Ivory Coast vs North Korea

Nelspruit stadium at dusk, in the bush ...

Inside the Ivory Coast players dressing room 2 hours before the match against North Korea. We were trying to locate the whereabouts of a `missing´Blue-ray player ...

Picture quality not that great, buit it gives you an idea of what greets the players, when they get to their dressing room.

Ivory Coast vs North Korea

The Eastern Stand basked in late-afternoon sunlight.

A big truck at the Log Point

Oz Vs Serbia match pics

These photos speak for themselves!

Friends at the game!

RSP and Log Point Operations pics at last

At last I have managed to get pictures on!! The first lot are of the Remote Search Park (RSP) and the Log. Point, which I am responsible for. All the freight coming in and out of the stadium comes through us for scheduling, clearing, sweeping and escorting. Along with the SAPS, Department of Health and SARS, the operation has gone very smoothly so far.

MTN Gig Rig

The explosives experts were not happy with the garbage truck sent by the municipality, they found two spent pistol cartridges in the cab ...

In the foreground are the ramps used by police for light-vehicle inspection and in the background is the Health Departments collapsed tent (a sign of the times ...?) Alongside are police escort motorbikes; especially purchased and commissioned for this project.

MTN GIG RIG, being swept by a sniffer dog (an unconventionally vicious sniffer dog!) and a bomb technician.

Oz vs Serbia

So if I thought the NZ vs Italy match had plenty of entertainment, drama and spirit, I was totally blown away by the Australia v Serbia match, which we hosted last night! An estimated 15 000 Australian fans poured in to Nelspruit, with their green and yellow garb ( not unlike Bafana's dress-code) and made an awful amount of noise, by jeering an cheering every movement, on and off the field! The Serb supporters were more resolute in their approach, but no less passionate, just slightly outnumbered I suppose! The official attendance clocked in at just over 38 000 people, of a stadium capacity of 43 000, not bad ...

It was also good to see some old friends at the match: the Jackson 5, Fosse plus 1, John plus fiance', Kevin plus wife and of course Doug , who is back for a world cup visit of sorts.

The match finished just after 10pm, then we had to get straight back to work. Mbombela stadium is still sharing TV cameras and other broadcasting equipment with the stadium in Polokwane, Peter Bokaba (spelling) stadium. After the technicians have broken down all the equipment, it is our job to pack it and move it, overnight to Polokwane. We have been doing this for every match thus far! Millions of Dollars worth of equipment going on this precarious route every second night is quite an achievement; no hiccups as of yet and one more inter-stadium transfer to go!

I have some amazing pics, but the problem now is, that I am unable to get them on to this blog for some obscure reason! Thus, when all my technical problems are sorted out, there will be a massive dumping of pics on this site, enough to keep you entertained for hours!

Italy vs New Zealnd

So today is the second game at our stadium, Italy versus New Zealand. Italy, probably being the most high-profile team coming to Nelspruit. As I am typing this, I can hear them practising playing the New Zealand national anthem, they probably also played the Italian one, but I don't know how it sounds, so I wouldn't be able to tell you!

The food poisoning scandal has come and gone and the volunteers have been getting pizza and MacDonald's for every meal, since then. Talk about over-compensating! Talking to my colleagues at the other stadiums, it has become clear that most operations are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. The cold weather has played a major part in this, but also just the general careless African attitude to life. People can't seem to get to grips with the fact that service delivery, on any level, must be up to world standards and within spec!

There are going to be parties, who will be far worse off after the tournament , than what they were before the World Cup, due to the fact that they saw this as a gravy train and not the midnight express. A quick buck has turned into bad luck and only those who actually meant business will end up keeping business. This is life and This Is Africa (TIA).

This message is not meant to be a negative report, just an observant one, on what is really going down on the streets. The people that should be benefiting are not, and those that have always been reaping rewards, are reaping even more. The case of the haves and the have nots is clear to see. The world cup was a great opportunity to spread the wealth around, but alas, it is just making the rich richer and the poor more frustrated!

Do your bit to leave a legacy after this world cup. Don't just share your opinion, but share your OPTIMISM, and don't stop there, keep sharing until you are satisfied that the world cup wasn't just about taking, but more about GIVING ...

So it's started, but now what?

I thought this was very funny: "Vuvuzela Silencer: Now available in blue and white" Diego Forlan sunk the hopes of the nation for making the second round of the tournament. South Africa is in a bit of a 'mid-world cup-who-do-we-support-now' slump. I'm sure this is soon to be rectified though, as we rise from the ashes of shattered hopes and see the reality of misplaced dreams. We are, after-all, ranked 83rd in the world, and spurred on by a nation the boys did play well above themselves against Mexico. But, class is permanent and form is temporary, Uruguay showed us this.

My camera is still out of action, but I am getting a replacement today. That is why my blog hasn't been updated, as my motivation without origional content is not as high! But this is changing and the posts will keep rolling.

So other than striking security guards, very cold weather and a losing national team the tournament is going smoothly (on the surface), but we are still fighting every day to make what you see on TV a reality, someone has to!

Follow this link to read the story on the 'ambush marketing' case, regarding the girls dressed in orange, for the Netherlands game. FIFA had them all arrested, but read for yourself ... here 

As I am typing this I get news that all the volunteers at our stadium have gone down with food poisoning. This is a disaster, but not a complete surprise as the chasm between what was promised and what is being delivered is ever-widening, on all levels.

The next post will, be very soon, with origional, insightful pics and news.

The Weekend that was & "Feel it, it is here!"

Friday and Saturday were both full-up with work and so there was very little time to prepare for the service on Sunday. I also had the task of meeting the Chile national team at the airport and being responsible for the delivery of all the team kit to their team base-camp. I had to be at the airport by 11:30am, so everything in-between my ministry time on Sunday was hectic, but the time itself was blessed!

I had prepared a short PowerPoint presentation on our work in 'Shina', after the presentation I showed a short video of testimonies, provided by Albert and his great production company. This shortened version will form part of the a longer documentary that him and his team are putting together, for future awareness campaigns.

After the slide-show and the video, I had four pages worth of sermon prepared! But, alas, this was not be shared, as God had other plans. I shared form the heart for the next half-hour, notes aside, but God alongside! It was really just about what was on my heart: God's goodness - that the problem never lies with God when things don't work out. Faith - that it takes more faith to get saved, than to see someone healed. Revival - that revival starts within. The difference between fact and truth - that we must know the truth and the truth will set us free. That we must be consumed by the word and consume the word, so that we can know the truth, for the truth sets us free.

This, in a nut-shell was the content of what I spoke on. Afterwords God provided some awesome words of knowledge and people were healed both physically and spiritually. For my first real 'preaching' experience in a formal church setting, it was great. Having family, friends and strangers all together and receiving different things from God through the same message was quite an eye-opener for me.

I saw Sunday as the parable of the sower. However, the seed of the word didn't fall on hard, rocky or thorny ground, it fell on fertile soil. This is due to the fact that faithful ministers have been preaching God's word for years before I got there, never wavering in the faith and never giving people a reason to abandon God. The power and effectiveness of a relevant, bible-believing church can't be underestimated!

The nearly-too-good-to-be-true-news can't be kept inside and I am not going to try! If God has shown you something unique, don't keep it to yourself. We are the redeemed, we are set free and it is up to us to help others also reach that place of freedom and liberty! Don't be scared JUST DO IT. It is about time some of us start-living and stop just existing!

In other news:
The pictures of Chile's arrival in the country will be up shortly. They provide a very interesting, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to move a team around, even a medium-sized team like Chile ... They filled up our entire 8 ton truck, which we provided them, even bringing their own dumbbells, can you believe! So much for their confidence in our body-building capabilities!

Weekend Post

So it's confirmed, I'm preaching this Sunday and am very excited and nervous at the same time. Whilst I know that what goes down on Sunday, is not in my hands, there is still an element of presentability which I must portray. Thus the balance of my doing and God' doing will be key, especially in my preparation, as this will spill over into the sermon.

The church is very excited to hear about 'the land north of where I live' and I am even more happy to tell them. I have been able to secure a not-yet-released-top-secret video, which was captured on one of our trips into 'that area'. Due to the sensitivity of the situation in that country, you will have to be there on Sunday morning to watch the video, as it is not for sharing or redistribution (due to obvious security concerns).

So into the weekend we go
With a week behind us that goes to show
That things can get done when you put your mind to it
And you can have fun if you make the time for it
But most of all it's about making a difference
It's not just about getting a good job reference
So rest-up and take your time
Cause next week's another chance to shine

04/06/2010

Watch this space for more on the world cup and ministry testimonies!

World Cup Build - up # 4 and more ... always ...

9 days to go before kick-off and things are starting to heat up. People don't seem to be as friendly as they were at the start of the project though, as the pressure is beginning to take it's toll, and character is being tested. Deadlines have come and gone and many harsh words are being spoken, but EVERYTHING WILL BE READY! And that's all that counts.

FIFA officials from all over the world have started moving into the stadiums, forcing everyone's dress code a step up and also a sudden, inexplicable need to speak German ...

Below is a pic of the stadium operations hub and in case the chefs forgot their menus, there is the official cook-book as well ... no lies, FIFA think of everything!

Here is some food for thought:

"It's not what we think about, that affects us, but rather how we think about it".

For example: It's not wrong to think about the opposite sex, it's natural, but how are you thinking about them? Is it in a manner that honours them, or are you thinking about how you can take advantage of them?

Don't be scared to think about things, because it is only by thinking that we can draw conclusions.

It is only by thinking that we can have opinions and it is only by thinking that we can come up with solutions. God-inspired thinking, is what we need to be after, in order to provide the answers to the questions that the world is asking. Questions on sex, poverty, crime, suicide and other social issues need to be answered. It's not wrong to think about such issues ...

People with the combination of  'renewed' minds or intellects and spirits that are alive and open to God's wisdom, can only add value to society; and we need to add value.

Below are some pics from flying with the Jackson's, unfortunately my ever-unreliable camera stopped working before we took off, but the mid-air photos form other cameras will be posted shortly.