We are the Prince family made up of Casey, Sarah, Kieren and Keller. We are American missionaries from Raleigh, NC who are serving in South Africa.
We founded the Ubuntu Football Academy. We live and serve in the township of Ocean View, a colored (the politically correct term here for mixed race) township south of Cape Town, South Africa. We have two beautiful children who haven been raised in this rich and unique environment; Kieren who is 12 and Keller who is 9.
Ubuntu Football is our primary ministry here in South Africa, while we still partner and support many vibrant ministries and organizations also working here. Casey is the Executive Director at Ubuntu while Sarah is Director of Formation. A day in the life of Casey is coaching his soccer team, connecting with every part of the leadership team who leads the various parts of Ubuntu, helping to strategize moves ahead, and working on pathways to Europe and America for our Ubuntu graduates. Sarah leads the spiritual direction of Ubuntu, so meets with staff and boys, oversees character curriculum, heads up our Dual Dream program which helps the boys to know their other gifts and talents after football, and supports the staff when in need. Afternoons and evenings are spent with the kids playing soccer in the front yard, squeezing in some meetings, finishing up homework, and always ending the day eating dinner together with grateful hearts. It’s a full but beautiful life!
When we first moved to South Africa in 2009 we made a commitment to be missionaries for at least three years. We felt like that would give us long enough to really dig into the communities we were serving, grow relationships, and make a little bit of impact. As we began to live here in Africa it quickly became clear that God would want us here longer, and now we feel that we will be in South Africa indefinitely. When we first moved into the township we wanted to live among the people we served, with an incarnational ministry model we had seen exhibited by other ministries. We were aware that it was possible it could not work for us to live in the community of Ocean View but we had to try! Many years later we are still living in Ocean View, and these dear neighbors have become close friends and family. We are raising children together and doing every part of life alongside one another. As we have practiced this incarnational ministry ourselves we have learned more about the potential impact of being ‘relocators’ to Ocean View.
This idea comes from the work and theology of John Perkins. He formed the Christian Community Development Association and they write this about ministry:
“Many of our communities have been neglected and left to deteriorate for decades. Sadly, the church of Jesus Christ has at best sat back and watched this happen. In many areas, it has even contributed to the problem. A new generation of Christians are faced with a question about how they will respond to the troubles of the poor and under-resourced communities today. The desperate conditions that face the poor call for a revolution in the church's approach to the problem. Through years of experience among the poor, many have come to see that these desperate problems cannot be solved without strong commitment and risky actions on the part of ordinary Christians with heroic faith.
There have been many attempts by "outsiders" to alleviate the problems, but most have fallen short of lasting change. Rather, the most creative long-term solutions to the problems of the poor are coming from grassroots and church-based efforts. The solutions are coming from people who see themselves as the replacements, the agents, for Jesus here on earth, in their own neighborhoods and communities.”
In 2014, Keller was diagnosed here in Africa as mild to moderate on the autism spectrum. We felt God wanted us to continue our ministry and life here in Africa and we became special needs warriors. Here in Cape Town, he received PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) therapy, speech therapy, behavior therapy, ABA (Applied Behavior Therapy) and Occupational therapy. We saw incredibly miraculous advancement in Keller’s world through these interventions and when Keller was 5 years old he lost his autism diagnosis. We continue to journey with and support families with special needs and are forever grateful for that part of our story.
Look Listen Love was created as a way to share our family’s journey in missions and to teach others how to live missionally as we learn ourselves. We believe we should follow the model of Jesus as written in John 1:14 says, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”