Feb 19 – To South Africa
After leaving Cambodia, we made a quick trip to Thailand before getting on a plane to South Africa. We crossed the border from Cambodia to Thailand with all our belongings strapped to our backs. For the 24 hours in Thailand I wandered through the markets and had some street pad Thai. There we celebrated Lianne’s 19th birthday! The next day I walked 14 miles to one of the biggest malls in the world and went ice skating. Doug (who is good at everything) taught me how to make circles in the ice. Kinda random but a lot of fun. Then we flew a good 13 hours to South Africa for debrief. Where we went on a safari and saw an assortment of animals I’d never even heard of before. Our driver was quite a character… his go to phrase was “shall I say”. So here are some shall I say animals we saw.
Thailand:
South Africa:
Feb 27 – Eswatini
For ministry here we have been working at care points in the surrounding areas. My teams care point is right next to the base we’re staying at. The base here is so beautiful. There’s a lot of space to roam and a big tree where I like to spend time reading. Considering there’s no internet and the nearest gas station is an hour walk, there’s not much else to do in our free time but read and play Rook. The latest on the shelf has been The Heavenly Man and Seeing God as a Perfect Father. Highly recommend. The pace of life her is peaceful and simple. The Lord has taught me a lot of about the art of just existing alongside His working hand.
March 6 – 7 Years
This day marked 7 years since my dad passed away. Grief is ongoing but seven is the number of completion and God really completed something in me. I took time to focus on what was lost, something I had never given myself the space to do because I’d always focused on what God brought from it. However, seeing what I lost put me in a position to search. Search for the Fathers love. Let me tell you, I had deeper revelations of the Fathers love for me. Seek and you will find Him! We belong to Him and we carry apart of Him within us!
March 10 – PVT
The squad left to Manzini for PVT (parent vision trip) where their parents came to visit. There were 7 of us who stayed back at base for the week (again the number of completion). This was probably one of my favorite weeks of the race. Although we were the group without parents coming, the Lord really anointed me with His peace. We just got to do life together: cook meals, play card games, have spontaneous dance parties and build an epic fort out of the mattresses. We also just had sweet moments of prayer and worship and reading through Psalm 91 (ironic because we built a fort). This group of people was a variety of characters. The Rook players included…
Kara – a leader who leads with a childlike admiration of the Lord
Clayton – a friend who submits to the spirit in all he does (also my Rook coach)
Claire – someone who has remained steadfast in the Lord in daily life
So I knew there was something to learn from each person. One thing I can say confidently them is each one has something that individually excites them. Whether it be animals, food, Bible stories or people groups. I really feel like the Lord refreshed my excitement for the little joys in life and slowed me down in every sense of the word. Even when it comes to food. Kara put me on pulverizing my food. Which just means chewing it all the way so that you get more nutrients out of it. But when applied to life, you really get more out of life when you slow down and chew on things.
During this time I took time to fast and pray. The Lord revealed to me that I’ve been walking in the unbelief that He has good things for me. Seeing how I cling to what I think is good in my life shows me I don’t believe he has something better when I surrender those things. Also as I come closer to the end of the race, I’m faced with my future plans… or lack thereof. I’ve been sitting in this season of not knowing and waiting to know. Apart of me is hesitant to make plans for a number of reasons: one of them being that I don’t think that God is working all things together for my good.
March 22 – Confession
One my friends Clayton did a talk on repentance and fostered a space to confess things to our brothers and sisters in Christ. I confessed my unbelief about Gods goodness and my leader, with her hand on my head and my heart, prayed for head to heart knowledge. There was a shift in my faith and I felt freedom to walk towards a plan for my next season of life apart from fear of losing. I’ve since felt a lot of peace about going to the Middle East in the spring. As for the summer I’ll be home and the fall is yet to be known.
March 27 – Care Point Ministty
Ministry at the care point has included cooking rice from the manna packs for the kids every day. We make it in this big pot over an open fire. We mostly spend time playing or sitting with the kids. It’s very simple, but God has shown me how much He is in the simple. Just sitting with a kid and praying for them as they are falling asleep in your lap is more than enough for the Lord to move. Even when I’m not moving, He is. These kids have a hard time with violence however. There has been a number of fights we’ve had to break up. Thankfully we’ve had 3 boys on our team for this month. But it’s really sad because that’s all they know to do and it’s a defense for them. I believe the Lord will reveal more of His gentle love to these kids and that the gentle love we’ve shown them has made an impact in their hearts. God is showering His goodness over this country and even in my own heart in so many ways. He really is working all things together for our good!
Next Month
We found out our ministry placements for South Africa! Plot twist: my team will be going to a whole other country! We will be doing house visits in Lesotho! It’s a kingdom in the mountains and we will be doing house visits! I love house visits because you meet people where there at and get to bring the love of the Lord directly to peoples homes. Also we will be with team Abide! I’m so excited for the Lords blessing! We will not have service so you will hear updates from me when I’m back in the states! As for now be praying for safety and for His provision in this next season.
