Teach them diligently!

One of my favorites part of each day is my time with the children at 78. Each night we read a Bible story, sing songs and pray before bed. The past nights have been so exciting! The children always have stories to tell me about their day. Last week, as I read one of our Bible stories, I sought to summarize the story by saying that God wants for us to obey and serve him. One of the little boys, age 6, asked, "how do I serve God?" Wow! I was blown away by this profound question. I went on to explain that we can serve God by obeying Him and those who watch over us, we can also serve the Lord by being kind to others, and most importantly we can serve God by telling others about Jesus. This was such a neat opportunity and I was glad to know that the Lord is working on their little hearts.

Last night, we were reading the story of Nicodemus. The children had a hard time pronouncing his name and this was quite amusing. So, as you know in the story, Nicodemus asked Jesus, how must he be born again? (John 3: 1-14) We talked about what it meant to be born again and one of the little girls, age 8, says to me, I want to be born again. I shared that to be born again, she has to ask Jesus to come and live in her heart. A few minutes later, we started our usual prayer time, when it was her turn to pray she asked Jesus to come and live in her heart and make her a new person. Wow! This was so amazing! Once again, I was reminded that God is at work in their hearts. They love stories, their minds are so fresh and they are so eager to learn. I am so thankful that I get to observe tangibly what a childlike faith is. As I seek to teach them, I am being taught by them as well. Their eagerness to listen and learn as well as their humility makes me want to have a childlike faith. Children are such a precious gift from God! They really are! Hmmm?!?

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?

I am so encouraged!

On Friday, I had several ladies come to me and shared how much they were encouraged by our Bible Study. One of the mama's shared that this is what they needed. To be encouraged. Gosh!!! Once again, these women have such a desire to know God, it's both amazing and motivating. I was told by the administrative assistant of Lambano (Martha) that one of the ladies came to her and shared how much she was encouraged by our time together. This woman is a recent widow, she was a pastors wife. She told Martha that she was experiencing "spiritual deadness", but the Word of God has awaken her heart. Can you believe, how awesome our God is? Ahhhhh! I am so in love with the God of this universe. Please do continue to pray for my relationship with the women. I am so glad to know that, "it is the word of God that converts the soul" (Psalms 19:7). What an encouragement it has been to my own heart to both hear and see how the Lord is working in the lives of the women. Ahhh, once again, I am so in love with the God of this universe. "Praise the Lord, oh my soul..." (Psalms 103:2).

"I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion"

(Psalms 111:1-4).

"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us But to Your name give glory, Because of Your MERCY, Because of Your TRUTH"

(Psalms 115:1).

This week (April 14-17)

Wow! I can’t believe that May is right around the corner. My time here seems to be going by so fast. I am praying that the Lord will help me to make the most of my time with the children and with the staff. This week, I found myself to be very busy. I am so thankful that I have things to do while I am here. One of responsibilities here as an intern is to coordinate for two missionary teams that will serve here from The Masters College and Grace Community Church in California. The first team consists of 10 students from TMC. They will serve here for six weeks by teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in the schools of Katlehong. One of my responsibilities for the next few weeks is to coordinate their housing, transportation, teaching schedule and their leisure activities. This is fun! On Tuesday, I met with one of the school principals to discuss the service of this team. The meeting was so very good, the teachers were excited and willing to have the students from the US come and work with the schools. The teachers were even open to having the students stay in their homes. What a testimony of the S. Africans hospitality!

This week, I also had the privilege of teaching Bible Study for the 1st time. Yeah!!! Honestly, I was kind of nervous. I wasn’t too sure about the topic of choice. One of the ladies shared the desire to be taught about something that would “build them up.” Although I don’t believe in building people up, so to speak, I knew exactly what she meant. She wanted me to teach something that would encourage them. These women, in my opinion, do want to know the Lord and although it’s a requirement for them to attend Bible Study, I do sincerely believe that they have a desire to want to know God. Please note that the conflict here with some S. Africans is that many will say that they are Christians while believing in their ancestors. I was told that many fear their ancestors more than they feared God. So, in teaching we have to be very careful and use wisdom in the way in which we proclaim God’s truth. We also have to make sure we don’t assume that they are saved or unsaved. So wisdom and discernment is always a prayer request. Today, I talked about the fact that God does hear us and that He is not some distant god who is not acquainted with our ways, instead, He is the One true God, who is intimately acquainted with all our ways. More specifically He hears the needs of the poor, especially those who are poor in spirit. (Matt. 5:3) I shared that unlike man God is not partial to those who are rich or poor, black or white, Zulu or Xohsa. (James 2:1-9; Job 34:19) I shared that the world puts us into categories based on race/tribe and wealth. But God does not see us like that. God has classified us into 2 groups and that is those who know him (spiritual man) and those who need to know him (natural man). (1st Corinthians 2:14-15) It was on this basis, that I sought to encourage them from the Scriptures. Overall, it was a good Bible Study, the ladies laughed and although they had a hard time opening up, they did ask questions and shared a little about their struggles. Hopefully, as time goes by they will be a bit more transparent. Please pray that as Beth and I seek to minister the Word of God to these ladies that it will fall on good soil, take root and bear much fruit.

Happy Birthday!!!! One of the children from our homes is celebrating a birthday tomorrow. He will turn seven, praise God! When the children turn seven we take them out to McDonalds. Yes, we do have a Mickey Ds. Thank God for global marketing! This birthday boy lives at the same house I do (78, see previous blog), so I took him out for dinner last night. He had pizza with a coke and I bought him a pair of cool sun glasses as a gift. He did look pretty cool! We had so much fun! I am thankful for the simple moments in life, the children are truly a gift from the Lord.

Please Pray

Currently, our children are getting very sick. Over the past days we have had to place the children in quarantine. A few of the children have chicken pox and mumps. Unfortunately, for HIV children, because of the weakness of their immune system they are more susceptible to these and many more illnesses. I was told that the chicken pox can spread to their brains and lungs, which can be very life threatening. Please pray that the Lord will keep our children in good health. Please also pray that their medicine will be effective. Finally, please pray that the staff and management will use wisdom in our care for the children. Thanks!