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Posted on August 25th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Stuff that Happens, Wife.
…and what a PARTY it was! My wife organized and executed a superb 27th birthday party for me. And since I am turning 27 on the 27th, it was a GOLDEN birthday party, full of golden food, golden beverages, golden decorations, and even some pretty wild golden outfits (Marisa made my hat). 
She made her trademark homemade pizza… six different varieties! But don’t stop drooling yet, there’s more. For dessert, she whipped up one of her famous homemade cheesecakes. We have been trying to explain to some of our South African friends that the “cheesecake” here in
Thank you Marisa Dawn Hofer for a wonderful party, wonderful pizza, wonderful cheesecake, and a wonderful wife!
Posted on August 20th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: 13th FLOOR.
At 13thFLOOR we have a Newsletter going out in September. As my faithful blog readers, I’m giving you the exclusive rights to a sneak preview. This particular newsletter is mostly about our Big Event, but it also has some great testimonies from students who are involved with 13thFLOOR this year. And don’t forget to check out our website for the new videos!
“You gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person. You believed in me” (Anthony Nkosi).
From personal identity development to deeper spiritual understanding, 13thFLOOR is in the business of inspiring change not only in the people who attend our shows but also within our company members as well. Those who pass through the ranks of our ministry learn that “I can never change my past but I can change my future” (James Nteso).
At the annual 13thFLOOR Big Event, our main goal is to raise enough money to offer 30 bursaries to our students, whether it be a full, half, or quarter bursary. Many of our students come from backgrounds where opportunities for education and growth are very limited. “I never thought that one day I would do something like this in my life” (Chanel Tshehlana). As a company, part of our vision includes raising up leaders and inspiring young people to grow. As one of our bursary supported students put it, “I hope you realize that by supporting me you’re not only changing my life, but giving me an opportunity to change other’s lives as well” (Monica Sebaka).
The Big Event is the place where young people from all different cultures in
We pray that you will consider joining us in this journey to give new opportunities to students who would not normally have this chance in life. “13thFLOOR is like a family for me now. It is a place where I feel comfortable at because this is where I let go of many things that bothered me in life” (James Nteso).
Posted on August 16th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: 13th FLOOR, Gotta Get It!, Movies.
Just wanted to let everyone know that 13thFLOOR has finally released our new “Global DVD.” The DVD explains elements of our ministry such as our philosophy of ministry, the ministry’s vision, some production clips, student testimonies, and more. We are in the process of posting this DVD on our website. As of today, there are seven different segments from the DVD loaded on the website, so if you are curious about 13thFLOOR, you’ll want to check it out. Enjoy!
(under the main menu, there is a submenu called “VIDEOS”)
Posted on July 31st, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Questions.
If a very wise and well-educated pastor came to your house and asked you what you would like to hear a sermon about, what would you say? I mean, what if he offered to study for six months just to give one sermon on a topic of your choice. What would you want to learn? What topic would really speak to your heart and your situation? When you sit in church, what are you wishing for the man up front to talk about? (if you don’t go to church, same question: what do you wish those guys would talk about?)
I’m just curious…
Posted on July 20th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Mixed Thoughts on Reality.
What follows is my upcoming August post for the website www.thebreadandwine.org. If you haven’t checked it out yet, have a look. So here’s the sneak-preview of my next post on the theme of “Hope.”
“You are the inescapable result of your tragedy.”
After traveling 800 000 years into the future in search of the answer to his question, “why can I not change the past,” Alexander Hartdegen meets a new race of human, the Morlock, who informs him that the reason he cannot go into the past to rescue his fiancé from dying is because he never would have built the time machine if she had not died. He then tells Alexander that he is the inescapable result of his tragedy, meaning that there is nothing he can do to change his past and thus he is trapped.
When I had finished watching the movie “The Time Machine,” that line stuck with me. In the movie, Alexander refuses the hopelessness of being the “inescapable result” of his tragedy and instead chooses to ask the question “what if?” At one point he even says that he is going to change the future.
To hope is to ask “what if?” The moment we no longer believe that what we do has an influence on the future is the same moment that hope is lost. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future. I think we would all “agree” to that statement, but how many of us truly believe it?
Do I live my life wondering why the past cannot be different? Or do I live my life looking for what I can do that will change the future?
Hope is the result of believing that my actions matter in this world. If what I do does not matter, then the only thing left to do is wallow in despair.
You are not the inescapable result of your tragedy.
You are shaped by your past, whether it was tragic or joyful, and every new moment offers you a chance to change what is.
Posted on July 16th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Music.
One of my favorite hip-hop groups has always been Grits. Fresh sounds with lyrical creativity and intelligence, they are definitely worth checking out. Although their most recent work has not been quite as good as some of their earlier stuff, it’s still solid.
The other day I was browsing through iTunes and came across an album they released a few years back called “7.” I had seen it before, but dismissed it because I thought it was all previously released music. However, I ended up finding a couple of new tracks amidst the old stuff. Two of these tracks are now among my favorite Grits tracks.
So check out the tracks “Changes” and “I Try” from the Grits album “7” and toss some comments my way about what you think of them. If you have none of their music, I recommend the albums “The Art of Translation” and “Dichotomy B.”
Posted on July 14th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Stuff that Happens, 13th FLOOR.
I have to admit that I was skeptical at first. I really didn’t think everyone would pull their own weight and make this event happen, but in the end, 13thFLOOR’s WINTERBREAK program was a fantastic success! 50 high school students on winter holiday came to our training grounds in
Part of what excites me so much about this event is that 13thFLOOR is taking some huge steps in continuing to expand our borders of influence. Personally, I was involved mostly in the training/curriculum side of things. I got to design and develop a curriculum that lasted 12 days and ideally should have maximum impact on these high school students as they seek to live out their faith in Christ.
In addition to the curriculum, I was involved with planning the outreach, which was by far the highlight of the whole experience for me. We traveled to an orphanage just outside of
Afterwards, the woman who put us in contact with the orphanage came up to me and told me what a success the day was. She said that she has been doing these types of outreaches to this orphanage for four years and never was there so much interaction between the white Afrikaners and the black Native African children. I was reminded again of the thick racial barriers that still sit heavily in the subconscious minds of many South Africans. I was also reminded of the beauty and simplicity of the
At the end of the outreach, one of our WINTERBREAK students, a 16 year old Afrikaner named David, called his parents and asked if they could adopt one of the children that he had been playing with all day. And this was no empty gesture. He truly wanted to take this small child home and accept him as family and as his own brother. I do not yet know the end of this story, but I pray sincerely that David will be able to have a new brother soon.
Posted on July 4th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Mixed Thoughts on Reality.
We’ve been busy the last few days with WINTERBREAK! I just got done with a teaching called Understanding Development where we talked about the different dimensions of growth (physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual). The whole point was that we cannot compartmentalize our spiritual identity; rather, it is an INTEGRATED component of who we are in all the other dimensions.
But the FUN part was making the sandwich. I brought with me a giant loaf of French bread, ham, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and SWEET CHILI SAUCE (this particular sauce is one thing that South Africa has which clearly dominates any comparable product on the American market). Anyway, the sandwich was a metaphor for who we are as integrated people: when we eat each ingredient individually they are okay, but not that great. But combine them and they form a wonderfully delicious sandwich. The same is true of us: if we compartmentalize any piece of who we are, we create a fragmented reality, and humans do not function well with fragmented realities. A simple truth, but so important to teach to the next generation.
At the end of the teaching I told the students to remember that “you are a sandwich.” So hopefully when they go home to their parents who paid over R1000 for them to be here at WINTERBREAK, and their parents ask them what they learned, we’ll have 50 high school students looking their parents in the eye, and with straight faces saying, “I am a sandwich.”
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Posted on June 15th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Personal Stuff.
Okay, so unless you play Scrabble, this post probably won’t be that interesting. In fact, it may even be tedious and dull.
By any Scrabble standards, I am average at best; however, today I had a move so wonderful that I have to share it with the world. I hope you will allow me this moment of bragging. Even though it’s not the greatest move ever, it was my greatest move ever and I’m quite proud of it.
In a recent game of Scrabble, I spelled “SAXOPHONES” and scored 119 in one move!
If you are into Scrabble and want to challenge me to a game, you can find me on Facebook and add the Scrabulous application.
C’mon…. it’ll be fun!
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Posted on June 14th, 2008 by Brandon.
Categories: Personal Stuff.
One of the best things about being in your 20’s is the limitless potential of facial hair experimentation. Previously, I could grow some decent sideburns and an okay gotee. But as I get older, the gotee potential just keeps rising and rising.
At the moment, I have a great gotee and it’s the longest period of time that I’ve ever kept it. Normally it gets too itchy and I shave it off right away. But I’ve fought through the itchy phase and I now reap the rewards of my perseverance: a sweet gotee!
