting day to be traveling internationally …

I’ve been reflecting on a number of matters, especially the need to live our lives in light of eternity, honoring and obeying God in every aspect of our lives, and with all our decisions. What a privilege to have had the opportunity to represent God and His plan for lives, marriages, and families among several thousand people in this very special country of South Africa.

South Africa, and the entire continent for that matter, is one of the finest statements of God’s creative power and greatness. Over the past week, we’ve had the opportunity to visit the bush and see the incredible work of the Great Designer of planet Earth. The different tribes and people, the diversity of animals, magnificent trees, assorted birds – everything in creation makes it easy to believe there's a mighty Creator who wants to be known.

What a great God we serve. God IS at work here in South Africa, but much remains to be done. Seeing the spiritual and physical needs of the people, marriages and families, has caused Barbara and me to pause in prayer often, asking God to do a mighty work here in this country and continent. So many needs cry out for attention here, beginning with the need for the human heart to be changed and regenerated for Jesus Christ.

Quite honestly, I think it’s time for the Church to rally around this continent and send a fresh army of missionaries to this harvest field … It’s time.

This past week, we wrapped up our speaking and meetings here with two very strategic meetings. The first was to the National Directors of Campus Crusade for Christ and their wives, representing 18 Southeast African countries. I believe much will come from the time I spent with these leaders. I attempted to minister to them, their marriages, and their families. These are some of the greatest heroes of modern missions. These men and women are sharing the love of Christ under enormous challenges, not to mention the possibility of being killed for their faith.

Speaking to them was a privilege, but I left my time feeling like I was a “spiritual pygmy.”

On Saturday, we concluded our time of ministry with a Rekindling the Romance™ event at Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church. I’m told that, by South African standards, the size of the crowd for a conference of this nature was unprecedented, with more than 620 people. Brian Stocks and his wife, Edna, sponsored more than 140 people to the event. You may have read that Brian came to faith 25 years ago, almost to the day, at a conference where I spoke at Beacon Island, S.A., a couple hundred miles east of Cape Town.

A lot of ministry has occurred during the past 16 days, with many decisions for Christ. Loads of people signed up to join HomeBuilders groups, and several indicated they wanted to lead HomeBuilders. Two couples from the U.S. Embassy came and expressed an interest in, and great appreciation for, the ministry that was had in their lives on this day. Many young couples came ... the next generation of leaders for South Africa must be heavenly minded.

We will leave the results to God, but it was a powerful time of ministry from our perspective.

Barbara and I are about to head to the airport as I write these words. Thanks for participating with us in prayer. What a privilege to proclaim the love of Christ to such an important nation on the continent of Africa. We love you and appreciate your faithfulness.

One Home at a Time

Dennis and Barbara
Psalm 112: 1-2

Cape Town Feedback

From the Swanepoels, directors of FamilyLife in S.A.:

We are so looking forward to the "Rekindling the Romance" event in Pretoria on Saturday (Sept. 9). We are believing God for at least 700 to attend ... if so, this will be the largest 'live' marriage event ever in South Africa (excluding the satellite events of Bruce Wilkerson).

We received the following from Piet de Beer, Campus Crusade for Christ director for Cape Town and organiser for the events presented there.

Dear Dennis and Barbara,

Just a few words to thank you for your short but meaningful visit to Cape Town. You really ministered to a whole lot of people and we have had many calls and emails from people thanking us for your visit. Hopefully you won't wait another 25 years to come back.

I want to try and put your weekly radio program on the two local Christian Radio stations in Cape Town and maybe in one adjoining city. I am positive that it will happen because one of the presenters [from Christian radio] attended the Rekindling conference with her husband and enjoyed it so much.

The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive! I am including one email comment received from a lady who booked for her husband to attend your breakfast event. They have been separated for 8 months. Unfortunately she was away on Saturday and could not attend the 1 day conference. She heard me talking about the breakfast on the radio and booked a spot for him before she had even cleared it with him. Within 10 minutes, he walked into the house on an unusual visit (since he had moved out), and he agreed to go to the breakfast. God bless you and FamilyLife as you keep on ministering to families all over the world. ... - Piet

I just want to say thank you for the breakfast my husband attended. I do believe there was something said on Friday that touched him in some way, as he has been so different since then. He called me and sent me so many messages this weekend, which he never does over weekends. I give God all the Glory for what He is doing. I do believe it won't be long before my husband is going to return home. I just trust the Lord for a complete breakthrough.

He also told me that he is going to attend a men's weekend with the church he is attending, and I thank God for that. Would you please continue to pray for us? Thanks again. God bless ... Virginia

CCC National Directors Meeting

Greetings from Quintus:

On Monday morning, Dennis addressed the National Directors of the Southeast Africa region for Campus Crusade for Christ at their National Director council meeting. Among the 50 or so attendees were Dela Adadevo, the CCC Vice President for Africa, and Bekele Shanko, Director of Affairs for the 23 country region.

Dennis spoke about the critical need for ministry couples to maintain healthy, vibrant marriages and families. He talked about how an active, outwardly focused ministry loses all credibility when marriage and family relationships within the ministry are falling apart. The audience seemed almost mezmerised as they listened attentively and took notes on what was being said. Some very good discussions followed the message. This may be the beginning of a new understanding of the importance of ministry to families and how it can be used to bring about spiritual movements of families!

Four Days in Cape Town

We’re back in Pretoria after four very successful days of speaking engagements, dinners and meetings in Cape Town. I am leaving this morning (Monday) for a meeting in Johannesburg, speaking to the National Directors of Campus Crusade for Christ for 22 countries. Each of these men gives leadership to their country’s ministry, and this is likely to be a very strategic time of ministry. I was invited by Bekele Shanko, Director of Affairs for all the nations of Southeast Africa: Uganda, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Somalia, Madagascar, and South Africa. The National Directors of a number of other countries will also attend.

Our time in Cape Town was rich in ministry. We had a “sold out” breakfast with 105 executives where I spoke to them about their responsibility to “Step Up” as men and take the leadership of their homes, communities, and nation. It was an evangelistic message, but I gave them a charge to mentor the next generation of leaders … in the Afrikaner (European descendants), Black, and Coloured communities.

This country, just like America, is in deep need of godly men who are leaders. Bribery and corruption in business and government are as rampant as the crime in the streets. More than 60 police officers have been murdered this year.

I spoke on “Leaving a Godly Legacy” to 150 executives at a banquet, and shared the Gospel. We had dinner with a 4th-generation Christian Afrikaner couple who speak at Weekend to Remember conferences in South Africa. There are so many stories to tell … I’m thinking about doing a radio broadcast to share some of the stories from this journey.

We also had dinner with Americans Peter and Victoria Sorensen. Peter left an executive position on Wall Street to come here with his wife to minister in prisons. He told us about one prison with more than 7,000 inmates. The inhuman conditions in the prisons he described were beyond imagination, and most prisoners are men under the age of 30. Prison guards are underpaid and understaffed, with huge needs in their marriages. We’re looking into starting up HomeBuilders among these prison guard families. In Cape Town, 48 percent of the men have admitted to abusing their wives … emotionally, sexually, and physically.

Lots of needs. Vast needs.

We are too comfortable and complacent in America; my prayer is that we would not waste our lives living for ourselves. There are so many needs in this world. So many urgent human needs … among prisoners, orphans, marriages and families.

There is NO shortage of opportunity.

Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers.

Jake flies home tonight. Barbara, Rebecca and I are going to take three days to recuperate … I just need to go sleep!

Jesus is Lord over all the Earth … He alone is the solution.

Dennis