Praise!

Thank you all so very much for your prayers regarding the 'xenophobic' crimes that have been occuring here. It seems that the government has taken action and have placed soldiers in certain areas to protect the people. Today is a peaceful day and I hope it will remain like this. Thanks again for your prayers!

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword. As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any created, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 31-39

This passage of Scripture was particularly helpful to me during all the chaos.

Living to die! (Luke 9:23-24)

The most challenging day yet!

Sunday morning was destined for trials. For the past couple of days, I have had the most throbbing pain in my neck. As I was getting ready for church, I pulled a muscle in my neck and was unable to function normally. So, I stayed home from church, unable to move. At around 2pm, one of the founders of Lambano told us that one of the lad ies that worked with us, just had about 10 people shot dead in her neighborhood. Curious, I asked why and what happened? Turns out that there is a group of South Africans who are going aroung killing foreigners. Zimbabwe is one of our neighboring countries, and if you have been following the news, there's been a surplus of injustice in Zim. As a result, we have a number of Zimbabweans who are coming into S. Africa without papers. Although I have heard many different reasons as to why this tragedy has occured, many believe that some native S. Africans are upset that their jobs are being taken away. Whatever the reason, we know that there are no justifiable reason to kill anyone. This group has targeted man, woman and children alike. The youngest child that has been killed was only a couple months old. Concerning our safety, I think that we will be fine. But, please pray! We are not certain what areas these people are targeting. The total body count is 42.

On top of all the tragedies that are occuring, this morning as I came into the office, I was told that one of our babies (pictured right) passed away a little after 1 last night. As my mom use to say, "when it rains it pours." We are all emotional now, so many things are happening here. But through it all we can still smile and find reasons to be hopeful. I know that God has given me a rest for my soul during this time. I pray that with everything that's going on we will be lights for the glory of God. Please be fervent in praying along with us.

My trip to Durban!

Since I have been here I am always hearing how beautiful S. Africa is and how I should make it my goal to visit certain part of this magnificent country. I have made a mental list of places that I would like to visit and Durban was one of them. My friend Martha and I took a few days off to visit Durban. Durban is known as the vacation area. However, we weren’t quite on vacation. The objective of this trip was to observe how the Lord was working in this area.

Our days consisted of going to Bible classes with one of our host! The Bible classes were very informative. I was happy to see the diversity of students in attendance. I had an opportunity to speak with some of the students and most, if not all were in some form of ministry. It was an encouragement to see students around my age, on a different continent, who shared the same zeal for the Lord. In addition to attending Bible classes we had an opportunity to visit one of the crèches located in a local township. A crèche, I was told is an equivalent to a kindergarten. This particular crèche was founded by the wife of a pastor. The pastor and his wife were very kind and sweet, it was clear to me that they shared a love for the Lord and for the lost. I had a great time talking with them and hearing about what the Lord was doing amidst their congregation. While at the crèche, Martha and I were spontaneously asked to teach a Bible story. We taught about the story of Noah and the ark. We also taught them two songs, one about obedience and the other about the character of God. The most exciting part of our time at the crèche was listening to the children sing in their native tongue. I will post the video at a later time. What beautiful voices! They were loud, in unison, and passionate about the words of the song. This was such a treat for us. I smiled so much that my ears started to hurt. Pain in my ears has always been a sign that I am truly having fun. :)

During the trip we were hosted by a church family who are originally from England but migrated to S. Africa over 20 years ago. This was also a good experience. We talked about a lot of subjects, including our cultural differences. The conversations were so good. My heart was so glad. They treated us with such kindness and hospitality. I was very thankful that God allowed our paths to cross. We also had the opportunity to visit the ocean. Ahhh! This was great! The water was so clean and refreshing. It’s amazing how small I always feel when I am at the ocean, yet I was reminded of how big God is, in that he tells the ocean how far it may go. I also went to a rugby game with some of my new brothers and sisters in the Lord. We had a great time. I am not a great football fan, so I thought that I wouldn’t enjoy rugby. It turns out that I more than enjoyed the game. Our team won! Notice that I say our, I have become one with the people. :) Overall the trip to Durban was very good, I made new friends, I saw the hand of the Lord amongst the people, and once again I was reminded that no matter who we are, or where we are from, one thing is for certain, and that is, for those who have named the name of Christ as their personal Lord and Savior are all ONE.

**Side note: While we were in our Sunday evening service, we heard the voices of the Muslims worshipping in the nearby Mosque. The surplus of the different religions in Durban was a reminder for all of us to be diligent in our prayers for those of a different faith. The same zeal and devotion we have for the God of the Bible, other people of other religions have the same zeal and devotion for their particular god. We, however, are convinced of the truth that Christ is the only Way. For me to be in such close proximity with others of a different religion was an eye opener that we are not the only ones who have the desired goal of laboring to win the hearts of men. The difference is for WHOM are we laboring?