Serving the Lord in South Africa: 2009

Well, my ministry to S.A. has come to an end, so to speak. My heart will always be with the people and children of South Africa and I will forever pray for the restoration of that country.

As I sit and reflect on this past year, my heart is filled with both joy and sadness. I rejoice that God has chosen to use me to be His servant, in bringing His Word of life to a few. I am also joyful because God has given me a greater vision of Himself, in pursuit of Him and His delights. As I rejoice my heart is also filled with sorrow. I really miss S.A. I miss the children and I miss the relationships that God has graciously given to me this past year. I am even more sad because of the overwhelming despair that a place can bring. The poverty, the sickness, the crime and the despair was at times burdensome. However, in all of these difficulties, I was reminded that God is the God of hope and He says that we are to fix our eyes on Him, and trust that His plans for the nations will be accomplished.

I have learned that this life is not our own, we were truly bought with the price of Christ blood, therefore we are called to honor Him in all that we think, say and do. This is so much simplier for me to write, but so much more difficult for me to live out. But what a joy that God takes our hands and leads us through this process!!! This life is so much bigger than we are, God's purposes goes beyond my temporary life and spread to all generations. I only hope and pray that as He sees fit that He would always lead and guide me in the way that He knows I will best bring praise and glory to His name.

Thank you so very much for following me on this short journey, please do continue to pray for S.A and if you want to keep up with Lambano, which I strongly encourage, you can check out their blog at lambano.blogspot.com

Please remember to love justice and mercy, remember to love the orphans, widows and aliens of this world. Our lives are so temporary, and only what we do for Christ shall last - so let us press on to know Him and excel in our love for others.

"...Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' "

(Isaiah 58:6-9)

"For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of the both the dead and the living." (Romans 14:7-9)

Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Love in Christ,

~Keisha

As my fingers are on the computer keys, I am trying to recall all that has happened since the last blog. As you know we celebrated Christmas and the New Year. Before the holiday season it was quite busy here at Lambano. If you receive my newsletter, then you were updated on a little of what I have been doing. If not, here’s a brief summary of what was mentioned in my last newsletter.

Throughout the month of November, I was busy attending Christmas plays, award ceremonies for 8 of our children. The kids at Lambano are so diligent in their school work. We were all so excited that they won various awards for such diligence. I also visited a local bird park with some of the kids. I went with them to their routine doctor visits. We are now experiencing the hot summer days here in SA, and let me say, it is quite HOT! But I have a really nice fan that keeps me cool. With the hot summer days we have enjoyed a few days of swimming as well.

Christmas Day!

My first Christmas in South Africa, was so much fun. One of Lambano's faithful supporters invited ALL 33 children to her home. We loaded 2 kombies and a car and we were off. The kids enjoyed a day of swimming, and playing with each other. We had burgers, potato salads, ice cream and lots of liquids. It was such a simple day!! Father Christmas a.k.a. Santa Claus a.k.a. Jesus, brought them lots of presents, which we praise God for!!!!

Zodwa with her new teddy!

Nkosi is excited about his toy!

Katlehong Ministries

- The high school bible study ended in early November due to exams and summer holidays. We will hopefully resume the study in late January.

- Kathorus Orphanage – I last visited these teenagers the week before Christmas. We had a Christmas party and talked about the true meaning of Christmas and the symbolism of receiving gifts that are undeserved and unmerited. This was an opportunity to share the greatest gift of receiving Jesus Christ as ones’ Lord and Savior. I will resume our time on the 15th of this month. I am planning to talk about forgiveness with them. I am concerned about this endeavor because these teenagers have had some horrific things happen to them. So, please pray that they will truly realize that they have been forgiven much, and in turn be that much more willing to forgive others.

Kids at 78

All of our kids are now on summer holidays, and this week I am spending some quality time with the kids at 78. I will leave for the states next month and they will return to school next week. As a result, I am taking advantage of this time to be with the kids as much as possible, so this week we are doing lots of “fun” things. Yesterday, we went to the zoo. We had so much fun seeing the different and beautiful African animals. The kids also enjoyed seeing the seals being fed their nutritional intake of fish. This trip to the zoo provided yet another opportunity for me to tell them about God. South Africa is so breathtakingly beautiful, and I reminded the kids that God made everything from the trees, to the sky, to the animals. One of the little boy who’s 6, asked, “did God also make the rubbish bin?” Of course the answer is yes, He gives man the knowledge of creating something that is so easily overlooked, but yet so necessary. But, the most, beautiful conversation occurred between my self and Thandazo who’s 8 years old. I live with the kids here at ‘78’ so we always talk about the Bible, and who God is, we talk about God the Father and Jesus His Son quite often. So, while at the zoo, this 8 years old girl said in the sweetest & most sincere voice, “but I still don’t understand, do we worship two Gods?” Ok, seriously you are 8, this is like such a theological question that I am still unable to explain. So, with the help of the Spirit, I proceeded to explain to her the doctrine of the trinity, in 8 year old terminology,of course. I simply shared that this is something that we cannot fully understand, but the Bible teaches us that there is God the Father, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins (sins are explained as the naughty things that we say, do and think), and in three days Jesus came back from the dead, and He is now alive in heaven, but He has left us with the Spirit, who’s also God, the Spirit lives inside all those who love and believe in Jesus, and the Spirit, helps us to know how to love and obey God the Father. I shared that there are 3 different person and they have three different responsibilities, but they are still ONE GOD. Whew!!! She still didn’t fully understand, but hey, neither do I. Nevertheless, I think she was satisfied with my explanation. But, I was just so happy for this opportunity, because it shows that she is actually thinking about the things we talk about.

(Note: If anyone knows how to communicate the doctrine of the trinity to children, I would really love your advice, please feel free to leave a comment on my blog)

Cute Sayings by the Kids at 78

Me: “Name one of the 10 commandments?”
Children: “Do not lie” “Do not steal” “Do not disturb”
*Sometimes I wish the latter was a commandment…joking

Me: “So what kind of people does God not like?”
Child: “Ugly people”

Me: “God says that one day we will live with Him in heaven forever!”
Child: “When is God coming to fetch us?”

Me: “So, I will leave soon, and I hope that you guys don’t forget me.”
Child: “I’ll forget you.”
*Clearly ministry is not a self-esteem calling :)

Child: “Why you sing like a girl?”
Me: “Because I am a girl!”