Week ONE! (September 10-14)
Nature and Character of God with the esteemed David Painting.
Can I just begin with the fact that I received massive amounts of revelation about God and His love for me this past week...It's been just incredible and massive and overwhelming. I'm still processing all of it and wondering how it all applies so that I can be more whole and more restored and just more of Him and less and less and less of me.
He began with God's nature: He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (all-present). He is Creative, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Infinite. In His character, He is just, loving, merciful, faithful, self-sacrificial, righteous, forgiving, risk-taking, and a communicator. But most of all HE IS LOVE.
He is LOVE.
LOVE.
That is the very essence of God.
He is LOVE.
He doesn't just love.
He actually is LOVE.
We were created out of His LOVE.
And His Love looks to express itself. After the perfect relationship of the Triune, He had to create to bring relationship that has the very character of God. The characteristics of the people must be like Him. And that likeness to Him is LOVE.
So that means that He embodies I Corinthians 13
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
Love at heart allows freedom of its own choice. It does not insist on its own way.
During the creation, the Triune paused and counted the cost of creation. Is it worth it? What if people make the choice to not love? And they said it was worth it. All worth it for humans to partake in the love of relationship. It is so important to create that even though there is an incredible cost, it is worth. You are worth it. Just mind-blowing. I feel so saturated in God's LOVE.
We are created to be in relationship with God.
We are not created to work for Him.
We are not created to glorify Him.
We are created to be in relationship with Him. To share in the perfect love of the Triune.
God created things that were good and things that were very good. He looked at man and thought not good...because the man isn't in relationship. God chose to create man with a need that He chooses not to fulfill. He created woman so that man and woman could be in relationship with each other just as He is in relationship with Himself.
God expresses His nature through the filter of His character.
When it comes to choices people typically believe that either God is all-powerful, so if He hasn't stopped the suffering, He must want it there, or that God is trying to teach me a lesson
-OR-
God is all-loving, but given what there is, He must be powerless to do anything about it.
The true meaning is that God intervenes or mitigates the situation and turns good from the evil that has occured. Remain in Christ and in His calling and He is able to bring far more good than the evel the enemy can bring.
If God intervenes in my situations, He's taken away my choice to act and if this influences our choices, our opportunity and ability for relationship is gone. Because love never insists on its own way and since God is love, He will not insist on His own way.
Our primary objective is to have the unhindered, unfettered, unclouded Presence of God.
Be Holy as I am Holy (set apart, different).
Jesus empties Himself of the nature of God so that He can be completely full of love. That's our call. To completely empty ourselves of us so that we can be full of His love. Acting out of His love. Moving out of His love. Being in His love.
It boggles my mind and stirs up my spirit and quenches thirst, but makes me hungry for more. And overwhelms. And overwhelms. And overwhelms.
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Sunday, 9 September 2007
Introductions, arriving, and being raw before the LORD
Where do I even begin? I'll try to start at the beginning, but knowing me I'll just jump around and hopefully my points will come across.
I've been here in Carlisle for a month now and DTS started two weeks ago. Our first students arrived on Friday, August 31st and our last student arrived on Sept 14th. We are now a complete family...all of the members are present and accounted for. There are 10 DTS students, representing 5 different nations, and 7 staff members, representing 3 nations. I suppose it'd be easiest to list in order of arrival.
DTS students:
Jayce (24) from FL, Ben (18) from Canada, Lee (32) and Pip (30) from England (and married), Carolyn (25) from England, Lucy (22) from England, Ashley (18) from CO, Grace (23) from England, Nath (23) from Australia, and Hye Won (25) from South Korea.
It thrills me that our DTS has started and that the students have finally arrived, all safe and sound.
Our staff consists of our base and school leader, Richard Lowe, Emma, who led my school and co-led my outreach to South Africa, Jemma from England (she did her DTS at another English base, Holmstead Manor), and Jeremy, Naomi, and Jenean who were all on the school with me. Jemma, Jeremy, Naomi, Jenean, and I are all doing BLS (Basic Leadership School) which means that we're incredibly busy and loving it and stressed and trying to figure out what it means to be a leader all at the same time.
We had an introductory week that began on Sept. 3rd. Basically trying to introduce YWAM to the students, what we're about, what we want them to get out the school, possibly scare them, show them that God is so much bigger than then ever dreamed of.... We started off with the mighty John Campbell Sr, who is a brilliant 75 year old Scotsman who is drenched in the living, breathing, active Word of God. He talked about rejoicing in the Lord always..based on Philippians 4:4 and delighting ourselves in the Lord. With the joy of the Lord, any benefit should be spiritual.
We then moved swiftly to Richard. He spoke on faith and what kills faith, based on John 20:24-29. He said that "Trust is resting in the evidence of God's character and Word."....just brilliant. He also spoke on growing through feeding on the Word, studying God's ways with man, prayer, reflecting on the character of God, and welcoming God-given challenges. "Trust is the most fragile aspect of love, therefore investing trust in others is risky." So true...and so hard to be that vulnerable and risk our hearts.
We prayed about God's original design for the school and the schemes of the enemy during this time. We had some amazing times of intercession and lifting each other up to the Lord.
Probably the most impactful part of the week for me was our ministry time with Darren. Darren is a man who just flows with the Holy Spirit. He gets words and pictures and prophecy for people. He is incredibly open to the working of the Spirit and although it can be a completely new experience for people and sometimes unexpected, it is also an incredible place for people to be raw and wrecked before God. Students began to get emotional healing and physical healing as well. They just got flooded with God's love and His heart. Well at least I got flooded with more of Him. I know that I'm going to be given a task that is too big for me to handle on my own, but I'm not meant to handle it by myself. He's preparing me for the huge-ness of going into the nations and being part of a ministry that is just incredibly intense and will grow me and allow others to see His heart for them....I feel like I don't even have the words for the magnitude of it all.
That commenced our first week with students....
I've been here in Carlisle for a month now and DTS started two weeks ago. Our first students arrived on Friday, August 31st and our last student arrived on Sept 14th. We are now a complete family...all of the members are present and accounted for. There are 10 DTS students, representing 5 different nations, and 7 staff members, representing 3 nations. I suppose it'd be easiest to list in order of arrival.
DTS students:
Jayce (24) from FL, Ben (18) from Canada, Lee (32) and Pip (30) from England (and married), Carolyn (25) from England, Lucy (22) from England, Ashley (18) from CO, Grace (23) from England, Nath (23) from Australia, and Hye Won (25) from South Korea.
It thrills me that our DTS has started and that the students have finally arrived, all safe and sound.
Our staff consists of our base and school leader, Richard Lowe, Emma, who led my school and co-led my outreach to South Africa, Jemma from England (she did her DTS at another English base, Holmstead Manor), and Jeremy, Naomi, and Jenean who were all on the school with me. Jemma, Jeremy, Naomi, Jenean, and I are all doing BLS (Basic Leadership School) which means that we're incredibly busy and loving it and stressed and trying to figure out what it means to be a leader all at the same time.
We had an introductory week that began on Sept. 3rd. Basically trying to introduce YWAM to the students, what we're about, what we want them to get out the school, possibly scare them, show them that God is so much bigger than then ever dreamed of.... We started off with the mighty John Campbell Sr, who is a brilliant 75 year old Scotsman who is drenched in the living, breathing, active Word of God. He talked about rejoicing in the Lord always..based on Philippians 4:4 and delighting ourselves in the Lord. With the joy of the Lord, any benefit should be spiritual.
We then moved swiftly to Richard. He spoke on faith and what kills faith, based on John 20:24-29. He said that "Trust is resting in the evidence of God's character and Word."....just brilliant. He also spoke on growing through feeding on the Word, studying God's ways with man, prayer, reflecting on the character of God, and welcoming God-given challenges. "Trust is the most fragile aspect of love, therefore investing trust in others is risky." So true...and so hard to be that vulnerable and risk our hearts.
We prayed about God's original design for the school and the schemes of the enemy during this time. We had some amazing times of intercession and lifting each other up to the Lord.
Probably the most impactful part of the week for me was our ministry time with Darren. Darren is a man who just flows with the Holy Spirit. He gets words and pictures and prophecy for people. He is incredibly open to the working of the Spirit and although it can be a completely new experience for people and sometimes unexpected, it is also an incredible place for people to be raw and wrecked before God. Students began to get emotional healing and physical healing as well. They just got flooded with God's love and His heart. Well at least I got flooded with more of Him. I know that I'm going to be given a task that is too big for me to handle on my own, but I'm not meant to handle it by myself. He's preparing me for the huge-ness of going into the nations and being part of a ministry that is just incredibly intense and will grow me and allow others to see His heart for them....I feel like I don't even have the words for the magnitude of it all.
That commenced our first week with students....
Friday, 24 August 2007
The Wigton Road Sagas
It is with great joy that I'm writing from England once again. I arrived here on August 16th after two delayed flights, one in Raleigh and one in JFK, some problems in passport control once landing, and a very long train journey up to Carlisle. I am incredibly appreciative of all of your prayers and support, because without it, I'm not sure that I'd be back in this remarkable country. My issues at passport control began with a denied visa that I had applied for back in July to stay in England for 9 months. It turned out that I didn't need the visa and was denied it anyway, but the people at immigration weren't originally satisfied with the documentation Jenean (another BLS student) and I had submitted to them, so they had us waiting while they sorted out information out. By the grace of God alone, they approved 6 month visas for us, so I'm here until the beginning of December.
My plans have changed from when I last left England. I'm back in Carlisle, on staff as an administrative assistant type, as well as a Basic Leadership School student. There are 7 staff members and we currently have 8 DTS students arriving a week from tomorrow. We'd love a few more, so please be praying that we get a few more students! As a BLS student, I'll be leading small groups, helping facilitate lectures, and preparing for outreach. My job is also to prepare and equip students to step out into the mission field with both feet at the end of DTS, or at least to help them think about the possibility of full-time missions or ministry.
So far, we've been cleaning our house, an old vicarage, about a 5 minute walk from our main building. All of the rooms needed cleaning and the bunk beds needed to be put together, so we've been working on that. Next week we'll be cleaning our main building and doing last minute things before the students arrive. The house where we're staying is so rad. We have five bedrooms, one for BLS girls, one for DTS girls, one for DTS and BLS guys, a room for our speaker of the week, and a room for our married couple. We also have what the Brits would call a 'garden,' a beautiful yard with pretty grass and a bit of a swell. All walled in and a fun place for picnics, at least if it's not raining, which is hasn't really done since we've been here.
Please be praying for the students as they travel here, as well as all of the families of the staff and students as we prepare for a crazy 6 month transition.
My team will be heading to Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines for outreach in the beginning of December and we're going to need all the prayer we can get, especially as we are entering a communist country. The team will spend a month in Hong Kong, a month in western China, and a month in the Philippines, including debrief. We will need strength and courage, as well as hearts that are aligned with the Father's in order to make the biggest impact possible. And boy are we looking forward to making a crazy impact!
We have a married couple joining us and they need people to rent their house while they're here in Carlisle, so please pray for the appropriate people to rent their house.
So far things have gone smoothly, but I'm sure that they're going to get insane in just a matter of days as the students start arriving and life here really gets underway. It's fantastic to be part of my Carlisle family again. Friendships have been rekindled/renewed and God is doing a mighty work in this place. We had a fantastic time of prayer this morning and I think that we're kicking off right in the Spirit.
I also have a new address if you feel so inclined to write.
25 Wigton Rd,
Carlisle, Cumbria
CA2 7BB
UK
Thank you always for your prayers!
Blessings and honor and glory!
More to come!!!!
My plans have changed from when I last left England. I'm back in Carlisle, on staff as an administrative assistant type, as well as a Basic Leadership School student. There are 7 staff members and we currently have 8 DTS students arriving a week from tomorrow. We'd love a few more, so please be praying that we get a few more students! As a BLS student, I'll be leading small groups, helping facilitate lectures, and preparing for outreach. My job is also to prepare and equip students to step out into the mission field with both feet at the end of DTS, or at least to help them think about the possibility of full-time missions or ministry.
So far, we've been cleaning our house, an old vicarage, about a 5 minute walk from our main building. All of the rooms needed cleaning and the bunk beds needed to be put together, so we've been working on that. Next week we'll be cleaning our main building and doing last minute things before the students arrive. The house where we're staying is so rad. We have five bedrooms, one for BLS girls, one for DTS girls, one for DTS and BLS guys, a room for our speaker of the week, and a room for our married couple. We also have what the Brits would call a 'garden,' a beautiful yard with pretty grass and a bit of a swell. All walled in and a fun place for picnics, at least if it's not raining, which is hasn't really done since we've been here.
Please be praying for the students as they travel here, as well as all of the families of the staff and students as we prepare for a crazy 6 month transition.
My team will be heading to Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines for outreach in the beginning of December and we're going to need all the prayer we can get, especially as we are entering a communist country. The team will spend a month in Hong Kong, a month in western China, and a month in the Philippines, including debrief. We will need strength and courage, as well as hearts that are aligned with the Father's in order to make the biggest impact possible. And boy are we looking forward to making a crazy impact!
We have a married couple joining us and they need people to rent their house while they're here in Carlisle, so please pray for the appropriate people to rent their house.
So far things have gone smoothly, but I'm sure that they're going to get insane in just a matter of days as the students start arriving and life here really gets underway. It's fantastic to be part of my Carlisle family again. Friendships have been rekindled/renewed and God is doing a mighty work in this place. We had a fantastic time of prayer this morning and I think that we're kicking off right in the Spirit.
I also have a new address if you feel so inclined to write.
25 Wigton Rd,
Carlisle, Cumbria
CA2 7BB
UK
Thank you always for your prayers!
Blessings and honor and glory!
More to come!!!!
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
Almost time
The time of departure has almost arrived. To journey out on the next part of the most brilliant adventure. Three weeks from tomorrow, I'll be on my way to England. Plans have changed though. I am returning as a staff person, BLS student, and I'm still going on outreach. But instead of going to Ghana in March or April, I'll be joining the September school in their outreach to Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines in December. I'm thrilled about it, although it is sad that I won't be staffing the January school (primarily because we're not having one). I was expecting to be in Carlisle and on outreach for almost a year, but plans have changed and always with good reason.
I know that God definitely has His hand over all that I'm doing and I'm eager to see what He's going to continue to do in my life and through the lives of the students on DTS.
God is so faithful in our desires of our hearts when we're following Him. Obedience to Him and His ways is of utmost importance if we are to grow in our relationship with Him.
God has been continuing to show me His faithfulness, even when I am faithless. He pours out His love, even though I'm unsure of my devotion. Oh that I would love Him more, adore Him more, be more obedient, more patient, more pure, more of who He is, and less of who I am. That He would be my first love, my one desire, my life.
Psalm 16:11
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
To be filled with Your Joy, walking in Your Presence and enjoying your pleasures is my heart's desire. That You would make Your ways known to me.
May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:20-21
I know that God definitely has His hand over all that I'm doing and I'm eager to see what He's going to continue to do in my life and through the lives of the students on DTS.
God is so faithful in our desires of our hearts when we're following Him. Obedience to Him and His ways is of utmost importance if we are to grow in our relationship with Him.
God has been continuing to show me His faithfulness, even when I am faithless. He pours out His love, even though I'm unsure of my devotion. Oh that I would love Him more, adore Him more, be more obedient, more patient, more pure, more of who He is, and less of who I am. That He would be my first love, my one desire, my life.
Psalm 16:11
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
To be filled with Your Joy, walking in Your Presence and enjoying your pleasures is my heart's desire. That You would make Your ways known to me.
May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:20-21
Saturday, 2 June 2007
A Mound of Dust
A Mound of Dust
If you called me
Like you called Moses
I would have asked
The same question—
"Who am I?"
And as I gazed upon
The bush
I would see
Myself,
Burning
With the crimson flames
Of lust,
Of selfishness,
Of every other
Sin.
Like the bush
It is only by your grace
That I am
Not consumed;
You see the beauty beneath the flames.
By your nails
You have engraved
My name into
Your palm,
And so I remain
Forever
In your hand.
Who am I?
I am a mound of dust,
Turned to clay by your blood,
Sculpted by your hands of love,
And fired by the flames of your discipline
Into a statue.
I cannot move without you.
I cannot breath without you.
Don't leave me to corrode in the desert.
Let your healing water moisten these baked lips;
I want to taste your goodness, again.
Who am I?
Without you I am nothing;
Just a mound of dust
Carried away
By the ebb and flow
Of time.
- Zack Strait
If you called me
Like you called Moses
I would have asked
The same question—
"Who am I?"
And as I gazed upon
The bush
I would see
Myself,
Burning
With the crimson flames
Of lust,
Of selfishness,
Of every other
Sin.
Like the bush
It is only by your grace
That I am
Not consumed;
You see the beauty beneath the flames.
By your nails
You have engraved
My name into
Your palm,
And so I remain
Forever
In your hand.
Who am I?
I am a mound of dust,
Turned to clay by your blood,
Sculpted by your hands of love,
And fired by the flames of your discipline
Into a statue.
I cannot move without you.
I cannot breath without you.
Don't leave me to corrode in the desert.
Let your healing water moisten these baked lips;
I want to taste your goodness, again.
Who am I?
Without you I am nothing;
Just a mound of dust
Carried away
By the ebb and flow
Of time.
- Zack Strait
Nothing Can Separate
Reveling in the love of God. Realizing that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love of God.
"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 other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" - Romans 8:38-39
Even though my love is immature, God's love is mature. Even though my love is imperfect, God's love is the height of perfection. The Bible says that there is no fear in love and since God is the epitome of love, He must be the one that casts out all fear.
In my Bible study, I'm being taught about loving well. In order to recognize God's love for me, I've been pondering these questions... Asking God what He wants to say to me.
1. Do you realize that I came to meet with you?
2. Do you have any idea how much I love you? How taken I am with you?
3. Do you know that I have never forsaken you nor will I ever reject you? I was there all along. I always will be.
4. Do you realize I knew everything about you the day you were conceived? I anticipated your life and planned for it.
5. You do have an enemy, My Child. But it is not Me. He wants you to think it is.
6. I am for you.
7. Do you think you need to prove yourself lovable to Me? Deep down inside, are you trying to earn My love and attention?
8. As you strive to love Me more, do you realize the key to loving Me more is to let Me love you more?
9. Why are you resisting Me? Why are you running from Me?
10. To whom have you compared Me? Why are you running from Me?
11. I'm not like them.
12. I know what's happened. I know what's on your mind.
13. I alone know the plan for how this turns out well. I alone know how to prosper you through this.
14. My eyes and My affections are on you right now.
15. Quit trying to be so strong. Let Me be strong for you.
16. I love you unashamedly. Even now My banner flies over you. Everyone in the heavenlies knows how I feel about you. I'd leave you red-faced over My love for you... if you'd let Me.
I want to let Him love me more so that I in turn can love others more and better. My prayer is that He will continue to teach me how to love with His heart. To fill up my heart with His. To break my heart with the things that break His heart. To love out of a heart that is so filled with his that I can't help but love more and more.
Sunday, 6 May 2007
Back in the saddle again
So I've been back in the U.S. for about 6 weeks now and life here is pretty grand. Before I arrived back in the States, I stayed in London for a few days with Rachel, catching up, and having a bit of debrief before coming home.
While I was in South Africa, I received an email asking me to take a position as a permanent substitute in 2nd grade at Ketterlinus Elementary and since I agreed, I've been teaching there since the beginning of April. My class is just adorable and very chatty. I think talking is their favorite subject. Not mine of course, but only two weeks to go!
Since I've been home, I've been praying about going back to Carlisle and I am officially going back. I'll be leaving sometime in the middle of August and staying on as the office administrator, as well as a BLS student (basic leadership school) until June '08. The September school starts in the beginning of Sept. with outreach to Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines, starting at the end of November. I'll also be staffing the January school and co-leading the outreach to Ghana with my lovely Jenean.
This time at home has also been an amazing time to catch up with friends. I thought for a time that I would be home for about a month before heading to the Philippines to homeschool some children for a family in YWAM, but that seemed a little stressful and probably too much. My decision to come home instead was a very good one and has been such a blast. Hanging out not only here in St. Augustine, but going to JMOCA (Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art) and down to Orlando to geocache and spend time with Annie and Kara.
Jenean came to St. Augustine for my birthday (all the way from CA. probably the best birthday present ever!)
Quality time with the guys.
JMOCA with Jayce, Zack, and Zach.
And I just had to pose with Elvis too!
Geocaching in the Urban Wetlands of Orlando. Who knew that something so beautiful and pristine could be in the middle of Orlando? I certainly didn't know about it until this weekend. 
Annie writing down our names after finding the cache. My name during geocaching is apparently "Lemur." What do you think of that?
Annie, me, and Kara on the bridge in the urban wetlands. What a fun weekend we had! To think that I've known these girls for almost 5 years is just crazy. And to imagine that we've made it successfully through college is even crazier!
While I was in South Africa, I received an email asking me to take a position as a permanent substitute in 2nd grade at Ketterlinus Elementary and since I agreed, I've been teaching there since the beginning of April. My class is just adorable and very chatty. I think talking is their favorite subject. Not mine of course, but only two weeks to go!
Since I've been home, I've been praying about going back to Carlisle and I am officially going back. I'll be leaving sometime in the middle of August and staying on as the office administrator, as well as a BLS student (basic leadership school) until June '08. The September school starts in the beginning of Sept. with outreach to Hong Kong, China, and the Philippines, starting at the end of November. I'll also be staffing the January school and co-leading the outreach to Ghana with my lovely Jenean.
This time at home has also been an amazing time to catch up with friends. I thought for a time that I would be home for about a month before heading to the Philippines to homeschool some children for a family in YWAM, but that seemed a little stressful and probably too much. My decision to come home instead was a very good one and has been such a blast. Hanging out not only here in St. Augustine, but going to JMOCA (Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art) and down to Orlando to geocache and spend time with Annie and Kara.
Jenean came to St. Augustine for my birthday (all the way from CA. probably the best birthday present ever!)
Quality time with the guys.
JMOCA with Jayce, Zack, and Zach.
And I just had to pose with Elvis too!
Geocaching in the Urban Wetlands of Orlando. Who knew that something so beautiful and pristine could be in the middle of Orlando? I certainly didn't know about it until this weekend. 
Annie writing down our names after finding the cache. My name during geocaching is apparently "Lemur." What do you think of that?
Annie, me, and Kara on the bridge in the urban wetlands. What a fun weekend we had! To think that I've known these girls for almost 5 years is just crazy. And to imagine that we've made it successfully through college is even crazier!
Saturday, 10 March 2007
Jeffrey's Bay: Part 3
During this third week of outreach in Jeffrey's Bay, we spent time doing church services and youth groups in the community, cleaning up the CEC (Christian Education Center), and doing more general outreach opportunities. It was a bit odd coming off of our week of Beat the Drum, but an experience nonetheless.
SoYoung and a caped child.
Sami and two beautiful girls from the community.
Hiene- One of the little boys who came on the base.
SoYoung and a caped child.
Sami and two beautiful girls from the community.
Ernest found a chameleon and it became our house pet. Well, it was our pet until he left it on the tree one day, came back a few hours later, but had left our humble abode.
We had a major storm off the coast of South Africa that caused some pretty bad flooding in Jeffrey's Bay on Monday. Our day of ministry was cancelled, so we had a day with God, just focusing on our relationship with Him until we waited out the storm. It caused severe damage within the township and many families had flooding, loss of furniture, and damage to their homes. The pastor that we worked with this week worked closely with the people in the community and spent the day helping those people.
The following few days were spent doing door to door ministry. Sami and I went with a guy from the community, Gavin, and spoke with people for three days. We invited them to a church service in the evening and spent much time praying and talking with them. On the first day of our door to door ministry, Wednesday, we went to the home of a woman named Maria. She asked if we could pray with her. We of course told her yes! She said that she had pain in her right ear and was deaf in the left one. We laid hands on her ears and prayed for healing. She came to the service that evening and where she once was deaf, she now could hear!!! To the glory of God! He saw her faithfulness and our willingness to pray and amazing things happened. Her ears were completely unblocked and it's such an amazing testimony to the community as well of the greatness of God!
We had a major storm off the coast of South Africa that caused some pretty bad flooding in Jeffrey's Bay on Monday. Our day of ministry was cancelled, so we had a day with God, just focusing on our relationship with Him until we waited out the storm. It caused severe damage within the township and many families had flooding, loss of furniture, and damage to their homes. The pastor that we worked with this week worked closely with the people in the community and spent the day helping those people.
The following few days were spent doing door to door ministry. Sami and I went with a guy from the community, Gavin, and spoke with people for three days. We invited them to a church service in the evening and spent much time praying and talking with them. On the first day of our door to door ministry, Wednesday, we went to the home of a woman named Maria. She asked if we could pray with her. We of course told her yes! She said that she had pain in her right ear and was deaf in the left one. We laid hands on her ears and prayed for healing. She came to the service that evening and where she once was deaf, she now could hear!!! To the glory of God! He saw her faithfulness and our willingness to pray and amazing things happened. Her ears were completely unblocked and it's such an amazing testimony to the community as well of the greatness of God!Sunday, 4 March 2007
Jeffrey's Bay: Part 2
During our second week with YWAM J-Bay, we worked with a project called Beat the Drum, which was all about HIV/AIDS awareness. We worked with people from all kinds of organizations around Jeffrey's Bay to bring awareness to the entire community, children, youth, and adults. Our team worked with youth track by showing the film, Beat the Drum, by Bruce Wilkinson, at Pellsrus Hall to grades 6-8 from Pellsrus Primary, Makycani Primary, and Jeffrey's Bay Primary.
We then went into the schools for the next four days to talk about the film and use it as a starting point to talk about HIV/AIDS. I worked with a team from many different organizations including YWAM, AIM (Adventures in Missions), VMC (Victory Master's Commission), and UCSA.
It was an amazing time of teaching and trying to connect with the kids on a deeper level. Awesome time teaching with two guys, one from South Africa and the other from Sri Lanka. Needless to say, I did most of the teaching in the 6th grade class. We broke up into small groups for days two and three. I had a group of 10 girls, who were all Afrikaans speaking first and English speaking second. We were able to address some difficult issues regarding relationships and sex, but I would have loved to have spent more time with them, relating and investing in their lives. I just felt so burdened by a need to tell them more and get much more involved, but that was pretty impossible considering that I was only to be in J-Bay for two more weeks.
I learned during this week of ministry that although going in for a short time is a great overview of different organizations and getting my feet wet, that's not what I'm made for, nor what stirs my heart. My desire is to walk alongside the students, children, or people for the long haul. I want to invest in their lives and when things come up, be able to mentor them and be supportive. Although outreach was a great time to see the small bits, I wanted so much more out of this week. My desire was to work with the people daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and get to create real relationship with them. This was a great week to show me where my heart is and what I long for in ministry.
We then went into the schools for the next four days to talk about the film and use it as a starting point to talk about HIV/AIDS. I worked with a team from many different organizations including YWAM, AIM (Adventures in Missions), VMC (Victory Master's Commission), and UCSA.
It was an amazing time of teaching and trying to connect with the kids on a deeper level. Awesome time teaching with two guys, one from South Africa and the other from Sri Lanka. Needless to say, I did most of the teaching in the 6th grade class. We broke up into small groups for days two and three. I had a group of 10 girls, who were all Afrikaans speaking first and English speaking second. We were able to address some difficult issues regarding relationships and sex, but I would have loved to have spent more time with them, relating and investing in their lives. I just felt so burdened by a need to tell them more and get much more involved, but that was pretty impossible considering that I was only to be in J-Bay for two more weeks.
I learned during this week of ministry that although going in for a short time is a great overview of different organizations and getting my feet wet, that's not what I'm made for, nor what stirs my heart. My desire is to walk alongside the students, children, or people for the long haul. I want to invest in their lives and when things come up, be able to mentor them and be supportive. Although outreach was a great time to see the small bits, I wanted so much more out of this week. My desire was to work with the people daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and get to create real relationship with them. This was a great week to show me where my heart is and what I long for in ministry.
Thursday, 22 February 2007
Jeffrey's Bay: Part 1
I suppose I'll try to catch up since my last post. So much has happened since we left Muizenberg and went to Jeffrey's Bay for the second half of our outreach.
We first took a 12 hour bus journey from Cape Town to Jeffrey's Bay on February 16th. It was a beautiful way to see the Garden Route and spend some quality time together as a team. Especially since we were stuck hanging out with each other :) We rode on Intercape Coach Services and they even served complimentary tea and coffee throughout the journey. I think it might have been nicer than our flight from England.
This is Ernest, thoroughly enjoying his coffee while looking out the front of the coach, on the second level.
One of the stops during our journey was Mossel Bay, where the other half of our team was doing outreach. As we pulled up to the station, we commented that we ought to call the team, and in disbelief, we watched the team run out from the side and surprise us with a much needed visit. We got to catch up with them for about 20 minutes. It was an amazing surprise, especially since during the trip, I had asked God to surprise me that day. I thought it might be to see some cool animals, but of course, He completely exceeded my expectations.
We rented a house in J-Bay, away from the YWAM base so we could have some space and private time with the team, especially during debrief week.
Here's the base, which sits right on the edge of the township, so there are always kids hanging out with the students and staff.
We spent the first week doing things at the base. We attended base worship, where we were welcomed with African dancing and singing. It was quite the experience! And a 'baie warm' welcome. We worked at cleaning up on the base, leading youth groups in the evenings, base intercession, and getting orientated to the township and Jeffrey's Bay.
We first took a 12 hour bus journey from Cape Town to Jeffrey's Bay on February 16th. It was a beautiful way to see the Garden Route and spend some quality time together as a team. Especially since we were stuck hanging out with each other :) We rode on Intercape Coach Services and they even served complimentary tea and coffee throughout the journey. I think it might have been nicer than our flight from England.
This is Ernest, thoroughly enjoying his coffee while looking out the front of the coach, on the second level.One of the stops during our journey was Mossel Bay, where the other half of our team was doing outreach. As we pulled up to the station, we commented that we ought to call the team, and in disbelief, we watched the team run out from the side and surprise us with a much needed visit. We got to catch up with them for about 20 minutes. It was an amazing surprise, especially since during the trip, I had asked God to surprise me that day. I thought it might be to see some cool animals, but of course, He completely exceeded my expectations.
We rented a house in J-Bay, away from the YWAM base so we could have some space and private time with the team, especially during debrief week.
Here's the base, which sits right on the edge of the township, so there are always kids hanging out with the students and staff.
We spent the first week doing things at the base. We attended base worship, where we were welcomed with African dancing and singing. It was quite the experience! And a 'baie warm' welcome. We worked at cleaning up on the base, leading youth groups in the evenings, base intercession, and getting orientated to the township and Jeffrey's Bay.
Tuesday, 6 February 2007
Our last full week of ministry in Muizenberg
This is the song that we danced to both at church and at the Pollsmoor Prison yesterday. It's by Jennifer Knapp, called Refine Me.
I come into this place burning to receive your peace
I come with my own chains
From wars I've fought for my own selfish gain
You're my God and my father
I've accepted your son
But my soul feels so empty now
What have I become?
Lord come with your fires,burn my desires refine me
Lord, my will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Refine me, refine me
My heart can't see
When I only look at me
My soul can't hear
When I only think of my own fears
They are gone in a moment
You're forever the same
Why did I look away from You
How can I speak Your name?
Lord, come with Your fire, burn my desires, refine me
Lord, My will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Come rescue this child
For I long to be reconciled to you
Refine me... All I can do
Is lift my heart and soul to You
And pray, oh I will pray...
Giving my testimony during our first Sunday service. It was the first time that I'd really used an interpreter to give a message and it was such the experience stopping after each sentence and letting it be translated into Xhosa.
The church building with quite a few children where we hold Sunday services and youth group each week. It's currently just a building that's rented out in the community to different organizations and groups. In the future, the church will be building in the Delft township, so they'll have their own building and center for people in the community. It'll include a preschool as well as a recreation area for the children in the community.
This week has been a crazy one in terms of ministry. We started out the week at the Beautiful Gate Orphanage doing practical work on the grounds, such as weeding, picking up rubbish, and some general cleaning. Pastor Gabriel was due to pick us up around 1:30, and we'd go to the township of Burundi for door to door ministry, but in true African fashion, didn't because he showed up 2 hours late and by that point it was just easier to go back to the base.
So on Tuesday, the plan was to go to Beautiful Gate again, but this time we'd take the train there because Gabriel had a prior commitment. The trip should have taken 30 min by car, but when going by train and taxi, it took 2 hours. We left the base at 9 am and arrived in time for coffee with the DTS students at 11 am. Needless to say, it was a great time getting to know the students and some of the staff. Then we continued on with working in the garden and weeding. Once again, Gabriel was to pick us up and we were to go the juvenile prison, Horizon Youth Centre, but instead we got cancelled on because plans weren't confirmed for the prison. We decided to take the train and taxi back to Muizenberg (another 2 hours of travel), with some evangelism at the train station in Wynberg.
On Wednesday, we had intercession at 7:30 am, got all the sound equipment loaded, and headed off to the adult prison, Pollsmoor for a program for the prisoners. We thought that we'd be in section Medium A, like last week, but instead we visited B-5, which is for juvenile prisoners, age 14-18. It was a pretty rough area, but we did our dance and just shared our hearts with them. We were able to pray for the boys, which was great. In the afternoon, we did the Capricorn Children's Club, playing games with the kids, sharing songs and a story, and then handing out a meal.
I come into this place burning to receive your peace
I come with my own chains
From wars I've fought for my own selfish gain
You're my God and my father
I've accepted your son
But my soul feels so empty now
What have I become?
Lord come with your fires,burn my desires refine me
Lord, my will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Refine me, refine me
My heart can't see
When I only look at me
My soul can't hear
When I only think of my own fears
They are gone in a moment
You're forever the same
Why did I look away from You
How can I speak Your name?
Lord, come with Your fire, burn my desires, refine me
Lord, My will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Come rescue this child
For I long to be reconciled to you
Refine me... All I can do
Is lift my heart and soul to You
And pray, oh I will pray...
Giving my testimony during our first Sunday service. It was the first time that I'd really used an interpreter to give a message and it was such the experience stopping after each sentence and letting it be translated into Xhosa.
The church building with quite a few children where we hold Sunday services and youth group each week. It's currently just a building that's rented out in the community to different organizations and groups. In the future, the church will be building in the Delft township, so they'll have their own building and center for people in the community. It'll include a preschool as well as a recreation area for the children in the community.
This week has been a crazy one in terms of ministry. We started out the week at the Beautiful Gate Orphanage doing practical work on the grounds, such as weeding, picking up rubbish, and some general cleaning. Pastor Gabriel was due to pick us up around 1:30, and we'd go to the township of Burundi for door to door ministry, but in true African fashion, didn't because he showed up 2 hours late and by that point it was just easier to go back to the base.
So on Tuesday, the plan was to go to Beautiful Gate again, but this time we'd take the train there because Gabriel had a prior commitment. The trip should have taken 30 min by car, but when going by train and taxi, it took 2 hours. We left the base at 9 am and arrived in time for coffee with the DTS students at 11 am. Needless to say, it was a great time getting to know the students and some of the staff. Then we continued on with working in the garden and weeding. Once again, Gabriel was to pick us up and we were to go the juvenile prison, Horizon Youth Centre, but instead we got cancelled on because plans weren't confirmed for the prison. We decided to take the train and taxi back to Muizenberg (another 2 hours of travel), with some evangelism at the train station in Wynberg.
On Wednesday, we had intercession at 7:30 am, got all the sound equipment loaded, and headed off to the adult prison, Pollsmoor for a program for the prisoners. We thought that we'd be in section Medium A, like last week, but instead we visited B-5, which is for juvenile prisoners, age 14-18. It was a pretty rough area, but we did our dance and just shared our hearts with them. We were able to pray for the boys, which was great. In the afternoon, we did the Capricorn Children's Club, playing games with the kids, sharing songs and a story, and then handing out a meal.
Today we went back to Pollsmoor to work with the young men that we had seen last week. It was great seeing them again, but because there were fewer guards, we had to have the program inside the corridor between the cells. It made it harder to move and around and minister to the guys and it meant that they had less freedom. We did a drama on the potter and clay and I spoke about the heart that God has for them as their Father. I just got so struck last night with God's heart for them. That He wants to give them each new names. That even though the world might call them thieves, criminals, murderers, good for nothings, or hopeless, God calls them sons, warriors, mighty men, Beloved. It was so important to communicate to them that He is for them and that even though they haven't had very good examples of fathers, God is the ultimate Father. The one who they can trust, who loves them above all, who wants the best, who will discipline them, but always in love and in truth. It was such a neat time and we were able to pray for a number of the young men. Then this afternoon, we went to the Horizon Youth Centre to put on a program and hang out. There's so much less hope for the future there and you can tell that there's not a ministry on the campus to share the love of God with them. I'm in hope that someday there will be regular staff there to disciple the boys and encourage them in Christianity, but for now we're just praying for a revival in that place like the one in Pollsmoor.
Tomorrow we're looking forward to the Beautiful Gate, door to door, and our last youth group. It's so exciting to see what God is doing. He is great and mighty indeed!
We also visited a gorgeous vineyeard, called Groot Constantia. It was our last meal together with our pastor, Gabriel, his wife Deborah, Mwamba, and Alido. We had so much fun and a really fantastic meal as well!
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
Prison Madness
Okay, so we were supposed to visit the Juvenile prison on Monday... which we did, put on a program and spoke with the boys who are there. Our program was successful enough and the boys were just pleased to have people visiting and interested in them I think. It was very odd though to have 15-17 year old boys touching my hair. I was more than a little weirded out by it. But luckily I got over it and I was able to have some interesting conversations with them. Why they were in the prison, what are their dreams when they get out..that kind of thing.
Then yesterday we were supposed to go to the adult prison, but we had some major miscommunication, so we spent the day planning for our other ministries this week. Well that meant that things were supposed to be straightened out for today to go to the adult prison. We had worked out a program and we were going to interact with the prisoners for a few hours. We meant to leave at 7:30 am, do orientation, then join up with Hope Prison Ministries, and go into the prison. Well instead we left at 8:20 am, did a little orientation and devo at the prison, got our permits, and went to the area where we would do ministry. Well we prayed and waited and waited and prayed only to find out that the head female pastor wasn't told of our visit, saw us, and decided that we weren't allowed in to do ministry because she didn't hear of it first. Absolute craziness!
So instead, we're planning on returning to the prison tomorrow morning for ministry and then going to the juvenile prison again to do more ministry and hang out time with the boys. This afternoon, we went into the Capricorn township for children's ministry. We had a great time hanging out with the kids, singing, doing a drama about the potter and his clay, and playing games. The people from Living Hope, the organization that puts on the program, also bring food for the children. It's just great working with the kids and getting to spend time with them week after week.
This evening after dinner, Sami, SoYoung, and I went to Kosie's Place for coffee and dessert. it was so relaxing to just spend time together eating and not having to worry about tomorrow and ministry. I had a banana split and coffee. It was delicious after a very hot and somewhat odd day.
*Please pray for favor for us from the people at the prison tomorrow and that the prisoners would be open to receive what God wants to do in them.
Then yesterday we were supposed to go to the adult prison, but we had some major miscommunication, so we spent the day planning for our other ministries this week. Well that meant that things were supposed to be straightened out for today to go to the adult prison. We had worked out a program and we were going to interact with the prisoners for a few hours. We meant to leave at 7:30 am, do orientation, then join up with Hope Prison Ministries, and go into the prison. Well instead we left at 8:20 am, did a little orientation and devo at the prison, got our permits, and went to the area where we would do ministry. Well we prayed and waited and waited and prayed only to find out that the head female pastor wasn't told of our visit, saw us, and decided that we weren't allowed in to do ministry because she didn't hear of it first. Absolute craziness!
So instead, we're planning on returning to the prison tomorrow morning for ministry and then going to the juvenile prison again to do more ministry and hang out time with the boys. This afternoon, we went into the Capricorn township for children's ministry. We had a great time hanging out with the kids, singing, doing a drama about the potter and his clay, and playing games. The people from Living Hope, the organization that puts on the program, also bring food for the children. It's just great working with the kids and getting to spend time with them week after week.
This evening after dinner, Sami, SoYoung, and I went to Kosie's Place for coffee and dessert. it was so relaxing to just spend time together eating and not having to worry about tomorrow and ministry. I had a banana split and coffee. It was delicious after a very hot and somewhat odd day.
*Please pray for favor for us from the people at the prison tomorrow and that the prisoners would be open to receive what God wants to do in them.
Monday, 29 January 2007
Xhosa church
Yesterday we had church from 9:30 (when we left Muizenberg) until we got back to the base around 5:15 pm. It was so long, but it was really good. The worship is just so different from Western style and the people are so much more alive in their worship. It's not about conforming to a certain style, but dancing and singing and praying when the Spirit moves you. I got asked to teach Sunday School for the children by Pastor Gabriel's wife, so I ended up doing a lesson on creation for about 65 children, outside, in the heat. It was interesting to say the least. We also played games, danced, and sang. The church was having a service where they were really inviting the Holy Spirit in, so we got to pray with people and just receive His Presence. To just be in that mode of freedom and waiting on God can be so filling as you're pouring out to others.
We didn't get the chance to go the juvenile prison on Thursday, so we're going today and Thursday. Hopefully all will go well with our program.
The other team leaves today as well, so we're going out for coffee and hangout time this morning to spend some last times fellowshipping before we meet up again in 6 weeks for debrief. It's going to be so strange without them here. As much as I will miss the other team though, it'll be fantastic to meet back up with them in Jeffrey's Bay and to reconnect. I know that we'll have plenty of time to hang out, but it just won't be the same without them here in Muizenberg.
We didn't get the chance to go the juvenile prison on Thursday, so we're going today and Thursday. Hopefully all will go well with our program.
The other team leaves today as well, so we're going out for coffee and hangout time this morning to spend some last times fellowshipping before we meet up again in 6 weeks for debrief. It's going to be so strange without them here. As much as I will miss the other team though, it'll be fantastic to meet back up with them in Jeffrey's Bay and to reconnect. I know that we'll have plenty of time to hang out, but it just won't be the same without them here in Muizenberg.
Sunday, 28 January 2007
South Africa
We have officially made it to Muizenberg, South Africa. The team and I arrived on January 15th in Cape Town and we're staying in Muizenberg, which is actually a white suburb outside of Cape Town. We're staying on the YWAM base, where they're running a DTS that started in January and an SBS (school of biblical studies) that started last September. Needless to say, there are about 4 times as many people on the base here than in Carlisle and it can be slightly overwhelming at times, but it's great meeting so many other YWAMers.
So, the team arrived safely, but without Meghan, who was asked by the leadership to not attend outreach. She wasn't really in the mode to be able to do ministry and due to some prior instances, safety was also an issue. It was so difficult leaving her at the airport and it's definitely made our team dynamics change. Since Meghan isn't with us, our team dropped down to 4 DTS students and 2 leaders. Once we arrived in South Africa, we found out that there was a student who wasn't able to go on outreach with his school because of difficulties with his visa. So Alido, who is from South Africa, joined our team last week and it's been such a blessing.
We've been working primarily with Pastor Gabriel in the townships and with the church that he's planting. It's been an interesting experience so far. We've been doing door to door evangelism in the townships of Green Park and Delft. We've also been helping with the youth group on Friday nights in Mfuleni and attending the church service there on Sunday mornings. We've seen 3-4 people come to Christ in the townships and we've been able to pray for a number of others. We've also done some beach evangelism in Muizenberg. There's a children's ministry in Capricorn, another township, and we will be putting that on weekly until we leave for Jeffrey's Bay.
This next week, we'll be working in the prisons, both juvenile and adult, putting on a program and just trying to bring some hope.
It's been a bit of a shock being here in South Africa in that the food is different, the climate is much warmer, and the people are so much more receptive to hearing the Gospel (at least compared to England). It's so odd to see miles and miles of townships and coloured communities that are in pretty poor condition. Apparently conditions are getting better compared to what they were even a few years ago. The children are so beautiful and just want to be loved on (as all kids do). The youth that we're working with are so passionate about Jesus and about furthering their educations so that they can improve the situation of South Africa. Many of them did a DTS here in Muizenberg in the past year or two, so they know exactly why we're here and have been so willing to help.
Please continue to pray for the team as we do ministry. That we would meet those whom God has intended for us to speak to. That we would be a blessing to the people. That we would stand together in unity. Also pray for the Garden Route team as they prepare to leave to Ashton on Monday and will be traveling.
So, the team arrived safely, but without Meghan, who was asked by the leadership to not attend outreach. She wasn't really in the mode to be able to do ministry and due to some prior instances, safety was also an issue. It was so difficult leaving her at the airport and it's definitely made our team dynamics change. Since Meghan isn't with us, our team dropped down to 4 DTS students and 2 leaders. Once we arrived in South Africa, we found out that there was a student who wasn't able to go on outreach with his school because of difficulties with his visa. So Alido, who is from South Africa, joined our team last week and it's been such a blessing.
We've been working primarily with Pastor Gabriel in the townships and with the church that he's planting. It's been an interesting experience so far. We've been doing door to door evangelism in the townships of Green Park and Delft. We've also been helping with the youth group on Friday nights in Mfuleni and attending the church service there on Sunday mornings. We've seen 3-4 people come to Christ in the townships and we've been able to pray for a number of others. We've also done some beach evangelism in Muizenberg. There's a children's ministry in Capricorn, another township, and we will be putting that on weekly until we leave for Jeffrey's Bay.
This next week, we'll be working in the prisons, both juvenile and adult, putting on a program and just trying to bring some hope.
It's been a bit of a shock being here in South Africa in that the food is different, the climate is much warmer, and the people are so much more receptive to hearing the Gospel (at least compared to England). It's so odd to see miles and miles of townships and coloured communities that are in pretty poor condition. Apparently conditions are getting better compared to what they were even a few years ago. The children are so beautiful and just want to be loved on (as all kids do). The youth that we're working with are so passionate about Jesus and about furthering their educations so that they can improve the situation of South Africa. Many of them did a DTS here in Muizenberg in the past year or two, so they know exactly why we're here and have been so willing to help.
Please continue to pray for the team as we do ministry. That we would meet those whom God has intended for us to speak to. That we would be a blessing to the people. That we would stand together in unity. Also pray for the Garden Route team as they prepare to leave to Ashton on Monday and will be traveling.
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