Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
28.4.10
Abundance
We taught prayer at Launch Pad today. Thandeka shared a story of answered prayer: she wasn't able to attend a church but wanted to learn more about God. She prayed that He would provide a way for her to know Him better and was then invited to our classes. I made a lesson of this, explaining that God answers our prayers in ways we might not expect. She agreed when I told her I was sure she didn't expect two white girls from North America to come to her school in South Africa to talk about the Lord. We laughed. I then shared that God provides in abundance, more than we've asked. I told her that I could plainly instruct her about God but instead we dialogue, we share testimony, we sing, we play games, we have treats, and we're friends. Amen.
Under the Big Top
A traveling circus stoped in Harrismith yesterday. We made a ministry outing of it and there were elephants and a jump roping poodle!
26.4.10
Mpilo
Another Hope House little one has taken hold of my heart. The toddlers wake from their naps during our Friday lesson and sleepily wander in. Mpilo cuddled into my arms and fell asleep on my chest outside in the sunshine for the last hour of our visit. Some days we all just want to be held.
Bright and Salty
God has called me to passionate discipleship and I am captivated by The Message. We were asked to write an assignment defining our pupose.
This is it: to be bright and salty; to be bold and humble.
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up with others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. [Mathew 5:13-16, the Message]
Jesus so plainly shares with “those who were apprenticed to him, the committed.” This is us! This is our purpose, our reason for being here. We must bring glory to Him by living a life of salt-and-light, a life of Christ-likeness, a life of worship; one that draws people into communion with God as illustrated in the teachings of Jesus. Matthew 5:13-16 [MSG] calls us to shine, calls us to proclaim God’s goodness publicly. Our lives must bear the image of our beautiful Lord.
Jesus continues in Matthew to speak on the law, bringing definition to our purpose as salt-and-light. We are told to be serious about God’s law and to lead others by our lawfulness, assured that our honour will be found in the Kingdom [Matthew 5:19-20, MSG]. Jesus returns to this teaching of seriousness about the Law when He calls us to be radical when turning from sin and temptation. He calls us to be bold and dramatic, to give up everything so that our souls may remain pure [Matthew 5:29-30, MSG]. These instructions are bright.
We are then told to be the bigger man, to right wrongs with those we have offended and those who have offended us. We are called to action, to initiation, to make the first move [Matthew 5:23-26, MSG]. With this act of salt-and-light we then demonstrate God’s passion for reconciled relationship and our humility through sacrifice. Jesus again emphasizes this call to rise above in speaking about our enemies. Here we are called to restraint, to submission. We are called to servant-hood and love. We are told to grow up, to be generous and gracious as our Father has endlessly been to us. We are invited into opportunity, opportunity to be reveal our best in persecution [Matthew 5:38-48, MSG]. These instructions are both bright and salty.
Jesus teaches that our life of salt-and-light exists in simplicity, is rewarded in humility. It is when we serve Him when serving others, when we seek His approval and become uninterested in an audience that God will work with us and speak to us. Our good deeds, our periods of fasting, our words of prayer, must go unnoticed by all but the One we represent. In that invisibility, we ensure that our intentions are pure and our actions authentic [Matthew 6:1-18, MSG]. He too teaches on simplicity in calling us to a life of worship by abandoning our attention to superficial needs. He calls us to a life of simple trust. God provides, Jesus assures us of this, and we are to live in this reality by turning our focus away from the created to the Creator [Matthew 6:19-34, MSG]. These instructions are salty.
Jesus concludes his salt-and-light instruction to us with a list of behavioural guidelines and foundational words. We are called away from a critical attitude and towards humility and acceptance. We called to examine ourselves, to worry about our own imperfections. We are told not to make a joke of God in trying to appeal to those who do not yet understand. This does not honour or respect God, nor does it draw people to communion [Matthew 7:1-6, MSG].
All that Jesus calls us to in a life of salt-and-light brings glory to God, sings praises and worship to Him, and invites people into relationship with Him. This is my passion; this is my purpose. If we fail to recognize this, if we fail to live like this, we’ve “lost our usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”
This is it: to be bright and salty; to be bold and humble.
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up with others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. [Mathew 5:13-16, the Message]
Jesus so plainly shares with “those who were apprenticed to him, the committed.” This is us! This is our purpose, our reason for being here. We must bring glory to Him by living a life of salt-and-light, a life of Christ-likeness, a life of worship; one that draws people into communion with God as illustrated in the teachings of Jesus. Matthew 5:13-16 [MSG] calls us to shine, calls us to proclaim God’s goodness publicly. Our lives must bear the image of our beautiful Lord.
Jesus continues in Matthew to speak on the law, bringing definition to our purpose as salt-and-light. We are told to be serious about God’s law and to lead others by our lawfulness, assured that our honour will be found in the Kingdom [Matthew 5:19-20, MSG]. Jesus returns to this teaching of seriousness about the Law when He calls us to be radical when turning from sin and temptation. He calls us to be bold and dramatic, to give up everything so that our souls may remain pure [Matthew 5:29-30, MSG]. These instructions are bright.
We are then told to be the bigger man, to right wrongs with those we have offended and those who have offended us. We are called to action, to initiation, to make the first move [Matthew 5:23-26, MSG]. With this act of salt-and-light we then demonstrate God’s passion for reconciled relationship and our humility through sacrifice. Jesus again emphasizes this call to rise above in speaking about our enemies. Here we are called to restraint, to submission. We are called to servant-hood and love. We are told to grow up, to be generous and gracious as our Father has endlessly been to us. We are invited into opportunity, opportunity to be reveal our best in persecution [Matthew 5:38-48, MSG]. These instructions are both bright and salty.
Jesus teaches that our life of salt-and-light exists in simplicity, is rewarded in humility. It is when we serve Him when serving others, when we seek His approval and become uninterested in an audience that God will work with us and speak to us. Our good deeds, our periods of fasting, our words of prayer, must go unnoticed by all but the One we represent. In that invisibility, we ensure that our intentions are pure and our actions authentic [Matthew 6:1-18, MSG]. He too teaches on simplicity in calling us to a life of worship by abandoning our attention to superficial needs. He calls us to a life of simple trust. God provides, Jesus assures us of this, and we are to live in this reality by turning our focus away from the created to the Creator [Matthew 6:19-34, MSG]. These instructions are salty.
Jesus concludes his salt-and-light instruction to us with a list of behavioural guidelines and foundational words. We are called away from a critical attitude and towards humility and acceptance. We called to examine ourselves, to worry about our own imperfections. We are told not to make a joke of God in trying to appeal to those who do not yet understand. This does not honour or respect God, nor does it draw people to communion [Matthew 7:1-6, MSG].
All that Jesus calls us to in a life of salt-and-light brings glory to God, sings praises and worship to Him, and invites people into relationship with Him. This is my passion; this is my purpose. If we fail to recognize this, if we fail to live like this, we’ve “lost our usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”
Silence
I do want to write but I feel so paralyzed by fear of unmet expectation. Let me work through this. I have beautiful things to share.
19.3.10
Lebitso
Little Thabang and Mpilo gave me an accidental Sesotho name today: Palesa. They thought my name was Palesa because it is a Sesotho name that sounds like Alicia. Palesa means flower. Cute!
16.2.10
Kingdom Work By Candlelight
The weather today was stormy and we lost power for a couple of hours. With the IMPACT student conference tomorrow and so much to do we improvised putting together materials and cutting name tags by candlelight.
12.2.10
Hope at Hope House
Hope House was so encouraging today. It is a joy to watch 30 children grow as God's truth and love rests in their hearts. Thabang, the three year old boy who peed on me last week, is a terror. Truely. He is so dear to me though. He who last week crumpled his paper, threw crayons at the other children and bit some of the interns, today carefully put the crayons away in their box, gernerously shared with others, and gently combed our hair with a stick. We cuddled, we played, and he carefully brought water from the hose to wash Katie's hair. My heart found rest today at Hope House. The older girls have taken to me too and invited me to sit with them, singing for me and teaching me to speak Zulu. I see Jesus in each one of their little faces.
Launch Pad Assemblies
Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let Your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
Your Love Is Strong, Jon Foreman
Jace encouraged us early this week with a verse from Isaiah:
I will go before you
and will level mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron. [Isaiah 45:2]
I have spent two weeks captivated by the book of Ephesians:
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. [Ephesians 2:10]
God is SO faithful. We visited two schools in Intabazwe today. When we arrived at the second school the headmaster did not want us to perform our assembly because he did not want to interrupt the learning that had already began. He invited us to speak to each class about Launch Pad and to pass out information. He asked us to wait in the office while he made arrangements with the teachers. We were then lead by the headmaster to the gymnasium where the students were lining rows of chairs. Without explanation, he left us to the students who are filing into their seats. God does level mountains. We performed for the students and Jace took to the stage to introduce our village discipleship class. Jace asked the students if they felt their lives had purpose: they agreed. Jace asked the students if they knew what their purpose was: the room fell silent. Responding boldly to God’s voice, Jace pressed further and asked if the students knew God: overwhelming silence. Jace then invited the students to meet God, shared with them the love of Jesus, and encouraged them to come to the front to be prayed over. We were hesitant and uncomfortable but came down from the stage and waited. The room was motionless. I was embarrassed. 50 students then flooded to the front of the gymnasium. They asked us to pray over them: to pray that their lives would be changed, to pray that they would come to know God, to pray for their exams, to pray for their dreams. They intimately shared their passions with us, their hearts with us. The Spirit filled me and I began to lay hands on each student. I prayed with a sincere and joyful heart: prayed that they would be blessed by God, that they would seek God, that they would know the love God has for them, that they would know how special and smart and beautiful they are. I felt God speak through me, I felt God move in my hands. I hugged the students and with conviction invited them to attend our classes which would be a place of safety where they could encounter God and build healthy relationships with other students, a place they could be prayed for and loved. Three students prayed the salvation prayer with other interns; others renewed their commitment to God. God is so good. Today was a beautiful reward for our efforts this week.
You always amaze me
Let Your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
Your Love Is Strong, Jon Foreman
Jace encouraged us early this week with a verse from Isaiah:
I will go before you
and will level mountains;
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron. [Isaiah 45:2]
I have spent two weeks captivated by the book of Ephesians:
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. [Ephesians 2:10]
God is SO faithful. We visited two schools in Intabazwe today. When we arrived at the second school the headmaster did not want us to perform our assembly because he did not want to interrupt the learning that had already began. He invited us to speak to each class about Launch Pad and to pass out information. He asked us to wait in the office while he made arrangements with the teachers. We were then lead by the headmaster to the gymnasium where the students were lining rows of chairs. Without explanation, he left us to the students who are filing into their seats. God does level mountains. We performed for the students and Jace took to the stage to introduce our village discipleship class. Jace asked the students if they felt their lives had purpose: they agreed. Jace asked the students if they knew what their purpose was: the room fell silent. Responding boldly to God’s voice, Jace pressed further and asked if the students knew God: overwhelming silence. Jace then invited the students to meet God, shared with them the love of Jesus, and encouraged them to come to the front to be prayed over. We were hesitant and uncomfortable but came down from the stage and waited. The room was motionless. I was embarrassed. 50 students then flooded to the front of the gymnasium. They asked us to pray over them: to pray that their lives would be changed, to pray that they would come to know God, to pray for their exams, to pray for their dreams. They intimately shared their passions with us, their hearts with us. The Spirit filled me and I began to lay hands on each student. I prayed with a sincere and joyful heart: prayed that they would be blessed by God, that they would seek God, that they would know the love God has for them, that they would know how special and smart and beautiful they are. I felt God speak through me, I felt God move in my hands. I hugged the students and with conviction invited them to attend our classes which would be a place of safety where they could encounter God and build healthy relationships with other students, a place they could be prayed for and loved. Three students prayed the salvation prayer with other interns; others renewed their commitment to God. God is so good. Today was a beautiful reward for our efforts this week.
7.2.10
Adventure
We climbed Mooihoek yesterday: 7,470 feet above sea level. 10 year old Tsholedi fearlessly ran ahead climbing through bushes and hiking up rock faces. Great kid.
Braids
My long soft hair is a novelty for these little girls and they love to braid, twist, and comb [rip out] my hair. So precious.
5.2.10
31.1.10
Intabazwe
Approximately 65,000 Basothos live in this rural township. The population is very young with 45% of the residents under the age of 14. The unemployment rate which is already high will raise dramatically as this young population reaches working age. 75% of this years highschool graduates will not get a job or go onto college.
Bundubasch
We went offroading on base today and found the baby zebras. So cute. It was a gorgeous day today.
29.1.10
Faces Of Hope
We visited the Hope House orphanage in Harrismith today. The children are beautiful. We will visit them for 2 hours each Friday for the rest of the year singing songs, teaching them God's truth, and loving them as Jesus does. My photos are posted here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2142350&id=116204457&l=df309f17e5
28.1.10
Shoota
27.1.10
Acting Debut
As a team we will be performing for students in grades 6 through 9 at 13 schools in Qwa Qwa and Intabazwe to promote our Launch Pad village discipleship classes. The short play is called Tumo's Journey and I play Mpho, the football star of the village. Our debut is February 8th and we will continue throughout the week. After our play, we will share testimony and build relationships with the students. We hope to encourage the students to attend the classes which will be taught weekly in 6 different locations. Alaina and I will teach together with an interpreter at Boitsabelo in Qwa Qwa.
Internship
Yesterday we interviewed for our behind the scenes internship placement. I have been placed in the Leadership Summit department. Leadership Summit is the AIDS prevention program hosted in 10 public schools in Qwa Qwa and Intabazwe. Students are taught abstinence, leadership development and finding life-purpose through a relationship with God. One in four people in South Africa are infected with HIV.
26.1.10
Luxury
It was so wonderful to come home to fresh laundry today, pressed and folded. We are really taken care of here. I love house keeping day and lovely Anna our housekeeper.
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