Rainy River's Jordan Beller Returns from African Adventure
A Very Eye-opening Experience in Africa
Outtatown Discipleship School Graduates 92

Rainy River's Jordan Beller Returns from African Adventure (This is part I in a two part series about Jordan Beller's recent trip to Africa)

From: Rainy River Record

April 21, 2009

By Jack Elliott
Correspondent

When he stepped through our front door, his face covered with wild red whiskers and a bushy mop of hair poking out from under a crumpled hat, 19 year old Jordan Beller looked like he was stepping out of history- a Boer trekker returned from the wild African veldt. In fact he was returning from Outtatown a two-semester program by the Canadian Mennonite University of Winnipeg that included a three-month sojourn in South Africa with a story relating experiences as exciting as anything told from a trip to South Africa from two centuries ago.

Beller of rural Dawson Township, familiar in the Rainy River area as one of the main characters in the Great Beaver Caper held during that communities 2004 Centennial celebrations, graduated high school this past year with an idea of what career path he wanted to pursue, but anxious to explore other opportunities before committing himself to a path.

“The Outtatown program at the CMU gave me that opportunity,” said Beller explaining its purpose was to expand the individual’s knowledge of ‘knowing God, knowing the world and knowing yourself’.

The two-semester program began last September with a three-week stint at the Bird River Bible Camp near Lac du Bonnet for Beller’s group of 30 classmates and four leaders. Activities included ‘service days’ where an ‘urban plunge’ focused on working at homeless shelters, helping the poor, praying with someone, or simply offering a hand up to someone down-trodden. Scavenger hunts across the city, solving riddles, and viewing ‘urban murals’ also expanded personal horizons.
Speakers and seminar leaders provided both challenges and opportunities to participants. One speaker John Unger particularly influenced Beller.

“We talked about and documented our personal heritage and history, our abilities, and how we can use our history to shape our future,” explained Beller passionately detailing the deep impact the session had on him.

Throughout the program structured, extensive physical activity played an important role with canoe trips, horseback riding, hiking, surfing, swimming, rock climbing, archery, paint ball, sky diving,and shark diving some of the various endeavors that were a first for many.

As the program progressed locations progressed from Lac du Bonnet, Canmore and Rocky Mountain House Alberta and the Vancouver area of B.C. Many different cultures and social settings were experienced from the traditional native culture of the B.C. Coastal native communities to the desperation of the drug infested streets of East Vancouver opening many eyes to realities not experienced before.

“Seeing addicts ‘shooting up’ and drug deals ‘going down’ was really shocking,’ stated Beller obviously deeply moved.
“I knew very little about native life and was very impressed by their history and culture. Simply knowing the proper was to greet a person in a native culture was new to me,” he said.

When the first semester ended Dec 5, Beller was back to Rainy River to prepare for the next leg, South Africa. Departing Winnipeg, Jan 13 with a -49C wind chill, Beller stepped off the plane two days later to +30C in Johannesburg, S.A.

“The heat and humidity just enveloped you,” remembered Beller of his first impression.
The format of the second semester was similar to the first, but with more emphasis on exploring the diverse cultures. Soweto with its poverty and apartheid museums gave the group ample opportunity for ‘service days’ in crèches (day care centres) painting, looking after children, and teaching said Beller.

A very eye-opening experience in Africa (This is part II in a two part series about Jordan Beller's recent trip to Africa)

From: Rainy River Record

April 28, 2009

By Jack Elliott
Correspondent

In Pretoria we toured a Lion Park and had the opportunity to hold small lions. It was also the first of three ‘home stays’, this one with an Afrikaans family, descendants of the white Dutch settlers. We learned of their history and culture, the Boer Trekkers, their food and history, Beller related. “It was very eye opening to witness the richness there compared to the poverty of Soweto,”observed Beller.

From Pretoria the group completed a 20-hour bus ride to the Capetown area.
It was mostly desert and mountains until we approached Capetown where the valleys are covered with extensive vineyards, said Beller of the trip. Beller’s group met civil right activist Bishop Desmond Tutu and visited Robin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. He experienced his second home stay, this time with a coloured family, again a completely different culture experience. Service was practiced at an elementary school and a seminar on conflict resolution provided new insights on society.

“The food was amazing,” said Beller in typical teenage fashion remembering a ‘Gatsby’ sandwich that put to shame any submarine he had experienced to date. Two hours from Capetown at Stellenbosch, the class split into seven groups providing community services again at crèches, painting buildings, erecting shelters, and working in gardens for the elderly.
Discussion groups and seminars were held on the plight of the poor and how to ‘fix’ their status as well as the impact of HIV/AIDS.

In Durban, Beller concluded his home stays with and an Indian family learning of their culture, immigration, apartheid, Ghandi, and yes, food. Once again it was amazing claims Beller professing his newfound appreciation of East Indian cuisine, even if the hot green peppers nearly burnt his palate to a crisp.

No tour of South Africa is complete without a safari into Kruger National Park.
“We saw every kind of animal including elephants within five metres,” enthused Beller recounting as well the cheetahs, leopards, giraffes, and rhinos.
“We were even charged twice by elephants and once by a rhino,” he added.
Beller regaled me for hours about his experiences during the program- people, places, activities, injuries, lessons learned, and FOOD. The only disappointment- no ketchup in South Africa.

Most of his classmates enrolled in the program to better clarify where they wanted to go with their lives. Educationally most are going on to higher education in nursing, education, engineering and other professional fields. Beller will be entering college either in the Sault or Fleming College to study Fish and Wildlife Conservation, with a further step into Fish and Wildlife enforcement. He aspires to be a Conservation Officer or a Park Ranger. He still has his sights on winning the Rainy River Walleye Tournament. This summer he is heading for the lakes aiming to work at a tourist camp.

Of the lessons learned during his Outtatown experience Beller noted many, but pointed to: one, “How people can change”, two, “How friendly people can be,” and three, “People living in what we consider poverty, can still be happy.”

So if you are interested in an exciting conversation, invite this young man over. The promise of food and lots of ketchup should seal the deal.

Outtatown Discipleship School Graduates 92

Outtatown is about seeing in full-colour. That’s how Kendra Matheson described the eight-month discipleship program.

Speaking at Outtatown’s graduation celebration, April 19, at CMU, Matheson described worshiping with abandon in Guatemala, experiencing full-on thrills, and growing in her understanding of a vibrant God. “He calls us to love him to the fullest,” she said.

Matheson was one of 92 graduates of CMU’s Outtatown Discipleship School, which takes young adults through vigorous life training and experience, stretching across Canada and to either Guatemala or South Africa.

The graduation mood was celebratory as the students promenaded into the auditorium singing and chanting in four languages-Zulu, Sotho, Spanish and English-and cheering each other enthusiastically.

Matheson, from St. Mary’s, Ont., described how the Outtatowners were immediately immersed into community life through canoe trips and camp life. “I looked back after a month and all of a sudden I had friends that were better than ones I’ve had for 18 years back home. That’s what Outtatown does,” she said.

A number of students described their life-changing experiences-from meeting people on the gritty streets of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver to doing a late evening prayer walk in an impoverished South African township. They talked about seeing the world in all its beauty and brokenness.

Gavin Hall, associate pastor of Assiniboia-Charleswood Community Church in Winnipeg, and instructor at Outtatown, challenged the graduates to be faithful, fertile and fruitful disciples. He compared their experiences as disciples-in-training to the young Samuel in I Samuel. “It is never too early to be what you could be,” he told them.

Outtatown participants spent their first semester at camps and retreat centres across Western Canada. After Christmas, one group went to Guatemala and two groups to South Africa, where they continued their unique approach to study: learning through adventure, travel, service and Christian studies.

“If faith is truly an action word, there has to be adventure too,” quipped graduate Ryan Caldwell, who travelled to South Africa. Caldwell, from Kingston, Ont., joked about seeing God’s creation while falling 216 metres off a bridge on the world’s longest bungee jump.

“I suspect many of you aren’t the same people you were when you first came to this campus last September,” said CMU President Gerald Gerbrandt.

“I invite you to continue learning about the world in all its complexity and pain,” he told the graduates. “And I invite you to continue being part of community-and not just any community, but community shaped by God.”